Learn Turkish: Ortada kıvılcım yoktu ama ateş kendi kendine alevlendi. - There was no spark around, but the fire flared up by itself.

This is the standard structure for reflexive adverbial reduplication. The first kendi is bare, and the second takes the dative suffix (directional -e). Together, they literally mean 'to its own self,' which translates as doing something 'by itself' or 'on its own' without outside help.

Could we use kendiliğinden instead of kendi kendine in this sentence?

Yes, absolutely! Kendiliğinden (spontaneously / of its own accord) is very similar in meaning and would work perfectly here. While kendi kendine sometimes implies a solitary action (like talking to oneself), for inanimate objects like a fire starting, both phrases are commonly used interchangeably to mean it happened without an external trigger.

Ortada literally means 'in the middle'. How does it mean 'around' in this context?

While orta means 'middle,' the locative form ortada is frequently used idiomatically to mean 'in plain sight,' 'visible,' or 'around.' So, ortada kıvılcım yoktu naturally translates to 'there were no sparks around' or 'there were no sparks anywhere to be seen.'

How is the verb alevlendi formed from the noun alev (flame)?