Breakdown of O, şerefinin uğruna bu dövüşü bırakmıyor.
bu
this
o
that / he / she / it
bırakmak
to leave (something somewhere), to drop off / to release, to let go of / to quit / to stop (doing something)
uğruna
for the sake of
şeref
honor
dövüş
combat, fight
Questions & Answers about O, şerefinin uğruna bu dövüşü bırakmıyor.
Break down the suffixes in şerefinin uğruna. Why are there so many?
This uses the structure taught in this lesson: Genitive + uğruna. First, we have şeref (honor). To say his honor, we add the 3rd person possessive suffix -i, making şerefi. Then, because uğruna requires the preceding noun to be in the genitive case, we add the buffer letter -n- and the genitive suffix -in. This gives us şerefinin uğruna (for the sake of his honor).
Where does the postposition uğruna actually come from?
The root word is the noun uğur, which means luck or good omen. When adding suffixes that start with a vowel to certain two-syllable words, the second vowel drops out. So uğur becomes uğru when it takes the possessive suffix. Then we add the buffer -n- and the dative suffix -a (to/for), resulting in the fixed form uğruna.
Why is the negative suffix -mıy- in bırakmıyor instead of -ma-?
This is a classic example of vowel narrowing (ünlü daralması). The verb root is bırak- and the normal negative suffix is -ma-. However, when the present continuous suffix -yor is attached directly to a syllable ending in -a or -e, that wide vowel narrows to -ı, -i, -u, or -ü. So bırak-ma-yor naturally turns into bırakmıyor.
Could I just say bu dövüş bırakmıyor without the -ü on the end of dövüş?
No, you need the -ü. The word dövüş (fight) is the direct object of the verb bırakmak (to quit / to let go of). Because it is pointed out specifically with the demonstrative word bu (this), it becomes a specific direct object. Therefore, it must take the accusative case suffix, becoming dövüşü.
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