Breakdown of Bari yadigârların yanına biraz naftalin bırakalım.
bırakmak
to leave (something somewhere), to drop off / to release, to let go of / to quit / to stop (doing something)
yan
side
biraz
a little
bari
at least / might as well
naftalin
mothball
yadigâr
heirloom / keepsake
Questions & Answers about Bari yadigârların yanına biraz naftalin bırakalım.
How would we use the "m-" reduplication we are learning about with naftalin in this sentence?
You could say biraz naftalin maftalin bırakalım, which would mean "let's leave some mothballs or something like that". Because naftalin starts with a consonant, you replace that first consonant (n) with 'm' to create the rhyming nonsense word maftalin.
What if we wanted to say "next to the heirlooms and stuff" using m- reduplication?
You would say yadigâr madigârların yanına. The first word, yadigâr, starts with 'y', so replacing it with 'm' gives us madigâr. It adds a slightly dismissive or vague tone, like "heirlooms or whatever they are".
What exactly is the nuance of Bari here?
Bari translates to "at least" or "we might as well". It usually implies that a better option has failed or is impossible, so you are settling for the next best thing. Here, it suggests they couldn't do something better to protect the items, so "at least" they should leave mothballs.
Why does yadigârların have a circumflex (â) over the 'a'?
The circumflex here softens the preceding 'g', making it a palatalized sound (similar to the 'g' in 'argue') rather than a hard 'g'. It is a Persian loanword, and the circumflex helps preserve its original pronunciation.
Why is it yanına instead of just yanında?
Yanında means "at the side of" (static location), while yanına means "to the side of" (directional movement). Because the verb bırakmak (to leave or put) involves moving the mothballs to that location, Turkish uses the dative case (-a) instead of the locative case (-da).
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