"Neden" as "what (ablative)" and "why"

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Vlürch
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"Neden" as "what (ablative)" and "why"

Postby Vlürch » 2017-02-08, 17:27

Is there any way to definitely differentiate between, for example, these two sentences:
Turkish (tr) neden korkuyor musun? - what are you afraid of?
Turkish (tr) neden korkuyor musun? - why are you afraid?

...without structuring them differently? Actually, does the latter even work as a complete sentence, or would it require a subject? Or can "neden" be the subject, as in "why is it that you are afraid?" or something like that?

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Re: "Neden" as "what (ablative)" and "why"

Postby Multiturquoise » 2017-02-08, 17:48

Vlürch wrote:Is there any way to definitely differentiate between, for example, these two sentences:
Turkish (tr) neden korkuyor musun? - what are you afraid of?
Turkish (tr) neden korkuyor musun? - why are you afraid?

...without structuring them differently? Actually, does the latter even work as a complete sentence, or would it require a subject? Or can "neden" be the subject, as in "why is it that you are afraid?" or something like that?


What are you afraid of? -> Neyden korkuyorsun?
Why are you afraid? -> Neden korkuyorsun?

"mIsIn" mustn't be used if you use question words.
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Re: "Neden" as "what (ablative)" and "why"

Postby Vlürch » 2017-02-08, 18:31

Elaine wrote:
Vlürch wrote:Is there any way to definitely differentiate between, for example, these two sentences:
Turkish (tr) neden korkuyor musun? - what are you afraid of?
Turkish (tr) neden korkuyor musun? - why are you afraid?

...without structuring them differently? Actually, does the latter even work as a complete sentence, or would it require a subject? Or can "neden" be the subject, as in "why is it that you are afraid?" or something like that?


What are you afraid of? -> Neyden korkuyorsun?
Why are you afraid? -> Neden korkuyorsun?

"mIsIn" mustn't be used if you use question words.

Ahh, alright. :o Thanks. But the sentences are the same no matter what, right?

EDIT:
I mean, like, Wiktionary says "ney" is some dialectal form of "ne"; is that wrong, and/or does the y always exist in the ablative (and/or other conjugations?)?

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Re: "Neden" as "what (ablative)" and "why"

Postby nadi » 2017-02-11, 20:45

“neden” has two meanings; 1. from what/of what 2. why

Neden korkuyorsun? = What are you afraid of? (also, Kimden korkuyorsun? = Who are you afraid of?)
This form is sometimes heard as “Neyden korkuyorsun?” I think “neyden” will be clearer for the listener but we do not usually see this “neyden” form in formal Turkish.

Neden korkuyorsun? = Niçin korkuyorsun? = Why are you afraid?
The source of “Niçin” is “ne için” but this “ne için” form is seldom used.

“Neden” is often used with the meaning of “niçin” and the best way to distinguish the difference in meaning is to be careful with the context.


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