11/13/2010

Hanim, Abla, Ağabey?

I know there are some turkish terms that might confuse you when heard/read in a sentence.

In this post i will try to "enlighten" you about our beloved language :)

Especially in this series, since the story evolves around Fatmagul and her family, the viewer gets to hear a lot of turkish honourifics such as "Ağabey", "Abla", "Hanim", "Bey".

Now i will try to teach you some Turkish, showing you how turkish honourifics are different, compared to the english ones.

Let's start with the easiest: "Bey, Hanim"



Bey and Hanim are the turkish counterparts of Mr. and Mrs. but instead of surnames, these turkish honourifics are used with names.

Let me go on with an example: "Selim Bey" is how you adress to Selim in a formal environment. As you see, instead of "Mr. Yaşaran", in Turkish we use "Selim Bey". His name, instead of surname is used with the honourofic.

The same applies to "Hanim". Instead of Miss and Mrs. in a formal environment we use Hanim when we adress to women and use it after the persons name. For example: "Perihan Hanım" instead of "Mrs. Yaşaran".

I think this is all you should know about "Hanim and Bey". Very easy isn't it?


Now let's talk about, "Abla, Ağabey".

Abla means "elder/older sister" in English, and Ağabey means "elder/older brother". For younger siblings we use a different word, but don't let it confuse you.

Let's move on with Abla-Ağabey. It is very common that, when younger siblings are calling the elder ones, they use the words "Ağabey" or "Abla" instead of their elder siblings' actual names. As you may remember, Fatmagul always calls her brother "Ağabey" (Abi), instead of Rahmi.

Also, differently than how you use Brother/Sister in English, we use Ağabey/Abla also when we address people outside the family and older than us. In this usage, we sometimes use Ağabey/Abla together with (after) their names.


Example: Kerim adresses Ebe Nine as "Meryem Abla" most of the time. He sometimes calls her just "Abla". (And you never see him call her "Meryem" only.)

Meryem is her real name. Abla is the honourific here.

(Ebe Nine is on the other hand her nickname who is her mothers' legacy. You'll see most people, and town folks call her Ebe Nine.)



That's pretty much it for now. We covered "Bey, Bayan" and "Abla, Ağabey" in this post.


Hope i didn't confuse you even more. Don't hesitate to ask any question in your mind.

And feel free to let me know about other things you want to know about Turkish language or culture, and i'll try to explain it to you.

Untill next time,
Hoşçakalın(Take care)

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this. How come Kerim calls Fatmagül´s brother Abi? Is it because he is his brother in law? I know the word means big brother or is out of of respect and they do that in Turkey even to strangers?

Admin said...

Hmm, guess my post was slightly confusing. So i edited to make it more clear.


But i'll explain here some more if you don't mind.

Unfortunately, there isn't a certain rule for when the word "ağabey/abi" will be used.

In my neighbourhood, kids who know my name mostly refers to me as "Admin Abi".

Kids who doesn't know my name, and the shy ones will probably call me "Abi/ağabey" without using my name.


Kerim calls Fatmagul's brother Abi, mostly out of respect, and formality. Since he is Fatmagul's big brother.

If they had met under different circumstances, Kerim might now be calling him by his name(Rahmi), i think.

That also depends on the age difference, and their relationship/respect between the two. Bigger the age difference, the more chances older one getting called ağabey.

But if the age difference is "too" much, then Ağabey won't cut it and you'll call the person Amca, which means "uncle".

Or Teyze (aunt), instead of Abla, when there is big age difference with a woman.

Hope i didn't confuse you even more :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for all your effort! It is clear now. So Kerim calls him that also because he is his brother in law and also out of respect. I get it now.

Anonymous said...

Btw you did not confuse me because I understand Turkish 90% but since I did not grow up there some things I do not understand. I watch the show without subtitles. Thank you for all your effort.

Anonymous said...

You did a really good job of translating and making subtitles for the ones who don't understand. I do understand it, because I'm Turkish, yet its fantastic that you're doing a favor to the ones who don't.

Thanks for your effort :)

Anonymous said...

thank you, your is realy very very good

noname said...

Endless thanks for this !!! It's a joy to be able to understand such a high quality production. We have nothing of such high quality on TV here in Canada, including the American productions. A wonderful help in learning the Turkish language. Your generosity is what I remember most about the Turkish people.

Anonymous said...

There is no word express my appreciation to you all I could say is Thank you for your great generosity thank you for giving us part of your precious time

Tamina said...

Amazing translation, even your english is quite proper, Thank you for the efforts and I appreciate how within the translation you explain certain terms such as when they asked Fatmagul for Medium coffe :) we are learning more about the Turkish culture this way. Thank you again for your hard work and I will be visiting your blog on Saturday to watch the new episode.. cok guzel :)

Anonymous said...

U r the best thanks a lot 4 harshay

Anonymous said...

Admin: What does Enishde mean in Turkish. Murat calls Kerim that. Is it like brother in law?

Admin said...

Yes. You call your sister's husband "Enişte".

Anonymous said...

ADMIN can u plz translate trailer episode 12

Lexiec239 said...

I love this blog. Thank yo so much. Can you translate the episodes 3 through 8, or whatever you have not translated. I dont want to go from 2 to 8!

roaya said...

thank a lot . many thing i want to tell but i don't speek english well

vaniarosalinda said...

hi am lebanese u know that in arabic we also use bey and some similir words like marhaba , tamam and other .turkish culture has a big influence on lebanese culture almost similar food and traditions after all the turkish goverment rule lebanon for almost 400 years before world war 1

sismis said...

Thank you. I loved your work and kindness!

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