Hey everyone! You’ve all been asking to see this and finally I’ve got one for you: A Turkish Love Letter! The first object is a pearl,” Ingi in Turkish, and its meaning appears next to the word:
| Ingi, Pearl, Caremfil, Clove, Pul Jonquil, Kihat, Paper, Ermus, Pear, Jabun, Soap, Chemur, Coal, Gul A rose Hasir, A straw, Jo ho, Cloth, Tartsin, Cinnamon, Giro, A match Sirma, Goldthread, Satch, Hair, Uzum Grape, Til, Gold wire, And, by way of postscript: Beber, Pepper | Sensin Uzellerin gingi Fairest of the young. Caremfilsen cararen yok Conge gulsum timarin yok Benseny chok than severim Senin benden, haberin yok. You are as slender as the clove! You are an unblown rose! I have long loved you, and you have not known it! Derdime derman bul Have pity on my passion! Birlerum sahat sahat I faint every hour! Ver bixe bir umut Give me some hope. Derdinden oldum zabun I am sick with love. Ben oliyim size umur May I die, and all my years be yours! Ben aglarum sen gul May you be pleased, and your sorrows mine! Oliim sana yazir Suffer me to be your slave. Ustune bulunmaz pahu Your price is not to be found. Sen ghel ben chekeim senin hargin But my fortune is yours. Esking-ilen oldum ghira I burn, I burn! my flame consumes me! Uzunu benden a yirma Don't turn away your face. Bazmazum tatch Crown of my head! Benim iki Guzum My eyes! Ulugorum tez ghel I die — come quickly. Bize bir dogm haber Send me an answer. |
As you can see, there is hardly any object that does not convey a message! [1]
You may be wondering how I’ve learned so much, but I’ll admit, it comes at a cost: I’m beginning to lose my English! In Pera, they speak Turkish, Greek Hebrew, Armenian, Arabic, Persian, Russian, Slavonian, Wallachian, German, Dutch, French, English, Italian, Hungarian and even within my family, my grooms are Arabic, my footmen are French, English, and German, my nurse is Armenian, my housemaids are Russian; many of the servants are Greek; my steward is Italian; my janissaries are Turks—I feel like I live in the Tower of Babel!
Many people can speak all of these languages without even knowing how to read or write and I’ve seen infants who are learning at least 3 or 4 language. It kind of makes English ladies who call themselves ‘accomplished’ for just having a superficial knowledge of French of Italian look much less extraordinary, doesn’t it? Of course, I still prefer English, even as I’m losing it…but I’m missing so many words I can’t even think of a clever ending for this blog! Oh well, more soon!
You may be wondering how I’ve learned so much, but I’ll admit, it comes at a cost: I’m beginning to lose my English! In Pera, they speak Turkish, Greek Hebrew, Armenian, Arabic, Persian, Russian, Slavonian, Wallachian, German, Dutch, French, English, Italian, Hungarian and even within my family, my grooms are Arabic, my footmen are French, English, and German, my nurse is Armenian, my housemaids are Russian; many of the servants are Greek; my steward is Italian; my janissaries are Turks—I feel like I live in the Tower of Babel!
Many people can speak all of these languages without even knowing how to read or write and I’ve seen infants who are learning at least 3 or 4 language. It kind of makes English ladies who call themselves ‘accomplished’ for just having a superficial knowledge of French of Italian look much less extraordinary, doesn’t it? Of course, I still prefer English, even as I’m losing it…but I’m missing so many words I can’t even think of a clever ending for this blog! Oh well, more soon!
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