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Would it make sense in Turkish saying both "Hello" and "Good Evening" in the same sentence? Since it would sound unusual saying two greetings at once in English and probably most other languages...
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Very interesting! It's convenient if we want to show our special liking and respect for a person, we can say both
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not specifically "to show our special liking and respect" as it can be a way to just be plainly polite to somebody
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Am I right that -lar is a plural ending? If so, then why is akşamlar in the plural? Does it have a singular form and what would that mean?
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akşam is evening. we use it in plural to say "good evening", similar for good night or good day
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Adding to the answer here- generally when you wish a good something to someone in Turkish, it's plural. For example: İyi şanslar (good luck), İyi bayramlar (happy holiday - for religious or national holidays in the American usage of the word), İyi geceler (good night), iyi yolculuklar (happy travels/bon voyage), mutlu yıllar (Happy New Year, or a phrase to use on a birthday), etc. :-)
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I wonder how it comes that Turkish adopted the Arabic "marhaban" but changed the first vowel into "e" despite the harmony laws.
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Would we say "iyi akşamlar" when we meet someone (like bonsoir in French) or when we leave (like "have a nice evening")?
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The pronunciation of the word: "aksamlar" sounds to me like "M" and "L" are reversed. Doesn't it?
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it doesn't to my ears
check this: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0PWRhultUN7
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Or like Spanish: "Buenas Tardes" and "Buenas Noches"
If akşam is evening, is the şam part the Arabic word for 'sun'? Like "after the sun," or the like?
Nope, those would be "iyi günler" and "günaydın" respectively
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Oh..some guys at my school would say "Merhaba" to each other every morning, so I thought so.. Anyway, cool.. thanks!
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The duo pronunciation sounds sort of like "mehr-haba", but when I hear this spoken, it is often more like "mar-haba". Is this -ar pronunciation of 'er' correct or is it more true ro the english 'er'?
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have you really heard it like "mar-haba" from Turkish speakers? That's the Arabic pronunciation and we Turkish people don't pronounce it like this. We even actually usually omit the h, and just say "Meraba"
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Ahh, I see, thank you. Learning a language can be different when people from different areas speak it to you (which is inevitable), I worry often about how my own pronunciation is in unconsciously reflecting them.
