See also: álcák

Turkish edit

Etymology edit

From Ottoman Turkish آلچاق (alçaḳ, low, short in stature, shallow, vile, despicable),[1] from Proto-Turkic *ăl (lower side, below, being below, lower).[2] According to Talât Tekin Turkish aşağı (from aşak) and alçak are doublets, since ĺč turns into ş in Common Turkic. [3] But longs vowels do not fit together in Turkmen alçak (alçak) and aşak (aşa:k).

An alternative etymology is suggested by Hüseyin Yıldız as alt (bottom, base) +‎ -sa- (derives verbs from nouns and adjectives) +‎ -k (participle suffix),[4] where the /ts/ sound undergoes a phonetic change and turns into /t͡ʃ/,[5] in which way derivations like alçak, alçalmak (to become low, to stoop, to degenerate) as well as آلچامق (alçamaḳ, to treat as vile, to become low)(which does not exist in Modern Turkish) are made.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /aɫˈt͡ʃak/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: al‧çak
  • (file)

Adjective edit

alçak

  1. Not having much distance from the ground, not high; low.
    Antonym: yüksek
  2. (of height) Not tall; short.
  3. (figuratively, derogatory) Vile, immoral, dishonorable.
    Synonyms: aşağılık, adi, soysuz, rezil, hain, namert

Declension edit

Derived terms edit

References edit

  1. ^ Redhouse, James W. (1890) “آلچاق”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon[1], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 184
  2. ^ Starostin, Sergei, Dybo, Anna, Mudrak, Oleg (2003) “*ăl”, in Etymological dictionary of the Altaic languages (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.8), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill
  3. ^ Tekin, Talât. “Once More Zetacism and Sigmatism.” Central Asiatic Journal, vol. 23, no. 1/2, Harrassowitz Verlag, 1979, page 131. [2]
  4. ^ Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), "+sA-" - in Nişanyan Sözlük
  5. ^ YILDIZ, Hüseyin. "Türkçe alçak Kelimesinin Etimolojisi Üzerine." Words and Dictionaries. A Festschrift for Professor Stanisław Stachowski on the Occasion of His 85th Birthday. ed. E. Mańczak-Wohlfeld, B. Podolak. Wydawnictwo UJ, Krakow 2015: 379-396.

Further reading edit

  • alçak”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu