Customer Reviews

Turkish Grammar

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

(based on the 1984 reprint edition)

I have been studying Turkish on my own for the past three months and G.L. Lewis?s Turkish Grammar is by far and away the most useful book on the subject I have come across.

My first exposure to the book was when I signed it out from our public library ? and overnight after just glossing through a few sections I felt my understanding of Turkish grammar had doubled compared to what I had learnt in the past couple of months. The layout is such that you can pick things up very quickly.

Turkish Grammar has an excellent layout which allows it to tackle the subject in a quite thorough manner - yet remaining concise with numerous examples with accompanying English translations to prevent the new student from getting buried under a mass of mind-boggling grammatical terminology. The terminology is still there for those who know it ? but not essential knowledge to find one?s way through the book. It is very easy to look up and locate specific details and find a quick answer to any questions or concerns.

Turkish has a notorious reputation for being a difficult language ? where in fact it is so analytical, consistent, regular and logical that (after mastering the basics of Turkish grammar) one has to seriously wonder just how foreigners are able to acquire even a working knowledge of English ? a language overflowing in inconsistencies and irregularity.

My only complaint ? and a minor one, at that ? is that it does examine some of the obscure stuff like the older Ottoman forms imported from Persian and Arabic which have become obsolete or rarely encountered in general daily language since the Atat?rk language reforms in the 1930s. Such material should have just been compiled together and included in a separate reference appendix ? because the general modern student really has no need to know about obsolete Ottoman usages. That all said, but if the book was going to look at the Ottoman language, it would have been interesting to have included for reference the old Arabic script which the Ottomans used. But this complaint is just a minor point and in no way blemishes this outstanding work.

If you only have one book on the Turkish language - this is THE ONE!

Excellent grammar book! Mr. Lewis' book is supremely logical without being unnaturally systematic. The book covers the breadth of the lanuguage in a thorough yet extraordiarily concise manner. He, on occasion, will grace the reader with a bit of modest humor while remaining pertinent. Obviously an intelligent man who has an impressive grasp of the language and who from this learned perspective is able to break-down and effectively convey the grammar of the Turkish lanugage. The style is not for the faint of heart, but for those who are eager to grasp the scope of the language. Woe that he has not written a grammar for all the languages I have chosen to study.

This is the best reference grammar of Turkish currently available, and has for years been the preferred reference of intermediate to advanced English-speaking students of Turkish. (Note: It is not a textbook, but a reference grammer intended to clarify and expand on what one has learned from a textbook or course. Also, it is a traditional grammar, with little of the jargon or theoretical speculation of "modern" linguistics.)

Its strength is the incredible richness of the material it contains, and the way that this material is explained. Lewis clearly loves the Turkish language, and has been collecting material and thinking about it for many years. He thus covers very many constructions that are simply not dealt with at all in other books. Moreover, he writes beautiful (British) English, and has a particular gift for finding an English expression that parallels the Turkish one so closely that the reader both gets and is able to recall the point.

Beginners in Turkish will likely find this book too much at first, but after getting their bearings in the language and looking to learn more, they will find this one a treasure-chest of information that is a pleasure to read.

This book is an excellent resource, but not a good introduction to the language for a beginner. I'm glad I bought it, but didn't really start using it until I had been studying Turkish for a while. So, if you are sure you will reach a more advanced level buy it now. If not, it's better to buy introductory books that are concerned with teaching rather than being an encyclopedia of grammar.

This is an excellent grammar book for Turkish, definitely among the top 2 or 3 available. I think this is a must-buy if you're serious about learning Turkish.

However: The price on Amazon is OUTRAGEOUS, so don't buy it here. I got my copy at Barnes & Noble for about $15.

Iyi sanslar, arkadaslarim!

Geoffrey Lewis' TURKISH GRAMMAR, first published by Oxford in 1967 with a second edition in 2000, is *the* reference grammar of Turkish for speakers of English. Besides the usual paradigms of substantive declension and verb conjugation, it covers a host of other concepts that present a challenge to the foreign learner. The chapter on word formation is excellent, and understanding word formation is vital after nearly a century of commonly deriving new lexemes from pre-existing Turkic roots. The chapter on number, case and apposition cover matters which prove very difficult for English speakers to tackle, things like agreement of plural nouns and verbs (or lack thereoff) and when to use izafet linking (and when not). A very nice extra is a chapter which gives a word-by-word demonstration of how one sets about translating a complicated sentence. Would that more grammars include such material.

The second edition of the book gives a much vaster view of the impact of language reform on contemporary Turkish, much of which is distilled from the research which led to Lewis' great monograph of 1999: The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success. It's a pity that Oxford set this section edition in a sans serif typeface, which is rather hard on the eyes.

Basically, if you study Turkish, you need this book. Yes, it's an academic book and goes for a high sum, but you'd be wise to make the investment.

I'm living in France and I already know the Turkish Grammar books that we can find in French. Especially those from Jean Deny and Louis Bazin. I wanted to compare them with the one written by Geoffrey Lewis in English.

I was really delighted by this book. It gives very clear explanations about most of the points of Turkish Grammar without being too theoritical. It gives also some insights about the evolution of Turkish language in the 20th century. A big advantage of this grammar is that it has been revised in 2000. This way it can be considered as a grammar of modern Turkish.

This is a must have for anyone speaking English and starting to learn Turkish language.

Geoffrey Lewis' TURKISH GRAMMAR, first published by Oxford in 1967 with a second edition in 2000, is *the* reference grammar of Turkish for speakers of English. However, I'd advise against getting the first edition that this listing describes.

Besides the usual paradigms of substantive declension and verb conjugation, it covers a host of other concepts that present a challenge to the foreign learner. The chapter on word formation is excellent, and understanding word formation is vital after nearly a century of commonly deriving new lexemes from pre-existing Turkic roots. The chapter on number, case and apposition cover matters which prove very difficult for English speakers to tackle, things like agreement of plural nouns and verbs (or lack thereoff) and when to use izafet linking (and when not). A very nice extra is a chapter which gives a word-by-word demonstration of how one sets about translating a complicated sentence. Would that more grammars include such material.

Why do you need the second edition? Because Turkish changed immensely over the course of the 20th century, and the material you'll find here, though barely four decades old, is already archaic to contemporary ears. The second edition of the book gives a vast view of the impact of language reform on contemporary Turkish, much of which is distilled from the research which led to Lewis' great monograph of 1999: THE TURKISH LANGUAGE REFORM: A Catastrophic Success. It's a pity that Oxford set the second edition in a sans serif typeface, which is rather hard on the eyes. I enjoy so much the typesetting of the original edition.

Basically, if you study Turkish, you need this book, but in the second edition.

I have begun to study the turkish language and this grammar has help me to know better the structure of this language. It is easy to read, with examples and by this way, you can understand the theorical principles.

Lewis's Turkish Grammar is advancing in age, and Turkish is evolving rapidly as ever; however, the material presented is as important as ever. This book is excellent for a second or third year student that wants to use the variety of Turkish postpositions and subordinate clauses more naturally. Along the way, they'll also probably correct a few incorrect artifacts that remain in their speech. There are plenty of examples to make every point clear. The book is an excellent reference.