# birinci kordon



## seitt

Greetings,

I don't know if this is just İzmir usage, but in Alsancak, for example, ‘birinci kordon’ and, I think, ‘ikinci kordon’ are used.

Please, what exactly is meant by this?

Best wishes, and many thanks,

Simon


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## ancalimon

Kordon means "land alongside a body of water".

Probably related with the words:
*KAr- meaning "to overflow, moat, ditch".
"to pile up behind an obstacle"

*Korum : heap of stones (connected together)

It's probably a military word roughly meaning "land which protects".

Most probably also related with the word Korugan (Kurgan) meaning "the place that protects"

I think the word might also be related with the following:

*gEŕ-: to walk (people walk around the kordon)
*ger-: to spread (also to stretch around)


kordon also "means thick cord made by combining and stretching many smaller ropes around each other" but I don't think this meaning is related.

But some of my friends here might disagree with me and think that the word is Indo-European in origin. So hear their versions as well.


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## seitt

Many thanks, excellent.


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## Reverence

Originates from the French word "cordon". A kordon is a coastline. Some argue that the French word itself was in turn borrowed from Ottoman Turkish. Glossology is not my strong suit, though. What I'm sharing here is pure hearsay.

"Birinci kordon" means "first coastline", while "ikinci kordon" is the second one.


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## seitt

Many thanks - but what do you mean by 'second coastline'?


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## Reverence

It's actually a coastline in name only. Happens to be the parallel street running along with Birinci Kordon.


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## seitt

Ah, thanks! I see now.

Do people ever talk of üçüncü/dördüncü kordon?


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## Reverence

Let's just hope not. The current state of İzmir Bay is messed up enough as it is.


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