# Oğlum yazar (ambiguity)



## sufler

Merhaba.
The word "yazar" is the 3rd person Aorist  form of yazmak- to write.
But it also can mean "a writer", can't it?
So if I say "Oğlum yazar." the listener can't be sure if my son is able to write (has just learned to write) OR "my son is a writer", what makes a big difference here.
What are the ideas to avoid the ambiguity and say in a completely clear way that my son's a writer?


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## Rallino

Prescriptively, you should put a comma after the subject whenever it'd be ambiguous otherwise.
So, technically:_
Oğlum yazar_. - My son writes/will write
_Oğlum, yazar. _- My son is a writer.

However, since our lovely Language Academy doesn't do much work about the language, not many people are aware of this rule. Therefore, you're right: depending on the context, _oğlum yazar_ can mean _my son writes, my son will write, my son is a writer._
Luckily the comma rule is not the only way to avoid the ambiguity. If it is not clear from the context, you can say: _oğlum bir yazar_, and in written language _oğlum bir yazardır_ would clear any doubts.


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## rupertbrooke

Would kramp/ yazını/müellif  fit the bill better?


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## Rallino

rupertbrooke said:


> Would kramp/ yazını/müellif  fit the bill better?



_Müellif_ isn't a very active word in today's Turkish. And I probably wouldn't immediately know what it means if I saw it individually.
However, your other words are completely different (kramp - _cramp_; yazını - _the literature[ACCUSATIVE]_). So they don't fit at all unless I'm missing something. Especially _kramp_. Where did that come from?


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## rupertbrooke

I meant yazıncı; yazını was an auto-correction.  I found kramp in the tureng & sözlük apps meaning writer and cramp! Sorry. I would use yazıncı. Is that acceptable? Thanks.


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## Rallino

_Yazın__cı_ is a person who professionally works in the literature field; perhaps you're a critic, or a literature professor at a university, or a journalist who writes about literature in his column. You can be a _yazıncı_ without actually being a writer yourself.


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## rupertbrooke

I love these subtleties of language. Dictionaries, however good, ignore them. Thanks for your comment.


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## sufler

So, generally when we talk about occupation/job like "yazar" is it better to put "bir" before it? Like _Oğlum bir yazar?_


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## ancalimon

sufler said:


> So, generally when we talk about occupation/job like "yazar" is it better to put "bir" before it? Like _Oğlum bir yazar?_



Not really. I guess it's better only if there is ambiguity.

For example, when someone wants to say that his son is a teacher, he would say "Oğlum öğretmen".


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