# not complete in itself



## seitt

Greetings,

Please, how can I say, “This book is not complete in itself.”?

One might say this, for example, of the first volume of a two-volume dictionary or the first volume of a roman fleuve (i.e. a very long book about a family which continues over several generations).

Best wishes, and many thanks,

Simon


----------



## snoopymanatee

Hello seitt,

For a book like that, we use the word "*cilt*".

You can say *1. Cilt*, *2. Cilt* etc.

For example: "*Dün akşam Karamazov Kardeşler'in 1. Cildini bitirdim.*"


----------



## Rallino

I think you need the translation of the sentence:_ This book is not complete in itself_. 

A few possible ways to say that is: _

Kitabın tamamı bu değil._
_Eserin tamamı bu kitap değil.
Bu kitap sadece bir kısmı.
_


----------



## seitt

Many thanks, excellent.

I hadn't really wanted to bring up religion in this connection unnecessarily as it can lead to misunderstandings. However, I think I've managed to find a neutral way to do so which won't be a problem for anyone.

There are Muslims and Christians who are attempting to reconcile the Qur’ān and the New Testament. Just as some Muslims claim that the founder of Islam is referred to in the New Testament, some Christians point to the verse in the Qur’ān which says “Allah'ın sözlerinde asla değişme yoktur” (Yunus 10:64) and say that this means that Scripture can't be changed and makes the New Testament valid for Muslims too.

Obviously, the theological implications are beyond the scope of this forum. But the end result is this: what these Christians claim is that the Qur’ān, while worthy of the greatest respect, is not complete in itself. No doubt the Muslims I refer to say the same about the other books.

It's really an attempt to heal divisions and give respect to all the books recognized by Christians, Jews and Muslims. Of course, a lot of work still needs to be done.

So how might these Christians (or Muslims) say, “This book is not complete in itself.”? Not in a negative sense, of course, but simply meaning that the whole tradition and all books need to be taken into account to shed light on a particular question.


----------



## snoopymanatee

Hello seitt,

When I read your first question, obviously I didn't get it by that sense.

*By thinking Islamic religion's perspective*, we *cannot* say: "_Bu, kitabın 1. Cildi._" / "_Kitabın tamamı bu değil._" / "_Bu kitap eksik._" etc.,

we should say: "*Bu kitap, kendi zamanına göre doğrudur.*"

I am not going to write about religion more, because as you mentioned above this is beyond the scope of this forum.


----------



## seitt

Many thanks – certainly the sentence "Bu kitap, kendi zamanına göre doğrudur" is of great usefulness, but it doesn't express the exact idea I had in mind.

What I am really after is this: how can we express the concept that any book, whether completely secular or whatever, needs to have light shed on it by another source? 

Perhaps the Turkish equivalent of ‘incomplete’ doesn't have the right feel here, so I'm completely open to other suggestions, other ways of expressing this basic idea.


----------



## Rallino

Perhaps you can say: 'Bu kitap ilave kaynaklar eşliğinde/ışığında incelenmelidir.'


----------



## seitt

Many thanks, exactly what I was after!


----------

