# kaçamak



## shawnee

Merhaba,
	I am investigating the linguistic background of the Greek surname ‘Katsamas.’ I have a Turkish provenance from the word kaçamak meaning escapee or fugitive. However, this interpretation does not quite match the entries in WR dictionary, kaçamak  bakis – peek and kaçamak balmak – peep. I also have the same spelling as the Turkish as an Albanian word for porridge! The notion of escapee suited my purposes as a name derived from a nickname for someone escaping the authorities but without Turkish language skills I remain unsure. Any comments will be most welcome.


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## vatrahos

Merhaba!

Mόλις πρόσφατα ξεκίνησα να μαθαίνω τουρκικά, αλλά βρήκα τα εξής:

1) "kaçamak" είναι ουσιαστικό που προέρχεται από το ρήμα "kaç-" (= δραπετεύω, αποδρώ). Προσθέτοντας την κατάληξη "AmAk" στο θέμα του ρήματος, παράγουμε το εν λόγω ουσιαστικό -- "kaç-amak" -- αλλά η κατάληξη αυτή, απ' ό,τι φαίνεται, δεν έχει την ακριβώς αντίστοιχη σημασία του ρήματος: μάλλον, περιγράφει _το μέσο με το οποίο_ εκτελείται το ρήμα. 

Να ένα λήμμα που βρήκα στο Nisanyan:

+AmAk:  TTü fiil ekidir. Fiile konu olan yer veya araç belirtir.
+AnAk ekinin varyantı olması muhtemeldir.

δηλαδή:

"_*AmAk*: τουρκική κατάληξη ρημάτων. Προσδιορίζει το μέσο ή το χώρο όπου γίνεται το ρήμα. Πιθανώς είναι παραλλαγή της κατάλληξης *AnAk*_."


Σ' αυτή την περίπτωση, φαίνεται πως το "kaçamak" αρχικά σήμαινε "το μέσο διαφυγής" ή "το σημείο / ο τόπος διαφυγής". 


Τα λέω όλα αυτά θεωρητικά, βέβαια.

2) Στη σύγχρονη γλώσσα, φαίνεται πως το "kaçamak" λειτουργεί και ως ουσιαστικό και ως επίθετο (και κατ' επέκταση ως επίρρημα). Σαν ουσιαστικό, μπορεί να σημαίνει α) παρανομία, β) κρυψώνα / καταφύγιο, γ) δικαιολογία. Σαν επίθετο / επίρρημα, συνήθως σημαίνει "κλεφτός" / "κρυφός" (και, επιρρηματικά, "στα κελφτά" ή "στα κρυφά", όπως λέμε στα ελληνικά). Ψάχνοντας το λεξικό μου, βλέπω πως χρησιμοποιείται περιφραστικά με κάποια ρήματα:

kaçamak yanıtlar vermek = υπεκφεύγω -- (κυριολεκτικά, "δίνω κλεφτές απαντήσεις")

kaçamak yapmak = παρανομώ -- (κυριολεκτικά, "κάνω παρανομία")

ή, όπως είπες εσύ:



shawnee said:


> kaçamak _bakış_ – peek and kaçamak _bakmak_ – peep.



kaçamak bakmak = κοιτάζω "στα κρυφά" (= κρυφοκοιτάζω)


So, yes, even though you could say that "Kaçamak" is etymologically related to "escape," it doesn't seem to be used that way in the language.

These are all just my initial impressions, though, so I would wait until you can get help from a native speaker.


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## Rallino

What are your impressions? I can't even understand one bit! 

Kaçamak is like trying to do something without letting anyone else see you or know what or why you're doing.

so it's not really "escaping" or anything^^ That one is "kaçmak".


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## shawnee

Ευχαρηστώ, Teşekküller, Thanks, Vatrachos and Rallino

	A more detailed explanation I could not have asked for. Let it be known that I have searched for a Turkish/English dictionary in my city in vain (except for the little tourist type). I expect that the word was Hellenised in the form of a surname around the 15th or 16th c., in which case it may preserve an earlier Ottoman meaning. That’s just a guess of course. The Rallino explanation also ok. I should have said 'avoiding' originally rather than 'escaping'. I think I ended up with that through an English traslation of a Greek rendition. So it became a little divorced from original.


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## vatrahos

Rallino said:


> Kaçamak is like trying to do something without letting anyone else see you or know what or why you're doing.



Wonderful! Thanks for the help. I was thinking this, but I wasn't sure. There's a similar expression in Greek ("sta kryfa" = "on the sly"; "without anyone noticing").

"έκλεψα ένα γλυκό _στα κρυφά_" = "I stole a chocolate _on the sly_ [when no one was looking]."



Sorry! Here's the English:

I've just started learning Turkish but I found this much:

1) "kaçamak" is a noun that comes from the verb "kaç-" (= escape, flee). Adding the suffix *AmAk* to the verb base, we get the desired noun -- "kaç-amak" -- but the suffix seems to produce a slightly different meaning than the verb's. Rather, it describes _the means by which the verb is carried out._

Check out this entry I found in Nişanyan:


+AmAk:  TTü fiil ekidir. Fiile konu olan yer veya araç belirtir.
+AnAk ekinin varyantı olması muhtemeldir.

[*AmAk* = is a verb suffix. It defines the means or the space in which the verb is carried out. It is most likely a variation of the suffix *AnAk*]

So in this case, it seems that "kaçamak" initially meant "the means of escape" or the "place of escape."

I'm just guessing, though.

2) In the contemporary language, it seems that "kaçamak" works as both a noun, an adjective, and an adverb. As a noun, it can mean a forbidden act or an excuse. As an adjective / adverb, it means "furtive" / "furtively" (there's a similar Greek expression, used in the same way "sta klefta" = "on the sly" / "without anyone noticing"). Looking in my dictionary, I see it's also used periphrastically with some verbs:


kaçamak yanıtlar vermek = to prevaricate -- (literally, "to give sneaky answers")

kaçamak yapmak = to break the rules, do something wrong

or

kaçamak bakmak = to look "on the sly" (= to peek)


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## Rallino

Hmm that is interesting, I didn't know these at all!

Are you sure that "-amak" is a suffix? Do you have any other verbs that are available to receive that? 

There is no verb coming in my mind that takes it, maybe it's a special case or something


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## Volcano

*Kaç >> Verb stem

amak >> The suffix which makes a noun from a verb*

*Kaçamak yapmak could also mean:

to betray/cheat someone

to do something secretly*


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## dawar

an extra meaning is "cuckold"


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## vatrahos

Rallino said:


> Are you sure that "-amak" is a suffix? Do you have any other verbs that are available to receive that?




Em, no, I'm not sure of anything! I'm just a beginner. This is what I found, anyway:

http://www.nisanyansozluk.com/suffixes.asp?w=AmAk

http://www.nisanyansozluk.com/search.asp?w=ka%E7amak&x=0&y=0


It seems that "bas-amak" and "tut-amak" are other examples


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## Rallino

Oh cool now I'm more convinced heh ^^ I have never heard tuta*m*ak before, I just checked, it exists. One learns something everyday!  xD


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## Volcano

*vatrahos,

They are the derivational suffixes -emek, -amak

Tutamak is handle.*


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