# Zsebemben sok kicsi alma van.



## Chazzwozzer

Sziasztok,

While browsing some newspaper columns, I came across this one. The columnist points out the common/loan words in Hungarian and Turkish where he also provides a _good _example sentence:

*Zsebemben sok kicsi alma van.
*and his translation into Turkish is *"Cebimde çok küçük elma var." (I have [a] little apple in my pocket.)*

* Here arise my questions:*

*1.* Is this sentence grammatically correct?
*2.* Does it sound natural enough?
*3. *How do you pronounce the sentence?


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## cajzl

I'll try to answer, although I am not Hungarian.

1. I think "*sok kis alma*" (= many little apples) is correct. Perhaps I should add some articles (*a, az = *the) :

*Sok kis alma van a zsebemben.*
*A zsebemben sok kis alma van.*

*Sok kis **alma* van *a zsebemben*. = There are *many little apples* *in my pocket*.

2. No. *Kicsi* (small, little) is used usually in the predicate (*ez *az* alma kicsi* = *this **apple* is *small*).

3. *cs* like ch in church
*zs* like s in pleasure
*s* like sh in she


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## vargasz

Well, regarding loanwords out of these 'alma' is a word of Turkish origin. Otherwise on the field of agriculture the Turkish loanwords are numerous eg. 'gyümölcs' (fruit), and in North hungarian dialects corn is in fact called 'törökbúza' (Turkish wheat) as paradoxically corn was brought to Hungary by the Turcs.

To me, being a Hungarian your sentence doesn't sound weird, even if the definite is missing.


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## Abbassupreme

Huh.  In Persian, we say kuchak for "small/little" (kuchik, in the spoken style.)  I wonder where the word actually came from.


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## Chazzwozzer

cajzl said:


> 1. I think "*sok kis alma*" (= many little apples) is correct. Perhaps I should add some articles (*a, az = *the) :
> 
> *Sok kis alma van a zsebemben.*
> *A zsebemben sok kis alma van.*
> 
> *Sok kis **alma* van *a zsebemben*. = There are *many little apples* *in my pocket*.


The reason why *alma *is in singular is that we use* "sok"*, which is a quantifier, right? Then, can you say _"Kis alm*ák* van a zsebemben."_?



vargasz said:


> Well, regarding loanwords out of these 'alma' is a word of Turkish origin. Otherwise on the field of agriculture the Turkish loanwords are numerous eg. 'gyümölcs' (fruit), and in North hungarian dialects corn is in fact called 'törökbúza' (Turkish wheat) as paradoxically corn was brought to Hungary by the Turcs.


Well, I can guess that _búza _comes from Turkish buğday, but I have no idea on _gyümölcs_. What does your etymological dictionary say about it?



vargasz said:


> To me, being a Hungarian your sentence doesn't sound weird, even if the definite is missing.


Do you say, unlike cajzl, using *kicsi *as adjective would be correct here ?



Abbassupreme said:


> Huh.  In Persian, we say kuchak for "small/little" (kuchik, in the spoken style.)  I wonder where the word actually came from.


*Kiçig *(the earliest form of _küçük_) is considered to be a Turkic word while my etymological dictionary notes the striking similarity with the Persian word. It, however, says that the connexion of origin is uncertain.


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## vargasz

'Kicsi' or 'kis', both fit perfectly. Otherwise, I think 'kis' is the older form, because in Hungary family names like 'kis' or 'kiss' are ferquent.

After quantifiers singular is used.
     eg. sok alma
          kevés alma (few apples)
          hat alma (six apples)
          megszámlálhatatlan alma (that much apple that one can't count them)


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