The Turkish Equivalent (Yarrak)

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
In this classroom, 4:30 PM, October 15th, the chalkboard waits.
I pick up the white chalk, half-used from yesterday's lesson on Greek roots.
Today, Turkish. Vowel harmony. A rule as old as the language reforms of 1932.
Nihat Erim spoke in 1971, Ankara University, about preserving the treasure.
But he didn't mention the curses. The words that harmony shapes anyway.

[Chorus]
Yarrak. Back vowels, /a/ and /a/, pulling the word together.
No front vowels to break the chain. Say it: yarrak.
Like a vendor in Istanbul's market, 2023, shouting over grilled kebabs.
The scent of smoke and simit crumbs on my desk.
Harmony holds it, makes it Turkish.

[Verse 2]
Root word: yar-rak. Suffixes bend to the last vowel.
If I add -ım, it becomes yarrak-ım, back vowels staying back.
Türk Dil Kurumu, Ankara, their records from 1932 explain it.
But the gaps: Ottoman slang, lost dialects from rural 1800s.
Unrecorded voices, like the street youths with their hidden pronunciations.

[Bridge]
Listen. Yarrak gibi, they say, meaning absurd, like something useless.
Humor in the harshness, tone softening the vulgar.
I sip the black tea, lukewarm now, bitter on my tongue.
The dolmuş honks outside, tying us to that urban pulse.
What Erim called a treasure includes this too, the undocumented edges.

[Verse 3]
Chalk dust on my fingers, 22 degrees Celsius, mild chill from the window.
Yarrak demonstrates perfectly. Consistent, harmonious.
No /i/ or /e/ to disrupt. It's back-vowel pure.
In cursing, the rule persists, language's invisible hand.
Erim's quote: 'The Turkish language is a treasure that must be preserved.'
Even the parts we whisper.

[Outro]
The chalkboard holds the diagram. Yarrak, etched in white.
Harmony in every syllable.