-mece

See also: Appendix:Variations of "mece"

Turkish

Etymology

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish ـمه‌جه (-maca, -mece), equivalent to -me +‎ -ce.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meˈd͡ʒe/
• Hyphenation: me‧ce

Suffix

preceding vowel
A / I / O / U	E / İ / Ö / Ü
-maca	-mece

-mece

1. Forms names of games and leisure activites.

   ‎bil- (“to know, understand”) + ‎-mece → ‎bilmece (“riddle, puzzle”)

2. (pathology) Forms names of diseases.

   ‎boğ- (“to choke”) + ‎-maca → ‎boğmaca (“whooping cough”)

Usage notes

• Productive suffix that can derive nonce words. For instance, a parent trying to trick their child into helping them with the chores can say "Hadi, evi temizlemece oynayalım" ("Come on, let's play the game of cleaning the house") to make it look more like a game.

Derived terms

Turkish terms suffixed with -mece

adam asmaca

bulmaca

düzmece

Further reading

• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “+mAcA”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010) “maca”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “-maca”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 3, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 2933