Turkish names and how to use them
Sunday, June 12, 2016
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Turkish player names work slightly differently from those of the other sides at UEFA EURO 2016; team reporter Çetin Cem Yılmaz offers a tiny bit of guidance.
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English speakers may find Turkish names hard to pronounce, but the naming conventions applied to footballers make things a little easier for fans and television commentators alike.
In Turkey, footballers are almost always referred to by their first names. Selçuk İnan, for example, is generally known as Selçuk, while those struggling to say Hakan Çalhanoğlu in its entirety will be relieved to know that, during the course of a match, it is perfectly acceptable just to call him Hakan.
The only exceptions to this rule come when two players on the pitch share the same first name. If Hakan Balta and Hakan Çalhanoğlu are fielded during the same game at this EURO, commentators may be inclined to use both full names for clarity.
With coaches, the rule is slightly different. While it is normally deemed OK to label footballers by their first names, this would be overly familiar for a person in a position of authority like a coach. Hence coach Fatih Terim is always referred to either by his full name or as Terim at second mention. Clear? Good.
