Words in -luk

Level 4

The Turkish suffix -luk forms nouns for a state or a place, as in komšiluk.

How It Works

Take the word komšija (neighbour) and add -luk. You get komšiluk, which means the neighbourhood and the neighbourly relationship. The ending comes from Turkish, and it says that the noun names a state, a group or a place.

Base wordWith -luk
komšija (neighbour)komšiluk (neighbourhood, neighbourliness)
ortak (partner)ortakluk (partnership)

All these nouns are masculine. They decline like other masculine nouns: u komšiluku (in the neighbourhood), iz komšiluka (from the neighbourhood).

Komšiluk is a word that Bosnians are fond of. Dobar komšiluk means good neighbours who look after each other. Only a handful of words in -luk are common today, so you do not need to build new ones.

Examples (5)

  1. Naš komšiluk je miran.

    Our neighbourhood is quiet.

    Komšiluk is a masculine noun.

  2. Dobar komšiluk je važan.

    Good neighbourliness is important.

    Komšiluk here means the bond between neighbours.

  3. Živimo u starom komšiluku.

    We live in an old neighbourhood.

    The locative ending is -u.

  4. Cijeli komšiluk se okupio.

    The whole neighbourhood came together.

    Komšiluk can mean the neighbours as a group.

  5. Djeca se igraju u komšiluku.

    The children are playing in the neighbourhood.

    U komšiluku is the locative.

Common Mistakes

  • The adjective does not match a masculine -luk noun.

    Moj komšiluk je lijepa.
    Moj komšiluk je lijep.

    Komšiluk is masculine, so the adjective has no ending.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Words in -lukLevel 4

Learn This First

This ending is easiest to meet in everyday Turkish-origin words.

Words in This Pattern

komšilukkomšija-luk