lemesiyle

Lemesile is a Turkish adverbial suffix formed from the root verb lem, which in Old Turkish meant “to remove, cut, or strip.” The suffix –ile turns the verb into a phrase meaning “by removing” or “with the removal of.” Thus lemeli (with lem) and lemile (by lem) appear in modern Turkish in contexts involving a deliberate act of stripping or cutting an object. The form lemili is also used especially in nautical and construction jargon.

The word appears in several idiomatic expressions. For example, “tencerelemileyici,” literally “becoming a pot by removing its handle,” is used profusely in Turkish internet slang to describe someone who has taken away the original, often figurative ‘handle’ or safety but does not see the loss. In literature, the phrase “yapraklemileyerek” (cutting leaves) is employed to indicate a certain austere, artisanal practice.

Etymologically, lem is cognate with the Turkish verb “kırmak” (to crack), both signifying an act of separation. The suffix –ile is a participial suffix that nominalizes the action, a common feature of Old Turkic morphology that persists today in other verb-derived adverbs such as –leyi (e.g., ‘dalleyi’).

In modern usage the component lem is rarely used on its own outside of compound words, as the verb has become largely obsolete. However, lemile survives in specialized jargon, literary allusion, and colloquial figurative speech. Dictionaries sometimes list lemile under “participial forms” and note its historical importance in Turkic linguistic evolution.