çald

Çald is a Turkish verb stem derived from the root çal-, which has two common meanings in modern Turkish: to play a musical instrument and to steal. The sense is usually determined by context and accompanying words, as with many Turkish verbs that cover multiple semantically related actions.

In Turkish grammar, çald- is used to form various tense and mood combinations by adding suffixes. The simple past tense forms include çaldı and çaldılar, meaning “he/she/it played” or “they played,” as well as “he/she/it stole” or “they stole” depending on context. The stem also appears in other inflected forms such as çaldım (I played/stole), çaldın (you played/stole), and çaldık (we played/stole). The present tense form is çalıyor (he/she/it is playing or is stealing), and the infinitive is çalmak. The verb’s two senses can lead to ambiguity without additional information.

Usage notes emphasize context to distinguish meanings. For example, phrases involving objects related to music equipment or performances clearly indicate the sense of playing, while references to taking or acquiring items point to theft. The dual meaning reflects Turkish polysemy in a way common to many verbs where physical action and metaphorical or social actions share a single root.

Etymology traces çal- to Turkish roots with historical continuity in Turkic languages. The word forms part of everyday speech as well as literary and journalistic language, where its meaning is clarified by surrounding words and the sentence’s subject and object.