One of the worst semantic shifts I have encountered in the Turkish language is in the word Kıraathane.

The word combines the Arabic word for “reading” Qirā’at and the Persian word for “house,” H̱ane, to mean “reading house.”

Historically, a kıraathane has served as a gathering spot for bookworms, casual readers and coffee drinkers alike. Thus, a kıraathane provides reading materials like gazettes, magazines and books to its customers.
But nowadays, when you hear the name ” Kıraathane,” you probably think of a tearoom where young people congregate at night to play board games and where retirees spend the better part of the day.

Trying to concentrate on a book in a Kıraathane today would take a lot of perseverance with all the clattering of game tiles.

Meanwhile, Kahvehane (Coffee house) is another name for Kıraathane, but ironically most customers actually prefer tea to coffee, and some Kahvehane may not even serve coffee at all.

What’s more intriguing is that the Kahve, the Turkish word for “Café,” is the most common name for these spots. The dictionary defines a Kahve as a place where people gather to consume alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, smoke, and play games.

Kahve, çay, ıhlamur, bira, nargile içilen, hafif yiyecekler bulunduran, tavla, domino, bilardo, kâğıt vb. oynanan yer, kahvehane, kıraathane

(TDK)

Even though the dictionary says that Kahve is synonymous with Kıraathane, you won’t find a book in most Kahves.

More than a semantic change🤔