turkish phonology and morphology (türkçe ses ve b‹ç‹mb‹lg‹s‹)

T.C. ANADOLU ÜN‹VERS‹TES‹ YAYINI NO: 2290 

AÇIKÖ⁄RET‹M FAKÜLTES‹ YAYINI NO: 1287 

TURKISH PHONOLOGY 

AND 

MORPHOLOGY 

(TÜRKÇE SES VE B‹Ç‹M B‹LG‹S‹) 

Yazarlar 

Prof.Dr. Handan YAVUZ (Ünite 1, 2, 3, 4) 

Ö¤r.Gör. Ayla BALCI (Ünite 5, 6, 7, 8) 

Editör 

Prof.Dr. Zülal BALPINAR 

ANADOLU ÜN‹VERS‹TES‹

Bu kitab›n bas›m, yay›m ve sat›fl haklar› Anadolu Üniversitesine aittir. 

“Uzaktan Ö¤retim” tekni¤ine uygun olarak haz›rlanan bu kitab›n bütün haklar› sakl›d›r. 

‹lgili kurulufltan izin almadan kitab›n tümü ya da bölümleri mekanik, elektronik, fotokopi, manyetik kay›t 

veya baflka flekillerde ço¤alt›lamaz, bas›lamaz ve da¤›t›lamaz. 

Copyright © 2011 by Anadolu University 

All rights reserved 

No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted 

in any form or by any means mechanical, electronic, photocopy, magnetic, tape or otherwise, without 

permission in writing from the University. 

UZAKTAN Ö⁄RET‹M TASARIM B‹R‹M‹ 

Genel Koordinatör 

Prof.Dr. Levend K›l›ç 

Genel Koordinatör Yard›mc›s› 

Doç.Dr. Müjgan Bozkaya 

Ö¤retim Tasar›mc›s› 

Doç.Dr. Erhan Ero¤lu 

Program Yöneticisi 

Prof.Dr. Handan Yavuz 

Grafik Tasar›m Yönetmenleri 

Prof. Tevfik Fikret Uçar 

Ö¤r.Gör. Cemalettin Y›ld›z 

Ö¤r.Gör. Nilgün Salur 

Ölçme De¤erlendirme Sorumlusu 

Ö¤r.Gör. Ayflegül Tokbudak 

Ö¤r.Gör. Mutlu Dönmez 

Kitap Koordinasyon Birimi 

Yrd.Doç.Dr. Feyyaz Bodur 

Uzm. Nermin Özgür 

Kapak Düzeni 

Prof. Tevfik Fikret Uçar 

Dizgi 

Aç›kö¤retim Fakültesi Dizgi Ekibi 

Turkish Phonology and Morphology 

(Türkçe Ses ve Biçim Bilgisi) 

ISBN 

978-975-06-0964-0 

1. Bask› 

Bu kitap ANADOLU ÜN‹VERS‹TES‹ Web-Ofset Tesislerinde 1.500 adet bas›lm›flt›r. 

ESK‹fiEH‹R, A¤ustos 2011

Contents 

Why Study Sounds?................................................................. 2 

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 3 

PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY ............................................................ 3 

THE SPEECH CHAIN ................................................................................ 6 

SOUND vs. LETTER .................................................................................. 7 

Summary .................................................................................................... 9 

Self-test ....................................................................................................... 10 

Turkish Alive ............................................................................................. 11 

References ................................................................................................. 12 

Key to “it is your turn” ............................................................................. 13 

Turkish Consonants ................................................................ 14 

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 15 

CONSONANT PRODUCTION ................................................................... 15 

The Vocal Tract ........................................................................................ 15 

CONSONANT DESCRIPTION ................................................................... 18 

Voicing ...................................................................................................... 18 

Places of Articulation ................................................................................ 19 

Manners of Articulation ............................................................................ 20 

ALLOPHONES OF TURKISH CONSONANTS ......................................... 24 

Summary .................................................................................................... 27 

Self-test ..................................................................................................... 28 


References ................................................................................................. 30 


Turkish Vowels ........................................................................ 32 

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 33 

VOWEL PRODUCTION ............................................................................. 33 

VOWEL DESCRIPTION ............................................................................. 34 

HEIGHT ...................................................................................................... 35 

BACKNESS ................................................................................................. 36 

ROUNDING ................................................................................................ 36 

DIPHTHONGS................................................................................................ 39 

ALLOPHONES OF TURKISH VOWELS .................................................... 40 

Summary .................................................................................................... 42 

Self-test ..................................................................................................... 43 


References ................................................................................................. 44 


Phonological Processes in Turkish ...................................... 46 

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 47 

PHONOLOGY ............................................................................................ 47 

FINAL DEVOICING ................................................................................... 48 

ASSIMILATION ........................................................................................... 51 

Place of Articulation Assimilation ............................................................ 51 

Voicing Assimilation ................................................................................. 52 

VOWEL HARMONY ................................................................................... 53 

Summary .................................................................................................... 55 

Self-test ..................................................................................................... 56 

‹çindekiler iii 

UNIT 1 

UNIT 2 

UNIT 3 

UNIT 4

iv 

UNIT 5 

UNIT 6 

‹çindekiler 


References ................................................................................................. 58 


Morphology: The Wordland ................................................ 60 

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 61 

MORPHOLOGY ......................................................................................... 61 

THE STRUCTURE OF WORDS ................................................................ 62 

Syllable Structure vs Morpheme Structure .............................................. 62 

Free Morphemes vs Bound Morphemes ................................................. 64 

Derivational Morphemes vs Inflectional Morphemes ............................. 65 

ORGANIZING PRINCIPLES OF TURKISH MORPHOLOGY ................... 68 

Morpheme Ordering ................................................................................. 68 

Allomorphy ................................................................................................ 70 

The Morpheme Marking Reported Past/-mIfl/ ................................ 70 

The Morpheme Marking Definite Past/-DI/ .................................... 71 

The Agentive Morpheme/-CI/ ......................................................... 71 

First Person Agreement Marker/-(y)Im/ .......................................... 71 

Summary .................................................................................................... 72 

Self-test ..................................................................................................... 73 


References & Bibliography ....................................................................... 75 

End Notes .................................................................................................. 75 


Word-Formation Processes ................................................78 

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 79 

WORD-FORMATION PROCESSES ........................................................... 80 

Derivation .................................................................................................. 80 

Reduplication ............................................................................................ 82 

Compounding ........................................................................................... 83 

Nominal Compounds ....................................................................... 84 

Verbal Compounds ........................................................................... 85 

Adjectival Compounds ..................................................................... 86 

Onomatopoeia .......................................................................................... 86 

Conversion ................................................................................................ 86 

Borrowing .................................................................................................. 87 

Coinage ...................................................................................................... 87 

Semantic Change ...................................................................................... 88 

Metaphorical Extension ............................................................................ 88 

Clipping ..................................................................................................... 88 

Blending .................................................................................................... 89 

Acronyms ................................................................................................... 89 

Backformation ........................................................................................... 89 

Multiple Processes ..................................................................................... 89 

Summary .................................................................................................... 91 

Self-test ..................................................................................................... 92 


References & Bibliography ....................................................................... 94 

End Note .................................................................................................... 94 

Key to “it is your turn” ............................................................................. 95

Grammatical Categories ...................................................... 96 

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 97 

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES ................................................................. 97 

Nominal Categories ................................................................................... 98 

Number..................................................................................................... 98 

Gender.................................................................................................... 100 

Case....................................................................................................... 100 

Verbal and Nominal Categories ................................................................ 107 

Agreement .........................................................................................107 

Verbal Categories ......................................................................................109 

Negation ............................................................................................109 

Tense, Aspect, Mood (TAM) ............................................................109 

Voice ..................................................................................................121 

Summary ....................................................................................................127 

Self-test .....................................................................................................128 

Turkish Alive .............................................................................................129 

References & Bibliography .......................................................................130 

End Note ....................................................................................................130 

Key to “it is your turn” .............................................................................130 

Word Classes .........................................................................134 

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................135 

CLASSIFYING WORDS .............................................................................136 

CRITERIA FOR CLASSIFYING WORDS ...................................................137 

Semantic Criteria .......................................................................................137 

Grammatical Criteria .................................................................................138 

WORD CLASSES .......................................................................................138 

Open Classes vs Closed Classes ..............................................................139 

OPEN CLASSES IN TURKISH ...................................................................140 

Nouns .........................................................................................................140 

Criteria for Nounhood ......................................................................141 

Verbs ..........................................................................................................142 

Criteria for Verblood ........................................................................144 

Adjectives ...................................................................................................145 

Criteria for Adjectivehood ................................................................148 

Adverbs ......................................................................................................149 

Criteria for Adverbhood ...................................................................149 

CLOSED CLASSES IN TURKISH ................................................................150 

Postpositions .............................................................................................150 

Pronouns ....................................................................................................152 

Types of Pronouns ............................................................................153 

Conjunctions ..............................................................................................154 

Interjections ...............................................................................................156 

Summary ....................................................................................................157 

Self-test .....................................................................................................158 

Turkish Alive .............................................................................................159 

References & Bibliography .......................................................................160 

End Note ...................................................................................................160 

Key to “it is your turn” .............................................................................160 

Key to “self-test”.............................................................. 163 

Glossary.............................................................................. 165 

Index ................................................................................. 175 

‹çindekiler v 

UNIT 7 

UNIT 8

vi 

Önsöz 

Önsöz 

Sevgili ö¤renciler, 

“Türkçe Ses ve Biçim Bilgisi” isimli bir ders program›m›zda neden bulunuyor 

diye kendi kendinize sormufl olabilirsiniz. Ne de olsa sizler ‹ngilizce Ö¤retmenli- 

¤i Program› ö¤rencilerisiniz ve ilk bak›flta ‹ngilizce ile ilgili pek çok konuyu irdelemenin 

daha do¤ru oldu¤unu düflünmekte de hakl›s›n›z. Oysa bir yabanc› dil 

ö¤renmenin, hele iyi bir yabanc› dil ö¤renmenin ve ö¤retmenin yolu çok iyi bir 

anadil bilgisi ve becerisinden geçer. Nas›l m›? Size flöyle aç›klamaya çal›flal›m. 

‹nsano¤lu’nun sahip oldu¤u en önemli özelli¤i “dil” becerisidir. ‹nsan dil kullanarak 

do¤adaki pek çok canl›ya üstünlük kurabilmifltir. Dili iyi kullanmak onu 

daha etkin k›lar. Dili iyi kullanmak ise dil konusunda iyi bilgi sahibi olmay› ve 

dil bilincini gelifltirmeyi gerektirir. ‹nsano¤lu’nun dil bilincini gelifltirebilece¤i ve 

canland›raca¤› ilk alan ise kendi dilidir. Bir baflka deyiflle, anadili. Neredeyse 

do¤du¤umuz günden itibaren duydu¤umuz, fark›na bile varmadan edinip, kulland›¤›m›z 

anadilimizi konuflabilmek için, ne oldu¤unu, nas›l iflledi¤ini bilmeye 

gerek bile duymay›z. Bir flairin dedi¤i gibi o bize “ana sütü gibi helal” verilmifl 

bir ödüldür. Ninnisiyle, masal› ve küfürü ile her an elimizin alt›ndaki bu k›ymetli 

ödülün, arma¤an›n nedense hiç k›ymetini de bilmeyiz. Kötü kullanmam›zdan 

öte, bir de hiç merak etmeyiz. Nas›l bir dildir, ne özelli¤i vard›r diye. Üstelik bir 

de “fakir dil”, “Türkçe’de her fley anlat›lamaz” gibi bilir bilmez konufluruz. 

Yukar›da sözünü etti¤imiz türden yaklafl›mlar ve önyarg›lar bizi yaln›z kendi 

dilimiz konusunda de¤il genel anlamda “dil” olgusu konusunda da bilgisiz ve bilinçsiz 

k›l›yor. Bu durumda da bir yabanc› dil ö¤renirken ikinci dilin yap›s›na, sözcük 

da¤arc›¤›na sanki hiç bir fley bilmezmifl gibi yaklafl›yoruz. Türkçe’de kurulmayacak 

cümleleri ‹ngilizce’de kurmaya kalk›yoruz. Kendi dilimizi iyi gelifltiremedi- 

¤imiz için de ikinci dilde anlatma zorlu¤u çekiyoruz. Sözümüzün en bafl›nda dedi¤imiz 

gibi iyi bir ikinci dil kullan›m›n›n yolu iyi bir anadil bilgisi ve bilincinden 

geçer. 

Bu dersimiz mucize yaratarak size tüm anadili bilincini verecek de¤il, ancak 

bir bafllang›ç. Türkçe’nin ses, biçim ve tümce yap›s› hakk›nda bilgi sahibi olman›z 

umar›z ‹ngilizce’ye olan yaklafl›m›n›z› daha sa¤l›kl› hale getirir ve daha önemlisi 

Türkçe gibi zengin yap›s› olan bir dili size tan›t›r. 

Kitab›n›zda iki ana bölüm bulunuyor. Bu bölümleri ses bilgisi ve biçim bilgisi 

olarak s›ralayabiliriz. Her bölüm, kendi içerisinde dört üniteden olufluyor ve ilgili 

bölümün alt bafll›klar›n› içeriyor. Her üniteyi sizlerin kolayca anlayabilece¤i, s›k 

s›k kendinizi kontrol edebilece¤iniz flekilde düzenledik. Yan›tlar› da kendinizi s›nad›ktan 

sonra kontrol edebilirsiniz.

Kitapla ilgili olarak eminim hepinizin akl›na tak›lan bir sorunun aç›klamas›n› 

da yapmam›z gerekiyor. O da kitab›n dilinin neden ‹ngilizce oldu¤u. Bu kitab› haz›rlarken 

dilbilim alan›n›n gerektirdi¤i bilimsel ölçütleri ve aç›klama yöntemlerini 

kulland›k. Bu nedenle de dilbilim alan›na özgü terimlerin s›kl›kla aç›klamalarda 

veya tan›mlarda karfl›n›za ç›kmas› çok do¤al olacakt›. Geçti¤imiz y›l 3. s›n›f ö¤rencileri 

olarak “Dilbilim” dersini ifllemifl bulunuyorsunuz ve bu bilim dal›n›n terimlerini 

ve tan›mlar›n› o dersin çerçevesinde ö¤rendiniz. Bu iki olguya, yani sizin 

dilbilim terimlerini bilmenizi ve bizim aç›klamalar›m›zda o terimleri kullanacak olmam›z› 

bir araya getirince kitap dili için ‹ngilizce mant›kl› bir seçim oldu. Aksi 

taktirde sizleri hem Türkçe dilbilim terimleri ö¤renmeye hem de Türkçe bilgilerini 

ö¤renmeye ayn› anda zorlam›fl olurduk. Bu da sizler için daha yorucu ve karmafl›k 

olabilirdi. 

Sizleri bu kitab› haz›rlarken, yazd›klar›m›z›n anlafl›labilirli¤i ve içire¤in 

geçerlili¤ini s›namak için ö¤rencilerimizden yard›m istedik. Onlar özellikle 

Morphology ve Syntax bölümlerini dikkatle okuyarak bize yol gösterdiler. Ayflenur 

Dizkara, Ebru Eylem Geçgil ve Yusuf Y›lmaz’a sizler ad›na da burada teflekkür 

ediyoruz. 

Umar›z bu dersin sonunda kendi dilimizle ilgili biraz daha bilgi ve bilinç sahibi 

olur, dil bilincinizi gelifltirir, her iki dil için de geçerli dil kullanma becerilerinizi 

artt›r›rs›n›z. 

Hepinize baflar›lar diliyorum. 

Editör 

Prof.Dr. Zülal BALPINAR 

Önsöz vii

1TURKISH PHONOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY 


Aims 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

In this unit we will try to seek answers to the following questions: 

What is sound? 

Why is the study of sounds important? 

What is phonetics? 

What is phonology? 

What is underlying representation and why is it necessary? 

What is surface realization and how is it different from underlying 

representation? 

What is a phoneme? 

What is an allophone? 

Key Words 

• sound 

• phonetics 

• phonology 

• sound vs. letter 

Contents 

Turkish Phonology 

and 

Morphology 


Why Study Sounds? 

• underlying representation 

• surface realization 

• phoneme 

• allophone 

• INTRODUCTION 

• PHONETICS AND 

PHONOLOGY 

• THE SPEECH CHAIN 

• SOUND vs. LETTER

Why Study Sounds? 

INTRODUCTION 

Language is used in everyday life for communication. Language is the knowledge 

of a creative communication system and that language is in the mind. Language, 

the knowledge of a creative communication system, surfaces as speech. Speech 

thus can be described as the conversion of language into meaningful combination 

of sounds. How sounds are combined to form a meaningful utterance is the 

concern of phonology. Thus, phonology is the study of how speech is organized, 

how sounds pattern together. Phonetics, on the other hand, is the study of 

sounds. Phonetics is concerned with how sounds are produced, the physical 

properties of sounds, and how they are perceived. In this unit, terminology used 

in the following 3 units is introduced, the reasons we study sounds are given, and 

the difference between phonetics and phonology are described. 

PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY 

The domain of both phonetics and phonology is speech. Because of the shared 

domain, phonetics and phonology cannot be exclusive of each other although the 

focus of each field is different. Phonology deals with how speech is organized 

(Clark and Yallop, 1991). Phonetics, on the other hand, is concerned with the 

units of speech. More specifically, phonetics tries to arrive at a physical description 

of sounds. Thus, both phonetic and phonological components of the grammar has 

to be referred to when describing speech as there are two levels of representation 

in speech – phonological and phonetic representation. Grammar here refers to the 

rules of a language which enables one to produce and understand sentences. 

In the phonological component of the grammar, the sounds are stringed together 

where phonological rules apply. Therefore phonological representation is more 

abstract. The output of the phonological component is fed into the phonetic 

component. The output of the phonetic component, after the application of 

phonetic rules, is the realization of speech (i.e., the pronunciation of a sentence, 

utterance, etc.). There is evidence that the two levels of representation are different. 

For example, a suffix (more accurately a morpheme) may have more than one 

phonetic realization. Take the plural suffix in English as an example, which is 

represented as ‘-s’. In English, the plural suffix may be realized as ‘s’ (e.g., cats), 

as ‘z’ (e.g., dogs), or as ‘´z’ (e.g., buses). The plural suffix in English, then, has

4 

Turkish Phonology and Morphology (Türkçe Ses ve Biçim Bilgisi) 

three different pronunciations. The choice of which of the three alternatives occurs 

with which word is not arbitrary. Rather it is rule governed – which of the three 

pronunciations to occur is determined by the final sound of the word. Thus, the 

plural suffix is represented as /s/ in the phonological component but is realized as 

[s] or [z] or [´z] phonetically. Described as such, there is a mismatch between how 

we represent the plural suffix and how it is actually pronounced. If we say that 

there are three separate plural suffixes, ‘s’ (as in cats), ‘z’ (as in dogs), and ‘´z’ (as 

in buses), then that would suggest that each word and its plural form is memorized 

separately as unanalyzable wholes. There is evidence that that is not the case – 

when a native speaker is given the singular form of a word that s/he has never 

heard before, a nonsense word (a word that has no meaning) for example, and 

asked to produce the plural form, s/he would produce the correct pronunciation. 

This suggests that the underlying representation of the plural form is /s/ while 

its phonetic realization, or surface realization, may be [s] or [z] or [´z]. Thus the 

underlying representation and the surface realization may be different. 

Let us consider an example from Turkish and take the plural suffix. The Turkish 

plural suffix has two different surface realization, -ler (as in ev-ler) and –lar (as in 

dolap-lar). You would all agree that ev and evler or dolap and dolaplar are not 

memorized separately. Otherwise, the following four forms in (I) and (II) would 

necessarily be memorized as separate words as well. 

(1) 

(I) a. süt (II) a. av 

b. süt-çü b. av-c› 

c. süt-çü-ler c. av-c›-lar 

d. süt-çü-ler-den d. av-c›-lar-dan 

If that were the case, the shared meanings by the four words would not have 

been obvious. However, as native speakers, we know that the meanings of the 

four forms are related as they share the same root, we know the relation between 

the root and the suffixes, and the rules of using the correct form with a given 

word. That is why we know that the suffix –çü in (I) and –c› in (II) are the same 

suffix although these two forms are different phonetically (the same is true for the 

suffixes –ler/-lar and –den/-dan), and that these differences in the form are due to 

differences in the roots in terms of the sounds each root contains. 

To show the relation between/among the different forms in the surface 

realization, an underlying representation for each root or suffix (more correctly 

affix) has to be posited. This underlying representation may or may not be identical 

to the surface realization. The underlying representation of the English plural 

suffix can be said to be ‘s’. As shown above, in certain cases ‘s’ will remain as ‘s’, 

underlying representation and surface realization being the same, and in other 

cases rules will change ‘s’ either to ‘z’ or ‘´z’, surface realizations being different 

from the underlying representation. 

In the phonological component, an underlying representation for each unit 

(i.e., words, affixes) is posited. The underlying representation is notated between 

slashes (/ /). Thus /s/ would indicate that that is the underlying representation of 

the English plural suffix. The surface realization, on the other hand, is notated 

between square brackets ([ ]). Thus, the three different surface realizations would 

be represented as [s], [z], and [´z], as schematized below.

[s] 

/s/ [z] 

[´z] 

The differences in the surface realization are systematic regularities in that 

they are predictable. They are predictable because they are rule governed. A 

native speaker of English knows that the plural suffix of chair would be realized 

as [z] because in English, the plural suffix is realized as [s] after root-final voiceless 

consonants, as [z] after root-final voiced consonants and vowels, and as [´z] after 

root-final s, z, S, Z, tS, and dZ. As the root-final sound of chair is a voiced consonant, 

the plural suffix is realized as [z]. Similarly, a native speaker of Turkish knows that 

the plural suffix of, say, ‘masa’ would be realized as ‘–lar’ as in ‘masalar’, but the 

same suffix would be realized as ‘-ler’ in ‘sebzeler’. The choice of the appropriate 

realization is determined by the last vowel in the root, therefore it is predictable. 

Some properties are idiosyncratic in that they are not predictable. The fact that 

the initial sound of ‘sap’, for example, is an idiosyncratic property of that word as 

there is no way of predicting that particular word should have ‘s’ as the initial 

sound. The same word could have been ‘rap’, ‘tap’, ‘map’, etc. and a native speaker 

would have no way of knowing which sound would occur in the initial position 

for that particular word. Such sounds which cause a change in the meaning are 

called phonemes. If we take ‘sap’ as an example again, changing the initial sound 

to ‘k’ would result in a different word ‘kap’. ‘Kap’ and ‘sap’ are two separate words 

with different meanings. The difference between the two words is the difference 

in the initial sound. This difference is not predictable, therefore an idiosyncratic 

property of these words. 

Pairs such as ‘kap’ and ‘sap’ are called minimal pairs because the difference 

is only in one sound. This difference in one sound can be in other positions to 

form a minimal pair. ‘Kel’ and ‘kal’ are minimal pairs showing that /e/ and /a/ are 

phonemes. ‘Sap’ and ‘sat’ are minimal pairs showing that /p/ and /t/ are minimal 

pairs. In each of these pairs, a change in one sound, the other sounds being the 

same, changes the meaning of the word. Thus those sounds are phonemes as they 

change the meaning. There are sound changes which do not change the meaning 

of words. Consider the following Turkish examples. 

(2) 

(I) kil (II) k›l 

kel kal 

köle kol 

kül kul 

Unit 1 - Why Study Sounds? 

Compare the production of the initial consonant /k/ in different words. Where 

in the mouth do you form the /k/? For the words in the first column, /k/ is produced 

towards the back of the mouth. /k/ in the second column is produced even further 

back in the mouth. The places of articulation (discussed in detail in Unit 2) of the 

/k/’s in the two columns are different resulting in different surface realizations of 

the /k/’s in the first column and the second column. /k/ in the first column is a 

palatal sound indicated as [c], and a velar sound in the second column indicated as 

[k]. Although the surface realization of these two /k/’s are different, using one for 

the other does not cause a change in the meaning in Turkish (but it may in other 

languages). Thus, if the /k/ in ‘kil’ is produced further back in the mouth as a velar 

5

6 


sound it may sound funny or not native-like, but it would still be kil with the 

meaning of kil. We could then say that /k/ in Turkish has two different surface 

realizations or two variations, [c] and [k]. Such variations which do not change the 

meaning are called allophones. Allophone is then a variation of a sound which 

does not cause a change in the meaning of a word. Allophones are generally 

predictable in that one allophone occurs in one environment while the other occurs 

in a different environment. In Turkish, the occurrence of [k] and [c] is determined 

by the vowel. The vowels in the first column are called ‘front vowels’ thus the 

formation of /k/ is affected and is fronted. The vowels in the second column are 

called ‘back vowels’ and with the effect of the vowels /k/ is formed further back. 

As mentioned above, slashes (/ /) are used to represent phonemes while square 

brackets ([ ]) are used to represent allophones. The reason is that phonemes are 

the representations at the phonological level, i.e., underlying representations, 

while allophones are the actual surface realizations. There is, then, one 

representation in the phonological component which may be realized as such or 

differently. And the different realizations of a phoneme are in most cases predictable 

because they are rule governed. 

It is your turn! 

Learn what the It is your following turn! terms mean: 

1 a) systematic 1 regularity f) underlying representation 

b) idiosyncratic property g) surface realization 


2 

c) phoneme 


d) allophone 

2 

e) minimal pairs 

h) phonetics 

i) phonology 


THE SPEECH CHAIN 


3 The complex 3 knowledge of language surfaces as speech. The speech process is 

comprised of a speaker and a listener between which an acoustic signal is 


transmitted. It is your turn! 

4 4 

speaker listener 



5 5 

acoustic signal 


6 

The speech process seems to be simple as every normal speaking and hearing 


person communicates mostly through speech. However, it is a very complex system. 

6 

To illustrate the complexity of the speech process, let us describe briefly and simply 

what is involved in the production and the perception of speech. To produce speech 


sounds, neural It is your commands turn! are sent to muscles and as a result, muscles contract. In 

7 speech, precise 7 and rapid coordination of more than eighty muscles are used (Laver, 

1994:1). Air, the source of sound, is pushed out of the lungs with the contraction of 


muscles into It is the your vocal turn! apparatus. The air that passes through the vocal tract gains 

8 different 8qualities 

as a result of different shapes of the vocal tract. The sounds are 

transmitted through air which is an acoustic signal. That signal then reaches the 


9 

listener’s ear It is where your turn! the nerves in the ear are put into motion. Those nerve pulses are 

then translated 

9 

into a linguistic message, which then ends up in the brain. 

As there is a speaker and a listener and an acoustic signal produced by the 


10 

speaker and received by the listener, sounds are described in three different ways. 


The three different descriptions of sounds are, 

10 



11 11 

It is your turn! It is your turn!

• Speaker-based description 

• Acoustic description 

• Listener-based description 

Within each of the three types of description, there are a number of processes 

involved as shown below. 

Neuromuscular 

Neural commands are 

sent to muscles. As a 

result, muscles contract. 

speaker listener 

Aerodynamic 

Airflow through 

the vocal tract 

acoustic signal 

As seen above, speaker-based description of sounds describes sounds in terms 

of the speaker. This in itself can be described in terms of the muscles involved in 

speech production, the airflow through the vocal tract, and articulation (the 

movement of organs in the vocal tract). 

Acoustic description is concerned with the sound waves that are transmitted in 

the air. Within acoustic description the acoustic properties of speech sounds such 

as the waveforms, duration, spectrographic representations of different sounds are 

described. 

Listener-based description involves the reception of sound waves in the ear, 

the neurons responsible for receiving these waves, then translation of the nerve 

pulses into linguistic message. 

The study of sounds is important because as mentioned above, sounds are the 

reflection of language which is the knowledge in the mind. Within the scope of 

phonetics, sounds that have meaning in speech are important. Sounds of laughter, 

pain, and excitement are not the focus of phonetics as the goal of phonetics is to 

arrive at a physical description of speech sounds that are linguistically relevant. 

In this book, speaker-based description of speech sounds is given. In particular, 

sounds are described in terms of articulation – how speech sounds are produced. 

The details of articulatory description of consonants and vowels 

It is your 

will 

turn! 

be discussed 

in Unit 2. 

1 1 

Why do we study sounds? 

Production 

SOUND vs. LETTER 

Articulation 

movement of 

organs in the 

vocal tract 

Neuro - receptive 

reception of sound 

waves by the neurons 

in the ear 


Perception 

translation of nerve 

pulses into linguistic 

message 

In this book, as is the tradition within linguistics, when referring to sounds, IPA 


(International Phonetic Alphabet) is used. The reasons IPA, rather than letters, is 

3 

used to represent sounds are two fold. One, letters are language specific. Each 

language may use different letters to represent the same sound. For example, the 


3 

initial sounds of the Turkish word flair and the English word It sheep is your are turn! similar. But 


the two languages represent these similar sounds by using different symbols 4 or 4 

7 




2 2 



5 5 



6 6

8 




letters; fl in Turkish, sh in English. Turkish is considered an orthographic language, a 

language that is written the way it is pronounced, or pronounced the way it is 

written. In the Turkish writing system, the letter ‘a’ always represents the same 

sound. But not all languages are orthographic and English is one of those languages 

which is not. In English, the letter ‘a’ is used in the following words, father, alive, all, 

fat, make, but each of the ‘a’s represent a different sound; a, ´, ç, Q, e, respectively. 

Examples from only these two languaages show that the sound a letter 

represents is not predictable across languages (e.g., Turkish and English) as well 

as within a language (e.g., English). Therefore a notational standard is needed 

whereby one symbol represents one sound not only within a language but also 

across languages. IPA provides such a standard. 

The second reason why IPA is used to represent sounds is that we want to be 

able to represent all the sounds that occur in the languages of the world. As letters 

are language specific, letters of a specific language cannot represent sounds that 

do not occur in that language. For example, how can we represent the initial 

sound of that in the Turkish writing system? Since Turkish does not have the 


sound represented as ‘th’, Turkish orthography cannot reflect the sound. 

1 

Throughout 

1 

this section, IPA is used when referring to both Turkish and English. 

Because spelling and pronunciation of a given word may be different, words are 

transcribed It phonetically is your turn! as we are concerned with how words are realized rather 

2 than how 2 they are written. 


What is the difference It is your turn! between sounds and letters? 

3 3 



4 4 



5 5 



6 6 



7 7 



8 8 



9 9 


10 


10 



11 11 



12 12 


Summary 

It is through the use of language that we can 

communicate with one another. And language surfaces 

mainly as speech in our daily lives. We use other forms 

of communication such as written language, but every 

normal hearing and speaking person uses speech to 

communicate with others. Speech is made up of 

sequences of sounds that are language specific. Thus, 

each language has a set of sounds that are meaningful 

in that language. A sound may be meaningful in one 

language but not in another. For example, some 

languages spoken in Africa employ speech sounds 

similar to the sound we make in Turkish when we want 

to say ‘no’, sometimes written as ‘ç›k ç›k’. This sound is 

a meaningful speech sound in those languages, whereas 

in Turkish it is not a speech sound. Therefore, we have 

to study sounds within a specific language to determine 

which sounds are meaningful. Sounds that are 

meaningful and can change the meaning are called 

phonemes, variations of phonemes that do not change 

meaning are called allophones. To determine whether 

a sound is a phoneme we need to form minimal pairs. 

Sounds are organized in certain ways to form words. 

How sounds are organized, the sequencing of sounds, 

and permissible sounds in different environments are 

also language specific. Certain combinations of sounds 

may be acceptable in one language but not in the other. 

Thus, languages have their own sound rules. Phonetics 

and phonology are two sub-fields in linguistics which 

focus on speech sounds and sound rules that govern 

speech. 


9

10 

Self-test 


1. Whether a sound is a phoneme is determined by 

a. its idiosyncratic property 

b. its underlying representation 

c. its surface realization 

d. forming a minimal pair 

e. its systematic regularities 

2. Which of the following is not a property of language? 

a. It is a communication system 

b. It is in the mind 

c. It is the conversion of sounds 

d. It surfaces as speech 

e. It is used for communication 

3. Which of the following is not a reason why IPA is 

used to represent sounds? 

a. Letters are language specific. 

b. The writing systems of languages are not 

sufficient. 

c. A letter may represent different sounds in 

different languges. 

d. IPA is used internationally. 

e. It is a convention in linguistics. 

4. Which of the following statements best completes 

the sentence below? 

The underlying representation of a word... 

a. may be different from its surface realization 

b. is same as its surface realization 

c. is not necessary 

d. is reflected in the orthography 

e. is a part of its meaning 

5. Which of the following statements is not true? 

a. Phonetics tries to describe sounds. 

b. A speaker, a listener and an acoustic signal is 

involved in the speech chain. 

c. Allophone is the surface realization of a 

phoneme. 

d. The underlying representation is indicated by 

square brackets. 

e. Systematic regularities in a language are 

predictable.

“ 

Turkish Alive 

Examine the following poem and identify the different 

variations of the same roots and or suffixes. 

B‹R ÇOCU⁄UN RÜYASI ‹Ç‹N fi‹‹R 

Bir çocu¤un rüyas›nda her zaman 

Kaybolmufl bir sevgili vard›r 

Onu eskiciler çalm›flt›r 

Bir akflamüstü hiç umulmadan 

K›rlar›n serinli¤i gelir 

Konar bir çocu¤un aln›na 

Onun için uyurken al›nlar› 

Beyaz ve gergindir çocuklar›n 

Senin de çocuklu¤un akrabad›r 

Yaz bahçeleriyle, elmalarla 

Tozlar kalkm›flt›r bir akflamüstü 

Mezarl›¤›n ordaki bay›rdan 

Kaybolmufl bir sevgi her zaman 

Kaybolmufl bir bilyaya benzer 

An›msan›r ›fl›lt›s› 

Belli belirsiz gözyafllar›yla 

Bir çocu¤un rüyas›nda bazen 

Bulunur kaybolmufl bir bilya 

Kiraz a¤açlar› sallan›r 

Güvercinler uçuflur havada 

Ataol BEHRAMO⁄LU 

” 


11

12 

References 


Clark, J. and C. Yallop. 1991. An introduction to 

phonetics and phonology. Massachusetts: Blackwell. 

Kenstowicz, M. and C. Kisseberth. 1979. Generative 

phonology. New York: Academic Press. 

Ladefoged, P. 1982. A Course in Phonetics. New York: 

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers. 

Laver, J. 1994. Principles of Phonetics. Cambridge: 

Cambridge University Press.

Key to “It is your turn!” 


1 1 

Check It your is your turn! answers with the definitions 

given in the glossary. 





2 2 

1 1 


We study sounds because in our daily lives, 



3 

2 


3 

2 



we use mainly speech to communicate with 



4 4 

others. 3 Speech is 3made 

up of sounds. Each language 



uses It is your turn! a set of sounds It is your which turn! 

5 5 may be different from that 

4 4 

of It is your other turn! languages. It is your Sounds turn! are combined to form 



6 6 

5 5 

meaningful utterances. Each language has its own rules 





about 7how sounds 7 are combined to form meaningful 

It is your turn! 6 6 It is your turn! 

1 1 

utterances. 




8 

It is your turn! 7 


8 

7 It is your turn! 

2 



2 



9 9 

It is your turn! 8 Sound 8 It is your an turn! acoustic signal we produce by 

3 3 



It is your turn! manipulating It is your turn! the air coming out of our 

10 

10 


lungs. 4Letter, on the 4 other hand, is an arbitrary symbol 





11 11 

used It is your turn! to 10 represent 10a 

It is sound. 

your turn! 

5 5 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

12 

It is your turn! 11 12 11 It is your turn! 

6 6 



13 




13 


7 7 




8 8 



9 9 


10 


10 



11 11 



12 12 



13 13 


13



Aims 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 


How are consonants produced? 

What are voiced and voiceless sounds? 

What are the different places of articulation? 

What are the different manners of articulation? 

How are consonants described? 

What are the allophonic variations of Turkish consonants? 

Key Words 

• consonants 

• vocal tract 

• oral tract 

• nasal tract 

• oral sounds 

• nasal sounds 

Contents 



Morphology 


Turkish Consonants 

• voicing 

• places of articulation 

• manner of articulation 

• allophones of Turkish 

consonants 


• CONSONANT PRODUCTION 

• CONSONANT DESCRIPTION 

• ALLOPHONES OF TURKISH 

CONSONANTS

Turkish Consonants 

INTRODUCTION 

Why is it that in a crossword puzzle, it is easier to guess the word when only the 

consonants of a word emerge rather than when only the vowels emerge? For 

example, can you guess what the following Turkish word are? 

k - rt - nk - l - 

› - › - - - 

We use letters as a shorthand description of sounds. When we see the letter ‘m’ 

for example, we know to close our mouth by putting both lips together and letting 

the air out only from the nose. We know to fix our vocal cords in such a way so 

that there is vocal cord vibration. In other words, we know what the sound the 

letter ‘m’ represents. In this unit, we will learn to describe consonants that occur 

in Turkish. 

CONSONANT PRODUCTION 

Consonants are produced by blocking the air partially or completely in the vocal 

tract. Therefore, when consonants are described in terms of articulation, reference 

is made to where in the vocal tract these sounds are produced and which articulators 

are involved in producing these sounds. Before describing consonants then, let us 

describe the vocal tract and the articulators that are involved in the production of 

speech sounds. 

The Vocal Tract 

The air passage above the larynx is known as the vocal tract. There are two 

cavities within the vocal tract: Oral tract and nasal tract. The two tracts, or 

cavities are illustrated in Figure 2.1. To produce some sounds, the air is let out of 

the oral tract or the mouth while for others, the air is let out of the nasal tract or 

the nose. If the air is let out of the mouth, then those sounds are called oral 

sounds. If the air is let out of the nose, then those sounds are called nasal sounds.

16 

Figure 2.1 

Oral and nasal 

tracts 

Figure 2.2 

Parts of the vocal 

tract 


nasal tract 

oral tract 

To illustrate the difference between oral and nasal sounds, first produce the 

sounds /l/, /s/, /f/. Where does the air come out? Now produce the sounds /m/ 

and /n/. Pay attention to where the air comes out. You have probably noticed that 

when producing the sounds /l/, /s/, and /f/, the air comes out of the mouth. You 

can test this by stopping your nose. Even when you stop your nose you can still 

produce these sounds. Because the air comes out of the mouth, such sounds are 

called oral sounds. When producing the sounds /m/ and /n/, the mouth is closed 

preventing the air coming out of the mouth. Instead the air comes out of the nose. 

Thus such sounds are called nasal sounds. Here the examples of oral and nasal 

sounds are given for consonants. In Turkish, oral-nasal distinction exists for 

consonants. But languages such as French make a distinction between oral and 

nasal vowels as well. 

Now let us turn to the parts of the vocal tract. The parts of the vocal tract are 

illustrated in Figure 2.2. 

alveolar ridge palate 

lips 

teeth 

larynx 

(vocal cords) 

velum 

uvula 

pharynx 

epiglottis

Unit 2 - Turkish Consonants 

The different parts of the vocal tract are called articulators. Articulators are the 

parts of the vocal tract that are used to produce sounds. Try to feel the different 

parts of the vocal tract. The lips and teeth are obvious. The upper surface of the 

mouth is called the roof of the mouth. Move the tip of your tongue along the roof 

of your mouth. You should feel different structures. Now start from the back of 

your teeth. You should feel a small protuberance behind your teeth. That is called 

the alveolar ridge. As you roll your tongue back a bit, but keeping to the front 

part of the roof of the mouth, you should feel a hard, bony structure. This is called 

the hard palate. If you curl your tongue further back, you should feel a softer 

structure called the soft palate or the velum. If your tongue does not curl back 

that far, you can feel your velum with your finger. The velum is a muscular flap 

which rises to shut off the nasal tract so that air exits through the mouth. When the 

velum is lowered, the air goes out the nose. At the end of the velum there is a 

small appendage hanging down. This appendage is called the uvula. The part 

between the uvula and the larynx is called the pharynx. In Turkish, neither uvula 

nor the pharynx is used to produce consonants. But these two articulators are 

used to produce consonants in other languages. 

In the lower part of the mouth there is the tongue. In the production of 

consonants, different parts of the tongue are used depending on which part of the 

roof of the mouth is used. The parts of the tongue are illustrated in Figure 2.3. 

tip 

blade 

front 

center 

back 

TONGUE 

root 

Figure 2.3 

Parts of the tongue 

Learn the names of the parts of the vocal tract. Write the names of It the is your vocal turn! organs in the 


figure below. 

1 1 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

1 

2 

8 

3 

10 

9 

4 

11 12 

13 

14 

5 

6 

7 

Figure 2.4 



2 2 



3 3 



4 4 



5 5 



6 6 

17

18 



Now that we know the different parts of the vocal tract, we can begin to 

describe consonants. 

CONSONANT DESCRIPTION 

Consonants are described in terms of 

• voicing (presence or absence of vocal cord vibration) 

• place of articulation (where in the vocal tract sounds are produced) 

• manner of articulation (how sounds are produced in terms of airflow) 

Voicing 

Voicing is defined as the presence or absence of vocal cord vibration. Vocal 

cords are two muscular folds within the larynx behind the Adam’s apple. You can 

manipulate your vocal cords by opening and closing them. The vocal cords are 

open when breathing. You can also close your vocal cords. Make the sound you 

would make when you are surprised: Two ‘a ’s with a stop in between (may be 

written as ‘a-a’). Stop after you make the first ‘a ’. Try breathing. You should not 

be able to because you have closed your vocal cords, not leaving a passage 

between them thus preventing the air from passing through. 

The air that comes out of the lungs goes up through the trachea into the larynx 

and between the vocal cords. As the air passes between the vocal cords, vocal 

cords may be apart or close together. If the vocal cords are apart, the air passes 

through the vocal cords freely. If the vocal cords are close together, then there is 

a narrow passage between them which causes a build up of air pressure. This air 

pressure in turn causes vocal cords to vibrate. If the vocal cords vibrate in the 

production of sounds, then those sounds are voiced. If the vocal cords do not 

vibrate, then those sounds are voiceless. 

To be able to distinguish voiced consonants from voiceless ones, produce the 

sound /ssssss/, then follow it with /zzzzzz/. Then, alternate between /s/ and /z/ 

producing /sssszzzzsssszzzz…/. You should notice that both of these sounds are 

formed in the same way and in the same place. The only difference between /s/ 

and /z/ is voicing where /s/ is voiceless as there is no vocal cord vibration, /z/ is 

voiced as there is vocal cord vibration. You can feel vocal cord vibration by placing 

your finger on the Adam’s apple when you are producing /z/. You can also hear 

your vocal cords vibrate. Stop up your ears by putting your fingers on your ears. 

When you produce /z/ you should hear a buzzing sound which is vocal cord 

vibration. You can also try this with /f/ (voiceless) and /v/ (voiced). 

Voicing is important in distinguishing sounds because there are pairs of sounds 

which are formed It is your turn! in the same way and in the same place and the only difference 

1 between 1such 

sounds is voicing; one sound being voiced and the other voiceless. 


Produce the It following is your turn! sounds. Decide whether they are voiced or voiceless. 

2 Letter 2 

Sound voiced/voiceless 

fl S 


3 

l 


m 

3 

ç 

l 

m 

tS 


4 

r 


c 

j4 R 

dZ 

Z 



5 5 



6 6


Places of Articulation 

Consonants are described in terms of where in the vocal tract they are produced. 

Here different places of articulation for Turkish consonants will be discussed. 

Bilabial: two lips together 

Say the words bellek, p›nar, masa. Notice that the initial sounds of these words 

‘b’, ‘p’, and ‘m’ are produced by putting two lips together. Hence these sounds 

are called bilabial sounds (bi- meaning ‘two’, labial meaning ‘lip’). 

IPA symbols for these sounds are /b/, /p/, /m/, respectively. 

Labiodental: lower lip and upper front teeth. 

Say the words fare and vali. To produce ‘f’ and ‘v’, lower lip is raised to touch 

the upper teeth. These sounds are therefore called labiodental sounds (labio - 

meaning ‘lip’, dental referring to the ‘teeth’). 

IPA symbols for these sounds are /f/,/V/, respectively. 

Alveolar: tongue tip or blade and the alveolar ridge 

In Turkish, the initial sounds of the words dede, temel, sen, zümrüt, neden, 

limon, rahat are alveolar consonants. To produce d, t, s, z, n, l, and r in the 

above words, the tip or the blade of the tongue is on the alveolar ridge. 

IPA symbols for these sounds are /d/, /t/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/, /R/, respectively. 

Palato-alveolar: tongue blade and back of the alveolar ridge. 

The initial sounds in words such as fleker, jip, çilek, can are produced with the 

tongue blade in a space between the alveolar ridge and the palate. 

IPA symbols for these sounds are /S/, /Z/, /tS/, /dZ/, respectively. 

Palatal: front of the tongue and the hard palate 

Say the words y›l and yöre. In producing the initial sound of these words, 

notice that the front of your tongue is raised towards the hard palate. Hence 

this sound is called palatal. 

IPA symbol for this sound is /æ/. 

Velar: back of the tongue and the velum (or the soft palate) 

Notice that when you say the words kap› and garson, the back of your tongue 

raises towards the soft palate forming the sounds k and g. Because they are 

formed at the velum, these sounds are called velar. 

IPA symbols for these sounds are /k/ and /g/, respectively. 

Glottal: articulation involving the glottis 

The space between the vocal cords is called the glottis. The initial sound of 

han is a glottal sound as the air coming out of the lungs passes through the 

vocal cords and goes out of the mouth without any obstruction in the vocal 

tract. 

IPA symbol for this sound is /h/. 

These are the places of articulation used for Turkish consonants. There are 

other places of articulation used in other languages but not in Turkish. For example, 

English has interdental consonants formed by placing the tip of the tongue 

between the teeth. In words such as thank and those, contrasted with tank and 

doze, the initial sounds are formed in such a way. The IPA symbols for these 

19

It 

20 

is your turn! 

Turkish Phonology It is your and turn! Morphology (Türkçe Ses ve Biçim Bilgisi) 

1 1 

sounds are [T] and [D]. [T] in thank is voiceless whereas [D] in those is voiced. The 


number of It places is your turn! of articulation is of course finite but there are other places that 

2 languages 2 of the world use. 


Form the following It is your turn! consonants. Decide the place of articulation for each consonant. 

3 Consonant 3 

j 

place of articulation 


4 

n It is your turn! 

t 

4 

V 


5 

S 


dZ 

5 

g 

Manners It is of your Articulation 

turn! 


6 In the production 6 of consonants, the airstream out of the lungs is manipulated in 

different ways in the vocal tract to form different sounds. How this airstream is 


manipulated It is or your how turn! sounds are produced is referred to as manner of articulation. 

7 Below different 7 manners of articulation for Turkish is discussed. Of course, the 

manners of articulation are not limited to those discussed here. There are numerous 


other ways It of is your producing turn! sounds employed by the languages of the world. 

8 Stop: Complete 8 obstruction in the oral tract with a raised velum 

To form a stop, the air is stopped somewhere in the oral tract so that the 


9 

airstream It is cannot your turn! escape from the mouth. The velum is raised so that air cannot 

escape 

9 

from the nose either. For example, to produce [p] the two lips are 

pressed together so that the airstream is stopped completely from going out the 


10 

mouth. Notice that you need to do the same thing for /b/. For /t/ and /d/, the 


tip/blade of the tongue is against the alveolar ridge to stop the airstream in the 

10 

oral tract. For /k/ and /g/, the back of the tongue is raised to the velum so that 

the airstream is obstructed at the velum. 


11 


Stop sounds of Turkish are /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/. 

Nasal: Complete 11 obstruction in the oral tract with a lowered velum 

Nasals are also stops as the airstream is obstructed completely in the oral tract. 


In the case It is your of turn! the nasals, in contrast to oral stops, the velum is lowered so that 

12 the air 12escapes 

through the nose. To contrast oral stops from nasal stops (or 

called nasals shortly) say the sounds /b/ and /m/. Both /b/ and /m/ are bilabial 


13 

sounds formed at the lips. Notice that when you produce /b/ you cannot hear 


a sound until you open your lips. That is because you stop the airstream by 

13 

closing your lips so that air cannot escape from your mouth. When you produce 

[m], on the other hand, although your lips are together not letting air go out 

your mouth, you can hear the sound [m]. The reason is that the velum is 

lowered so that the airstream can escape through the nose. 

Nasal sounds of Turkish are /m/ and /n/. 

Fricative: Partial obstruction so that there is friction 

In the production of fricatives two articulators are close together so that a 

narrow passage is formed between the two articulators. As the air goes through 

that narrow passage, turbulence is produced causing friction. Hence sounds


produced this way are called fricatives. Say the sound /f/. The lower lip is 

raised to meet the upper teeth but without completely obstructing the air. As 

the air is pushed out of the narrow passage between the teeth and lower lip, 

turbulent airflow is produced. Notice what you do to produce sounds such as 

[s], [S], and [h]. 

Fricative sounds of Turkish are /f/, /s/, /z/, /S/, /Z/, /h/. 

Approximant: Approximation of two articulators but without a turbulent airstream 

To produce an approximant, two articulators are close together but not so 

close together to form a narrow passage. As the passage is not narrowed to an 

extend that a turbulent airflow is produced, the airstream flows more freely 

without causing friction. Say the sound /j/, for example. The front of the tongue 

is raised toward the hard palate but not so close together so that the air flows 

freely between the tongue and the palate. If you breathe in through the mouth, 

you can feel coolness on your hard palate. Approximants in Turkish are /V/, 

/j/ and /l/. These approximants are of two types depending on their airflow. 

Central approximant: Air flows over the center of the tongue. 

In the production of [j], the sides of the tongue touch the roof of the mouth 

behind the sides of the teeth and the air flows over the center of the tongue. 

Therefore, [j] is called a central approximant. [V] is a central approximant in 

Turkish as the lower teeth and upper lip come close together but not close 

enough to cause frication. Thus, [V] is a central approximant. 

Lateral approximant: With a central obstruction, air flows over the sides of the 

tongue. 

In the production of /l/, the tip/front of the tongue is at the alveolar ridge 

stopping the air from flowing over the center of the tongue. Instead, the air 

flows over the sides of the tongue. Hence /l/ is called a lateral (meaning 

‘side’) approximant. 

English has two additional central approximant sounds. The initial sounds of the 

following words ‘work’, ‘was’, ‘one’ is labiovelar central approximant /w/. The ‘r’ 

sound in English is also an alveolar central approximant symbolized as /®]/, 

different from that of Turkish. 

Flap/tap: Single tap against the alveolar ridge 

The Turkish ‘r’, /R/ is a flap whereby the tip of the tongue makes a single tap 

against the alveolar ridge. Notice what you do with your tongue when you say 

the word ‘ara’. The tongue rapidly taps against the alveolar ridge. 

Flap also occurs in American English in the medial position of words such as 

latter and ladder, causing both words to be pronounced the same way. 

Affricate: combination of a stop and a fricative 

The production of affricates involves a stop and a fricative. The affricate starts 

with a stop which is immediately followed by a fricative. Say the words çay and 

cam. The initial sound of çay is an affricate which starts with the stop /t/ 

followed by the fricative /S/. Similarly, the initial sound of cam starts with [d] 

followed by /Z/. 

The affricates of Turkish are /tS/ and /dZ/. 

21

1 1 



2 2 

It 22 is your turn! 


3 3 


Form the following It is your turn! consonants. Decide the manner of articulation for each consonant. 

4 Consonant 4 

k 

manner of articulation 


5 

s 


m 

5 

l 

Z 


6 

æ 

R 


6 


The consonants It is your turn! of Turkish are summarized in Table 2.1. On the horizontal 

7 axis, the columns 7 represent the places of articulation beginning with the front part 

of the mouth going towards the back. The vertical axis represents the places of 


articulation It starting is your turn! with a maximum constriction. The sound to the left of the box 

8 is voiceless, 8 while the one to the right is voiced. 

Table 2.1 Place 

It 

Turkish 

is your turn! 

Manner 

Consonants 9 

Bilabial Labio- 


dental 

9 

Alveolar Palatoalveolar 

Palatal Velar Glottal 

Stop p b t d k g 

It is your turn! Nasal It mis your turn! 

n 

10 

Fricative 

10 

f s z S Z h 


Approximate 


11 Central 11 

V j 

Lateral l 


Flap/tap 


R 

12 

Affricate 

12 

tS dZ 




13 


In the 13description 

of Turkish sounds, we have not discussed ‘¤’, what is called 


2 

‘soft g’ in the literature. Is ‘¤’ a distinct sound in Turkish? This is a debatable issue. 


Some argue that it is a distinct sound while others argue that it is not. To decide for 

2 

yourself, say words that contain ‘¤’ such as ‘da¤’, ‘i¤de’, ‘so¤an’, etc. Is it a distinct 

sound? What is the place and manner of articulation? Is it voiced or voiceless? 


‘¤’ is a letter 

It is your 

that 

turn! 

occurs in the Turkish orthography (the writing system). But 

3 there is no 3 distinct corresponding sound. Many agree that ‘¤’ has the function of 

lengthening the vowel preceding it. The difference between the members of the 


pairs such It as is your ‘ada-a¤da’, turn! ‘tura-tu¤ra’, ‘yama-ya¤ma’, etc., is the length of the 

4 vowels preceding 4 ‘¤’. Thus, ‘¤’ is not treated as a distinct consonant here. 


Produce the It following is your turn! consonants. Pay attention to where in the vocal tract you form the 

5 sound, how 5 the airstream goes out the vocal tract, and whether there is vocal cord vibration 

or not. Then describe them without looking at the chart. 


6 

m 

voicing 


6 

place of articulation manner of articulation 



7 7 



8 8

s 

h 

l 

tS 

R 

d 


The IPA symbols as mentioned before, are used as “shorthand descriptions of 

the articulations involved” (Ladefoged, 1982:33). [f], for example, is used to describe 

a voiceless labiodental fricative. [dZ], on the other hand, is used to describe a 

voiced palato-alveolar affricate. Conventionally, consonants are described in the 

following order: Voicing, place of articulation, and manner of articulation as 

illustrated above. 

The consonants of Turkish and English are similar. However, English has 

consonants that do not occur in Turkish such as /T/, /D/, /w/, /®/, /N/, /v/. /T/, 

and /D/ are interdental fricatives produced with the tongue tip between the teeth 

as in the words ‘thumb’ and ‘those’ respectively. /w/ is a labiovelar central 

approximant produced at the velum with the lips rounded – two simultaneous 

articulations, one at the velum and the other at the lips. Examles of words containing 

/w/ are white, war, whale 

/®/, the initial sound of words ‘right’, ‘real’, ‘rock’ is an alveolar central 

approximant. In the production of /®/, the sides of the tongue is against the sides 

of the teeth. The air flows over the center of the tongue. Some speakers may curl 

back the tip of the tongue. There is also some degree of lip rounding in the 

production of /®/. 

/N/ is a velar nasal produced by a complete obstruction in the oral tract by 

raising the back of the tongue to the velum. The words ‘sing’, ‘rang’, ‘doing’ have 

[N] as the final sound. [N] is generally spelled as ‘-ng’ in English. The sound [N] 

cannot occur in word-initial position in English. 

The letter ‘v’ represents two different sounds in Turkish and English. Although 

the place of articulation is the same in the two languages, ‘v’, as discussed above, 

is a central approximant in Turkish but a fricative in English. 

The English consonants are summarized in Table 2.2. 

Table 2.2 

English Consonants 

Place Bilabial Inter Labio- Alveolar Palato- Palatal Velar Glottal 

Manner dental dental alveolar 

Stop p b t d k g 

Nasal m n N 

Fricative T D f v s z S Z h 

Approximate 

Central (w) ® j (w) 

Lateral l 

Affricate tS dZ 

23

24 


ALLOPHONES OF TURKISH CONSONANTS 

The consonants discussed above are the consonant phonemes of Turkish. 

Remember that a phoneme is a sound that distinguishes meaning. All of the above 

consonants distinguish meaning. If the initial sound of the word ‘tek ’ is changed 

to ‘d ’, for example, we would get ‘dek ’ which has a different meaning than ‘tek’. 

There are instances however when a consonant is realized differently than as 

described in the consonant chart but without causing meaning change. Consider 

the following examples. First say the words in Column I, then words in Column II, 

paying attention to place of articulation of /k/. Then compare each word in 

Columns I and II as ‘kal-kel ’, so on. 

I II 

kal kel 

kola köle 

kul kül 

k›l kil 

Notice that the place of articulation for the word-initial /k/ in words in Column 

I is different from that for Column II. The /k/’s in Column I are further back than 

the ones in Column II. The words in Column I contain velar stops while the words 

in Column II contain palatal stops. The occurrence of palatal vs. velar stops is 

conditioned by the neighboring vowels. Voiceless velar stop [k] occurs with the 

vowels ‘a, ›, o, u ’, voiceless palatal stop [c] occurs with the vowels ‘e, i, ö, ü ’. The 

allophones of /k/ are presented below (with the IPA symbol for each allophone). 

/k/ 

[k] with a, ›, o, u (e.g., kal, k›l, kola, kul) 

[c] with e, i, ö, ü (e.g., kel, kil, köle, kül) 

Similar process occurs with the voiced velar stop /g/. Compare word pairs such 

as ‘gaz-gez’, ‘gofret-göl ’, ‘gurul-gürül ’, ‘g›rtlak-gizem’. Notice that the place of 

constriction is forwarded becoming palatal for the second members of the pairs. As 

with /k/ voiced velar stop [g] occurs with the vowels ‘a, ›, o, u’; voiced palatal stop 

[Ô] occurs with the vowels ‘e, i, ö, ü’. The allophones of /g/ are presented below. 

/g/ 

[g] with a, ›, o, u (e.g., gaz, g›rtlak, gofret, gurul) 

[Ô] with e, i, ö, ü (e.g., gez, gizem, göl, gürül) 

Alveolar nasal /n/ in Turkish has two allophones. Say the names of the following 

cities, Antalya and Ankara. Now say the names again, forming /n/ in each context 

separately. Notice that when producing ‘Antalya’, /n/ is formed at the alveolar 

ridge. When producing ‘Ankara’, on the other hand, /n/ is formed at the velum, 

hence, becoming a velar nasal [N]. The reason for /n/ becoming [N] is due to the 

neighboring sound. In ‘Ankara’, /n/ is followed by /k/ which is a velar consonant. 

As a result, /n/ is realized as a velar nasal [N]. Thus, the allophones of /n/ can be 

shown as below. 

[N] before velar consonants (e.g., renk, mangal) 

/n/ 

[n] elsewhere

The necessary condition for /n/ becoming [N] is that /n/ needs to be followed 

by a velar consonant as in words such as ‘renk, dengi’. In Turkish, /k/ and /g/ are 

the only velar consonants. The opposite, velar consonant preceding /n/ as in 

‘tekne’, does not satisfy the condition for alveolar nasal becoming a velar nasal. 

Thus, in all other environments, alveolar nasal is used. 

Turkish ‘r’, an alveolar flap /R/, is realized differently depending on the position 

of ‘r’ within a word. Compare the ‘r’s in the following words, ‘ara’, ‘rüya’, ‘bir’. 

Notice that the /R/ in each word is different. The /R/ in ‘ara’ is a voiced alveolar 

flap. In words such as ‘rüya’, ‘resim’, ‘renk’, /R/ is formed with a narrow passage 

between the tongue and the alveolar ridge. As the airflow is forced through this 

narrow passage, frication occurs. Thus, word-initial /R/ is fricated and described 

as ‘voiced fricated alveolar flap’ symbolized as [R‡]. In word-final position, the /R/ is 

fricated also. But in word-final position, the frication is voiceless. Say the words 

‘bir’, ‘fleker’, ‘kar’. Notice that if you hold /R/ long enough you could hear a sound 

like a whistle. That sound is frication and it is voiceless. The IPA symbol for 

voiceless fricated alveolar flap is [R‡•]. The allophones of /R/ are represented as 

shown below. 

[R] intervocalic (e.g., ara, s›ra, kere) 

/R/ [R‡] word-initial (e.g., resim, rahat, rende) 

[R‡•] word-final (e.g., bir, dar, her) 


In Turkish, /V/ is a voiced labiodental central approximant, and most commonly 

it occurs as an approximant (Kopkalli-Yavuz, 1999). Depending on the neighboring 

sounds, it may have different realizations. After voiceless consonants (i.e., stops, 

fricatives, affricates), it may be realized as a voiced labiodental fricative [v] as in 

words such as ‘cetvel’, ‘teflvik’. In the environment of labial sounds, before labial 

consonants such as /b/, /v/, it may delete (represented as Ø, meaning ‘null’). Do 

you delete /V/ in your pronunciation of words such as ‘kovmak’, ‘sevmek’, ‘sövmek’? 

This allophone may be idiolectic, different for each person rather than a general 

rule. The allophones of /V/ are shown below with one allophone being optional 

or speaker-dependent. 

[v] after voiceless consonants (e.g., cetvel, teflvik) 

/V/ [Ø] before labial consonants 

[V] elsewhere 

(e.g., kovmak, sövmek) 

Another consonant which is realized differently in different environments is the 

alveolar lateral approximant /l/. Turkish /l/ has two allophones [l] and [¬]. [l] is an 

alveolar lateral approximant produced with a central obstruction and air flowing 

from the sides of the tongue. [¬] is a velarized ‘l’ produced in the same way except 

that the back of the tongue is raised toward the velum. As a general rule, in Turkish 

[l] occurs in the environment of vowels ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘ö’, ‘ü’. Conversely, [¬] occurs in the 

environment of vowels ‘a’, ‘›’, ‘o’, ‘u’. Compare the pronunciation of the following 

pairs, ‘hele-hala’, ‘sel-sal’, ‘kel-kal’. In the production of the second members of 

the pairs, the back of the tongue is raised. However, in word-initial position, 

regardless of the vowel environment, /l/ is always realized as [l]. Consider the 

following words in which /l/ is followed by the vowels ‘a’, ‘›’, ‘o’, ‘u’: ‘lamba’, 

25

26 


‘lokum’, ‘Luftansa’. In such words, the expectation would be for /l/ to be realized 

as [¬]. But that is not the case. /l/ is realized as [l] in such words. The allophones 

of /l/ are shown below. 

/l/ 

[l] before e, i, ö, ü, and word-initially (e.g., kel, kil, köle, kül) 

[¬] before a, ›, o, u, except word-initially (e.g., kal, k›l, kola, kul) 

English /l/ also has the same two allophones, however the distribution of these 

allophones is different from that of Turkish. Similar to Turkish, [l] occurs with 

vowels such as ‘i’, ‘e’ and [¬] with vowels such as ‘a’, ‘o’, and ‘u’. Unlike Turkish, 

[¬] occurs in word-final position regardless of the preceding vowel.Thus the final 

sound of words such as ‘kill’, ‘sell’, ‘male’ is pronounced as […]

Summary 

The production of consonants involves either complete 

or partial obstruction. Where this obstruction is realized 

refers to the place of articulation. The nature of the 

obstruction refers to manner of articulation. Whether 

there is vocal cord vibration or not distinguishes voiced 

consonants from voiceless consonants. Thus, the 

description of consonants must include voicing 

(presence/absence of vocal cord vibration), place of 

articulation (where in the vocal tract the consonant is 

produced), and manner of articulation (how the 

consonant is produced). Voicing distinguishes two 

sounds that are formed at the same place in the same 

manner. For example, both [t] and [d] are alveolar stops 

differing only in their voicing. Voiced consonants in 

Turkish are [b], [d], [g], [z], [Z], [m], [n], [R], [V], [j], [l], [dZ]. 

Voiceless consonants are [p], [t], [k], [f], [s], [S], [h], [tS]. 

Consonants may be realized differently in different 

environments. The different realizations of a sound are 

the allophones of the same phoneme. Some Turkish 

consonants have different realizations in different 

environments. The phonemes which have different 

allophones in Turkish are /k/, /g/, /n/, /R/, /V/, and /l/. 


27

28 

Self-test 


1. Which of the following describes the initial sound of 

the Turkish word ‘civa’? 

a) voiced alveolar stop 

b) voiced palato-alveolar affricate 

c) voiced palato-alveolar fricative 

d) voiceless palato-alveolar fricative 

e) voiceless palato-alveolar affricate 

2. To which of the symbol does voiceless glottal fricative 

correspond? 

a) f 

b) s 

c) h 

d) S 

e) R 

3. Which of the following sets contains all voiced 

sounds? 

a) f, s, t, k, p 

b) b, d, g, R, l 

c) V, z, d, S, m 

d) m, n, s, d, dZ 

e) f, V, s, z, h 

4. Which of the following sets contains only stops? 

a) t, k, p 

b) m, n, R 

c) s, S, h 

d) b, V, m 

e) l, R, h 

5. Which of the following sets contains alveolar 

sounds? 

a) R, l, s, k, p 

b) s, z, n, l, h 

c) d, t, s, z, S 

d) l, s, d, m, z 

e) n, l, t, z, s


Transcribe the consonants in the following passage. 

“ 

O gece yata¤›mda beni fliddetli bir atefl bast›rd›. Bir 

türlü uyuyam›yor, say›kl›yor, a¤a düflmüfl kocaman bir 

bal›k gibi kendimi oradan oraya at›yordum. 

Bereket versin geceler k›sayd›. Ortal›k ayd›nlan›ncaya 

kadar Müjgân beni yaln›z b›rakmad›. 

Vücudumda bir fley de¤iflmifl gibi kendi kendime karfl› 

yenilmez bir korku ve tiksinti duyuyordum. ‹kide birde 

bir bebek h›çk›r›¤›yla Müjgân’›n boynuna sar›l›yor. 

“Niçin öyle söyledin, abla?” diye h›çk›r›yordum. 

O, besbelli yeni bir hücuma u¤ramaktan ürktü¤ü için 

ne “evet”, ne “hay›r” diyor, sadece saçlar›m› okflayarak, 

bafl›m› kuca¤›na alarak beni yat›flt›rmaya çal›fl›yordu. 

Yaln›z, sabaha karfl› o da asabileflerek isyan etti, h›rç›n 

bir sesele beni azarlad›. 

From Güntekin, R.N. Çal›kuflu (25.Bask›, 1979. 

‹stanbul: ‹nkilâp ve Aka Kitabevleri) sayfa 64. 

” 


29

30 

References 


Finegan, E. 1994. Language: It’s structure and use. 

New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers. 

Fry, D. B. 1979. The Physics of Speech. Cambridge: 

Cambridge University Press. 

Kopkall›-Yavuz. 1999. /v/’nin sesbilimsel ve sesbilgisel 

özellikleri. XIII. Dilbilim Kurultay› Bildirileri. 

Bo¤aziçi Universitesi, 13-15May›s 1999. 





Yule, G. 1985. The Study of Language. Cambridge: 





1 1 

1- It is your turn! upper lip 

2- 

2 

teeth 

2 


3- alveolar 3 ridge 3 

4- palate 


5- 

4 

velum 

4 

It is your turn! 6- uvula 

5 

7- pharynx 

5 


8- lower 6 lip 

9- It is your turn! tip 

6 

10- 

7 

blade 

7 


11- front 8 8 

12- center 


13- back 9 9 

It is your turn! 14- It is your turn! root 











1 1 

10 

10 





2 2 

11 11 

Sound It is your turn! voiced/voiceless 



3 

S 12 


3 

voiceless12 


It is your lturn! 4 voiced 


4 


13 

m It is your turn! voiced 

13 


tS 5 voiceless5 

It is your Rturn! voiced It is your turn! 

6 

dZ voiced 

6 


Z voiced 


7 7 



8 8 



9 9 


10 


10 



11 11 



12 12 



13 13 



1 1 



2 2 



3 3 

Consonant It is your turn! place It is your of turn! articulation 

4 

j 

4 

palatal 


n5 It is your turn! 

alveolar 5 

t 

It is your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

V1 6 

alveolar 

It is your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

labiodental 

16 

It is your 

your 

turn! 

turn! S palato-alveolar 

It is your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

27 dZ 

27 

palato-alveolar 

It is your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

g 

It is your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

velar 

38 38 

It is your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

It is your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

49 49 

Consonant It is your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

10 5 

k 

manner It is your 

your 

turn! 

turn! of articulation 

10 5 

stop 

It is your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

It is your turn! s 11 6 

1 

m It is your turn! turn! 


12 7 l 2 

It is your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

fricative It is your turn! 

11 6 

1 

nasal It is your turn! turn! 


12 7 lateral 2 approximant 


It is your turn! Z 

13 8 

3 

æ 

fricative It is your turn! 


13 8 

3 

central approximant 


It is your turn! R 9 


It is your turn! flap 9 

4 4 





10 

10 

5 5 


It is your voicing turn! 

11 

6 

It is your turn! place It is your turn! of 

11 

6 

articulation 

manner of 

articulation 


m voiced 12 7 


bilabial 12 7 

nasal 

s voiceless 


alveolar 


fricative 

h 13 voiceless 8 13 glottal 8 

fricative 

lIt is your voiced turn! alveolar It is your turn! 

lateral 


9 9 


10 

approximant 

10 

tS voiceless It is your turn! palato-alveolar It is your turn! 

affricate 

R 11 voiced 11 alveolar flap 

dIt is your voiced turn! alveolar It is your turn! 

stop 

12 12 



13 13



Aims 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 


How are vowels produced? 

How are vowels described? 

What is height in vowels? 

What is backness in vowels? 

What is rounding in vowels? 

How are vowels described? 

What are the allophonic variations of Turkish vowels? 

Key Words 

• vowels 

• height 

• backness 

• rounding 

• high vowels 

• mid vowels 

• low vowels 

Contents 



Morphology 


Turkish Vowels 

• front vowels 

• central vowels 

• back vowels 

• rounded vowels 

• unrounded vowels 

• allophones of Turkish vowels 


• VOWEL PRODUCTION 

• VOWEL DESCRIPTION 

• HEIGHT 

• BACKNESS 

• ROUNDING 

• ALLOPHONES OF TURKISH 

VOWELS

Turkish Vowels 

INTRODUCTION 

Can you form a syllable with only consonants? Can ‘z’ for example, be a syllable 

by itself? Why not? Can ‘a’ be a syllable? Yes; a-i-le. What is the difference between 

consonants and vowels that allows vowels to form a syllable? 

Production of vowels is different from that of consonants. In consonant 

production there is a constriction somewhere in the vocal tract. Thus consonants 

are defined in terms of where and how this constriction occurs. In vowel production 

there is no constriction. The air flows through the vocal tract relatively freely. 

Then, how do we describe vowels? This unit focuses on vowels – how vowels are 

produced and how vowels are described. Specifically, the focus is, of course, on 

Turkish vowels. 

VOWEL PRODUCTION 

Unlike consonants, in the production of vowels, the airstream is not obstructed in 

any way. The air flows freely through the vocal tract. Vowel production is a 

continuum whereby there are no clear boundaries of tongue position for different 

vowels. Because vowel production is a continuum, it is possible to produce 

different vowels between any two vowels. Produce the vowels represented with 

the letters ‘i’ then move gradually to ‘›’. Make each vowel as long as possible. As 

you move gradually from ‘i’ to ‘›’ you should produce vowels between these two 

vowels. Now try the reverse: Begin with ‘›’ then move gradually to ‘i’. Again stop 

as long as possible on the vowels and in between. Notice that the movement from 

one vowel to another changes the auditory quality of vowels. The change in the 

quality of the vowels is a result of the movement of the tongue and the lips. How 

the tongue moves exactly to produce different vowels however is not very clear. 

Say the sounds ‘a’, ‘o’, and ‘i’. Can you tell where your tongue is for each of the 

vowels? You probably cannot with certainty. That is because there are no distinct 

boundaries of tongue position when producing vowels as there are in consonant 

production. 

In describing consonants, a distinction between voiced and voiceless was 

necessary as voicing is the only distinction for some consonants produced at the 

same place and in the same manner. For vowels such a distinction is not necessary 

as by definition all vowels are voiced.

34 



How does vowel It is your production turn! differ from consonant production? 

1 1 

VOWEL DESCRIPTION 


2 

Vowel description is difficult because unlike consonants which have distinct 


boundaries, vowel production is a continuum. Furthermore, consonants are 

2 

described in terms of location and degree of airflow constriction. Vowel description, 

on the other hand, is based on auditory quality of the vowels because the position 


3 


of the tongue is not clear in the production of vowels. 

Traditionally, 3 vowels are described in terms of 

• height 


• backness It is your turn! 

4 • lip 4position 

Traditional vowel description/classification refers to the position of the highest 


point of tongue It is your body turn! in the vocal tract. Although there is movement of the tongue 

5 body from 5 one vowel to another, there is no one-to-one correspondence. Therefore, 

vowel classification is based on how the vowels sound relative to other vowels. 


6 

Nonetheless, vowels are classified as high-low and front-back. The tongue is 


represented two-dimensionally as shown in Figure 3.1. The horizontal axis 

6 

represents the backness of the tongue whereas the vertical axis represents the 

height of the tongue. 



Figure 73.1 7 

Representation of 

It is your the turn! tongue It is your turn! backness 

8 8 



9 9 


10 


10 


As stated It is above, your turn! vowels are described in terms of auditory quality rather than 

11 the position 11 of the tongue. The terms ‘high-low, front-back’ are just labels referring 

to auditory quality rather than tongue position. These terms are used to describe 


12 

how vowels It is sound your turn! relative to other vowels. The reference point is the vowel 

‘schwa’ [´], 

12 

also called a neutral vowel because it is produced with the tongue at 

rest position. Try to produce a schwa. When you are not speaking, your tongue is 

at rest position. Open your lips a bit without moving your tongue. The sound you 


13 


produce is [´]. Vowels are said to be higher or more back than [´]. 

Let us 

13 

illustrate how the labels height and backness are used in vowel description 

with three vowels at extreme points in the vowel space relative to [´]. 

height

Compare the position of the tongue for ‘i’ with [´]. Start with [´] and move to 

‘i’. Notice that your tongue rises towards the roof of the mouth and the higher 

point of the tongue moves forward. Hence, ‘i’ is described as a high front vowel. 

Now try the same with the vowel ‘u’. As you go from [´] to ‘u’, the tongue is raised 

but this time the higher point of the tongue moves towards the back of the mouth. 

Thus, ‘u’ is called a high back vowel. Now compare [´] with ‘a’. To produce ‘a’, the 

tongue lowers at the center of the mouth. Notice that [´] and ‘a’ are both central 

vowels as shown in Figure 3.2. The difference between these two vowels is in the 

height dimension. The height of a vowel correlates with jaw opening. The lower 

the vowel is, the more open the jaw is. Compare ‘i’ and ‘a’ paying attention to jaw 

opening. While the mouth is relatively closed for ‘i’, the mouth It is your opens turn! for ‘a’. ‘a’ is 

therefore called a low vowel. 

1 1 

a) How are vowels described? 

b) What do the terms height and backness refer to? 

HEIGHT 

Front 

cental back 

i u 

´ 

a 

Unit 3 - Turkish Vowels 



Height refers to the height of the tongue body in the vocal tract. In vowels 3 there 

are three heights: High, mid, low. For the production of high vowels the tongue 

3 

is raised towards the roof of the mouth. When the tongue is lowered, to a lower 


position than that of [´], low vowels are produced. If the tongue height is similar 

4 

to that of [´], then the vowel is a mid vowel. 

The initial sounds of the following words contain high vowels; ‘isim’, ‘›rmak’, 


4 

‘üzüm’, ‘umut’. The IPA symbols for these vowels are /i/, /µ/, It /y/, is your /u/, turn! respectively. 


Notice how the tongue is raised towards the roof of the mouth to form these 5 vowels. 

The following words have mid vowels in word-initial position, ‘ekmek’, ‘övün’, 

5 

‘orman’. Produce these vowels. When compared to [´], the It height is your turn! of the tongue 


for the mid vowels is the same as that of [´], which is also a mid vowel. 6 The IPA 

symbols for the inital sounds of the above words are as follows: /E/, /ø/, /o/, 

6 

respectively. 


Turkish has only one low vowel – ‘a’ as in ‘a¤la’. The IPA symbol for 

7 

‘a’ is /a/. 

Compare the production of vowel /a/ with /´/. For /a/, the jaw opens more than 


7 

it does for [´]. 



8 8 

height 

mid 

low 

Figure 3.2 

35 




2 2 



9 9 


10 


10 




1 1 



2 2 


a) What are It the is your three turn! heights? 

3 b) Fill in 3the 

heights of the following vowels. 

height 


4 

a 

i 

E 


4 


5 

µ 

ø 


5 

BACKNESS 


Backness It refers is your to turn! the position of the highest point of tongue body in the vocal 

6 tract. As 6mentioned 

above, height refers to how high or low the tongue is in 

reference to [´]. Backness, on the other hand, refers to where in the oral tract the 


tongue has It the is your highest turn! point. Again, remember that these are relative to tongue 

7 positions 7of 

other vowels. For example, where is the highest point of the tongue 

in the production of [´]? It is difficult to determine exactly the highest point of the 


8 

tongue. We can illustrate front-back difference with pairs of vowels which are 


described as having the same height but with a front-back difference. High vowels 

8 

are such pairs that have front and back counterparts. Produce first /i/ then /µ/. 

Notice how the highest point of your tongue moves back from /i/ to /µ/. /i/ is a 



9 

1 


high front vowel It is your turn! whereas /µ/ is a high back vowel. Try the reverse. Begin with 

/µ/, then 9 

1 

gradually move to /i/. You should notice your tongue move towards the 

front part of the mouth as you approach /i/. /y/ and /u/ are similar pairs in that 



10 

2 

/y/ is a high It is front your turn! vowel whereas /u/ is a high back vowel. Begin with /y/ then 


move to 10 /u/. Have you noticed your tongue moving back to form /u/? When you 

do the reverse, 

2 

you should feel your tongue move forward for /y/. 



11 

3 

Backness It is has your three turn! degrees: Front, central, back. In Turkish, front vowels are 

/i/, /y/, 11 and It is /E/. your There turn! is only one central vowel which is [a]. Back vowels are 

/µ/, /u/, 3and 

/o/. 



12 

4 


a) What are It the is your three turn! degrees of backness? 

b) Fill in 12 

4the 

backness of the following vowels. 

backness 



13 

5 

u 

y 

µ 



13 

5 

a 


6 

ø 


6 

ROUNDING 


In addition It is to your height turn! and backness, vowels are distinguished in terms of lip 

7 position. 7In 

the production of some vowels, the lips are protruded or rounded to 

form what is called rounded vowels. For some vowels, the lips are not protruded, 


rather they It are is your spread. turn! Such vowels are called unrounded vowels. In Turkish, 

8 rounding 8is 

a parameter that distinguishes vowels. 

In Turkish, there are two high front vowels, /i/ and /y/. The only difference 


between these It is your vowels turn! is rounding. /i/ is unrounded while /y/ is rounded. Produce 

9 9 


10 


10 



37 



the sounds, first /i/ then /y/. You should notice that by changing only the 1 position 

of your lips you could produce these two vowels. Now try the same with high 

1 

back vowels. First produce /µ/. Then without changing It the is your position turn! of your 


tongue, round your lips and you should produce /u/. 

2 2 

Front mid vowels also differ in terms of rounding. /E/ is an unrounded vowel 

as in the word ‘emek’ whereas /œ/ is a rounded vowel as in It the is your word turn! ‘örümcek’. 


Test for yourself that /E/ and /ø/ differ only in rounding. First produce /E/, 3 holding 

it for a while. As you produce /E/ round your lips. You should notice that /E/ turns 

3 

into an /ø/ as you round your lips. 



/o/ is a rounded vowel but without an unrounded counterpart. 4 4 

Fill in the rounding of the following vowels. 



rounding 

5 5 

a 

µ 



E 

y 

6 6 

ø 



Turkish vowels are summarized in Figure 3.3. 

7 


7 



1 Figure 1 3.3 


Front cental back 

8 


Turkish 8Vowels 


i y 

µ u height 


2 2 


E ø 

o mid 9 


9 


a 

lowIt 

is your turn! 

3 3 


• Vowels to the left are unrounded. 

10 


10 


• Vowels to the right are rounded. 


4 4 


11 

Vowels are described in the order of height, backness, and It is rounding. your turn! Thus /i/ 

11 


is a high front unrounded vowel, /o/ is a mid back rounded vowel. 5 5 



Describe the following vowels. 

12 


12 


E 

a 

height backness rounding 

6 


13 


6 


13 


u 

i 

7 7 

ø 



y 

µ 

8 8 

o 



9 9 


10 


10 



11 11

38 

Figure 3.4 

English Vowels 


Turkish distinguishes vowels in terms of height, backness, and rounding. Other 

languages utilize other parameters to distinguish vowels. English, for example, has 

tense-lax distinction. Tense-lax is a cover term to distinguish pairs of vowels such 

as /i/ in the word ‘eat’ and /I/ in the word ‘it’ in English. The need for such a 

distinction is illustrated below. 

American English has 12 pure vowels. The vowels are presented in Figure 3.4. 

i 

I 

Front 

e ´ 

E 

√ 

Q 

cental back 

All of the 12 vowels are distinct phonemes. Examples of each of the phonemes 

are given below. 

/i/ see, key, read, seem, mean, week 

/I/ it, win, did, him, river, dinner, six 

/e/ say, day, may, rain, table, sail 

/E/ red, head, ten, ready, guest, best 

/Q/ add, bad, man, answer, fat, apple 

/a/ stop, job, Mom, John, college 

/√/ fun, run, sun, son, bus, study 

/u/ two, room, June, ruler, too, food 

/U/ good, foot, wood, stood, cookie, books 

/o/ go, show, drove, open, no, pore 

/ç/ saw, song, dog, August, law, coffee 

/´/ awhile, alive, a bus, arrive 

As seen in the chart (Figure 3.4), there are two vowels in 4 of the boxes. In the 

Turkish vowel system, when there are two vowels in a box they are distinguished 

in terms of rounding. But in English, that is not the case as illustrated below. 


/i/ high front unrounded 

/I/ high front unrounded 

/e/ mid front unrounded 

/E/ mid front unrounded 

a 

height 

As can bee seen in the above examples /i/ and /I/ cannot be distinguished by 

these three descriptors. Therefore another descriptor is necessary for English 

vowels. For English tense /lax distinction is used to distinguish such pairs. Tense/ 

lax is a cover term for English which does not have a phonetic basis. Tenseness is 

said to affect 

U 

ç 

u 

o 

mid 

low

• vowel length – tense vowels are longer 

• tongue position – tense vowels have more extreme tongue position 

• lip position – tense vowels have more extreme lip position 

In English, tense vowels are i, e, √, a, u, o, ç and lax vowels are I, E, Q, ´, U 

Thus English vowels are described in terms of tense/lax, height, backness, and 

rounding. 

Tense/lax height backness rounding 

/i/ tense high front unrounded 

/I/ lax high front unrounded 

/o/ tense mid back rounded 

/u/ tense high back rounded 

/E/ lax mid front unrounded 

/´/ lax mid central unrounded 

/ç/ tense low back rounded 

/e/ tense mid front unrounded 

/U/ lax high back rounded 

/√/ tense mid central unrounded 

/Q/ lax low front unrounded 

/a/ tense low central unrounded 

As can be seen in the chart and in the examples, for English vowels the following 

generalization can be made: All back vowels are rounded, all rounded vowels are 

back. Inversely, all non-back vowels are unrounded, all unrounded vowels are 

non-back. 

DIPHTHONGS 

Diphthong is a vowel in which there is a change in quality during a single 

syllable. Thus, it is a vowel which starts as one vowel but ends as a different vowel 

within the same syllable as shown in Figure 3.5. There are 3 diphthongs in American 

English: 

/ai/ my, lie, die, rye 

/au/ cow, how, now 

/oi/ boy, toy, royal 

i 

a 


British English also has these diphthongs but others as well. As our focus is not 

English vowels, they will not be discussed here. 

Turkish does not have diphthongs. Although the Turkish word ‘ay’ and the 

English word ‘eye’ are similar in their pronunciation, the Turkish word does not 

contain a dipthong while the English word does. The Turkish word is transcribed 

as /aj/, a vowel and a consonant, but the English word is transcribed as /ai/ with 

a diphthong. Why is there a difference in the transcription if the two words sound 

u 

o 

Figure 3.5 

Diphthongs in 

American 

English 

39

40 


similar? The evidence suggesting that the Turkish word does not contain a 

diphthong comes from the syllable structure. The word ‘ay’ when added the suffix 

–› becomes ‘a-y›’, the sound ‘y’ goes to the next syllable. If it were a diphthong, it 

would have stayed in the same syllable since a diphthong is considered to be a 

single vowel. 

ALLOPHONES OF TURKISH VOWELS 

Turkish vowels presented above are the phonemic representations. In the actual 

realization of speech, variations of these vowels are used. Compare the way you 

say the initial vowel of the following words, ‘i¤ne’, ‘inek’. The /i/ in ‘i¤ne’ is more 

similar to the tense high front vowel of English produced with more spread lips, 

and more extreme tongue position as opposed to the /i/ in ‘inek’. The /i/ in ‘inek’ 

is realized as [I], similar to lax high front vowel of English. In Turkish, [i] and [I] 

are allophones, or variations of the same phoneme /i/. The use of [i] for [I], or the 

use of [I] for [i] would not change the meaning of words. Thus, the high front 

unrounded vowel /i/ has two allophones in Turkish as represented below. 

/i/ 

This suggests that the occurrence of [i] is restricted to the environment of ‘¤’. [I] 

occurs in all other environments. 

Similarly, high back vowel /u/ has two allophones, [u] and [U]. Compare the 

words ‘tu¤ra’ and ‘tura’. /u/ in ‘tu¤ra’ is longer, more rounded, and produced 

with a more extreme tongue position than that of ‘tura’. As with the high front 

vowel, [u] occurs before ‘¤’ and [U] in other environments. The allophones of /u/ 

is schematized below. 

/u/ 

[i] before ‘¤’ (e.g., i¤de, i¤ne) 

[I] elsewhere (e.g., isim, inmek) 

[u] before ‘¤’ (e.g., tu¤la, bu¤u) 

[U] elsewhere (e.g., turne, buhar) 

Mid front vowel /E/ has three allophones. The more commonly used allophone 

is [E] as in the words ‘eser’, ‘elma’, ‘eksi’. In words such as ‘e¤er’, ‘e¤lence’, ‘de¤il’ 

/E/ is realized with a ‘j’ glide, thus sounding more like the English [e]. In some 

dialects, or idiolects, /E/ is realized as [æ] in certain environments as in words such 

as ‘genç’, ‘Mehmet’ (first ‘e’), ‘mendil’. Consequently, the phoneme /E/ has three 

allophones as shown below. 

[e] before ‘¤’ (e.g., e¤er, e¤lence, de¤il) 

/E/ [Q] speaker-dependent (e.g.,genç, Mehmet) 

[E] elsewhere (e.g.,genç, Mehmet) 

One other phoneme that has three allophones is /a/. The allophones of /a/ are 

[a], [√], [´]. Compare the pronunciation of the two /a/’s in the word ‘masa’. Do 

you notice the difference in the qualities of the first and the second /a/’s? The first 

/a/ is a schwa, a very short and almost nondistinctive vowel (Kopkall›-Yavuz,



1 1 



Unit 3 - Turkish 2 Vowels 2 41 

2000) whereas the second /a/ is more like the English tense mid It is your central turn! vowel [√]. 


Thus, the allophones of /a/are as follows. 

3 3 

[a] speaker-dependent (e.g., para, kan› ‘very slow vehicle’) 



/a/ [´] in first syllable (e.g., masa, hal›) 

4 4 

[√] elsewhere (e.g., masa, s›ra) 

The first allophone [a] is used much less commonly as Turkish It is your has turn! the tendency 


to centralize all the vowels. Vowels, rather than being realized at extreme 5 points 

in the vowel space, are approximated more towards the center. The reason may 

5 

be that there are no distinct phonemes in the central part It in is your Turkish. turn! Thus, a 


change in the vowel quality would not cause a change in the meaning of 6 words. 

6 

Transcribe the following words considering the allophonic variations It is when your turn! necessary. 


hayat 

leblebi 

7 7 

örümcek 



istiklal 

mürekkep 

8 8 



9 9 


10 


10 



11 11 



12 12 



13 13

42 

Summary 


Vowels are sounds produced without an obstruction in 

the vocal tract. As there is no constriction involved in 

the production of vowels, vowels are described 

differently than consonants. Turkish vowels are 

described in terms of height, backness, and rounding. 

Languages such as English need other parameters to 

distinguish vowels such as ‘tense-lax’ distinction. 

Turkish does not distinguish between tense and lax 

vowels phonemically but lax counterparts are used 

more widely than tense vowels in Turkish. As there are 

8 vowel phonemes in Turkish and the distinction 

between some vowels is in rounding, there is room for 

movement in the vowel space. Thus, Turkish vowels 

have allophones, different realizations of vowels, that 

are not conditioned by the neighboring sounds or the 

position within a word. Rather, most of the vowels tend 

to centralize. 

Turkish vowels are described as follows: 


/i/ high front unrounded 

/y/ high front rounded 

/µ/ high back unrounded 

/u/ high back rounded 

/E/ mid front unrounded 

/ø/ mid front rounded 

/o/ mid back rounded 

/a/ low central unrounded 

/√/ mid central unrounded

Self-test 

1. Which of the following describes the vowel [ø]? 

a. high front rounded 

b. mid back rounded 

c. mid front rounded 

d. high back rounded 

e. mid back unrounded 

2. Which of the words contain a mid back rounded 

vowel in word initial position? 

a. uzman 

b. ortak 

c. üzgün 

d. aray›fl 

e. endifle 

3. What is the symbol corresponding to high front 

unrounded vowel? 

a. i 

b. E 

c. µ 

d. y 

e. u 

4. Which best transcribes the word ‘tu¤ra’? 

a. tUgr√ 

b. tuR√ 

c. tUra 

d. tUR´ 

e. tuR´ 

5. Which of the following is a description of the vowel 

[y]? 

a. high back unrounded 

b. mid front rounded 

c. low back rounded 

d. mid central unrounded 

e. high front rounded 


43

44 



“ 

Transcribe the following passage. 

Üvey babam Falih R›fk› sayesinde, babam›n yoklu¤unu 

hiç hissetmedim. O s›rada pek para kazanamad›¤› için, 

evimize iç güvey geldi¤inde, yan›nda getirdi¤i tek fley, 

benim için ald›¤› oyuncaklarla dolu küçük bir sand›kt›. 

Büyüdükten sonra, o sand›¤›n at›lmas›na uzun zaman 

gönlüm raz› olmad›. Falih R›fk›’n›n üvey baba olarak 

tek kusuru, beni fazlas›yla fl›martmas›yd› belki. 

Kardeflim Halil do¤duktan sonra da ben her zaman ön 

plandayd›m. 

From Urgan, Mina. 1998. Bir Dinazorun An›lar›. 

‹stanbul: Yap› Kredi Kültür Sanat Yay›nc›l›k. Sayfa 132. 

” 

References 



Fry, D. B. 1979. The Physics of Speech. Cambridge: 


Finegan, E. 1994. Language: It’s structure and use. 

New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers. 



Kopkall›-Yavuz, H. 2000. Interaction between syllable 

structure and vowel length: Example from Turkish 

/a/. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference 

on Turkish Linguistics. Bo¤aziçi Universitesi, 

A¤ustos 16-18, 2000.




1 1 

Vowels It is your turn! are produced It is your without turn! constriction in the vocal 

2 2 

tract whereas consanants are produced with a 

It It is is your turn! 


constriction somewhere in the vocal tract. 

13 13 



24 24 

a) It It is is your Vowels turn! 

are described It It is is your turn! 

in terms of height, backness, 

35 35 

and lip position (rounding). 



b) It is your Vowels turn! 

6 are described 6 


4 4 relative to [´]. Height refers to 

1 1 

the height of the vocal tract. Backness refers to the 




57 57 


position of the highest point of the tonfue body. 




68 68 


3 3 


2 2 

a) It is your turn! The 9 three heights 9 

It is your are turn! 

7 7 high, mid, low. 

4 4 

b) It It is is your turn! 

height It It is is your turn! 


10 

10 


8 8 

a 5 low 5 



iIt is your turn! 1 

11 9 

6 

EIt is your turn! 



µ 10 12 

7 

high 

mid 

high 



1 

11 


9 

6 




10 12 

7 

It is your turn! øIt is your turn! mid 



a) It is your The turn! three degrees It is your turn! of backness are front, central, 



back. 13 

10 



13 

10 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! b) 

It is your turn! 61 u 11 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

y 7 


It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

backness 61 


back 11 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

front 72 


12 

µ It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! back 

12 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

8 


a 13 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

ø 

central 

front 

83 


13 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! rounding 

a 

11 6 11 6 

unrounded 


µ 12 7 unrounded 12 7 

EIt It is your turn! 

unrounded 

y 13 8 13 8 rounded 

øIt is your turn! rounded 




11 13 

8 



11 13 

8 





12 

9 



12 

9 

94 94 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

10 5 10 5 


10 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 




9 9 


10 



11 11 



12 12 



13 13 



1 1 



2 2 



3 3 




4 4 



5 5 



6 6 


It is your turn! 1 height 


1 It is your backness turn! 

rounding 

7 

E mid It is your turn! 

7 

front It is your turn! 

unrounded 

It is your turn! 2 a 8low 2 It is your turn! 

8 central unrounded 

uIt is your turn! high It is your turn! 3 

9 i high 

It is your back turn! 


9 front 

rounded 

unrounded 


øIt is your turn! 4mid It is your turn! 

4 It is your front turn! 

rounded 

10 

yIt is your turn! high 

10 

It is your front turn! 

rounded 


µ 11high 5 It is your turn! 

11 back unrounded 

It is your turn! o mid It is your turn! back rounded 


12 12 




13 13 

hayat It is your turn! 

h´j√t It is your turn! 

8 

leblebi 

8 

lEblEbI 


örümcek 9 


øRymdZEc 

9 

istiklal 


IstIcl√l 


mürekkep 10 

10myREc˘Ep 



11 11 



12 12 



13 13 

45



Aims 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 


What is phonology? 

What are some phonological processes in Turkish? 

What is ‘final devoicing’? How can final devoicing rule be described in 

Turkish? 

What is ‘assimilation’? What are the types of assimilation in Turkish? 

What is ‘vowel harmony’? What are the types of vowel harmony in Turkish? 

Key Words 

• phonology 

• final devoicing 

• assimilation 

• place of articulation assimilation 

Contents 



Morphology 


Phonological 

Processes in Turkish 

• voicing assimilation 

• vowel harmony 

• backness harmony 

• rounding harmony 


• PHONOLOGY 

• FINAL DEVOICING 

• ASSIMILATION 

• VOWEL HARMONY

Phonological Processes in 

Turkish 

INTRODUCTION 

How do we, as native speakers of Turkish, know that ‘dolap’ and ‘dolab›’, ‘burun’ 

and ‘burnu’ are related in meaning although they have different forms? 

“Phonology is concerned with the organization of speech” (Clark and Yallop, 

1991:2). Described as such, phonology deals with how sounds pattern together. 

Each language has its own set of rules of which sounds can occur together and 

which sounds cannot, which sounds can occur in which environment or position 

within a word. This unit focuses on three major phonological processes in Turkish 

and how the rules of those processes are described. 

PHONOLOGY 

All languages have rules about how speech is organized. These rules are language 

specific in that each language has its own phonological rules and a phonological 

rule may occur in one language while not in other languages. Or, the same 

phonological rule may occur in different languages with some variations. A 

language, for example, may allow certain sound sequences but not others. 

Knowing a language means knowing which sound sequences are permissible and 

which sound sequences are not permissible in that language. Consider the following 

nonsense words (words that do not have meaning in Turkish). Which of the 

following could be acceptable Turkish words? 

(1) (I) cunur 

(II) kambat 

(III) sortunk 

(IV) skinez 

(V) arktrat 

Based on your intuitions, you probably said that (I), (II), and (III) could be 

Turkish words but (IV) and (V) could not be Turkish words. (I) could be a Turkish 

word because all the sounds in ‘cunur’ occur in Turkish. Furthermore, the 

combination of the sounds is such that it is permissible in Turkish. Similarly, 

because the sounds and the order of the sounds comply with the rules of Turkish, 

(II) could be a Turkish word also. (III) does not seem like a Turkish word at first 

glance because of the word-final ‘-nk’ combination, but that is a permissible

48 


combination word-finally in Turkish as in the words such as ‘renk’, ‘denk’, ‘künk’. 

(IV) and (V) cannot be Turkish words because both have non-permissible 

combinations. The word in (IV) has two consonants together without an 

intervening vowel (called consonant cluster) in word-initial position which 

Turkish does not allow. Turkish has borrowed words such as ‘spor’ which appears 

to have a consonant cluster in word-initial position but it is not realized as such in 

actual utterances. ‘Spor’ is pronounced as two syllables with a vowel in between 

the two consonants, ‘s›-por’, thus not breaking the rules of Turkish. (V) also has 

a consonant cluster in syllable-initial position. Based on our intuitions about 

Turkish syllable structure, ‘arktrat’ can be broken down either as ‘ar-ktrat’ or as 

‘ark-trat’. In the first case, there are three consonants together in syllable initial 

position. In the second case, there are consonant clusters both in syllable-final 

and syllable-initial positions. Syllable-final ‘-rk’ sequence is permissible as it occurs 

in words such as ‘Türk’, ‘fark’, ‘kork’. Syllable initial consonant clusters however 

are not allowed in Turkish no matter what the consonant combination may be. 

Any native speaker of Turkish would also agree that (I), (II), and (III) could be 

Turkish words but (IV) and (V) could not be acceptable Turkish words although 

they may not be able to state the reasons. That is because native speakers of a 

language acquire the rules of that language – they know what is permissible and 

what is not. Thus, Turkish speakers know that Turkish does not allow syllableinitial 

consonant clusters and although syllable-final clusters are permissible, the 

combination of consonants that can occur is limited. This may not be an overt 

knowledge, a native speaker may not be able to verbalize the rule. Rather Turkish 

speakers know intuitively which sequences are possible in Turkish. Knowing a 

language then means knowing the set of rules of that language. 

Phonological rules of a language are language specific in that each language 

may choose to utilize different phonological rules or same rules but with some 

differences. Turkish utilizes phonological rules that other languages also utilize. 

In this unit, some of the phonological rules of Turkish are described and discussed. 

FINAL DEVOICING 

Turkish speakers know that the following non-sense words are not acceptable 

Turkish words. 

(2) (I) sahab 

(II) alad 

(III) sorag 

(IV) akac 

If told that the above words have meanings, native speakers would argue that 

these could not be Turkish but that they may be words borrowed from other 

languages. If asked why these cannot be Turkish words, not everyone could be 

able to state the reason(s), or name the rule but would know that these are not 

acceptable in Turkish. 

The reason why these words cannot be acceptable in Turkish is that Turkish 

does not allow voiced stops (b,d,g) and affricate (dZ) to occur in word-final 

position. This is a rule called Final Devoicing Rule which states that voiced 

sounds become voiceless in word or syllable final position. The words above end 

either with a voiced stop or affricate, therefore not acceptable Turkish words.

Turkish is not the only language which utilizes final devoicing rule. Some of 

the languages which utilize final devoicing rule are German, Russian, Polish, and 

Catalan. The way Turkish uses final devoicing rule is different from those languages 

in two respects. One, in Turkish only voiced stops and affricate undergo this rule 

whereas in the other languages mentioned, fricatives as well as stops and affricates 

devoice in word final position. Two, the rule is reflected in the orthography in 

Turkish but not in other languages. Consider the following words. 

(3) orthography phonetic orthography phonetic 

representation representation 

kitap [kIt√p] kitab› [kIt√bµ] 

tat [t√t] tad› [t´dµ] 

renk [R&ENk] rengi [R&ENgI] 

a¤aç [√:tS]* a¤ac› [√:dZµ] 

* Colon (:) is used to indicate a long sound. Here, /√/ is a long 

vowel because it precedes ‘¤’ 

In (3) b, d, g, dZ in the second column are spelled with the letters representing 

p, t, k, tS respectively when they occur in word-final position as seen in the first 

column. 

In Turkish grammar books, final devoicing rule is stipulated as voiceless stops 

and affricate becoming voiced when a suffix beginning with a vowel is attached. 

When such a rule is applied to, for example, kitap → kitab-›, /p/ becomes /b/ 

because the accusative suffix –i is attached. However, this rule does not account 

for words in which voiceless stops do not become voiced when vowel initial suffix 

is attached as illustrated below. 

(4) sap sap-› not *sab-› 

sanat sanat-› not *sanad-› 

Türk Türk-ü not *Türg-ü 

saç saç-› not *sac-› 

* Asterix (*) indicates unacceptable words. 

When the alternating roots (i.e. kap [k√p] → kab› [k√bµ]) are assumed to have 

voiced stops or affricate and become voiceless in word-final or syllable-final 

position, words in (4) are also accounted for as final devoicing rule does not apply 

to such words. 

In phonology, as discussed in Unit 1, a distinction between underlying 

representation (UR) and surface realization (SR) is made to explain such 

phenomena. Underlying representation means that a word may have a different 

form than its actual realization (i.e., how the word is said). Surface realization, on 

the other hand, refers to how it is actually said. The examples in (5) illustrate the 

underlying representation (UR) and surface realization (SR) of the following words. 

(5) UR SR 

kap /k√b/ [k√p] 

sap /s√p/ [s√p] 

kanat /k√n√d/ [k√n√t] 

sanat /s√n√t/ [s√n√t] 

Unit 4 - Phonological Processes in Turkish 

49

50 


Underlying representations have to be posited because otherwise (a) the rule 

cannot account for all the surface realizations (as illustrated in (4)), or (b) different 

rules have to be stipulated which may result in exceptions as the rule given in 

Turkish grammar books. Remember that that rule states that voiceless stops and 

affricate become voiced when they occur between two vowels. When the rule is 

stipulated as such, then as many exceptions as the rule governed surface realizations 

emerge. Thus, it is necessary to posit an underlying representation for each word 

and to assume that the underlying representations of alternating (i.e., /k√b/, 

/k√n√d/, /R&ENg/) and non-alternating roots (i.e., /s√p/, /s√n√t/, /tyR&•k/) are different 

to derive the correct forms as illustrated below. 

(6) UR FD SR 

kap /k√b/ /k√p/ [k√p] 

sap /s√p/ n/a* [s√p] 

kanat /k√n√d/ /k√n√t/ [k√n√t] 

sanat /s√n√t/ n/a [s√n√t] 

renk /R&ENg/ /R&ENk/ [R&ENc] 

Türk /tyR&•k/ n/a [tyR&•c] (transcribed with 

(c) because /k/ is 

realized as palatal) 

* n/a is a short hand for ‘not applicable’ meaning the rule does not apply. 

Final devoicing in Turkish is described as applying syllable-finally (e.g. Göker, 

1986). Examples are shown in (7). The second column in which the suffix –i is 

attached (accusative case) illustrate the underlying voicing of the final stops; 

singular forms illustrate syllable final devoicing that is also word final; the plural 

forms illustrate syllable final devoicing before a consonant-initial (voiced lateral 

approximant) suffix. 

(7) UR -i singular plural gloss 

/k√b/ [k√bµ] [k√p] [k√p¬√R&•] ‘container’ 

/s√p/ [s√pµ] [s√p] [s√p¬√R&•] ‘stalk’ 

/k√n√d/ [k√n√dµ] [k√n√t] [k√n√t¬√R&•] ‘wing’ 

/s√n√t/ [s√n√tµ] [s√n√t] [s√n√t¬√R&•] ‘arts’ 

When a vowel-initial suffix is attached to consonant roots, the root final 

consonant is no longer syllable final; rather it becomes the initial sound of the next 

syllable. Thus final devoicing does not apply in such cases as final devoicing rule 

in Turkish applies to syllable final voiced stops and affricate. 


a) State the It is final your turn! devoicing rule in Turkish. 

1 b) Determine 1 the underlying representation of the following words: 

a. haç ‘cross’ 


2 

b. haç ‘pilgrimage’ 


c. saç ‘sheet metal’ 

2 

d. saç ‘hair’ 

e. hayat ‘life’ 


f. denk It is your ‘equal’ turn! 

3 3 



4 4 


ASSIMILATION 

Assimilation is a phonological process whereby one sound becomes like the 

neighboring sound. Two types of assimilation processes -- place of articulation 

assimilation and voicing assimilation -- are discussed below. 

Place of Articulation Assimilation 

Consider the following example, ‘Yar›n ‹stanbul’a gidiyorum.’ Focus on the word 

‘‹stanbul’. As you say ‘‹stanbul’, notice that the alveolar nasal /n/ preceding the 

bilabial stop /b/ is pronounced as a bilabial nasal /m/. If you say the word too 

slowly, you probably would not produce a bilabial nasal, but in casual speech 

(i.e., at a normal speed) the alveolar nasal is produced as a bilabial nasal. If you 

cannot notice it in your own speech, ask someone to say the sentence and watch 

their lip as they produce ‘‹stanbul’. /n/ preceding /b/ becomes /m/ due to 

coarticulation. In speech, we anticipate (begin to form) a sound while producing 

the preceding sound. In this case, while producing /n/ we begin to form /b/ for 

which lips come together, resulting in /m/. 

There are other such examples where /n/ becomes /m/ when preceding a 

bilabial stop: 

(8) penbe → pembe anbar → ambar 

saklanbaç → saklambaç cünbüfl → cümbüfl 

As seen in these examples, this process is reflected in the orthography. ‘‹stanbul’ 

is an exception as it is written with the letter ‘n’ but this could be because ‘‹stanbul’ 

is a proper noun. 

These are examples of place of articulation assimilation. Place of articulation 

assimilation, then, means that the place of articulation of one sound becomes like 

the neighboring sound. In words such as ‘sand›k’, ‘tand›r’, ‘mendil’ /n/ is followed 

by an alveolar stop. As both /n/ and /d/ are alveolar sounds, there is no change 

in the realization of /n/, it remains as an alveolar nasal. When /n/ is followed by 

a velar stop /k/ or /g/, /n/ is realized as /N/. Because /N/ is not a distinct phoneme 

in Turkish, realization of /n/ as a velar nasal is not reflected in the orthography. If 

you say the following words ‘nankör’, ‘dengi’, ‘sanki’, paying attention to what 

you are doing with your tongue, you should notice that the back of your tongue 

is at the velum for closure thus producing /N/. ‘Antalya’ and ‘Ankara’ may better 

illustrate the difference between the two /n/’s. You should notice that the closure 

you form for the two /n/ ’s is in different places. The /n/ in Antalya is formed at 

the front of the mouth, at the alveolar ridge, while /n/ in Ankara is formed at the 

back of the mouth – at the velum (see the section on ‘Allophones of Turkish 

Consonants’). 

As you may have noticed the examples presented so far are words containing 

nasals. That is because place of articulation assimilation is most evident in nasals. 

Furthermore, it is the alveolar nasal which undergoes the assimilation process. 

Bilabial nasal does not assimilate to the following sound. 

(9) fiam –da not * fian –da 

kalem –de not * kalen –de 


Place of articulation assimilation in Turkish is regressive (from right to left; 

going backward) in that the consonant following the nasal determines the place of 

51

52 


articulation. Examples containing the three places of articulation of nasals illustrate 

that the assimilation is regressive. 

(10) kanbur /k√nbUR/ → [k√mbUR&•] 

sand›k /s√ndµk/ → [s√ndµk] 

kangal /k√ng√l/ → [k√Ng√¬] 

Examples below, on the other hand, show that when alveolar nasal is preceded 

by a velar (e.g., tekne [tEknE] not [tEkNE]) or bilabial stop (e.g., flebnem [SEbnEm] 


not [SEbmEm]), It is your it turn! does not assimilate in place of articulation suggesting that place 

1 of articulation 1 is not a progressive process. 


Find your own It is set your turn! of place of articulation assimilation examples. 

2 2 

Voicing Assimilation 


3 

Voicing assimilation It is your turn! is a process whereby the voicing of a consonant becomes 

similar to 

3 

that of the neighboring consonant. Voicing assimilation is relevant for 

consonants because consonants are distinguished in terms of voicing whereas 


4 

voicing is not a distinguishing property of vowels. The process of voicing 


assimilation is most apparent in stop-initial and affricate-initial suffixes. Consider 

4 

the following examples. 


(11) It is your turn! -de -te 

5 5 ev ev-de kep kep-te 

ben ben-de hedef hedef-te 


It is your selturn! sel-de çiçek çiçek-te 

6 6 yer yer-de ses ses-te 

belde belde-de befl befl-te 


7 


When the suffix –de (indicating location) is attached to a root, two different 

forms with 7 respect to the initial consonant, –de and –te surface (the difference in 

the vowels will be discussed in the following section). The suffix surfaces as –de 


in the first It column is your turn! but as –te in the second column. Can you explain why? 

8 The words 8 in the first column end with a voiced sound. /V, n, l, R, √/ are all 

voiced. The initial consonant of the suffix –de therefore is also voiced. The words 


in the second It is your column, turn! on the other hand, end with a voiceless consonant. /p, f, 

9 k, s, S/ are 9 all voiceless. Thus, the initial consonant of the suffix becomes voiceless, 

-te. This is called voicing assimilation – voicing of the suffix agrees with the 


10 

voicing of the root final sound. 


There are a number of stop-initial or affricate-initial suffixes in Turkish which 

10 

alternate, i.e., exhibit voicing assimilation. One example of those alternating 

suffixes is –c› with the meaning ‘maker’ as illustrated in (12) 



11 (12) 11 

root-final 

voiced voiceless 


12 

f›r›n 


cam 

12 

hal› 

f›r›n-c› 

cam-c› 

hal›-c› 

çorap 

sanat 

kazak 

çorap-ç› 

sanat-ç› 

kazak-ç› 


perde 


perde-ci raf raf-ç› 

13 13

Although those suffixes which agree in voicing of the root final sound are stopinitial 

or affricate-initial suffixes, not all stop- and affricate-initial suffixes assimilate 

in voicing. –ken, –sa are just a few examples which do not assimilate as illustrated 

in (13). 

(13) af af-ken af-sa 

av av-ken av-sa 

Whether or not a suffix-initial consonant assimilates in voicing is not rule 

governed, rather it is an idiosyncratic characteristic of a given suffix. 

Suffixes with initial consonants other than stops and affricates do not assimilate 

in voicing. Consider the plural suffix –ler as an example. In the words af-lar and 

av-lar, the voicing of the root-final consonant remains the same. This and the 

examples in (11) and (12) suggest that voicing assimilation, unlike place of 

articulation assimilation, is progressive (from left to right; going forward). It is 

the root-final sound that determines the voicing of the alternating suffix-initial 

consonant. 

In Turkish, final devoicing and voicing assimilation processes interact. 

Remember that final devoicing rule applies syllable-finally. First, final devoicing 

rule applies to words which have underlyingly voiced stops and affricate in final 

position. As a result of this rule, voiced stops or affricate become voiceless. Then, 

as voicing assimilation is progressive, alternating suffix-initial It is your voiced turn! consonant 

becomes voiceless as illustrated in (14). 

1 1 

(14) UR -de final devoicing voicing assimilation 

/k√b/ [k√bd√] [k√pd√] It [k√pt√] is your turn! 


/k√n√d/ [k√n√dd√] [k√n√td√] [k√n√tt√] 2 2 

Find examples of suffixes (not discussed above) which alternate (i.e., It is assimilate your turn! in voicing) 


and show how it interacts with final devoicing rule. 

3 3 

VOWEL HARMONY 



Vowel Harmony can be considered a type of assimilation since neighboring 

4 

vowels 

become alike to share common properties. Consider the following examples in 


4 

(15). 



(15) (I) ifl ifl-ler (II) k›z k›z-lar 5 5 

ev ev-ler bal bal-lar 

süt süt-ler muz It is muz-lar your turn! 


köy köy-ler tok tok-lar 6 6 

In the first group of words, the plural suffix is –ler while the same suffix 


becomes –lar in the second group of words. The root-vowels in the first group of 

words share a property common to all while the root-vowels in II share 

7 

a different 

common property. Can you name the property the first group of words share and 


7 

the property the second group of words share? 



The root-vowels in the first group of words are /i, E, y, ø/. The property 8 these 

vowels share is that they are all front vowels. Thus, the suffix –ler, which also 

8 

contains a front vowel, is attached. Conversely, the vowels It in is the your turn! second group, 


/µ, a, o, u/, are all non-front vowels. Thus the plural suffix has the form 9–lar, with 

a non-front vowel. 

9 


10 

53 



10 


54 


These examples illustrate that the vowel of the suffix agrees in backness with 

the vowel of the root. In Turkish, the rule is when a word contains more than one 

syllable, it is the vowel of the last syllable which determines the backness of the 

suffix vowel as shown in (16). 

(16) kalem kalem-ler 

selam selam-lar 

uslüp uslüp-ler 

otel otel-ler 

beton beton-lar 

galip galip-ler 

Vowel harmony is progressive as the vowel of the suffix is determined by the 

(last) vowel of the root. If a suffix is attached to a root, then it is the last vowel, 

whether of the root or the suffix, which determines the vowel of the suffix as 

illustrated in (17). This holds true for all the successive suffixes. 

(17) otel-de-ler otel-ler-den 

beton-dan-lar beton-lar-dan 

There are two types of vowel harmony in Turkish; backness harmony and 

rounding harmony. If the vowel of the suffix is not a high vowel (i.e., E), then it 

agrees in backness. This is called backness harmony. This means that the suffix 

will have a front vowel with words containing front vowels in the last syllable and 

back vowel with words containing back vowels in the last syllable. If the vowel 

of the suffix is a high vowel, then it agrees in both backness and rounding. This 

is called rounding harmony. The suffix –i, for example, is a high vowel therefore 

it will have the forms –i,-µ,–u, -y as seen in (18). 

(18) kil [kIl] kil-i [kIlI] k›l [kµ¬] k›l-› [kµ¬µ] 

kel [kEl] keli [kEl-I] kat [k√t] kat-› [k√tµ] 

kül [kyl] kül-ü [kyly] kul [kU¬] kul-u [kU¬U] 

köy [køæ] köy-ü [køæy] kol [ko¬] kol-u [ko¬U] 

/i, E/ are unrounded front vowels, thus -i surfaces as [i] which is also an 

unrounded front vowel. /y, oe/ are rounded front vowels, hence –i surfaces as [y], 

a rounded front vowel. –i surfaces as [µ], an unrounded non-front vowel, with 

unrounded non-front vowels /µ, √/, and as /u/, rounded non-front vowel with 

rounded non-front vowels /u/ and /o/. This suggest that when a suffix contains a 

high vowel, then it shares two common properties with the vowel of the word to 

which it is attached. 

The suffixes in Turkish can then be classified into two categories in terms of 

the vowel they contain. One type of suffixes contains a non-high vowel and 

agrees in backness only. The second type of suffixes contains a high vowel and 

agrees both in backness and rounding. 

The discussion of vowel harmony is limited to harmony between the vowels of 

the suffixes and roots. There is also harmony among the vowels within the root, 

and although similar rules apply within the roots, the details of such cases are not 

dealt with here due to space limits.

Summary 

The phonological rules a language chooses to utilize 

and/or the way in which the language chooses to apply 

those rules are language specific preferences. Native 

speakers of a language have the knowledge of the rules 

and how and where those rules apply although they 

may not be able to verbalize the rules. It is evident in 

every normal speaking and hearing native speaker’s 

speech that they utilize the phonological rules of that 

language in their speech. In this unit, a sample of 

phonological rules of Turkish is presented in a way that 

may be formulated in the speaker’s and hearer’s mind. 

The descriptions of the rules, although simplified here, 

are in accordance with the theoretical framework of 

phonology. 

Some phonological rules of Turkish are stipulated 

differently than traditional Turkish descriptions. When 

described as it is done here, the rules can account for 

all the surface forms without leaving any exceptions, as 

was the case for final devoicing rule. The rules 

presented here are merely descriptions and not formal 

rules as the purpose of this unit is not to discuss the 

details of phonological theories and formulate 

phonological rules. But the descriptions are still within 

the scope of formal rules. 


55

56 

Self-test 


1. Which of the following words has surface realization 

identical to its underlying representation? 

a. bal›k 

b. aç 

c. tat 

d. dolap 

e. gitmek 

2. Which of the following suffixes exhibits backness 

harmony? 

a. seslen-mek 

b. gel-di 

c. ac›k-m›fl 

d. okul-mu 

e. koy-dur 

3. Examine the following word. Which phonological 

rule is the word an example of? 

‘kap›s›’ 

a. final devoicing rule 

b. voicing assimilation 

c. place of articulation assimilation 

d. backness harmony 

e. rounding harmony 

4. Which of the following words exhibits place of 

articulation assimilation? 

a. denge 

b. kantin 

c. stepne 

d. tepme 

e. sonda 

5. To which of the following words final devoicing rule 

has applied? 

a. hayat 

b. ç›k 

c. top 

d. sayaç 

e. halat

“ 


Examine the following poem and identify the 

phonological processes discussed in this unit. 

RAHATLIK 

Sen büyüdü¤ün vakit çocu¤um, 

Yine çiçekler açacak dallarda. 

Dallarda açan çiçekler gibi, 

Yine çocuklar uyuyacak masallarda. 


Yine uykular havuzda dibe gidecek. 

Havuzlarda kaybolan uykular gbi, 

Yine çocuklar mektebe gidecek. 


Yine göklerden mavi gölgeler inecek yere. 

Topra¤› nurland›ran mavi gölgeler gibi, 

Yine çocuklar gülümseyecek, askerlere. 


Yine meltemler geçecek denizlerden. 

Denizlerden geçen meltemler gibi, 

Yine çocuklar olacak, rahatl›k veren 

Faz›l Hüsnü Da¤larca 

” 


57

58 


References Key to “It is your turn!” 

Clark, J. and C. Yallop, 1991. An introduction to 

phonetics and phonology. Massachusetts: 

Blackwell. 

Göker, O. 1986. Üniversite ö¤rencileri için Türkçe. 

Eskiflehir. Anadolu Üniversitesi Bas›mevi. 



1 1 

a) It is your turn! State the final It devoicing is your turn! rule in Turkish. 

2 2 

The final devoicing rule in Turkish states that 



underlyingly 3 3voiced 

stops and affricate become 

It is your turn! voiceless in syllable It is your turn! final position. 

b) 

4 4 

Determine the underlying representation of the 



following words: 

5 5 

a) haç ‘cross’ ................. 

UR 

/h√tS / 



b) 6 haç ‘pilgrimage’ 6 ............ /h√dZ/ 

It is your turn! c) saç ‘sheet metal’ It is your turn! ........... /s√dZ/ 

7 7 

d) saç ‘hair’ ....................... /s√tS/ 



e) hayat ‘life’ .................... 8 8 

/h´æ√t/ 

e) denk ‘equal’ .................... /dENg/ 





1 1 

9 9 





2 2 

10 

10 



n → m 

3 

11 

tenbel It is your turn! /tEmbEl/ 


3 

11 binbafl› It is your turn! /bImb√Sµ/ 

1 

n 4→ N 

12 


hangi It is your /h√NgI/ 

turn! 

4 

12 


banka /baNk√/ 








5 5 

It is your turn! 13 13It 

is your turn! 


6 6 















-den is an alternating It is your turn! suffix. 

4 4 It is your turn! 

It 7surfaces as 7 -den and -ten (vowels also change 


but 5 that is not 5 a concern here) depending on the 


8 8 

word final sound to which it is attached. 



Examples are, 

9 9 

el-den set-tenIt 

is your turn! 


If 10the 

word 10to 

which this suffix is attached is 


underlyingly 8 8voiced, 

It is your turn! as in ‘a¤aç’ /√:dZ/, first final 

11 11 

devoicing rule It is appilies, your turn! then voicing assimilation 

9 9 

rule applies as It is shown your turn! below. 

12 12 


UR Final devoicing voicing assimilation 

10 

10 


√:dZ-d√n 13 √:tS-d√n 13 

√:tS-t√n 



11 11 



12 12 



13 13



Aims 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 


What is morphology? 

What is a morpheme? 

How are morphemes classified? 

How are words structured in Turkish? 

What is an allomorph? 

Key Words 

• morphology 

• morpheme 

• free morpheme 

• bound morpheme 

Contents 



Morphology 


Morplology: The 

Wordland 

• derivational morpheme 

• inflectional morpheme 

• morpheme ordering 

• allomorphy 


• MORPHOLOGY 

• THE STRUCTURE OF 

WORDS 

• ORGANIZING PRINCIPLES 

OF TURKISH MORPHOLOGY

Morphology: 

The Wordland 

INTRODUCTION 

Morphology is the land of words, and the morpheme, as the building structure of 

words, the sovereign. The wordland in the human mind is called the lexicon. An 

understanding of words stored in the lexicon involves an understanding of the 

rules that govern the formation of words, similarities and differences in the behavior 

of words, and the function of words. 

Why is karfl›l›ks›z acceptable, but sevgiliksiz outrageous? What makes evdeler 

different from evlerde? Why is evdemler terrible, but dedemler perfectly fine? 

Wonders of the wordland are infinite, and understanding them is just like a process 

of the mind’s awakening from inattention to linguistic organization. In this process, 

the tools of morphology make it possible to become well-informed about the 

origins and structure of words as well as the systematicity behind how they are 

formen and understood by native speakers. 

MORPHOLOGY 

Morphology is a sub-field of linguistics. It focuses on how words are composed 

and organized in human language. Therefore, a study of morphology reflects the 

contents of the mind related to the formal and semantic composition of words. 

What does this mean? A vivid memory of mine may serve useful here to explain 

my point. One day, my smart 3 year-old nephew, Gürkan, grabbed a book from 

my book case and asked me to read it to him. It was a story book written in 

English, a language which he did not speak, of course. I felt very much up to 

playing a trick, so I started to read it in English. While reading, I looked at his face 

from time to time to see his reaction. He was just looking at me and listening very 

carefully and patiently. I went on and on. When I finished reading three or four 

pages, his older sister Ecem came into the room. As soon as he saw her, he got 

up, ran to me, grabbed the book from me, gave it to Ecem and said, ‘Abla, al flunu 

sen oku, teyzem hep yanl›fl okuyo!’’ What is it that Gürkan, or any child for that 

matter, knows about language to have him react in this way? What kind of formal 

linguistic knowledge enables him to form, say, the sentence he formed? 

First, he has knowledge of the sounds and the sound system of his native 

language. When he heard a sample of a foreign language spoken to him, he 

considered it wrong. It was “wrong” because it did not fit in the sound sytem of 

his language stored in his mind. He knows what sounds and in what order make

62 

Table 5.1 

Syllable Structure 


up meaningful words in his language. Second, it can be inferred from his correctly 

formed sentence that he knows how to use these words in a sentence. For 

example, he knows that oku- is a verb; therefore, he attaches the verbal morpheme 

-yor to it, and only in that order. He also knows that it can be used with a 

preceding modifier such as yanl›fl in the example. So, Gürkan knows not only the 

sounds that form a word, but also the structure and use of that word. He knows 

what other forms can be used within a word; what can be used before and after 

a word as well as what categories they belong to. He follows all these rules, of 

course, subconsciously to form meaningful words. In more linguistic terms, this 

is what constitutes a morphological study: an analysis of word structure and of 

the rules governing derivation, inflection, and word formation (see Units 6 and 7 

for more on this). 

That the native speakers of a language, even as young as Gürkan, can deal 

with the interplay of many linguistic factors comes as no surprise. It is a widely 

accepted view that a great body of knowledge for such processes is available to 

them in their mental storage called the lexicon. A native speaker’s lexicon includes 

information similar to the type included in a dictionary. It is common knowledge 

that a dictionary is composed of a list of words accompanied by information about: 

the form and meaning of words and phrases, the categorization of words, the 

usage of words and phrases, and relationships between words and phrases. 

Similarly, when a word is called in the lexicon, or the so called mental dictionary, 

to be used in communication, it is retrieved based on this kind of information. 

Such implicit knowledge enables all native speakers to have clear notions about 

the word stock of their language. 

THE STRUCTURE OF WORDS 

Syllable Structure vs Morpheme Structure 

There are different ways of analyzing word structure. We will be discussing only 

two of them in this part. One is through analyzing syllable structure. In this kind 

of analysis, the focus is on the sounds forming a particular word. Consider the 

segmentation of the words hastaland›m and yaflland›m as shown in Table 5.1. 

Note that C stands for consonant and V for vowel. 

1 st syllable 2 nd syllable 3 rd syllable 4 th syllable 

word 1 has- -ta -lan -d›m 

hastaland›m CVC CV CVC CVC 

word 2 yafl -lan -d›m X 

yaflland›m CVC CVC CVC X 

As you can see, the word hastaland›m is composed of five syllables having the 

CVC-CV-CVC-CVC syllable structure; whereas, yaflland›m has only three syllables 

having the CVC-CVC-CVC structure. It is true that words consist of sound sequences, 

but sounds and sound structure are the concern of phonology. The unit of analysis 

in morphology, however, is the morpheme. So, another way of understanding 

word structure is through analyzing component morphemes. Now consider the 

morphological divisions in the above examples given in Table 5.2. disregarding 

their phonological structure.

When you compare the syllable and morpheme structure of the given words as 

they are shown in Tables 5.1 and 5.2, you will see that there may not be a one-toone 

correspondence in the number of sylables and morphemes used and in the 

boundaries which mark these morphemes and syllables. Examine the tables below 

to wiew these facts about hastaland›m and yaflland›m. 

Even though hastaland›m has the same number of morphemes and syllables, 

namely 4, it is clearly seen that there is lack of correspondence between their 

boundaries. That is, morphemes and syllables in that word are not compatible 

except for -lan, in which morpheme and sylable boundaries overlap. In the rest of 

the word, one morpheme does not correspond to one syllable and vice versa: 

In our second example yaflland›m, even the number of morphemes and 

syllables does not match. It has got 4 morphemes, but 3 syllables. Morpheme and 

syllable boundaries match in the first part, but not in the last part. 

As the above comparison shows, a morpheme does not necessarily have to 

claim syllable status, neither does a syllable morpheme status. This indicates that 

simply coding the syllables of a word is not a reliable way to code the morphemes 

of that word. So, what is a morpheme? What is the criterion to indentify a 

morpheme? Morphemes are the smallest meaningful units that construct words in 

a language. Our examples hastaland›m and yaflland›m are constructed in the 

following way: 

(1) hasta (2) yafl 

hasta-lan yafl-lan 

hasta-lan-d› yafl-lan-d› 

hasta-lan-d›-m yafl-lan-d›-m 

Unit 5 - Morphology: The Wordland 

1 st morpheme 2 nd morpheme 3 rd morpheme 4 th morpheme 

word 1 hasta -lan -d› -m 

hastaland›m 

word 2 yafl -lan -d› -m 

yaflland›m 

morheme number of syllable boundaries number of syllables 

boundaries morphemes 

hastaland›m [hasta] [lan] [d›] [m] 4 Has # ta # lan # d›m 4 

yaflland›m [yafl] [lan] [d›] [m] 4 Yafl # lan # d›m 3 

morphemes syllables 

hasta 1 2: has and ta 

lan 1 1 

d›m 2: -d› and -m 1 

morphemes syllables 

yafl 1 1 

lan 1 1 

d›m 2: -d› and -m 1 

63 

Table 5.2 

Morpheme Structure 

Table 5.3 

Morpheme and 

Syllable Boundaries 

Table 5.4 

Compatibility 

between Morphemes 

and Syllables: 

hastaland›m 

Table 5.5 

Compatibility 

between Morphemes 

and Syllables: 

yaflland›m

64 


First, the morpheme -lAn 1 , which makes verbs from non-verbs, is attached to 

the bu words hasta and yafl. By this process, we produce two verbs: hastalanmak 

and yafllanmak, which are in turn, marked for tense and person by the morphemes 

-DI and -m respectively. 

Let’s consider another word such as babama. In (3) below, you will see its 

syllable and morpheme structure. 

(3) a. ba -ba -ma 

CV CV CV 

b. baba -m -a 

stem 1st morpheme 2nd morpheme 

Note that morphemes are indivisible units and that they typically have either 

a meaning o a grammatical function. What does the first syllable in (3a) mean? 

What is the second -ba and what is -ma? Do they have any meanings or functions? 

Compared with (3a), the content of (3b) is higher in that baba has a meaning, and 

-m and -a have grammatical functions which marks possession and direction 

respectively. Therefore, baba-, m-, and -a are entitled to be morphemes 2 . Let’s 

clarify this with another example. Gözcüler consists of three morphemes: 

göz+cü+ler. One minimal or indivisible unit in this word is göz, another is -cü. 

Both of them are units of meaning. Göz is a lexical item which is used to refer to 

the organ of seeing.The second morpheme -cü is used to form nouns from nouns. 

It adds to the stem noun the meaning of ‘somebody who uses the stem NOUN’. 

Gözcü does not mean göz any more, but a person who uses his eyes to guard or 

watch a place. The third morpheme -ler, on the other hand, is a unit of grammatical 

function. It does not have a lexical meaning, but it is used to signal that the stem 

noun is plural. 

As it is clear from these examples, morphemes might have different meanings, 

functions, and morphological standing. Even though morpheme and syllable 

boundaries of a word may sometimes overlap, lack of correspondence between 

these boundaries is not uncommon. A single morpheme may be composed of 

more than one syllable wust as a single syllable may include more than one 

morpheme. Moreover, morphemes which do nat even figure a a separate syllable 

are also widespread in Turkish. 


Identify the It morpheme is your turn! and syllabus structure of the following. Indicate which one/s 

1 has/have identical 1 boundaries. 

simitçi evden evlere 


sütçü evlerden 


evlerime 

2 2 

Free Morphemes vs Bound Morphemes 


In terms of their morphological standing, morphemes in gözcü can be classified 

into two groups. It is your Compare turn! (4a) and (4c) below: 

3 3 

(4) a. Göz boyad›. b.Gözcü oldu c.*Cü oldu. 


Göz It is your kamaflt›rd›. turn! Gözlük ald›. *Lük ald›. 

4 4 

In (a) examples, göz is used on its own. The fact that it can stand by itself 

makes it an independent morpheme. Its projection in a sentence does not require 



5 5 



6 6


any other morpheme in its immediate environment. Such morphemes are known 

as free morphemes. If a free morpheme has a lexical meaning, it is classified as 

a content morpheme. Nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs are content 

morphemes. Some free morphemes, such as postpositions, conjunctions, 

determiners, pronouns, etc., mark grammatical relationships. They are therefore 

called functional morphemes. Contrary to the behavior of göz, the 

ungrammaticality3 of the (c) examples above shows that -CI and -lIk are not 

independent as they cannot appear in a sentence unless they are fed into other 

morphemes to form meaningful units as shown in (4b). Since It is your these turn! morphemes 

never stand alone as free forms, they are classified as bound morphemes. 1 1 

Identify the morpheme structure of bolar, bolart, bolartt›, bolartt›k, It is your and turn! classify the 


morphemes as free or bound? 

2 2 

The attachment process of a bound morpheme to another 

It is 

morpheme 

your turn! 

is called 

affixation and the attached bound morphemes are affixes. Words that are not 

3 

affixed are called roots. Many words in a language, such as nouns, adjectives, 


3 

verbs and adverbs, contain a root standing. An overwhelming number of roots in 


Turkish are monosyllabic although more than one syllable in a root is permissible. 

There are also words which are formed with a number of affixes attached 

4 

to a free 

morpheme. They are characterized as morphologically more complex. In the 


4 

context of complex words, the smallest indivisible free morpheme It is your forms turn! the stem 


of that complex word. For example, yafl in the word yafll› is the stem of 5this word. 

Stems can be categorized as simple when they consist of a single morpheme that 

5 

can have a root standing as in this example. More complex It is stems your turn! can also be 


formed by a free morpheme followed by another bound morpheme as 6 in yafl-l›lar. 

In this example yafl-l› is the stem to which the plural suffix is attached; whereas, 

6 

in yafl-l›, yafl is given this morphological status. 


Complex words are formed through three types of affixation in a language: 

7 

suffixation with suffixes, prefixation with prefixes and infixation with infixes. 

Suffixes are placed after the stem; prefixes before the stem; and infixes within 


7 


the stem by way of stem modification. Turkish morphology predominantly allows 


suffixation as in sev-gi, sev-gi-li, sevgi- li-ler, etc. Prefixes and infixes can 8 widely 

be seen in the expansion of foreign words such as, anti-propoganda from 

8 

propoganda, gayri-resmi from resmi; hakim from hüküm, tacir It is your from turn! tüccar, etc. 


9 9 

Derivational Morphemes vs Inflectional Morphemes 

We have seen that in gözcüler, göz is contrasted with -cü and -ler in terms of its 

standing: it is a free morpheme; whereas, the other two are bound morphemes. 

But göz and -cü are similar in terms of another criterion. They are both considered 

to be units of meaning. Göz is a lexical item which has a meaning of its own, 

but -cü has the capacity to change this meaning and assign a different one instead. 

So, both can be classified as content morphemes. The new combination gözcü is 

a noun derived from a noun having a meaning different from that of the stem 

noun. In other words, the suffix -cü has changed the meaning of the stem göz. 

Some suffixes can change both the meaning and the syntactic class of the stem. 

For example, sat›c› is a noun derived from a verb by adding the suffix (y)IcI4 It is your turn! 


10 

10 


11 


11 



12 

. This 

12 

pocess of forming new words by using bound morphemes It is is called your turn! derivation 

and the morphemes which add to or change the meaning of a stem word 

13 

and/or 


13 

65 

It is your turn!

66 

Table 5.6 

Examples of Derivational Suffixes 


the syntactic class of it are called derivational morphemes. So, -CI is a derivational 

morpheme which forms nouns from nouns, and -(y)IcI is another one which forms 

nouns from verbs. Both of them change the meaning of the stem. What other 

derivations are possible in Turkish? Some more examples are given in Table 5.6. 

from nouns from verbs from adjectives from adverbs 

nouns -lIk(kitapl›k) -(A)k (kaçak) -IncI (ikinci) X 

verbs -lA (avla-) -AIA (durala-) -lA (temizle) -IA (ötele) 

adjectives -sIz (anlams›z) -I (s›k›) -CA (büyükçe) X 

adverbs -CA (aylarca) -(y)A(kofla kofla) -CA (kolayca) -CIk (kolaycac›k) 

In summary, there are four types of stems formed through derivation. 

Denominal nominal stems are nouns that are formed by attaching a derivational 

suffix to a noun. Deverbal nominal stems are nouns that are formed by attaching 

a derivational suffix to a verb. Denominal verbal stems are verbs formed from 

nouns, and deverbal verbal stems are verbs formed from verbs. 

But is the lexicon composed of only free lexical morphemes and derivational 

bound morphemes? Consider the following example consisting of meaningful 

morphemes. 

(5) *Bu s›n›f ö¤renci hep ö¤retmen k›z. 

The words in (5) are meaningful alright, but can you understand the message? 

Evidently, without grammatical marking, it is really difficult to establish the 

relationships between the words in a sentence. Which of the three nouns in (5) is 

the subject, and how are the other nouns and the verb related to it? Compare (5) 

with Bu s›n›fta ö¤renciler hep ö¤retmeni k›zd›r›rlar. We now modified the sentence 

to include grammatical inflection. The morphemes added did not create new 

words, but adapted the already existing ones so they function effectively in the 

sentence. Such morphemes that mark grammatical relations are called inflectional 

morphemes. They do not change the meaning, nor do they change the syntactic 

category of the stem. The plural marker -lAr in ö¤renciler, for example, is a 

morpheme of this type. Ö¤renci is still an ö¤renci, and it still is a noun. It is not a 

new word that can be listed in the lexicon. -DA in s›n›fta has a similar function. It 

does not change the meaning of the stem, but it establishes a spatial relationship 

between the relevant elements in a sentence. -I marks the direct object, -(I)r sets 

the temporal structure of the event, and -lAr marks person agreement with the 

subject of the verb. So, number, case, tense, and agreement markers in Turkish are 

categorized as inflectional morphemes (see Unit 7 for more on this). 

Let’s now see how different characteristics can combine in a single morpheme. 

To do this, you are suppossed to follow a path in the following chart by answering 

the questions asked in each box. Follow the white arrow if your answer is YES to 

a particular question, follow the black one if your answer is NO to it. Your final 

destination gives you the type of the morpheme you want to discover. For example, 

-lIk in insanl›k is an indivisible unit. That is, we cannot break it into smaller units. 

Every morpheme is suppossed to be indivisible anyway. So, we have to follow the

white arrow. This takes us to the next question: Can it stand alone? The answer to 

this one is NO, so we follow the black arrow. This means that -lIk is a bound 

morpheme. It does not change the category of the stem because insan is a noun 

with or without -lIk. But it changes the meaning of the stem. ‹nsan ‘human’ refers 

to a human being, but insanl›k ‘humanity’ is an abstract noun that refers to a the 

condition of being a human being or the recognition of this status. Finally, it is 

placed after the stem, so it is a DERIVATIONAL SUFFIX. It is derivational because 

it changes the meaning of the stem. It is a suffix because it is a bound morpheme 

and it is placed after the stem. You can do the same to discover the type of any 

morpheme you need to analyze and identify. 

Does it change meaning, 

lexical category or both? 

Is it placed 

after the 

stem? 

INFLECTIONAL 

SUFFIX 

MORPHEME 

YES NO 

START 

Is it an 

indivisible element? 

BOUND Can it stand alone? FREE 

DERIVATIONAL INFIX 

Is it placed within the 

stem? 

Is it placed after the stem? 

DERIVATIONAL SUFFIX 


FLOWCHART TO DISCOVER TYPES OF MORPHEMES 

Is it placed 

before the 

stem? 

DERIVATIONAL 

PREFIX 

Another test to distinguish whether a morpheme is derivational or inflectional. 

is to consider the use of the infinitive marker -mAk. The claim is that whatever 

precedes the infinitive suffix -mAk should be considered as the stem, and therefore 

anything in it as derivational. What follows that stem is claimed to be inflectional. 

To illustrate: for koflufl-tur-du, the infinitive form is kofl-ufl-tur-mak. What precedes 

-mAk is kofl-ufl-tur, so suffixes in it should be derivational. Another piece of 

evidence for their derivational nature is that they are not used productively. That 

is, unlike the obligatory inflectional categories such as tense and person, these 

voice morphemes are optionally marked on verbal stems. Therefore, they are 

considered to be more like derivational than inflectional. 

Figure 5.1 

Does it have a lexical 

meaning? 

Does it have a 

function? 

FUNCTIONAL 

ROOT 

Is it attached 

other 

morphemes? 

LEXICAL 

ROOT 

LEXICAL 

STEM 

67



1 1 



2 2 


I. Identify It is the your inflectional turn! and derivational morphemes in s›ralad›k and sayg›s›zlar› 

3 II. List 3two 

other words which contain each morpheme represented below. 

-DAfl anlamdafl, yafltafl, meslektafl 


4 

-Im bölüm, onar›m, kat›l›m 


-CA çocukça, insanca, düflmanca 

4 

a. Write down the meaning of each morpheme. 

b. What is the syntactic category (noun, adjective, adverb, etc.) of the stem and 


what It is is your the turn! category of the resulting word? 

5 III. Identify 5 the derivational morpheme/s in the following and write down the function 

of each. 


It is kitapl›k your turn! casusluk terliklik bayraml›k 

6 6 insanl›k hediyelik kad›nl›k kalemlik 

dolmal›k ayakkab›l›k yorgunluk pislik 


It is iyilik your turn! uzakl›k k›fll›k çocukluk 

7 7 

ORGANIZING PRINCIPLES OF TURKISH 

MORPHOLOGY 

Morpheme Ordering 

Turkish is an agglutinative language which has a vast array of morphemes with 

different functions and clear-cut boundaries when combined with each other. Rich 

combinations of new meanings are possible by expanding stems as in (a) 

kal›nlaflt›r›lmam›fllardanm›flm›fl. However, caution must be taken that there are 

some restrictions on the way these morphemes are put together. If they are not 

used in the right order, either ungrammatical forms such as (b) *kal›nt›rlafl, or 

forms with different meanings such as (c) kal›nlaflt›r›lmam›fltanm›flm›fllar may be 

produced. This is because the order of morphemes in a sentence is fixed and each 

morpheme is used in the position specified for it. The causative -DIr is always 

used after -IAfl yielding (b) ungrammatical. Person marker is always used in the 

final position. So (c) is understood as having a plural subject, but (a) as having a 

plural object. 

One reason for a preference for one particular order over the other is the 

tendency in the languages of the world to use derivational morphemes before 

inflectional morphemes (Greenberg, 1966: 93). This reflects the conceptual distance 

between the two elements. Since derivation is a morphological process of lexical 

innovation, derivational morphemes are semantically closer to the stem words. 

Therefore, relevant members tend to be used adjacently. This is the reason why 

the first -Im in kes-im-im is understood as a derivational morpheme and the second 

one as a person marker. Compare what happens when conceptually closer 

members are pushed apart from each other by inserting another inflectional 

morpheme between them: *kes-ler-im vs kes-im-ler. Clearly, inflection follows 

derivation5 It is your turn! 


8 8 



9 9 



10 

10 



11 11 



12 12 



13 13 

as derivational morphemes are more firmly attached than inflectional 

ones (Sapir, 1921: 127). But what if more than one inflectional morpheme are used 

in a word? Do they combine in a predictable order too? Consider the inflections on 

the following noun.

(6) a. kitap 

b. kitap-l›k 

c. kitap-l›k-lar 

d. kitap-l›k-lar-›m 

e. kitap-l›k-lar-›m-da 


In (6), as we already hinted, the derivational morpheme -lIk is used immediately 

after the stem leaving the inflectional morphemes -lAr, -DA, and -(I)m to the right 

of it. However, if all occur simultaneously in one word as in (6e) plural marking 

comes before person, and the case marker -DA is placed in the final position. In 

verbal inflections, too, a predictable order is followed as shown It is your below. turn! 


1 1 

(7) a. boya-d›-m c. boya-t-t›-m 

b. boya-ma-d›-m d. boya-t-ma-d›-m 



Examples in (7) show that person marker on the verb is always placed 

2 

in the 

final position. Morphemes marking voice such as the caustive -t in (7c, d) precede 

2 

tense markers. Negation precedes tense and person markers It as is your in turn! (7b, d). So the 


permissible order is: causative+negation+tense+person. 

3 3 

Explain the ungrammaticality of the following. 



a. *sevgilersiz 

b. *sevgiliksiz 

4 4 

c. *evdelerim 



5 

It is important to note that the function of a particular morpleme is not relevant 

to only the immediately preceding morpheme. It applies to the entire derived form 

5 


to the left of it. For example, The negative morpheme -mA in boyatmad›m negates 


the meaning of boyat- not t- or boya- distinctly. That is, what inhabits 6the scope 

of -mA is the entire form to the left of it, not an individual component morpheme 

6 

of the preceding word. Similarly, in a word like temizlenebilir, It is -(y)Abil your turn! is relevant 


to temizlen, not only to -(A)n; -(I)r applies to temizlenebil, not only to 7-(y) Abil, 

and the zero (ø) person implies a third person singular subject for temizlenebilir. 

7 

So, in general, we can say that each suffix takes the preceding It is your stem turn! as the scope 


of its semantic and syntactic material. This type of relationship can be 8shown as 

follows: 

8 


temiz -le -n -ebil -ir - ø 10 


Figure It 5.2 is your turn! 

9 9 

The above diagram illustrates that auter layers of words are formed by 

inflectional morphemes. Inner layers, on the other hand, are formed It is your by turn! derivational 


morphemes. As a result, the relative order of suffixes can reflect 12semantic differences since “each added element determines the form of the whole anew.” 

12 

(Sapir, 1921:127): simitçilik vs simitlikçi, doktorlard›r vs doktordurlar. 



13 13 

69 


10 



11 11

70 

Figure 5.3 


Allomorphy 

Just as the phoneme, the abstract unit in phonology, the morpheme is an instance 

of abstraction in morphology. Thus, the notation, say, -lAr which is used to 

represent the plural morpheme in Turkish, is an abstract symbol. The sounds 

subject to change on the surface structure of a morpheme are customarily 

capitalized to mark their underlying abstract status. Their actual surface phonetic 

realizations are specified based on the phonological environment in which the 

morpheme occurs. Conditioned by its phonological surrounding, two variations 

are possible for the plural morpheme as shown in (8a) and (8b): 

(8) a. [ler] ev-ler, ifl-ler, kütük-ler, söz-ler 

b. [lar] okul-lar, s›n›f-lar, kutu-lar, toz-lar 

The choice between /e/ and /a/ is determined by the preceding stem vowel. In 

(8a) all the preceding stem vowels are front; whereas, in (8b) they are non-front. The 

morpheme manifests itself as -ler after the front vowels, but as -lar after the non-front. 

Even though they are two different phonetic representations, they represent the same 

morpheme and serve the same grammatical function of indicating plurality. Therefore, 

they are characterized as the variations of the same morpheme which are called 

allomorphs. This means that every morpheme has predictable allomorphs which 

are in complementary distribution. The position where one allomorph occurs disallows 

the occurance of the other counterpart. Thus, -ler and -lar are in complementary 

distribution in that they cannot appear in the same phonological environment. They 

mutually exclude each other when certain conditions occur. Compare *evlar, *ifllar, 

*kütüklar, *sözlar where -lar is disallowed; and *okuller, *s›n›fler, *kutuler, *otoler 

where -ler is disallowed. This definition is schematized in Figure 5.3. 

Other patterns of distribution for some productive allomorphs in Turkish are 

listed below. 

The Morpheme Marking Reported Past /-mIfl/ 

The morpheme marking reported past applies to verbs and it has four allomorphs. 

Conditioned by the rounding harmony, the high suffix vowel /›/ in -mIfl agrees 

with the stem vowel in backness and rounding. This yields four variations: [-m›fl], 

[-mifl], [-mufl], and [-müfl]. 

[m›fl] al-m›fl, s›z-m›fl 

[mifl] sil-mifl, sez-mifl 

[mufl] uyu-mufl, soy-mufl 

[müfl] gör-müfl, gül-müfl 

PLURAL MORPHEME /-lAr/ 

preceding vowel front non-front 

allomorphs [-ler] [-lar]

The Morpheme Marking Definite Past /-DI/ 

The past tense morpheme applies to verbs, and it has eight allomorphs determined 

by the preceding stem vowel and consonant. The high suffix vowel and the stem 

are supposed to share the specification for both backness and rounding. In addition, 

stem consonants and suffix consonants should share the same voicing feature: /d/ 

is selected after the voiced consonats and /t/ after the voiceless. 

[d›] kal-d›, k›z-d› [t›] sars-t›, k›r›t-t› 

[di] gel-di, giy-di [ti] kes-ti, it-ti 

[du] uyu-du, soy-du [tu] tut-tu, kop-tu 

[dü] öv-dü, yürü-dü [tü] öt-tü, ürk-tü 

The Agentive Morpheme /-CI/ 

The agentive morpheme is applied to nouns to form other nouns which mean ‘one 

who makes or sells NOUN’. It has eight allomorphs. Consonant harmony in voicing, 

and rounding harmony in both backness and rounding derive eight variations. 

[c›] kolonya-c› [ç›] b›çak-ç› 

[ci] kilim-ci [çi] saat-çi 

[cu] baston-cu [çu] koltuk-çu 

[cü] örgü-cü [çü] küp-çü 


First Person Agreement Marker /-(y)Im/ 

This morpheme marks the subject of the sentence on predicative nouns and 


adjectives. It has four allomorphs conditioned by the rounding harmony. The 

1 1 

buffer -y is inserted when the stem ends in a vowel. 

[›m] uzman-›m [um] doktor-umIt 

is your turn! 

[y-›m] flark›c›-y-›m [y-um] futbolcu-y-um 2 2 

[im] ö¤retmen-im [üm] özgür-üm 

[y-im] çiftçi-y-im [y-üm] sözcü-y-üm It is your turn! 

3 

Note that one important feature of the word structure in Turkish is that stems 

remain invarient when expanded by derivation or inflection. It is always the 

suffixes that undergo a phonological chage. There are few 

It is 

exceptions 

your turn! 

to this 

3 

generalization, though: ben vs bana, sen vs sana. 

4 4 

Identify each bound morpheme and its meaning in the following. Specify It is your allomorphs turn! if any. 


eflele kesele çekele yarala 

5 5 

itele gecele ovala parala 

çitele hecele deflele karala 



6 6 

71 







7 7 



8 8 



9 9 


10 


10

72 

Summary 


1. What is morphology? 

Morphology is a sub-branch of linguistics. It is interested 

in providing a proper definiton of a word by trying to 

understand how simple, complex, and novel words are 

formed. A study of morphology includes an analysis of 

words into their meaningful components, the rules of 

composing and expanding words from meaningful 

elements, and the functions of words in sentences. 

Morphology is also interested in means of expanding 

the vocabulary of a language. 

2. What is a morpheme? 

Morphemes are the building blocks of words. A 

morpheme is the smallest indivisible unit in a word 

which has either a meaning or a function. Morphemes 

are usually mistaken for syllables which may or may 

not be compatible with them. 

3. How are morphemes classified? 

Morpheme Types 

DERIVATINAL INFLECTIONAL FREE 

Bound Bound 

(prefix-infix-suffix) (suffix) 

CONTENT class and/or meaning nouns, verbs, 

MORPHEME changing affixes X adjectives, adverbs 

e.g. -IIk, -sAI, -CI 

suffixes marking postpositions, 

FUNCTIONAL X grammatical 

relationships pronouns, 

MORPHEME e.g. -IAr, -DI, -mIfl determiners, 

conjunctions, etc. 

4. How are words structured in Turkish? 

The most important designing feature of a word is the 

fact that the parts of a word combine in a predictable 

order. Inflectional morphemes are always used in the 

word final position. This means that derivational suffixes 

precede inflectional suffixes. However, there may be 

cases in which more than one inflectional and/or 

derivational suffix can be used in a given word. Then, 

there is a predictable order among these too. A switch 

in the order of these morphemes yields ungrammatical 

forms or forms with different meanings/functions. 

5. What is an allomorph? 

An allomorph is a variation of a morpheme. A 

morpheme is an abstract symbol whose real phonetic 

shape may change depending on the phonological 

environment in which it occurs. Each of these various 

forms of the same morpheme is called an allomorph of 

it. Even though allomorphs have different phonetic 

shapes, they share the same meaning and function. 

However, they do not share the same distribution. 

Where one occurs, the other does not. Therefore, 

allomorphs are said to be in complementary 

distribution.

Self-test 

1. Which one of the following has two morphemes? 

a. kafan 

b. vatan 

c. zindan 

d. tavan 

e. sazan 

2. -lIk is not a morpheme in: 

a. kitapl›k 

b. k›tl›k 

c. tuzluk 

d. anal›k 

e. bal›k 

3. Which one of the following has an inflectional 

morpheme? 

a. karar 

b. asar 

c. çeper 

d. semer 

e. befler 

4. Which one of the following has a derivational 

morpheme? 

a. kesim 

b. benim 

c. isim 

d. kilim 

e. lime lime 

5. What does the following indicate about the 

morpheme -ki? 

benimki onunki sonki 

okuldaki bendeki gülünki 

a. It is an inflectional morpheme. 

b. It is a free morpheme. 

c. It does not have an allomorph. 

d. It is a verbal suffix. 

e. It is a lexical morpheme. 

6. Which one of the following is ungrammatical 

because a derivational morpheme follows an 

inflectional morpheme? 

a. *evlercil 

b. *evdem 

c. *söyledirifltik 

d. *keslikim 

e. *gellerdi 


7. Which one of the following displays a similar 

violation to the one in *evimlerde? 

a. *yaflamd›klar 

b. *yaflamyan 

c. *yaflam›mlar 

d. *da¤›llar›m 

e. *arabalar maralarba 

73 

8. How do you characterize -geç and -kaç in the 

following? 

yüzgeç k›skaç 

yüzgeci k›skac› 

a. They are inflectional morphemes. 

b. They are two allomorphs of -geç. 

c. They are two allomorphs of -KAC. 

d. They are two derivational morphemes with 

different meanings. 

e. They are two inflectional morphemes in 

complementary distribution. 

9. Which one of the following shows a different 

function of -CI ? 

a. sütçü 

b. sucu 

c. ya¤c› 

d. demirci 

e. Atatürkçü 

10. What is the second person singular morpheme in 

the following data? 

geldin süzdün k›ld›n sövdün 

kald›n uyudun sildin kovdun 

a. -dIn 

b. -Un 

c. -n 

d. -DIn 

e. -un

“ 

74 



Read the following article written by Salah Birsel, and 

then analyze the morphology of the underlined words 

in the text, i.e. the number of morphemes, their inflectional 

and derivational nature, the order of morphemes, 

etc. You might want to refer to a reliable Turkish 

dictionary to do this task. 

“Do¤ru Düflünce ‹plikleri 

Dostumu tan›mazs›n›z. 

Ama, dilinden düflürmedi¤i f›kray› bilirsiniz san›r›m. 

‹sterseniz bir de benden dinleyin: 

“Bir gemi batmak üzeredir. Daha do¤rusu, geminin teknesi 

denize gömülmüfl de, suyun yüzünde sadece mizan 

dire¤i kalm›fl. O da batt›, batacak. Dire¤e s›¤›nm›fl 

iki kifliden biri, arkadafl›na sorar: “Sen yüzme bilir misin?” 

Ötekinin verdi¤i karfl›l›k flu: “Neye sordun?” 

Bu, ölüm karfl›s›nda bile düflünce ç›kr›¤›n› iflletmesini 

beceremeyen bir insan›n ac›kl› konuflmas›d›r. Dostum 

bu f›kray› hem anlat›r, hem de kat›la kat›la güler. 

‹nsanlar bu türlü öykülerden, nedense çokça hofllan›rlar. 

Hofllan›rlar ya, s›ras› gelince, çene kavafl›¤›n›, sa¤a sola 

kofluflmay›, düflünmekten ye¤ tutarlar. Gerçi sonunda, 

ussuz bafllar›n›n cezas›n› ayaklar› çekmez de¤il. Ama gene 

de, bir sorunun nedenine inmeyi, bir ifle yönelmeden 

önce, iflin enini boyunu arfl›na vurmay› istemezler. Zorlar›na 

gider bu. Konfiçyüs “Eyleme geçmeden, iki kez 

düflünmek yeter” demifl. ‹nsanlar›n ifllerine bak›n, onlarda, 

uzun boylu düflünüldükten sonra ortaya konmufl ifl 

niteli¤i flöyle dursun, herhangi bir düflünce belirtisine bile 

güç raslars›n›z. 

Hofl, bir düflünce üzerinde, alabildi¤ine derinleflen, 

onun önünü, arkas›n›, yanlar›n› yoklayan bir insan›n, 

kimi zaman eyleme geçememek, boyuna düflünce alan›nda 

kalmak tehlikesiyle karfl›laflt›¤› da olur. Nedir, 

boyuna düflünüp az ifl ç›karan, ya da bütün bütüne p›san 

kifli, yapaca¤› fleyi, söyleyece¤i sözü tartmadan gerçeklefltiren 

kifliden daha sayg›de¤erdir. 

Düflünmek kolay de¤ildir. 

Düflünmek için genifl ve bofl zaman gerekir. 

Daha önemlisi, insan›n do¤ru düflünme gücü ve kurallar›na 

varabilmesidir. Ne var ki, düflünme gücü, düflünme 

kurallar› üzerinde insanlar›n anlay›fllar› biribirini 

tutmad›¤› gibi, bunlara eriflmek te, birtak›m rüzgarlar› 

gerektirmektedir. 

Voltaire, Frans›z Ansiklopedisi yazarlar›ndan D’Alembert’e 

yazd›¤› bir mektupta flöyle diyor: 

“Düflünce sözcü¤üne geldi¤iniz vakit, -ansiklopedidedoktorlar›n 

çocuk do¤urtmay› bilmedikleri gibi, düflünmenin 

de üstesinden gelemediklerini belirtmeye 

çal›flmal›s›n›z.” 

Burada Voltaire, doktorlara zekat keçisi gözüyle bakmaya 

pek düflkün olan Moliere’in tutumunu sürdürmekten 

baflka bir fley yapm›yor. Ama bu sözün gerisinde, 

do¤ru düflünme gücüne eriflen kiflilerin ne kadar az 

oldu¤u gerçe¤i de sakl›d›r. 

Peki do¤ru düflünce nedir? 

Bir baflka deyiflle, do¤ru düflünmenin kurallar› nelerdir? 

Buna, ilk a¤›zda, “nesnesine uyan düflüncenin do¤ru 

düflünce olaca¤›” karfl›l›¤› verilebilir. 

Gelgelelim, bu kez de karfl›m›za “Bir düflünce, nesnesine 

nas›l uyar?” sorusu ç›kacakt›r. Buna verilecek cevap 

ise bizi yeni sorularla karfl›lafl›racak, konuyu çözümlemeye 

de¤il, sadece çevresini çizmeye, ya da geniflletmeye 

götürecektir. 

Görülüyor ki, do¤ru düflünce kurallar›, güzellik gibi, 

sa¤duyu gibi elle tutulmaz, gözle görülmez fleyler örne- 

¤ince, hemencecik aç›klanabilecek bir öz tafl›m›yor. 

Aç›klanamayacak fleyleri aç›klamakta büyük bir ustal›k 

(buna hokkabazl›k da diyebiliriz) gösteren Carnegie’nin 

bile, buna bir çözüm biçimi bulabilece¤ini sanm›yorum. 

Hem, ifl bununla da bitmiyor. 

Do¤ru düflünce iplikleri ele geçirilse de, bu düflünmeyi 

gerçeklefltirecek bofl zaman, yirminci yüzy›l insanlar›n›n 

çok güçlükle ulaflabildikleri bir mutluluktur. 

Yirminci yüzy›l insanlar›, ifllerini, e¤lencelerini, sevgi ve 

kinlerini, öylesine girintili ç›k›nt›l› bir diflliye kapt›rm›fllar 

ki, kendilerini, hiç mi hiç, ondan kurtaram›yorlar. 

Sinema, televizyon, dans, futbol maç›, sanat, bilim ve 

teknik ad›n› tafl›yan alacal› bulacal› üfürükçü musluklar›ndan, 

bir tak›m bay›lt›c› gül ya¤lar› ak›tan bu diflli, insanlar›n 

zaman zaman çanaklar›n› doldurmaya yar›yor. 

Denilebilir ki, flimdilerin insan›, zaman›n› bofl geçirmeme 

s›tmas› içinde, flaflk›nl›ktan flaflk›nl›¤a sürüklenmektedir. 

Oysa, Amerikan düflünürü John Dewey bir yana, daha 

ilk ça¤da, Eflatun, bu bofl zaman›n gereklili¤ine parmak 

basm›flt›. 

Dostumun anlatt›¤› f›kraya, dostumun kendisi de gülebilir, 

baflkalar› da. Buna bir fley diyemem. 

Benim gördü¤üm, sa¤a sald›rsalar da, sola sald›rsalar 

da, kiflio¤ullar›n›n do¤ru düflünce ipliklerini bir türlü 

ele geçiremedikleridir. Ama f›kralar›n›n, yak›flt›rmalar›n›n 

ço¤u, do¤ru düflünmeyi beceremeyen insanlarla 

alay etmeye dayan›yor.” 

”

Adal›, O. (1979). Türkiye Türkçesinde 

biçimbirimler. Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu Yay›nlar›. 

Aksan, D. (2000). Her yönüyle dil. Ankara: TDK. 

____. (2000). En eski Türkçenin izlerinde. ‹stanbul: 

Simurg. 

Birsel, S. (1969). Kendimle Konuflmalar. Ankara: 

Papirus. 

Bloomfield, L. (1976). Language. London: George 

Allen& Unwin Ltd. 

Bybee, J. L. (1985). Morphology. Amsterdam: John 

Benjamins. 

Demircan, Ö. (1977). Türkiye Türkçesinde kök-ek 

birleflmeleri. Ankara: TDK. 

Dilaçar, A (1971). Gramer: Tan›m›, ad› kapsam›, türleri, 

yöntemi, e¤itimdeki yeri ve tarihçesi. TDAYB, 83- 

145. 

Greenberg, J. H. (1966). Some Universals of grammar 

with particular reference to the order of meaningful 

elements. In Joseph H. Greenberg (Ed.), Universals 

of Grammar, 73-113. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. 

Haiman, J. (1983) Iconic and economic motivation. 

Language 59. 781-819. 

Hatibo¤lu, V. (1981). Türkçenin ekleri. Ankara: TDK. 

‹mer, K. (1976). Türkiye Türkçesinde kökler. Ankara: 

TDK. 

Katamba, F. (1993). Morphology. London: Macmillan 

Press. 

Kornfilt, J. (1990). Turkish and the Turkic Languages. In 

B. Comrie (Ed.), The World’s Major Languages 

(pp: 619-644). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Kornfilt, J. (1997). Turkish. New York: Routlege. 

Mungan, G. (2002). Türkçede fiillerden türetilmifl 

isimlerin morfolojik ve semantik yönden 

incelenmesi: ‹stanbul: Simurg. 

Sapir, E.(1921). Language. London: Harcourt Brace 

Jovanovich. 

Tietze, A. (2002). Tarihi ve etimolojik Türkiye 

Türkçesi lugat›. ‹stanbul: Simurg. 

Türkeli, N. (1995). Varoflta kad›n olmak. ‹stanbul: 

Gökkufla¤›. 


References & Bibliography End Notes 

75 

1. Capital letters which are used in suffixes represent 

the abstract symbols of the sounds in these 

morphemes. The real phonetic specification of 

these abstract symbols are subject to vowel and 

consonant harmony rules in Turkish. Therefore - 

E/-A of the morpheme -lAn signals a two-way vowel 

harmony offering a choice between /e/as in evlen 

or /a/as in yafllan depending on the phonological 

environment. Similarly, -I signals a four-way vowel 

harmony among /›/, /i/, /u/ and /ü/ (see Unit 4, 

Vowel Harmony). Consonants follow a similar 

pattern. -D, for example, can be realized as either 

/t/ or /d/; -K as either /k/ or /g/ and so on (see 

Unit 4, Voicing Assimilation). 

2. It should also be noted that every instance of a 

form does not necessarily claim to be a morpheme. 

For example, /a/ in ad, sat and oda is not even a 

morpheme. 

3. Ungrammaticality will be marked with (*) 

henceforth. 

4. A symbol in paranthesis means that it is used 

conditionally. For example, -y- appears in the 

environment of a preceding wowel: temizle-y-ici 

but sür-ücü. 

5. One exception to this is -ki as in evdekiler.

76 




1 1 


It is your turn! syllable It is your turn! structure morpheme structure 

2 

overlap in 

2 

süt-çü süt-çü 


boundaries 

3 


ev-den 

3 

ev-ler-den 

ev-den 

ev-ler-den 



no overlap 4 in si-mit-çi 4 

simit-çi 

boundaries It is your turn! ev-le-re It is your turn! 

ev-ler-e 


ev-le-ri-me ev-ler-im-e 

1 1 




2 2 



a.bol-ar :-ar (derivational morpheme deriving verbs 

from adjectives) 

b. bol-ar-t :-ar+t (a+derivational morpheme deriving 

verbs from verbs 

c. bol-ar-t-t› :-ar+t+t› +ø (a+b+inflectional morphemes: 

tense&3rd person singular) 

d. bol-ar-t-t›-k :-ar+t+t›+k (a+b+c inflectional morphemes: 

tense&1st It is your turn! 7 7 It is your turn! 

3 


3 



4 


4 




5 


5 





6 6 



It is your turn! 11 1 

7 


7 person plural) 



bol It is your is turn! the free morpheme It is your turn! in all. 


12 

2 

8 

12 


8 




13 

9 




13 

9 

I: s›ra-la-d›-k : -la derivational making verbs from 

nouns, -d› inflectional marking past time, 

-k inflectional marking 1st It is your turn! 



10 

10 




person 

11 11 

singular 




say-g›-s›z-lar-› : -g› derivational making nouns from 

12 12 

It is your turn! verbs, It is your -s›z turn! derivational making adjectives 


13 from 13 nouns, -lar inflectional marking 



8 plural 8 number, -› inflectional marking 

It is your turn! the direct It is your turn! object 

9 9 

II. yandafl, yurttafl / kesim, yar›m / dostça, kad›nca 



a. -DAfl is a derivational morpheme which means ‘one 

10 

10 

the same as STEM’. So anlamdafl means one that 



has 11the same meaning, 11 yafltafl means one who is at 

It is your the turn! same age, meslektafl It is your turn! means one who has the 

12 12 

same job.-Im is a derivational morpheme which 



means ‘the name of the action described by STEM’. 

13 13 

Al›m is the name of the act of buying, anlat›m and 

üretim are those of telling and producing 

respectively. -CA is a derivational morpheme which 

means ‘STEMish or STEMly’. So çocukça means 

childish, insanca means humanly, and düflmanca 

means unfriendly/hostile. 

b. -DAfl makes nouns from nouns, -Im makes nouns 

from verbs, and -CA makes adjectives or adverbs 

from nouns. 

III. The derivational morpheme in the given examples 

is -lIk. It has got four meanings as represented by 

the four groups of examples in the data. -lIk makes: 

a. abstract nouns from nouns: insanl›k, casusluk, 

kad›nl›k, çocukluk 

b. abstract nouns from adjectives: uzakl›k, yorgunluk, 

iyilik, pislik 



c. nouns 1 with narrowed 1 down domains: k›fll›k, 

It is your bayraml›k, turn! dolmal›k, It is your turn! hediyelik 

2 2 

d. nouns meaning ‘STEMcase’: kitapl›k, ayakkab›l›k, 



terliklik, kalemlik 

3 3 



4 4 

Derivational It is your turn! morphemes It is your turn! almost always precede 

5 5 

inflectional morphemes in Turkish. Therefore, (a) is 



ungrammatical 6 unless 6 the order is changed into 

sevgisizler to put the derivational morpheme -sIz before 



7 7 

the inflectional -lAr. In (b), the two derivational 

morphemes It is your turn! -sIz and It is your -lIk turn! are switched. The one that is 

8 8 

relevant to the meaning of the root is supposed to be 



used closer 9 to it. -sIz 9 is used to negate the meaning of 

sevgi, It not the meaning of sevgilik. In (c), -lEr seems to 



10 1 10 1 

be used as a person agreement marker which is 



supposed to be used in the final position. When we put 

11 2 11 2 

-ler in the final position, we get evdemler, but it is still 



not acceptable 12 3 since 12 3 possessive is supposed to precede 

case markers. Evimdeler is the correct order. 



13 4 13 4 



5 5 

a. It is your There turn! are two allomorphs It is your turn! attached to the stems in 

6 6 

this problem set: -AlA and -lA. The former is a 



derivational 7 morpheme 7 which applies to verbs adding 

the meaning of iterativity. The meaning changes from 



8 8 

‘to VERB’ to ‘to VERB iteratively/repeatedly’. 



9 9 

eflmek ‘to dig’ eflelemek ‘to dig repeatedly’ 


çekmek 10 


‘to pull’ 10 çekelemek ‘to pull repeatedly’ 

çitmek It is your turn! ‘to seed It is çitelemek your turn! ‘to seed repeatedly’ 

11 

itmek 

11 

‘to push’ itelemek ‘to push repeatedly’ 

ovmak It is your turn! ‘to scrub’ It is ovalamak your turn! ‘to scrub repeatedly’ 

12 

deflmek ‘to dig’ 

12 

deflelemek ‘to dig repeatedly’ 



13 13

Evidently, the morpheme /-AlA/ has two allomorphs, 

[ele] and [-ala], which are in complementary distribution. 

The former appears in the environment of front vowels, 

the latter in the environment of back vowels. 

The second morpheme in this problem set is -l(A). It is 

a derivational morpheme which is added to nouns to 

form verbs meaning ‘to NOUN’. 

gece ‘night’ gecelemek ‘to stay overnight’ 

kese ‘body scrub’ keselemek ‘to scrub (body)’ 

hece ‘syllable’ hecelemek ‘to spell’ 

kara ‘black’ karalamak to doodle/to slander’ 

yara ‘wound’ yaralamak ‘to wound’ 

para ‘money’ paralamak ‘to give money’ 

As can be seen above, the stem vowels and the suffix 

vowels agree in backness; therefore /-lA/ has two 

allomorphs: [-le] after front vowels and [-la] following 

back vowels. 


77



Aims 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 


What is derivation? 

What is compounding? 

What is onomatopoeia? 

What is conversion? 

What is borrowing? 

What is coinage? 

What is semantic change? 

What is metaphorical extension? 

What is clipping? 

What is blending? 

What is an acronym? 

What is backformation? 

What is a multiple process? 

Key Words 

• derivation 

• compounding 

• onomatopoeia 

• conversion 

• borrowing 

• coinage 

• semantic change 

Contents 



Morphology 


Word-Formation 

Processes 

• metaphorical extension 

• clipping 

• blending 

• acronyms 

• backformation 

• multiple process 


• WORD FORMATION 

PROCESSES

Word-Formation 

Processes 

INTRODUCTION 

During the Selçuklu and Ottoman times in Anatolia, it was considered utterly 

important to maintain a high standard in craftsmanship. Therefore, as a quality 

control mechanism, inspectors called yi¤itbafllar› would be appointed by the Ahi 

Organization (Chamber of Tradesmen) to report the administration malpractice 

in their district. In addition to being charged depending on the nature of the 

crime, the guilty would also be subject to large publicity. For example, when 

charged for fraud, the shoes of a shoe-maker would conventionally be thrown 

out by the inspecting team on the roof of his shop, and be left there to decay. 

Whoever saw the shoes on the roof would know that the owner was involved in 

dishonest conduct. This folk story inspired a new expression papucu dama 

at›lmak which since then has been used to refer to someone who has lost prestige 

(Korkmaz, 1995: 292). 

Change, like with everything else, is inevitable in language as well. Turkish 

spoken in ‹stanbul today is strikingly different from Turkish spoken five centuries 

ago. Numbers of new words have been formed by productive word formation 

processes and added to the word stock of the language while some unproductive 

ones had dropped out. This chapter is devoted to describing such means of lexical 

innovation employed in Turkish 

In Unit 5, we discussed how words are structured in Turkish. In doing so, we 

focused on the already existing words and defined the form of these words. But 

there are also new derivations, new combinations of words, and novel words that 

are constantly added to the lexicon. For example, the expression in our story 

papucu dama at›lmak was new at the time it was created. Similarly, words such as 

bilgisayar, iletiflim, gökdelen, telefon are novel as they did not even exist in the 

century papucu dama at›lmak was created. Science and technology is constantly 

changing our understanding of reality. Therefore, we are in constant need of 

finding new words to pair with these new meanings. Do you remember the 

property of duality in language? There are two layers of linguistic organization: 

sound and meaning. When a new meaning emerges, a new sound sequence is 

necessary to represent this meaning. For example, when the computer was brought 

into our culture as a new dimension in our lives, we felt that we had a new-born 

baby to name, so we called it bilgisayar. But how do we create new words? 

Change in language can be of two type: evolution and revolution. Evolution is a

80 


slow process that allows self-change through which novel lexical items can be 

added to or unproductive ones are dropped out of the lexicon. On the other hand, 

revolution is a more sudden process the result of which includes a set of reforms 

changing language systematically. No matter how they appear, such changes 

provide linguists a useful source displaying the means applied to create new 

words, or more technically neologisms, in a language. 

WORD-FORMATION PROCESSES 

Emelce is the title of one the albums of the famous Turkish pop-singer Emel. 

Turkish speakers are certainly familiar with the word Emel as a proper name, and 

the morpheme -CA as a marker of manner as in kabaca, erkekçe, kad›nca, güzelce, 

s›kça. However, the combination of -CA with a proper noun, except for cases such 

as Türkçe, Yunanca was new to them. Yet no one had difficulty in understanding 

this neologism. It is because language works systematically based on certain 

linguistic rules. The speakers of a language are sensitive to them; therefore, they 

always make generalizations based on these rules to create as well as, to understand, 

neologisms. Emel, and probably her team, must have made a generalization in 

analogy to the above given manner expressing examples to create the word Emelce 

to mean Emel’s way, or Emel’s style. Let’s now explore more closely how this 

system works in word formation, and how the underlying regularity gives a 

language, as well as the users of that language, the ability to create new words. 

Derivation 

Turkish has a number of means to form new words, but due to its agglutinative 

morphology, derivation is one that is used most productively (Özel, 1977: 22). 

Quite rich instances of derivation in Turkish are listed by Aksan (1987: 27-30). As 

one example, he notes about 100 derivatives of the stem sür-: sür, sürü, sürgü, 

sürgülü, sürgüsüz, sürgüle-, sürgülen-, sürgület-, sürgülettir-, sürgüleme-, 

sürgüleyifl-, sürgün, sürgünlük, sürme, sürmeli, sürmesiz, sürmelik, sürmeci, 

sürmecilik, sürmelemek, sürmedan, sürücü, sürücülü, sürücüsüz, sürücülük, 

sürek, sürekli süreksiz, süreklilik, süreksizlik, sürüm, sürümlü, sürümsüz, 

sürümsüzlük, sürüm sürüm, süre, süreli, süresiz, süre¤en, süre¤enlefl-, süreölçer, 

süreafl›m›, süreyazar, sürerlik, süreç, sürdür-, sürdürme-, sürdürüm-, sürdürüfl, 

sürdürt-, sürdürül-, südürülme, sürt, sürtük, sürtüklük, sürtme, sürtüfl-, sürtüflme, 

sürtün-, sürtünme, sürtünüfl, sürtüfltür-, sürtüfltürme, sürttür, sürttürme, sürü, 

sürüme, sürüyüfl, sürüt-, sürütme, sürütül-, sürüttür-, sürüttürül-, sürç, sürçme, 

sürçtür-, sürçtürme, sürükle-, sürükleme, sürükleyici, sürüklen-, sürüklenme, 

sürüklet-, sürükletme, sürükletil-, sürükletilme, sürül-, sürülme, sürün-, sürünme, 

sürünceme, sürüngen, süründür-, süründürme, süründürül-, süründürülme, 

sürüfl, sürüfltür-, sürüfltürülme. 

As shown above, as well as in Unit 5, words having new meanings can be 

formed by adding derivational affixes to the stem. To expand the examples given 

in the previous chapter, we will re-list the four possibilities of derivation in Table 

6.1. Recall that denominal nominal stems include nouns formed from nouns, and 

deverbal nominal stems include nouns formed from verbs. Similarly, denominal 

verbal stems include verbs formed from nouns, and deverbal verbal stems include 

verbs made from verbs. Some more examples are:

derived stem 

denominal nominal 

deverbal nominal 

denominal verbal 

deverbal verbal 

examples 

yurttafl, özdefl, emektafl, 

sestefl 

aday, yüzey 

dalga, bilge, bileflke 

alg›, sezgi, sürgü, tutku 

ada-, toza-, dile-, türegülümse-,an›msaat›fl-, 

girifl-, benzefl-, dövüfl- 

Unit 6 - Word-Formation Processes 

derivational morphemes 

-DAfl 

-Ay 

-GA 

-GI 

-A 

-ImsA 

-(I)fl 

Derivational affixes in Turkish are predominantly suffixes although a number 

of prefixes are possible in the words of foreign origin: bilakis, bitaraf, hemfikir, 

lamekan, nahofl (examples from König, 2001: 74). The productivity of derivational 

suffixes may vary from very limited to quite extensive depending on the range of 

words they are used with. The most productive suffixes used to derive nouns and 

verbs in Turkish were listed by Özel (1977: 21) based on a study that included the 

frequency counts of the lexical entries derived by these suffixes in the fifth edition 

of the Turkish Dictionary. The results are shown in Table 6.2. 

S -mak -l› -l›k -c› -la- -s›z -ma -fl -ç -g›n -an -gan -sal -c›k -dafl 

N 3900 1700 1600 850 750 700 500 100 110 109 85 80 80 77 45 

S = derivational suffixes N = number of lexical entries 

Despite the highly productive nature of suffixes, some may die out in time. For 

example, the suffix -rAk was used to derive comparative forms of adjectives in old 

Turkish, but no longer in standard Turkish. Instead of afla¤›rak we now say daha 

afla¤›. 

Table 6.1 

Examples of 

Derivation 

Can you find some words derived by the suffixes given in Table 6.2? It is your turn! 


1 

In their attempts to liberate Turkish from foreign elements, language reformists 

1 

or the neologizers working with the Turkish Language Society revived some old 


derivational suffixes, or borrowed suffixes of Turkic origin to form pure Turkish 

words that are used productively today. Some example suffixes used 2to derive 

neologisms in this way are: -mAn which forms nouns of occupation such as 


2 

ö¤retmen, okutman, sayman, seçmen, yazman; -tay which It forms is your turn! administrative 


terms such as dan›flay, say›fltay, kurultay, yarg›tay; -(A)v and -(A)y which 3 form 

nouns from verbs such as görev, s›nav, söylev and deney, dikey, olay (Lewis, 

3 

1967: 221, 226); -sAl which forms adjectives such as dinsel, örgütsel, kal›tsal; and 


-(I)ntI which forms nouns such as ayr›nt› (Brendemoen, 1998: 243). 

4 

It may be interesting to note that languages do not tend to derive all logically 

possible words. For example, as the antonym of the adjective yafll› the 


4 

morphological tools of Turkish can derive a word like *yafls›z, It or is your an turn! agentive noun 


from the verb çal›fl- as in *çal›fl›c› in analogy to sürücü from sür-. 5However, derivation is blocked in these cases. The reason is that Turkish happens to have 

5 

lexical items already filling the relevant semantic slots in the It is lexicon your turn! which the 


derivative would otherwise occupy. That is, when there are words like 6genç and 

iflçi, the language did not necessitate the creation of additional neologisms to 

6 

convey the same meaning. 



7 7 

81 

Table 6.2 

Productivity of 

Sample Derivational 

Suffixes 



8 8

82 


Reduplication 

Another means of word formation in Turkish is the process called reduplication. 

It involves copying some part of the underlying stem to various extent. One type 

is realized by repeating the leftmost syllable of the stem accompanied by the 

insertion of one of the consonants /p/, /m/, /s/, /r/. This is called partial 

reduplication. Some examples are ipince from ince, s›ms›k› from s›k›, masmavi 

from mavi, and tertemiz from temiz. This formative process is applied to adjectives 

and adverbs in Turkish to create augmented meanings such as “increase in size” 

or “added intensity” in Sapir’s terms (1921: 78). So, contrasted meanings after 

reduplication in the above examples are thin vs too thin, tight vs utterly tight, blue 

vs all blue, and clean vs utterly clean respectively. The reduplicated leftmost 

portion serves as the modifier of the affected stem. 

Augmented meanings can also be created by copying the entire stem yielding 

full reduplication. This process applies to all word classes except conjunctions 

and post positions (Demircan, 2001: 85): [h›zl› h›zl›] yürüdü (adverb), [mavi mavi] 

boncuklar (adjective), [kap› kap›] dolaflt› (noun), [sus sus] s›ra sana gelsin (verb), 

[kim kim] gittiniz (pronoun), [Ah ah]! (interjection). Unlike partial reduplication, 

full reduplication does not exhibit a modifier modified relationship. The words 

that are paired are of equal status, and they both modify the following form, not 

each other. Augmentation in these examples emphasizes continuance or 

repetition in verbs, intensity in modifiers and interjections, and plurality in 

varying degrees of intensity in nouns and pronouns. 

Before we conclude our discussion on reduplication, some formal features of 

this word formation process can be emphasized. 

It can be said that the duplicative process is of somewhat grammatical 

significance in Turkish. Manner adverbs are formed from adjectives by full 

reduplication. For example, h›zl› in h›zl› tren cannot be used as an adjective when 

duplicated: *h›zl› h›zl› tren. Yet it is perfectly acceptable when used with a verb as 

an adverb: h›zl› h›zl› yürüdü. There are also frequency adverbs formed in this 

way: zaman zaman, s›k s›k. 

Phonologically, reduplication in Turkish allows sound alternations to form 

rhyming pairs. One example is consonant alternation: s>f as in s›k› f›k›, k>s as in 

kaba saba, s>p as in sus pus 1 . Another example is the internal vowel alternation 

as in çar çur, hart hurt, zart zurt. These words are called mimetic words 

since they are created by imitating the stem. Some mimetic words have matching 

counterparts including what is called extenders. For example, f›r f›r, har har, z›r 

z›r can be extended into f›r›l f›r›l, har›l har›l, z›r›l z›r›l. The extended forms mark 

semantically more intensive meanings and this difference is achieved only by 

adding the extender -›l. There are some infixing extenders as well: z›ng›r z›ng›r, 

güldür güldür which are claimed to be extended from z›r z›r and gür gür (Ido, 

1999: 67-72). 

Another productive phonological process produces forms which are called 

doublets with /m/ (Lewis, 1967: 237). /m/ is added initially to the words with 

initial vowels: ar› mar›, or replaces the initial consonants in words with initial 

consonants: sar› mar›. The new meaning added by this way is either that of 

vagueness or of etcetera/and the like. (Demircan, 2001: 87; Johanson, 1998: 50). 

Other examples include televizyon melevizyon (tevizyon and the like, televizyon

falan), haber maber (haber falan), ders mers (ders falan), sar› mar› (sar› and the like 

or another color), otur motur (otur or do something similar), It is h›zl› your turn! m›zl› (h›zl› or 


whatever), veya meya (veya or whatever), onlar monlar (onlar and whoever 1 else). 1 

What is the difference between the following sets of reduplication? It is your turn! 


gece mece gece gündüz e¤ri me¤ri e¤ri bü¤rü 2 2 

sar› mar› sar› sar› y›rt›k m›rt›k y›rt›k p›rt›k 

eski meski eski püskü k›r›k m›r›k k›r›k dökük 



3 

Semantically, reduplicated words display a number of varying relationships. 

Some of them are composed of synonymous words: sorgu sual, k›l›k k›yafet, deli 

3 


divane, ses seda; some are composed of near synonyms: delik deflik, ak pak, ak›l 


fikir, ar namus; and some of antonymous words: ileri geri, er geç, iyi 4kötü, tatl› 

tats›z (Hatibo¤lu, 1971: 58-59). 

4 

Morphologically, reduplications may have a complex It is structure your turn! including 


inflectional or derivational suffixes as shown in bracketed examples: 5 [Yalana 5 

dolana] bafl vurdu, [efle dosta] ay›p olur, [çoluk çocu¤a] rezil olduk, [yandan 


yandan] yürüdü, [eli yüzü] düzgün, [uslu uslu] oturduk, [paras›z It is your pulsuz] turn! kald›k, 

[s›r›t›p s›r›t›p] durma, [bilmifl bilmifl] konuflma, [düfle kalka] mezun olduk, 1 

6 [tan›d›k 

bildik] yüzler and so on. Even clauses can be reduplicated as in [durdu durdu] 



1 

6 

turnay› gözünden vurdu, [sormufl sormufl] cevap alamam›fl, ava It is your [gitse turn! gitse] Osman 


gider, etc. 

2 

7 



2 

7 

What kind of meanings are expressed in the following reduplications? It is your turn! 


a. [Otel otel] dolaflt›k? c. [güzel güzel] k›zlar e. [Dolafl It is your dolafl] turn! dur! 


3 3 

b. [Güzel güzel] k›z d. [güpgüzel] k›z f. [Sürüm sürüm] 8 sürün! 

8 


Compounding 


4 

A genuinely Turkish means of creating new lexical items is realized 9 by 

compounding two free morphemes from different or same word classes to 



4 

9 

express a single meaning. It allows rich combinations of embedded It is your turn! 

It is your turn! compounds as 

shown in (1). 

5 

10 



5 

10 

(1) 

a. el [dokuma] 

b. el dokuma [hal›] 

c. el dokuma hal› [tezgah]› 

d. el dokuma hal› tezgah› [atölye]si 

e. el dokuma hal› tezgah› atölyesi [yönetici]si 






6 6 

11 11 




7 

12 

7 


12 

The word class of the compound is always compatible with It the is your word turn! class of the 


right most member, as shown in brackets. Moreover, the meaning It is your of turn! the 8right most 8 It is your turn! 

element is central to the meaning of the compound. Therefore, the direction 13 of the 13 

modification is from the left to the right (Fabb, 2002: 70). It For is your example, turn! in the 

compounds given in (1), the right most elements are nouns, so the compounds 

9 

are 

also characterized as noun (nominal) compounds. 


9 

In addition to nominal compounds, there are verbal and adjectival compounds, 


as well. Let’s now examine each more closely. 

10 


10 



11 11 



12 12 

83

84 


Nominal Compounds 

The first type of nominal compound is the one that allows NOUN NOUN pairings. 

The most common type is formed by a bare noun followed by another noun 

marked with the third person possessive morpheme: NOUN NOUN+3 rd POSS. 

Some examples are çocuk sandalyesi, fizik dersi, okul çantas›, çal›flma masas›. 

When preceded by çocuk, sandalye does not stand for any sandalye, but the kind 

that is designed for children. Likewise, fizik dersi is a kind of course, okul çantas› 

is a kind of bag, and çal›flma masas› is a kind of table. Compounds formed by 

juxtaposing two bare nouns (NOUN NOUN) or one case marked and one bare 

noun (NOUN+CASE NOUN) yield similar meanings. Some examples of both types 

are given in (2a) and (2b) respectively. 

(2) 

a. tafl bina ‘a kind of building’ 

demir köprü ‘a kind of bridge’ 

kad›n polis ‘police-woman’ 

b. flekerden ev ‘a kind of house’ 

ka¤›ttan uçak ‘a kind of toy plane’ 

The new meanings are fairly transparent in these compounds. That is, the 

meaning of the whole derive from the sum of its parts. Such compounds are called 

endocentric compounds. However, some are opaque in their meaning. Both 

components may lose their individual meanings when combined into a single 

lexical item. For example, akbaba is not a kind of baba, nor han›meli is a kind of 

el. In their new forms, they gain meanings distinct from those of their components’ 

to describe a kind of bird and a kind of plant respectively. These are called 

exocentric compounds (Wardhaugh, 1995: 232). There may even appear 

abstractions in this way of compounding. Figure 6.1. is adapted from Aksan to 

illustrate the semantic content of the exocentric compound ç›banbafl› in which 

two concrete characterizations are fused to create an abstract concept. 

Figure 6.1 



(Aksan, 1998: 1 

101) 

1 1 3 2 

ç›ban ç›banbafl› bafl 



2 2 “a boil” “the head of a boil” 

“= a delicate matter” 

“head” 



3 3 


Find examples It is of your neologisms turn! including N+N+POSS and N N+POSS compounds. 

4 4 

Nominal compounds can also be formed by ADJECTIVE+NOUN combinations 


5 

as in: karaa¤aç, palab›y›k, atl›kar›nca, ilkokul, k›rkayak. Some neologisms of this 


type that have been added to the lexicon in the last ten years are do¤algaz, 

5 

toplutafl›ma, ortadirek, kesin dönüfl, hayali ihracat, paral› askerlik, s›rdafl hesap 

(examples from ‹mer, 1990: 77). 



6 6 



7 7 



Though relatively less common, verbs are used to form new nouns: yapboz, 

2 

yap-ifllet-devret, çekyat, gelgit, so are clauses: dedikodu. Noun yielding frozen 

forms which consist of nouns followed by verbs (NOUN+VERB) are also possible. 


2 


They are called frozen forms because of the high restrictions on their combinability 


possibilities: imambay›ld›, but not *imambay›l›r or *kad›nbay›ld›; külbast›, 3 but not 

*külbasmaz or *tülbast›. They cannot be analyzed, neither can they be used 

3 

systematically and productively with other parallel forms. It Therefore, is your turn! they are 


considered to be frozen forms. 

4 4 

Which of the following is/are endocentric and which exocentric? Why? It is your turn! 

devetaban›, atl›kar›nca, ilkö¤retim, aç›kgöz 



1 


1 

85 


5 5 

Verbal Compounds 


A special case of verbal compound is called noun incorporation which 6 involves 

compounding of a noun stem or an adjective and a verb. In this process, the 

nominal element of the verb and the verb itself fuse to form It a is semantically your turn! more 

6 

complex verb (Bybee, 1985: 105). The ability of a noun to enter into incorporation 

7 

depends on the relevancy of that noun to the verb. Bybee explains It is your this turn! by referring 

to Sapir’s arguments claiming that activities and objects that are conjoined in 


experience are expressed by incorporation; whereas, “accidental” activities are 

8 

expressed by verbs with independent nouns. For example, in bal›k tutmak and 


kitap okumak the incorpated nouns bal›k and kitap are considered to be a part of 


the verb. These nouns build up the meaning of the verbs tutmak and okumak: 

9 

bal›k tutmak ‘fish catching’ as opposed to, say, el tutmak ‘hand holding’, and kitap 


okumak ‘book reading’ as opposed to, say, mektup okumak ‘letter reading’ or 

dergi okumak ‘magazine reading’. These indicate general activities, It is your turn! so the 

3 

nouns 

are generic in reference. Other examples include gazete okumak, banyo 10yapmak, 

alay etmek, yemek yemek, piflman olmak (examples from Kornfilt, It is your 1997: turn! 477, 478). 

7 

1 

8 

2 

9 

3 

Noun incorporation may sometimes go beyond a simple It is your turn! compositional 4 4 

organization, and display a more idiomatic one (Gerdts, 2002: 84). For 11example, atefl püskürmek does not mean ‘to blow out fire’, but rather figuratively It is your turn! ‘to be(come) 

11 

furious’. 


12 

Find examples of neologisms added to the lexicon that are made up It is of your NV turn! compounds. 

12 

6 


Verbal compounds consisting of two verbs (V+V) are also possible. These are 

13 

called double-verb constructions which are composed of It a is lexical your turn! verb and a 

6 

13 

postverb or a preverb forming a single unit (Csato, 2003: 105-109). They 7are of two 

types: subordinative and coordinative. Subordinative constructions can be made 

up of a converb of the lexical verb followed by a postverb as shown in Table 6.3. 

7 









10 










8 8 



9 9 


10 


10 



11 11 


86 

Table 6.3 

Examples of 

Subordinative 

Postverb 

Constructions 

Table 6.4 

Subordinative 

Preverb 

Constructions 


lexical verb 

converb of the 

lexical verb post verb compound 

yap- yapa- dur- yapaduryap- 

yap›p- dur- yap›p duröl- 

ölüp- git- ölüp gitgel- 

geliver- geliver- 

In these compounds, the first verb is subordinated to the second, and the 

second verb is the modifier of the first. The dur- verbs express lasting actions. The 

git- verbs express actions carried out to completion. The ver- verbs express actions 

done momentarily and easily. 

Subordinative constructions can also be made up of a converb of a preverb 

followed by a lexical verb as shown in Table 6.4. 

converb of the 

preverb preverb lexical verb compound 

tut- tutup- sor- tutup sor- 

In these compounds too, the first verb is subordinated to the second. However, 

this time the preverb is the modifier of the lexical verb: sormak means ‘to ask’, but 

tutup sormak means ‘to ask unexpectedly’ (Csato, 2003: 107). 

Coordinative constructions consist of elements of equal status. That is, no verb 

is subordinated to another. Some examples of the above given verbs used 

coordinatively are a¤lad› durdu, unuttu gitti, tuttu sordu. 

Adjectival Compounds 

One type of adjectival compound includes nouns with the third person singular 

possessive marking followed by an adjective as in gözü pek, baht› aç›k, aln› aç›k, 

karn› tok, s›rt› pek. Another type includes bare adjectives followed by denominal 

adjectives as in k›sa boylu, orta hararetli; or bare nouns followed by deverbal 

adjectives as in vatansever. Verb-adjective compounds as in vurdumduymaz, can 

also be used to derive new meanings. 

Onomatopoeia 

Sounds of the nature inspire creation of new words in all languages called 

onomatopoeic words. These words are imitative of natural sounds, so they 

reflect the meanings that they represent. Verbs, adjectives and adverbs can be 

created from the so called noises of the nature by several word formation processes 

such as affixation: h›r›ldamak, c›v›ldamak, fl›r›ldamak; compounding, ç›t k›r›ld›m, 

fl›p sevdi; and reduplication: h›r›l h›r›l, fl›r›l fl›r›l, c›v›l, c›v›l. 

Conversion 

As another tool of word formation, conversion allows a functional shift from one 

word class to another without any other addition or reduction in the word. Recall 

that derivational morphemes are used to change the word class of a free morpheme. 

Therefore, it can be thought that zero derivation marked with φ is involved in this 

kind of word formation since the surface forms of the stem and the neologism are 

identical. Some examples of conversion found in Turkish can be listed as ac›-


(verb) vs ac› (adj), ekfli- (verb) vs ekfli (adj), a¤r›- (verb) vs a¤r› (noun). It seems 

that some adjectival/nominal stems are identical to semantically similar verbal 

stems. This may come as a surprise since adjectival and nominal stems are sharply 

distinguished from verbal stems in Turkish. However, it is argued that these words 

originally had a distinguishing morpheme -Ig whose final sound dropped out later 

yielding identical words of different word classes: ac›g>ac›, ekflig>ekfli, a¤r›g>a¤r› 

(Tietze, 2002: 86). Other examples of conversion can be formed by using nouns as 

adjectives: pamuk, gümüfl, kömür; aorist third person singular verbs as nouns: 

gelir, gider, okur, ç›kar, tükenmez, ç›kmaz (Atalay, 1946: 135-137; Korkmaz, 1962: 

55, 60). 

Borrowing 

Another way of adding new words to a language is borrowing words from other 

languages through which Turkish is largely expanded. Historically, Turkish 

borrowed many words from other languages, such as Arabic, Persian and French; 

but the attempts of language reformists liberated it from most of these foreign 

elements. Yet, a flood of new borrowings in the last decade, especially from 

English, could not be avoided. In this new era of globalization, many chain stores 

of foreign origin mushroomed in the Turkish market with their “attractive” western 

names. Their local competitors had to have at least names sounding like theirs, 

and all of a sudden the 40-50 year-old non-English speaking mothers, when 

communicating with their teenage children, had to deal with the trade names such 

as Ice Boys, Mavi Jeans, Layla, Reyna, Levis, LC Waikiki, Club Mediterranean. They 

also had to figure out whatever is meant by French fries, fish and chips, cheesecake, 

hamburger, fast food, piercing, tattoo and so on. These are examples of 

borrowings that are kept intact. However, some borrowings display sound 

modifications: radyo, tren, kek, kart, ataç, problem, otorite, fingir bol. You may 

have noticed so far that all borrowed words in Turkish are accepted as nouns; 

therefore, they are allowed to enter into nominal inflections before they enter into 

verbal inflections: fakslar, faksta, faks›, but not *faks›yorum, *fakst›m, or 

*faksaca¤›m. Only after having been converted into a verb through noun-to-verb 

derivation, can a borrowed word accept verbal inflection (Haig, 2003: 62): faks-lad›-m, 

faks-la-y-aca¤-›m, faks-l-›yor-um. 

A special type of borrowing is called loan-translation, or calque. This word 

formation process allows word-for-word translations of new words into another 

language. For example, katma de¤er vergisi is the Turkish translation of value 

added tax. Other examples are do¤algaz ‘natural gas’, bilgi toplumu ‘information 

society’, uzaktan kumanda ‘remote control’, ekran koruyucu ‘screen saver’, insan 

haklar› ‘human rights’, toplam kalite ‘total quality’, k›z arkadafl ‘girl friend’. 

Coinage 

Sometimes speakers of a language create previously non-existent roots in language. 

This is called coinage. The most common examples are trade names that eventually 

become common words used to represent a particular product. For example, selpak 

is in fact a trade name which is now used to refer to ‘tissue paper’ of any brand 

in general. Other examples of this kind of generic use are aygaz ‘for gas’ and tursil 

‘for ‘washing powder’. 

87

88 


Semantic Change 

Another consideration in regard to word formation is the existence of semantic 

neologisms which represent semantic change in words. A word’s meaning may 

broaden to include more semantic features. For example, the word alan in 

Turkish was used to mean ‘a plane area’, but now it is also used to refer to ‘a 

professional field’. The word dal has a similar etymology. As another type of 

semantic change, a word’s meaning may lose some of its semantic content. For 

example, the verb dirilmek was used to mean both ‘to live’ and ‘to resurrect’ in 

Old Turkish. It seems that its meaning has now been narrowed down to the 

latter only (Aksan, 1998: 134-135). Reversals may also occur in which the 

meaning of a particular word may be reversed from positive to negative called 

semantic degradation, or from negative to positive called semantic elevation. 

For example, çocuk was once used to mean piglet (Tietze, 2002: 525), but its 

meaning is elevated from ‘non-human’ to ‘human’ to mean child (son) in 

colloquial Turkish. The word alçak in old Turkish meant modest, but in modern 

Turkish it has a more negative meaning: filthy. 

A special case of semantic change is called eponymy through which proper 

nouns are converted into common nouns. For example, the word çapano¤lu in 

Fazla kar›flt›rma alt›ndan çapano¤lu ç›kar or bunda bir çapano¤lu var is 

associated with complex or objectionable, or even disturbing situations or people. 

During the reign of Selim III, Çapano¤lu Süleyman Bey was in close contact with 

the Sultan and was consulted by him for supressing any kind of political or military 

problem in Anatolia. At that time, economically strong Çapano¤ullar› were 

prevalent everywhere in Anatolia and the name of this family was commonalized 

to a noun to reflect ‘powerful prevalence’ (fienyap›l›, 1996: 10-11). 

Metaphorical Extension 

Another method of word formation is metaphor: using an existing word to refer 

to an object with similar properties of its referent. This process can be considered 

to be one type of semantic change in that words do not undergo any morphological 

modification, but rather they adopt new meanings or new uses for the already 

existing ones. The output is not a completely new word, but a word with a new 

semantic interpretation. For example, çeflme in Turkish is a word of Persian origin. 

It is derived with the suffix -a from the stem çaflm which means eye. In this 

expression, the source of water is viewed as the human organ for seeing (Tietze, 

2002: 499). Just like teardrops falling down from an eye, water falls down from a 

tap. The way some humanly characterizations are used to describe nature also 

constitues an example of metaphorical extension: ‹stanbul [Bo¤az]›, da¤›n [etek]leri, 

nehrin karfl› [yaka]s›. The semantics of these words associated with human body 

parts is extended to describe geographical locations. These examples show that 

language is flexible and creative enough to form new metaphorical extensions at 

will as the need arises. 

Clipping 

Clipping is a reduction process that shortens a long word. For example, the word 

Liha as a woman’s name sounded strange to me once until I found out that it was 

the short for Saliha. Similarly, the popular talk show host Beyaz is the short for 

Beyaz›t. Tel çekmek for telgraf çekmek, oto for otomobil, kondu for gecekondu are 

other examples of clipping.


Blending 

It is possible to form a new word by using two word formation processes: 

compounding and clipping. The outcome is a blend. For example, the word 

Avrasya was created by first clipping the first part of the word Avrupa and then 

combining it with the word Asya into a new blend: Avr(upa) + Asya > Avrasya. 

Acronyms 

Have you ever used the expression Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu 1 in any 

context? I suspect your answer would be ‘No’. Even if it is a ‘Yes’, I would assume 

you use it very rarely since it is not very economic to use such a long expression. 

Instead, we tend to reduce it to the initial letters of the component words as TRT1, 

which forms an acronym in Turkish. Other examples are YÖK for Yüksek Ö¤retim 

Kurumu, TC for Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, ODTÜ for Orta Do¤u Teknik Üniversitesi, 

DGM for Devlet Güvenlik Mahkemesi, ABD for Amerika Birleflik Devletleri, KDV for 

Katma De¤er Vergisi, KPDS for Kamu Personeli Dil S›nav›. Turkish speakers do not 

often remember that these are acronyms, but rather use them as individual words. 

A distinction should be made between acronyms and abbreviations. The 

latter is not spelled out as it is shortened; whereas the former is. For example, Sn 

is an abbreviation and it is always pronounced in its long form as Say›n, but never 

as *s(e) n(e). 

Backformation 

This is not a productive word formation process in Turkish. One example I first 

encountered was in a TV commercial played by Cem Y›lmaz. ‹letiflmek, the last 

word of his lines in this commercial struck me as a humorous element first as it 

was the first time I heard this verb. Then on a personal account, one of my 

colleagues explained how she witnessed that this word is used in actual sentences 

such as biz onunla iyi iletifliyoruz in actual conversations. The word iletiflim is 

claimed to have appeared in Turkish in the early 70s (Niflanyan, 2003: 186). The 

verb iletiflmek seems to have appeared in the early 2000s. Then this can be seen 

as a clear case of backformation which displays an example of a simple word 

derived from a more complex one: iletiflim > iletifl-. Normally, we would assume 

that the direction of derivation is from simple to more complex as has been the 

case so far: ilet- > iletifl- > iletiflim. But in fact it is backwards: iletiflim > iletifl-; 

therefore, the process is called backformation. 

Multiple Processes 

More than one word formation process may be used to form new words. For 

example, düfle kalka bitirdik involves both derivation and reduplication. Its 

counterparts without the derivational suffix *düfl kalk bitirdik, and without 

reduplication *düfl bitirdik, *kalk bitirdik yield ungrammatical forms. Other 

examples include: 

radar acronym for radio detecting and ranging/borrowing 

transistor blend (transfer + resistor)/borrowing 

kardan adam compounding/suffixation 

programla- borrowing/derivation with -la 

fax clipping from facsimile/borrowing 

teflon coinage/borrowing 

sezeryan eponomy (the method by which Julius Caesar was born 

(Tatter, 1986: 27)/borrowing (caesarean section) 

89



4 4 

It 

90 

is your turn! 


5 5 

Note that this analysis includes the processes involved in both source languages 


and the borrowing It is your turn! language, which is Turkish in this case. However, we will be 

6 more concerned 6 with the processes used in only Turkish in the rest of the course. 


I. What word It is formation your turn! processes are involved in stand-upç›? 

7 II. Consider 7 the following neologisms. 

telsiz sansürsüz ön yarg›s›z indirimsiz 


modemsiz It is your turn! seçimsiz ön koflulsuz alt yaz›s›z 

8 8 

a. What stems does the suffix -sIz attach to? 


b. Is the It is suffix your turn! class-changing or class-maintaining? 

9 c. Give 9 the meaning of the suffix? 

d. What word formation process/es is/are employed to form these neologisms? 


10 


10 



11 11 



12 12 



13 13

Summary 

In this chapter we have looked at various ways of 

forming new words in Turkish. Derivation is the richest 

means of word formation applied. It makes use of 

affixes by attaching them to stems to form new words. 

Unlike derivation, compounding makes use of two 

independent words in forming neologisms. The 

meaning of the neologism is transparent from the 

meaning of the components sometimes, but rather 

opaque at other times yielding endocentric and 

exocentric compounds respectively. Imitating the 

sounds of nature, onomatopoeia, provides another rich 

source of word formation creating words descriptive of 

the nature. Conversion allows functional shifts in words 

of a language. Borrowing and loan translation occur 

when two or more languages come into direct or 

indirect contact through business, science and 

technology. Words of one language are either borrowed 

by or translated into another language. Even though 

not as common as other means, coining new words is 

another way of expanding the lexicon. A coinage is a 

novel word created without using any of the other word 

formation methods described in this chapter. It is a 

word created from scratch without employing any other 

word or parts of a word already existing in language. 

Semantic change takes place in time when the meaning 

of a word is broadened, narrowed down or even 

reversed gradually. As another case of semantic change, 

eponymy allows commonalization of proper nouns. 

Metaphorical extension of a word is its use in describing 

another thing that is related to or compared with its 

original referent. Clippings, blendings and acronyms all 

serve for the same purpose: shortening words; but they 

differ in terms of what parts of the word they leave out. 

Clippings are simply words that are shortened randomly 

without paying attention to the morphology of their 

original forms. Acronyms are formed by the initials of 

words or phrases to produce pronounceable separate 

words. Blends are words that are formed by combining 

parts of two words. Backformation is a process in which 

morphologically simple words are derived from more 

complex ones. It should be noted that more than one 

these word formation processes can be employed in 

creating a particular word. That is, multiple processes, 

as well, can be applied in word formation. 


91

92 

Self-test 


Indicate the word formation process responsible for 

the creation of the words given in 1-3: 

1. abone platin 

a. affixation 

b. prefixation 

c. suffixation 

d. derivation 

e. compounding 

2. motor for motorbisiklet 

a. clipping 

b. blending 

c. acronym 

d. eponymy 

e. coinage 

3. sindirmek in bu yeni fikri sindirmeye çal›fl›yoruz 

a. backformation 

b. metaphor 

c. conversion 

d. incorporation 

e. reversal 

4. Which one of the following includes pronominal 

reduplication? 

a. ama çok ama az 

b. ancak ve ancak 

c. al›fl-verifl 

d. tabii tabii 

e. seni gerek seni 

5. What process is involved in the use of the underlined 

words? 

Su daml›yor. 

Damlalar birikiyor. 

a. conversion 

b. metaphor 

c. coinage 

d. backformation 

e. calque 

6. Which one of the following neologisms include loan 

translation? 

a. sürgit 

b. uzay gemisi 

c. zaplamak 

d. bankamatik 

e. telefon 

7. Which one of the following is an acronym? 

a. jilet 

b. vileda 

c. ütü masas› 

d. ‹TÜ 

e. Dr. 

8. Which one of the following neologisms is NOT an 

example of borrowing? 

a. fayda 

b. sistem 

c. bilgi 

d. adalet 

e. paket 

9. The following examples display the use of the word 

o¤lan in Old Turkish. 

o¤ul ‘child’ o¤lanc›k ‘baby’ 

o¤lan ‘children’ ur› o¤lan ‘son’ 

k›z o¤lan ‘daughter’ 

(Aksan, 1998: 133-134) 

Considering the use of the word today, we can say that 

it is an example of: 

a. semantic change 

b. reversal 

c. metaphor 

d. conversion 

e. back-formation 

10. Niccolo Machiaveli’s well-known the Prince is a 

book on politics and political actions in the fifteenth 

and sixteenth centuries. It promotes effectiveness in 

political conduct at any cost. Nothing should be 

restricted by considerations of morality. Since then, the 

word makyavel is used to refer to people, not only 

politicians, who do not hesitate to risk everything for 

ambition. The creation of the word makyavel is an 

example of: 

a. incorporation 

b. eponymy 

c. coinage 

d. compounding 

e. clipping


Read the article by Can Dündar, and do the following 

tasks: 

a. How does the writer feel about language change? 

What particular word formation process is he reacting 

to? Why? b. Identify the word formation process/es used 

to create the underlined words. 

“ 

“Bir Hot-Chocolate Lütfen ...!” 

Geçen hafta Kenan Pafla, bir sahil e¤lencesi s›ras›nda 

anlat›lan bir Laz f›kras›na pek gülmüfl. F›kray› ço¤unuz 

duymuflsunuzdur: Temel’le Dursun ‹ngiltere’ye 

gitmifller. Ac›k›nca bir hamburgerciye dal›p, menüye 

göz atm›fllar. Sosisli sandviç anlam›na gelen “Hot dog” 

yaz›s›n› görünce “Bu da ne ola ki” diye sözlüklerine 

davranm›fllar. Temel, “Hot dog, ‘K›zg›n köpek’ 

demekmifl. Yiyelim bakal›m. Tatm›fl oluruz” demifl. Az 

sonra ikisinin de sosisli sandviçleri gelmifl. Temel önüne 

gelen parçaya bir göz att›ktan sonra Dursun’un kula¤›na 

e¤ilip sormufl; “Ula Dursun, sana neresi geldi köpe¤in 

...?” 

Bu türden bir nahofl hadise için ‹ngiltere’lere gitmeye 

gerek kalmad›¤›n› ben geçen hafta Türkiye’de 

yaflad›¤›m ilginç bir macerada anlad›m. Belki 

inanmayacaks›n›z ama anlatacaklar›m›n tümü bir gün 

içinde bafl›ma geldi. 

K›sa bir tatile niyetlenip, Antalya’ya bilet ald›m ve 

havaalan›na gittim. Havaalan›nda Türk Hava Yollar›, 

son birkaç ayd›r art›k mutad hale getirdi¤i üzere rötar 

yapt›. Ve cümbür cemaat beklemeye koyulduk. 

Havaalan›n›n “cafe”sinde beklerken, yan masada 

yetiflkin bir adam, yurt d›fl›nda e¤itim gördü¤ünü tahmin 

etti¤im gençten bir k›zla dertlefliyordu. Rötardan 

yak›nd›klar›n› duyunca kulak misafiri oldum. Adam 

“THY son dönemde o kadar çok rötar yap›yor ki, ad›na 

Tehirli Hava Yollar› demek daha do¤ru olur” dedi. 

Yan›ndaki k›z bofl gözlerle bak›p, “tehir ne demek” diye 

sordu. fiafl›rd› adam... Sonra kendince en kestirme yolu 

seçip, aynen flöyle dedi: “Tehir iflte can›m... yani delay... 

delay...”. “Haaa” diye güldü k›z, “tehir”in ‹ngilizce 

karfl›l›¤›n› duyunca... Çok da de¤il, bir kuflak önce 

babas›n›n konufltu¤u dille iletiflim kurabilmek için taa 

Atlas Okyanusu’nu dolafl›p gelmesi gerekmiflti. Ama bu 

durumu hiç yad›rgamad›lar. Ben, sinir oldum. “Delay... 


93 

delay...” diye söylenerek “cafe”ye do¤ru yürüdüm ve 

servis yapan kara ya¤›z delikanl›ya “Bir sütlü kakoa 

lütfen” dedim. Ayn› bofl bak›fl ve o feci soru: “Hot 

chocolate m›?” Nutkum tutuldu. Yutkunup “evet” 

diyebildim. Adam “hot chocolate”›m› verdi. Ayak üstü 

bir Atlas Okyanusu turu da ben yapm›fl oldum. Sessizce 

gidip masama oturdum. 

Bitmedi. Antalya’ya gidince arkadafllarla sahilde bir 

“restaurant”a oturup, ö¤le yeme¤i için beklemeye 

koyulduk. Pos b›y›kl› bir garson az sonra tepemizde 

belirdi. Ben sipariflleri verdim. Sonunda da “‹ki tane de 

patates k›zartmas›” dedim. Gelen soruyu art›k herhalde 

tahmin ediyorsunuzdur: “Pomme-frite... yani... diy 

mi...?”. Bu kez bütün bunlar›n bir kamera flakas› 

oldu¤una kesinkes hükmettim ve arkadafllar›ma hangi 

kameraya gülümsemem gerekti¤ini sordum. ‹natla 

reddettiler. Galiba hepsi gerçekti. 

Kald›¤›m›z otelin resepsiyonunda ‹sveçli bir genç k›z 

görevliydi. Pek fleker görünümlüydü, ama küçük bir 

kusuru vard›: Türkçe bilmiyordu. Biz üç dilde “patates 

k›zartmas›” demeyi ö¤rendi¤imiz halde küçük han›m 

çal›flt›¤› ülkenin dilinde bir “merhaba” demeyi 

ö¤renmeye bile üflenmiflti. Kendi memleketimizde bir 

odaya yerleflebilmek için ‹ngilizce meram anlatmak 

zorunda kald›k. Otelin havuzunda gün boyu 

katland›¤›m›z Almanca “animasyonlar” da günün mana 

ve ehemniyetine uygun düfltü. 

Bir sömürge topra¤›nda tatil yapt›¤›m› hissettim bir an... 

Kap›y› bacay› kilitleyip, odama çekildim ve kitap 

okumaya koyuldum. Ece Ayhan’›n “Yort Savul”u vard› 

yan›mda... ‹lk çevirdi¤im sayfada aynen flöyle diyordu: 

“Aç›l Do¤u aç›l! Do¤u aç›ls›n, Do¤u aç›lacak elbette. 

Ama yeni bir Kadenizli der ki, hem yeni ayana, hem 

yeni divanilere; Do¤u’ya do¤ru fazla giden, co¤rafya 

yüzünden, Bat›’ya düfler. Tersi de geçerlidir bunun...” 

Yani...? Fazla Bat›’ya gidersen, geri Do¤u’ya düflersin... 

“Do¤ululuk”, Bat›’n›n dilini kendi dilin sanmakt›r. A¤z›n› 

aç›p, Bat›’ya hayran hayran bakarken, dilini yutars›n... 

Ya da alemin dili seni yutar... Çünkü oralarda sana 

“köpe¤in hep ayn› yeri gelir...” Yerken dilini ›s›r›r, dilsiz 

kal›rs›n... 

Aktüel, 27 Temmuz 1995 

”

94 

References & Bibliography 


Aksan, D. (1993). Türkçenin gücü. Ankara: Bilgi. 

_______. (1998). Anlambilim. Ankara: Engin. 

Besim, A. (1946). Türkçe’de kelime yapma yollar›. 

‹stanbul: ‹brahim Horoz Yay›nevi. 

Bybee, J. (1985). Morphology: A study of the relation 

between meaning and form. Amsterdam: John 

Benjamins. 

Brendemoen, B. (1998). The Turkish Language Reform. 

In L. Johanson & E. Csato (Eds.). The Turkic 

languages. (pp.242-247). London: Routledge. 

Csato, E. A. (2003). A typology of Turkish double - verb 

constructions. In A. S. Özsoy et al. (Eds.), 

Proceedings of the tenth international 

conference in Turkish linguistics, ‹stanbul, 

August, 2000, 59 - 68. ‹stanbul: Bo¤aziçi University 

Press. 

Demircan, Ö. (2002). Türkçenin ezgisi. ‹stanbul: Y›ld›z 

Teknik Üniversitesi Vakf›. 

Dündar, C. (1997). Ya¤murdan sonra. Ankara: ‹mge 

Kitabevi. 

Fabb, N. (2002). Compounding. In A. Spencer, A. & 

A.M. Zwicky, (Eds.), The handbook of 

morphology (pp. 66-83). Oxford: Blackwell. 

Gerdts, D.B. (2002). Incorporation. In A. Spencer & A. 

M. Zwicky (Eds.), The handbook of morphology 

(pp. 84-100). Oxford: Blackwell. 

Haig, G. (2003). From lexical class to syntactic function: 

A sketch of Turkish word structure. In A.S. Özsoy et 

al (Eds.), Proceedings of the tenth international 

conference in Turkish linguistics, ‹stanbul, 

August, 2000, 59 - 68. ‹stanbul: Bo¤aziçi University 

Press. 

Hatibo¤lu, V. (1971). ‹kileme. Ankara: TDK. 

Ido, S. G. (1999). Turkish mimetic word formation. 

Asian African Studies, 8, 67-73. 

‹mer, K. (1976). Türkiye Türçesinde Kökler. Ankara: 

TDK. 

_______. (1996). Neologisms in Turkish. In B. Rona 

(Ed.), Proceedings of the Fifth international 

conference on Turkish linguistics, London, 

August 1990, 75-84. Ankara: Hitit Yay›nevi. 

Korkmaz, Z. (1962) Türkçede eklerin kullan›l›fl 

flekilleri ve ek kal›plaflmas› olaylar›. Ankara: 

Türk Tarih Kurumu Bas›mevi. 

_______. (1995) Türk Dili üzerine araflt›rmalar. 

Ankara: TDK. 

Kornfilt, J. (1997). Turkish. New York: Routledge. 

König, W. (2001). Prefixes in Turkish. In B. Rona, (Ed.), 

Proceedings of the fifth international 

conference on Turkish linguistics (pp. 75-82). 

Ankara: Hitit Publications. 

Lewis, G. L. (1967). Turkish Grammar. Oxford: 

Clarendon Press. 

Nilsson, B. (1986). Object incorporation in Turkish. In 

A.Aksu-Koç & E.Erguvanl› Taylan (Eds.), 

Proceedings of the Turkish linguistics 

conference, ‹stanbul, August, 1984, 145 - 158. 

‹stanbul: Bo¤aziçi University Publications. 

Niflanyan, S. (2003). Sözlerin soya¤ac›: Ça¤dafl 

Türkçenin etimolojik sözlü¤ü. ‹stanbul: Adam. 

Özel, S. (1977). Türkiye Türkçesinde sözcük türetme 

ve bilefltirme. Ankara: TDK. 

Sapir, E. (1921). Language. London: HBJ. 

Süer, E. (2003). Ça¤tay Türk Dili. Ankara: Grafiker 

Yay›nlar›. 

fienyap›l›, Ö. (1996). Her sözcü¤ün bir öyküsü var. 

Ankara: METU Press. 

Tartter, V. C. (1986). Language processes. New York: 

CBS College Publishing. 

Tietze, A. (2002) Tarihi ve etimolojik Türkiye 

Türkçesi Lugat›. ‹stanbul: Simurg. 

Wardaugh, R. (1995). Understanding English 

grammar. Oxford: Blackwell. 

End Note 

1 “>” indicates a change in the linguistic item. So, s>f 

translates as / s / becomes / f /. Similarly, N>V 

means noun becomes verb and so on.




1 1 

Some It is your turn! examples are: It is sormak, your turn! merakl›, sabahl›k, bal›kç›, 

2 2 

h›zla, amaçs›z, sarma, gidifl, kazanç, soygun, 



ça¤layan, 3 al›ngan, 3 içsel, kedicik, vatandafl. 



1 


1 


4 


4 


2 


2 


5 5 

Let’s It is your turn! use these in a It context is your turn! to see the difference better. 

3 3 



Gece 6 mece gittik 6 vs gece gündüz gittik. 



4 4 

It is your Sar› turn! mar› güller It ald›k is your turn! vs sar› sar› güller ald›k. 

7 7 



Eski meski kulland›k vs eski püskü kulland›k. 

5 5 



E¤ri 8 me¤ri kulland›k 8 vs e¤ri bü¤rü kulland›k. 



6 6 

It is your Y›rt›k turn! m›rt›k giydik It is your turn! vs y›rt›k p›rt›k giydik. 

9 9 



K›r›k 7 m›r›k satt›k 7 vs k›r›k dökük satt›k. 



10 

10 

Clearly, It is your turn! doublets formed It is your turn! with /m/ convey a less strong 

8 8 



meaning in that the designated properties imply the 

11 11 





indifference 9 of 9the 

speaker. Their counterparts, 



is your turn! 

however, definitely signal intensity. 


10 



10 




11 

3 

13It 

is your turn! 


11 

3 



a. It is your augmented turn! quantity, 


12 

4 

12 

4 

b. augmented/enhanced quality of a girl, 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

13 

5 

13 

5 

c. enhanced quality of each girl, 



d. enhanced quality of a girl (b,c and d are similar, but 


1 1 

d is stronger), 




e. augmented duration/repetition of the verb, 

2 2 


f. augmented manner of the verb. 




3 3 





4 



4 


N It is your + turn! N + 10 POSS: Binçalt›, 10It 

is your turn! buzdolab›, yay›nevi, NN + POSS: 



5 5 


çevre kirlenmesi, yakacak yard›m›, seçim bölgesi, vergi 

It 11 11 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 



iadesi, 61 maafl katsay›s›, 6 

3 

1 

3 bölge valili¤i, muz›r yasas›, 




is your turn! 

kurumlar It is your turn! s›nav› (‹mer, It is your turn! 1990: 77) 


72 4 



72 

4 


It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 13 


83 5 

13It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 


83 

5 





endocentric It is your turn! 

9 : ilkö¤retim 


4 9 

6 

4 

6 

exocentric It is your turn! : devetaban›, It is your turn! atl›kar›nca, aç›kgöz 



10 5 

7 



10 5 

7 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 


11 6 

8 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! 


11 6 

8 

Konut It is your turn! 

üretmek, kaynak It is your turn! 

sa¤lamak, kaynak yaratmak, 



12 7 12 

9 

7 

9 

ça¤ atlamak (‹mer, 1990: 77) 





13 13 

10 

8 8 

10 





11 

9 

11 

9 





10 

10 

12 12 





11 11 

13 13 

It is your turn! It is your turn! 

1 1 



2 2 



3 3 



4 4 




5 5 



6 6 



7 7 

95 



I. stand-up+ç› : borrowing stand-up, conversion 

8 8 

(verb>noun), derivation with -ç› 



9 9 

II. a. Bare nouns tel; borrowed nouns modem, sansür; 



derived 10 nouns, 10 seçim, indirim; compound nouns 

It is your turn! ön yarg›, ön It koflul, is your turn! alt yaz›. 

11 11 

b. Class changing: NOUN>ADJECTIVE 



c. Without 

12 12 

It is your d. turn! telsiz: derivation It is your turn! 

13 13 

modemsiz: brorrowing, derivation 

sansürsüz: borrowing, derivation 

seçimsiz: 2 derivations 

ön yarg›s›z: loantranslation, compounding, 

derivation 

ön koflulsuz: loan translation, compounding, 

2 derivations 

indirimsiz: 3 derivations 

alt yaz›s›z: compounding, 2 derivations



Aims 

� 

� 

� 


How many different categories are there? 

What is nominal categorization? 

What is verbal categorization? 

Key Words 

• grammatical category 

• number 

• gender 

• case 

• tense 

Contents 



Morphology 


Grammatical 

Categories 

• aspect 

• mood 

• negation 

• voice 

• agreement 


• GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES

Grammatical 

Categories 

INTRODUCTION 

Upon hearing a group of words such as onur, demet, k›vanç, mutlu, ça¤dafl, özgür, 

metin, many readers, will take them as suggesting that they have something in 

common -say, that they are all nouns. Hearing another group such as mutlu, özgür, 

metin, uygar, ça¤dafl, cesur they will say they are adjectives. Mutlu, ça¤dafl, özgür, 

metin are used in both groups, but they are categorized as nouns in the first, as 

adjectives in the second. Why? The different interpretations are based on the 

common idea of what it means to be in the same category: the things are categorized 

together on the basis of what they have in common. Everytime we see something, 

we see it as a member of a category -say a kind of car, a kind of animal, a kind of 

bird, a kind of sound etc. If we fail to do so, we may equally fail to perceive the 

reality around us. And whenever we try to do so, we employ categories. Similarly, 

anytime we produce or understand any linguistic utterance, we employ categories: 

categories of speech sounds, of words, of phrases, as well as conceptual categories. 

What kind of knowledge helps a native speaker to make these categorizations? 

All natural language utterances are made up of distinct units that are meaningful, 

and all natural language sytstems divide those units into a series of syntactic 

categories. Therefore, no description of grammar would be considered adequate 

unless it defined a set of distinct syntactic categories in its formal structure. One 

method of doing this is dividing words into categories based on their grammatical 

marking. Therefore, a close analysis of grammatical marking would reveal a great 

deal about the grammatical structure of a language as well as the systematic 

organization behind grammatical utterances of that language. 

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES 

In Unit 5, we introduced the distinction between inflectional and derivational 

morphology. The focus was primarily on the distinctive features of the morphemes 

representing either process. We return now to a more detailed discussion of the 

grammatical morphemes. Grammatical morphemes express grammatical categories. 

Grammatical categories mark grammatical notions that are associated with particular 

lexical categories. They can be realized in the form of a word (function words), a 

bound morpheme (inflectional suffixes) or a zero morpheme (φ). There are two 

types of grammatical categories: nominal and verbal. Nominal categories are

98 


expressed on nouns, and they mark number, gender, case. Verbal categories are 

expressed on verbs, and they mark (a) tense, aspect and mood (TAM); (b) polarity: 

negative vs positive; (c) voice: active, passive, reflexive, reciprocal,causative; and (d) 

agreement in number and person. 

Before we proceed, it should be noted that a grammatical category is a linguistic 

category, not a real world category; and there may not always be a one-to one 

correspondance between the two. For example, tense is a linguistic category 

marking the world category of time. While the past tense marker -DI usually 

expresses a past time as in Dün erken kalkt›m, the same morpheme expresses 

future or present in Geldim, geldim! as a response to a ringing doorbell. Similarly, 

the linguistic category plural number marks the world category more than one. 

However, Ali’ler does not necessarily mean that there is more than one Ali. 

Nominal Categories 

Number 

Number is a grammatical category which indicates whether or not a member of 

the related word class is singular or plural. The morpheme -lAr in Turkish is 

employed to convey the concept of plurality, and lack of it implies singularity. 

Number inflection in Turkish is particularly seen in nouns (ev/evler), 

demonstratives (bu/bunlar, flu/flunlar, o/onlar), personal pronouns (ben/biz, 

sen/siz, o/onlar), possessive determiners (benim/bizim, senin/sizin, onun/onlar›n), 

possessive pronouns (benimki/bizimki, seninki/sizinki, onunki/onlar›nki), 

reflexive pronouns (kendim/kendimiz, kendin/kendiniz, kendi/kendileri). Bare 

nouns are unspecified in terms of number. They represent a categorial meaning 

rather than representing a member of that category. For example, insan refers to 

the category human, bir insan refers to a single member of the category human 

that exists in the universe, and insanlar indicates indefinite number of members 

of the category human. 


Look at the It number is your turn! taking word classes given above. Do you think they can enter into 

1 

double plural 

1 

marking? 


2 

In addition to the inflectional morpheme -lAr, the idea of number is conveyed 


by a number of pronouns and adjectives as well. 

2 

Singular : her, her bir, biri, hiç kimse, hiçbiri, bir 


Plural : It bir is your çok, turn! çok, birkaç, baz›, iki, üç, on 

3 3 

An interesting property of Turkish number marking is the lack of it in cases 


4 

where plurality is explicitly marked with other quantifiers such as numbers. The 


ungrammaticality of *on sorular shows that Turkish economizes on using markers 

4 

having similar functions consecutively. Both on and -lar convey the idea of more 


5 

than one; therefore, only one, namely the quantifier, is used so as to avoid 


redundancy. 

5 



6 6 



7 7 


Non-Plural Functions of -lAr 

Unit 7 - Grammatical Categories 

-lAr With Quantifiers 

The plural morpheme otherwise deleted after quantifiers is retained when referring 

to people or events that are common public knowledge. Some examples include 

K›rk Haramiler, Üç Silahflörler, Çifte Havuzlar, Dört Büyükler, Befl Hececiler. In 

these examples, -lAr is no longer seen as a plural morpheme, but rather as an 

inseparable part of a proper noun (Korkmaz, 2003: 259). Therefore, the resulting 

plural noun is interpreted as a group noun. 

-lAr With Proper Nouns 

Proper nouns are not pluralized unless the same noun is used to refer to two or 

more different people or entities. However, when attached to a personal proper 

noun, the plural morpheme refers to family or friends. So, Beyhan’lar da konsere 

gidiyor may mean either there are two people by the name of Beyhan and both 

of them are going to the concert, or Beyhan and her family or friends are going to 

the concert. 

In a similar fashion, -lAr may be used on a proper noun to signal common 

ethnic, regional or religious background as in Türkler, ‹stanbullular, and 

Müslümanlar. The same function may also be extended over to common nouns 

which represent a category: etoburlar, ö¤retmeler derne¤i, turunçgiller. 

Alternatively, -lAr on a proper noun may function as a marker of analogy 

(Gencan, 1966: 103). Süreyya Ayhanlar in Sporumuzu Süreyya Ayhanlar yüceltiyor 

does not indicate that there is more than one Süreyya Ayhan. The underlying 

meaning better translates as Our sports is excelled by athletes like Süreyya Ayhan. 

Proximity With -lAr 

The plural morpheme can be used to convey the idea of approximately. In 

Sevda’n›n evi postanenin yak›n›nda biryerlerde, biryerlerde does not refer to 

several places. A house cannot be located in more than one place at a time. What 

it indicates is that the house is somewhere around the post office. Similarly, in 

Katil yirmi yafllar›ndaym›fl, the plural marker on the word yafl does not in fact 

refer to different ages since one cannot be at several ages at the same time. Rather 

it is given to approximate to the age of the killer. It signals that the given age is 

only an estimate, not a fact. The killer can be 21 as well as 19. 

Augmentative -lAr 

-lAr may also be used to intensify the meaning conveyed by otherwise a singular 

noun. In ‹stanbullarda ne iflin vard›? as opposed to ‹stanbul’da ne iflin vard›?, or 

Mart ay›nda so¤uklar bast›r›r as opposed to Mart ay›nda so¤uk bas›r›r, the plural 

marker functions as an augmentative marker that amplifies the effect of the message. 

-lAr with Uncountables 

Number marking typically applies to countable nouns. It indicates individual 

plurality. When it is used with an uncountable noun, it refers to individual units or 

occurances of that noun. In Sular fl›r›l fl›r›l ak›yor, the plural morpheme is used to 

mean ‘masses of water’. Similarly, in çaylar geldi, the plural is used to pluralize the 

unit of çay, namely ‘cups’ or ‘glasses’. In yaln›zl›klar yaflad›m, however, various 

99

100 


occurances of this feeling is expressed. Several instances of loneliness has been 

experienced by the speaker. 

-lAr in Frozen Forms 

-lAr is also used in cliches as unanalyzed fixed forms: ‹yi geceler!,Tatl› rüyalar!, 

Sa¤l›klar! The singular counterparts yield ungrammatical forms in the sense that 

they can no longer convey the function of wishing: *‹yi gece!, *Tatl› rüya!, *Sa¤l›k! 

Gender 

There are two types of gender: grammatical gender and natural gender. Languages 

that have grammatical gender mark nouns according to a distiction between 

masculine, feminine, and neuter. Some languages also mark adjectives, articles, 

and pronouns in terms of gender. Turkish does not make gender distinctions, at 

least not grammatically. That is, there is not a separate grammatical category in 

Turkish particularly used for gender marking except for some suffixes of foreign 

origin: müdür/müdire, katip/katibe, muallim/muallime, kral/kraliçe, tanr›/tanr›ça. 

Natural gender is a world category and it denotes biological gender. Turkish is 

somewhat sensitive to natural gender and employs lexical items to mark it in 

different ways. For example, words erkek and kad›n/k›z are used as adjectives to 

distinguish gender in humans: kad›n polis, k›z arkadafl, erkek arkadafl, erkek yolcu. 

In animals difli is preferred over kad›n/k›z: *kad›n aslan vs difli aslan, erkek aslan, 

difli kufl. There are also a number of lexical items that are inherently marked for 

gender. For example, kinship terms such as abla and a¤abey always have a female 

and a male referent respectively. Similarly, damat, amca, day›, eniflte are inherently 

marked as male; and gelin, teyze, görümce, bald›z are always understood as 

female. There are also inherently marked lexical items used for animals: dana vs 

tosun, tavuk vs horoz, koyun vs koç. 

Case 

There are syntactic and semantic definitions of the notion case. Syntactically 

speaking, the term case is used to refer to the surface inflectional form of a noun 

which indicates grammatical relations. For example, the form of the word cam can 

be changed by inflection into cam› or cama to show different functions of this 

word such as subject, direct object and indirect object. Semantically speaking, case 

shows the semantic relationship between the verb and its arguments (nouns). 

Compare the syntactic and semantic properties of the word tafl in Ali cam› taflla 

k›rd› and Tafl cam› k›rd›. Syntactically, it functions as an adverbial in the first 

sentence, and a subject in the second. However, its semantic relationship with the 

verb is the same in both sentences. Tafl is the instrument with which the action 

performed. Therefore, taflla and tafl are said to be in the instrumental case. 

In this section, our focus will be on the former. Traditional grammarians of 

Turkish distinguish five cases which convey the following functions: the nominative 

case marking the subject: ev-φ; the accusative case marking the direct object: ev-i, 

the dative case marking the indirect object: ev-e, the locative case marking location: 

ev-de, the ablative case marking point of departure: ev-den, and the genive case 

marking the possessor in a possessive construction: ev-in. 

Case assigners in Turkish are verbs, postpositions, and adjectives (Sezer, 1991: 

55). For example, transitive verbs assign accusative case to their direct objects.

(1) a. Serhat’› kurtard›lar. 

b. *Serhat kurtard›lar. 

Other verbs may select other cases for their complements. Compare: 

(2) a. Serhat’a bakt›lar. (3) a. Serhat’tan söz ettiler. 

b. *Serhat bakt›lar. b. *Serhat söz ettiler. 

c. *Serhat’› bakt›lar. c. *Serhat’a söz ettiler. 

d. *Serhat’› söz ettiler. 

Bak- and söz etare verbs that mark their objects with the dative and the 

ablative respectively. Any other case reveals ungrammatical froms as seen in (2b, 

c) and (3b, c, d) 

As mentioned earlier, postpositions and adjectives assign case to their noun 

complements as well. *çocuk göre and *yemek merakl› are ungrammatical because 

the postposition göre and the adjective merakl› assign dative case to their arguments 

as in çocu¤a göre, yeme¤e merakl›. Similarly, *çocu¤a gibi and *çocuktan için are 

not grammatical because postpositions gibi and için require nominative case as in 

çocuk gibi, çocuk için. Note that different cases may be assigned by postpositions 

in nominal and pronominal environments: çocuk için (nominative), but benim için 

(genitive), çocuk gibi (nominative), but benim gibi (genitive). 

Cases in Turkish 

The Nominative Case - Ø 

Subjects of independent finite clauses are marked with the nominative case. Çiçek 

in Çiçek açt› is the subject of the sentence and is therefore in the nominative case, 

that is φ marked. However, not all φ marked noun phrases can be the subject. 

Consider A¤açlar çiçek açt›. Neither a¤açlar nor çiçek has an overt case marker. 

But which one qualifies for subjecthood? What determines the native speaker’s 

choice of a¤açlar as the subject over çiçek? In such cases, the position immediately 

before the verb is interpreted as the position for the object. So, çiçek cannot be the 

subject of this sentence since it is used pre-verbally. This leaves It is your us turn! with a¤açlar 

as the subject. 

1 1 

Which one/s of the following is/are in the nominative case? 

tafl tafllar›m 

tafllar tafl›n 



The Accusative Case -(y)I 

3 

The accusative case is traditionally defined as the marker of the direct object in a 


3 

sentence. However, what is peculiar about it is that while all the other case markers 


are obligatorily assigned by their governing heads, the accusative case marking is 

4 

optional in some cases (Erguvanl›, 1984: 19). Then what is the underlying 


4 

motivation for presence or absence of the accusative in a sentence? 



5 5 

101 




2 2 



6 6 



7 7 


102 


Definitizing Function of the Accusative 

It is claimed that the presence of the accusative on the object noun phrase reveals 

a definite reading of the governed noun phrase. 

(3) a. Doktor hasta tedavi ediyor. 

b. Doktor hastay› tedavi ediyor. 

In (3a) hasta does not really refer to any specific person who can be identified 

by the speaker or the hearer. However, if the same noun phrase is attached the 

accusative case marker as in (3b), it is assigned a definite reading, which reveals 

that both the speaker and the hearer can identify the patient mentioned. Hastay› 

in that case is used to refer to a particular person whose identity is clear to both 

participants. 

Generic Function of the Accusative 

Generic is a reference type which is used to mark a class of objects, animals, or 

people rather than a specific member of a class. For example, in aslan kükredi, aslan 

has a definite reading since it refers to a particular lion in a particular context; but in 

aslan kükrer, it has a generic reading which holds for all lions. This distinction can 

be made in object noun phrases as well. The same function can be signalled by the 

accusative case marker when it is combined with the plural -lAr in modal contexts. 

(4) a. Doktor hastalar› tedavi eder. 

b. Doktor hastalar› tedavi etti. 

Even though it is marked with the accusative case marker, hastalar› in (4a) 

does not refer to any particular group of people in the same way as hastalar› does 

in (4b). In this context, its meaning is equivalent to that of doktor hasta tedavi 

eder. As an abstract label, it only gives an abstract reading of the category patient, 

and the statement given in this sentence applies to all members of the category. 

The reason is that the plural marker neutralizes the definitizing function of the 

accusative case in the present time marking. However, this function of the plural 

morpheme is blocked by the past tense marker on the verb in (4b). Past tense 

marking typically restricts the time and the number of possible referents of an 

argument a verb can apply to. Therefore, the noun phrases with such limited 

domain of application can no longer be generic applying to all members of a 

category at all times. In other words, the generic reading is ruled out by the past 

tense marking on the verb. Then the definite reading of this sentence is that a 

particular doctor in a particular hospital treated a particular group of patients that 

can be identified by the participants. When a plural noun is used in this way, 

accusative case marker is obligatory as evidenced by the ungrammaticality of 

*doktor hastalar tedavi eder. 

Syntactic Function of the Accusative 

Lack of accusative case marking reveals ungrammatical forms in the environment 

of noun phrases with definite readings as well. Consider: 

(5) a. Doktor Sevgi’yi tedavi etti. b. *Doktor Sevgi tedavi etti. 

c. Doktor onu tedavi etti. d. *Doktor o tedavi etti.

We know that proper nouns and pronouns are definite by definition. Their 

referents can be identified by both the speaker and the hearer. Therefore, Sevgi 

and the pronoun that replaces it in (5a, c) are inherently definite. So, they do not 

really need a case marker to gain this status. Why are they case marked then? As 

mentioned elsewhere, in case of more than one definite bare noun in a sentence; 

accusative, as an object marker, is used to distinguish their syntactic functions. The 

accusative case marked noun is the direct object, the nominative noun is the 

subject of the sentence. 

What about the syntactic function of common nouns? They too are obligatorily 

marked with the accusative case when they are not used in the preverbal position. 

(6) a. ‹fladam› gazeteye ilan verdi. 

b. *‹fladam› ilan gazeteye verdi. 


The ungrammaticality of (6b) indicates that object noun phrases with no overt 

case marking are restricted to the position immediately before the verb. If they have 

to be used, for any pragmatic reason, in any other position, they must be marked 

with the accusative so as not to be taken as the subject of the sentence. Therefore, 

ifladam› ilan› gazeteye verdi is perfectly grammatical since the subject and the 

object of the sentence can clearly be distinguished by case marking. 

Function of Completeness 

In addition to its syntactic and semantic functions discussed above, the accusative 

case, when used with noun phrases expressing location, interestingly expresses a 

complete coverage of the object affected by the verb. For example, merdiveni ç›kt› 

as oppossed to merdivene ç›kt› indicates that the subject of the sentence climbed 

all the way up to the top of the stairs/ladder. However, merdivene ç›kt› suggests 

that the subject has just stepped on the stairs/ladder. Other examples include: 

(7) a. Yolu yürüdü. Pastay› yedi. Cellat askerin It is your bafl›n› turn! vurdu. 


b. Yoldan yürüdü. Pastadan yedi. Cellat askeri bafl›ndan 

1 

vurdu. 

1 

The accusative case marked noun phrases in (7a) are affected by the action of 

the verb on a larger scale than the ones in (7b). The subject has It is walked your turn! all the way 


down the road, s/he has eaten the entire cake, and s/he cut off the head. 2 2 

What is the function of the accusative in the following? 



Etem dondurmay› sevmez ama bu dondurmay› yedi ve çok sevdi. 3 3 

The Dative Case -(y)A 



The indirect objects of ditransitive verbs in Turkish are obligatorily marked with 

4 4 

the dative case. 

(8) Kitab› Zeynep-e verdim. 



Zeynep-e tuzu uzatt›m. 

Evi Zeynep-e satt›m. 

5 5 

Zeynep-e eflyalar›n› götürdüm. 



6 

In all of the examples in (8), the possession of the objects kitap, tuz, ev, and 

eflyalar is transfered to Zeynep, which in turn makes it the indirect object of 

6 



7 7 

103 



8 8

104 





these verbs. Transference may sometimes be metaphorical with verbs such as 

oku-, söyle-, ö¤ret-, göster-, sor-, yolla-, etc. (Berk, 1999: 35). In Zeynep’e kitap 

okudum, there is not an object being transferred from the subject to the indirect 

object. Transference here is more of an abstract one. 

The idea of transference of the possession assumes [+animate] and mostly 

[+human] indirect objects. *Kitab› eve verdim is ungrammatical unless [-animate] ev 

is used to refer to the people at home. Instead of this function, the dative case with 

such noun phrases marks a directional relationship between the verbs and their 

inanimate arguments as shown in: 

(9) Kitab› ev-e götürdüm. 

Kitab› Ankara-y-a yollad›m. 

Kitab› masa-y-a b›rakt›m/koydum. 

Eflyalar› otel-e götürdüm. 

The dative case marked noun phrases in (9) are directional arguments of the 

verbs, and they have the semantic function of goal. They can be replaced by a 

[+animate] noun such as Zeynep retaining the same function: Kitab› Zeynep’e 

götürdüm. 

Dative case morphology conveys the meaning of direction to with intransitive 

verbs as well: Masa-y-a düfltü, Sinop-a gittik, Salon-a döndük. 

As mentioned earlier, among the case assigners in Turkish, a certain sub-group 

of verbs, adjectives, and postpositions selects the dative case to assign to their 

objects. Some examples of such verbs are X-e ilgi duymak, X-e gücenmek, X-e 

yak›flmak; those of adjectives are X-e hayran, X-e düflkün, X-e merakl›; and those 

of postpositions are X-e kadar, X-e ra¤men, X-e göre. 

Non-Local Functions of -(y)A 

When the dative case is used without showing directionality, it conveys the 

following functions. 

(10) Bütün para Demet-e kald›. 

Annem-e hediye ald›m. 

Herkes o-n-a çal›fl›yor. 

(11) S›nav-a It is your haz›rlan›yor. 

turn! 

1 Bilgi 1 almay-a gidiyoruz. 

(12) Kitaplar› kaça ald›n? 

20 

It 

milyona. 

is your turn! 

2 

In (10) 

2 

Demet, anne and o are the people who are affected by the actions 

denoted in a beneficial manner. It is for this reason that they are said to have the 

benefactive It is role. your turn! In (11) dative cased noun phrases indicate a purpose, and in 

3 (12) the dative 3 functions as an indicator of price. 


Which one of It is the your following turn! has a benefactive function? 

4 Paray› 4masaya 

b›rakt›. 

Paray› kardefline b›rakt›. 



5 5 



6 6 



7 7

The Locative Case -DA 

The locative case is typically used to mark the locational relationship between a verb 

and its argument. It marks the spatial, temporal, and abstract location at which the 

verb is located. Spatial location shows location in place, and temporal location 

shows location in time. Finally, abstract location shows abstract placement in abstract 

nouns and adjectives indicating shape, size, color and age (Lewis, 1967: 37). 

SPATIAL TEMPORAL ABSTRACT 

evde saat alt›da sar› renkte güzellikte 

arabada Haziranda daire fleklinde doktorlukta 

koltukta iki y›lda bu uzunlukta inançta 

Avrupa’da arada s›rada 2 yafl›nda sevgide 

When these noun phrases are replaced by a [+human] noun, they indicate 

possession as in Kitap Semra’da. This differs from the genitive kitap Semra’n›n in 

that it implies temporary possession of the book as opposed to permanent 

ownership signalled by the genitive. 


of verbs and adjectives selects the locative case to assign to their objects. Some 

examples of such verbs are X-te konufllanmak, X-te konaklamak, X-te taht kurmak; 

and those of adjectives are X-te sakl›, X-te gömülü, X-te as›l›. 

The Ablative Case -DAn 

The function of this case is similar to that of the dative case. Both are typically 

categorized as directional cases. The difference lies in the fact that ablative nouns 

have the semantic function of source; whereas, dative nouns have the semantic 

function of goal. 

(13) S›n›ftan ç›kt›k. 

Hemen uçaktan idi. 

Havuzdan bir türlü ç›kamad›. 

The ablative case morphology in (13) indicates that s›n›f, uçak, and havuz are 

places from which the actions to get out of and to get off proceed. Action may 

proceed from an animate source as well as in ‹ki saat önce bizden ayr›ld› and 

Kitab› benden ald›. But compare: 

(14) a. Ormandan geçtik. 

b. Suyu flifleden içtik. 

c. Eve pencereden girdik. 


In (14) the semantics of the verbs used does not allow a meaning referring to 

a point of departure or source. Ablative in these examples expresses a place in 

(14a, c) or a channel in (14b) through which an action is perfomed. 

By using the ablative case marker, it is also possible to express a point through 

which something is affected (Lewis, 1967: 38). In Bafl›ndan yaraland› the speaker 

indicates that the person got wounded in the head. 

105

106 






Non-Local Functions of -DAn 

When used nonlocally, the ablative case marker has other semantic functions. Consider: 

(15) Telafltan unuttum. 

(16) camdan ayakkab› 

As seen in (15) -DAn can be used to mark a causal relationship between the 

verb and its arguments. The speaker marks the noun phrase with -DAn to express 

the reason of the meaning denoted by the verb: I have forgotten because I was in 

a hurry. Similar to this function, -DAn is also used on noun phrases to denote the 

material from which something is made. In (16) glass is the material from which 

the shoes are made, not vice versa. We know this from the case marker used on 

the noun. 

-DAn has partitive semantics as well. Ö¤rencilerden befli indicates that the 

ablative case marked noun represents the whole and the adjacent noun is a part 

of it: there are more than five students, but we are interested in only five of these 


students. This meaning is conveyed by -DAn attached to the noun representing 

1 1 

the whole. Other examples include yumurtalardan hiçbiri, çocuklardan baz›lar›, 

ö¤retmenlerden birkaç›. 

The price 

It is your 

for 

turn! 

which a product is bought can be expressed by the ablative 

2 marker: Kitaplar› 2 kaçtan ald›n?, ‹kifler milyondan. 


of verbs, adjectives, It is your turn! and postpositions selects the ablative case to assign to their 

3 objects. Some 3 examples of such verbs are X-ten nefret etmek, X-ten hofllanmak, Xten 

bahsetmek; those of adjectives are X-ten uzun, X-ten pahal›, X-ten merakl› 

(comparative It is forms your turn! of all adjectives); and those of postpositions are X-ten beri, X- 

4 ten dolay›, 4 X-ten baflka. 


Compare Kitaplar› It is your turn! kaçtan ald›n? with Kitaplar› kaça ald›n? Do they convey the same 

5 idea or can 5 you sense a difference between the two? 


6 

The Genitive It is Case your turn! -(n)In 

Unlike other 

6 

case markers which establish a relationship between the verb and its 

arguments, the genitive case relates two nouns to each other. One noun is the 


7 

possessor and the other is the possessed in a possessive construction. The former 


is typically marked with the genitive marker and the latter is with the possessive 

7 

marker which agrees with the possessor in person and number: Çocu¤-un yele¤-i. 

This type of relationship makes the possessor definite. Absence of genitive case on 


8 


the first noun, as in çocuk yele¤i, attributes an indefinite reading to the noun 

phrase: ‘a 

8 

child vest’. It is also possible to form headless genitives by using -ki: 

çocu¤unki. -Ki represents the underlying head noun which can be identifiable 


from the preceding It is your turn! context. 

9 9 

Functions of -(n)In 


Like other It cases, is your turn! the genitive case can express several different functions or 

10 meanings 10other 

than its typical function of true ownership. Compare the following 

examples: 



11 11 



12 12

subjective genitive çocu¤un a¤lamas› 

objective genitive cam›n k›r›lmas› 

genitive of origin Can Dündar’›n yaz›lar› 

descriptive genitive baflar›lar›n çocu¤u 

partitive genitive s›n›f›n çal›flkan› 

appositive genitive Türk Sinemas›’n›n Sultan› 

(adapted from: Wardhaugh, 1995:11) 

The subjective genitive marks the subject of a subordinate clause. This 

inflection gives a specific reading to the referent of the noun: Çocuk a¤lamas› vs. 

çocu¤un a¤lamas›. With genitive marking, the underlying meaning in the example 

is that there is a specific child and s/he has cried or will cry. In any case, the 

relationship between the genitive and its head is similar to the relationship between 

a verb and its subject. In cam›n k›r›lmas›, however, the underlying meaning is that 

somebody will break/has broken the window. Cam is the object of the verb k›r›l, 

not the subject. Therefore, this type of function is called the objective genitive. 

The genitive of origin marks the source from which something originates: Yaz›lar 

are generated by Can Dündar. In baflar›lar›n çocu¤u, baflar› characterizes or 

describes the child as baflar›l› çocuk. Partitive genitives It express is your turn! a part-whole 

relationship. There is a class, this boy/girl is the most hard-working member 1 of this 

class. Evin odalar› and trenin vagonlar› display a similar relationship. Appositive 

genitives always imply the non-genitive noun. They in fact act It is your as an turn! equal (=). In 

1 

everybody’s mind Türk Sinemas›’n›n sultan› implies Türkan fioray. In other 2 words, 

they are equivalent of each other: Sultan=Türkan fioray. Similarly, Cumhuriyetin 

2 

kurucusu implies Atatürk. 



3 

of verbs and postpositions selects the genitive case to assign to their objects. Some 

examples of such verbs are X-in onay›n› almak, X-in onurunu kurtarmak, X-in 

3 


flerefini korumak; and those of postpositions are kadar, gibi, ile when used with 

pronouns as in benim kadar, senin gibi and onunla. 

4 4 

Finally, genitive constructions are claimed to express superlativity when they 

are used with headless adjectives (Johanson, 1998: 50) as in peynirin It is your turn! iyisi, kitab›n 

ucuzu, otelin temizi. 

5 5 

What meaning relationships appear to be expressed in the following It is genitives? your turn! 


kardeflimin bak›c›s›, 

Sezen Aksu’nun son kasedi 

a¤ac›n dallar› 

çocu¤un bisikleti 

6 6 

Osmanl›n›n son sultan› 

avukat›n itiraz› 

anas›n›n k›z› 


7 


7 

Verbal and Nominal Categories 



Agreement 

8 8 

Agreement shows a grammatical relationship between two elements in a sentence 

which requires concordance in different features. For example, 

It is your 

the 

turn! 

subject of a 

sentence is suppossed to be compatible with the person marked on the verb. The 

9 

reason why *ben geldin is not grammatical is that the person marker on the verb 

does not agree with the person that the subject indicates. The subject is the first 


person, but the person on the verb is the second person. This violates the obligatory 

person agreement rule; therefore, the sentence is ungrammatical. 

10 

9 

107 









10 



11 11 


108 

Table 7.1 

Person Agreement Markers in Turkish 

1 st singular 

2 nd singular 

3 nd singular 

1 st plural 

2 nd plural 

3 rd plural 

verbal paradigm 

for 

-(Ι)yor, -mΙfl, 

-(Ι/A)r, 

(y)AcAK 

-Ιm 

-sΙn 

-φ 

-Ιz 

-sΙnΙz 

-lAr 


Agreement in person is not enough as shown by the ungrammaticality of *ben 

geldik. In this sentence the category person marked by the subject and the verb is 

compatible: the first person. What is incompatible, however, is the category 

number. The subject is singular, whereas the marker on the verb is plural. Clearly, 

grammatical forms require agreement in both person and number categories. 

There are two types of agreement in Turkish: verbal agreement and nominal 

agrement. Verbal agreement is seen on the verbs of main clauses, predicative 

nouns, and predicative adjectives (see Unit 11 for more). Observe the first person 

agreement in the examples below. Agreement markers are italicised. 

Biz çocu¤u gördü-k. person and number agreement on a predicate verb 

Biz çal›flkan-›z. person and number agreement on a predicate adjective 

Biz ö¤retmen-iz. person and number agreement on a predicate noun 

As shown below, nominal agreement is marked on the nouns of possessive 

constructions, on the verbs of noun clauses, and on the verbs of relative clauses. 

bizim çocu¤-u-muz agreement in a possessive construction 

bizim gördü¤-ü-müz çocuk agreement in a relative clause 

bizim çocu¤u gördü¤-ü-müz agreement in a noun clause 

bizim çocu¤u görme-miz agreement in a noun clause 

bizim çocu¤u görece¤-i-miz agreement in a noun clause 

Surely, the first person is not the only person category in Turkish. Table 7.1 displays 

all person categories and their variations in different verbal and nominal forms. 


for 

-DΙ and -sA 

-m 

-n 

-φ 

-k 

-nΙz 

-lAr 


for 

-A 

-(y) AyΙm 

-(y) AsΙn 

-(y) A 

-(y) AlΙm 

-(y) AsΙnΙz 

-(y) AlAr 

(-sΙnlAr) 


for 

imperative 

X 

-φ 

-sΙn 

X 

-(y) Ιn (Ιz) 

-sΙnlAr 


for 

copula 

-(y) Ιm 

-sΙn 

-φ / -DΙr 

-(y) Ιz 

-sΙnΙz 

-lAr 

Despite this rich system, Turkish allows some violations of agreement to 

produce socially marked forms. Consider the following examples. 

(17) a. Müdür Bey ne arzu ederler? 

b. Say›n rektör geldiler mi? 

c. Bu sat›rlar›n yazar› bu görüflü benimsememektedir. 

d. Nuran Han›m, sizinle daha önce karfl›laflmam›fl m›yd›k? 

nominal 

paradigm 

-(Ι) m 

-(Ι) n 

-(s) Ι (n) 

-(Ι) mΙz 

-(Ι) nΙz 

-lArΙ (n)



In (17a, b) third person plural person agreement -lAr is used for second 4 and 

third person singular -sin and ø respectively. These forms are used as a sign of 

4 

respect. It is also possible to use third person singular -ø to refer to first person 


singular as seen in (17c). This is the style often adopted by writers to refer to 

5 

themselves in formal written language. The second person plural siz for the 

second person singular sen shown in (17d) is a widely used politeness pattern. 


5 

Conversely, the first person plural for the first person singular 

It 

ben 

is your 

signals 

turn! 

modesty: 


Biz öyle gördük, Boynumuz k›ldan ince, Bugün nas›l›z? (Lewis, 1967: 247). 6 6 

I. Why is Say›n Vali aç›l›fl› eflleriyle birlikte sereflendirdiler ambiguous? 



II. Look at the following data and try to specify the morpheme order in nominals 7in Turkish. 7 

sokak sokaklar sokaklar› annemler 

sokakta sokaklarda sokaklar›nda It is your annemlerde 

turn! 


soka¤› 

sokaktan 

sokaklar› 

sokaklardan 

sokaklar›n› 

sokaklar›ndan 

annemleri 

8 

annemlerden 

8 

soka¤›n 

soka¤a 

sokaklar›n 

sokaklara 

sokaklar› 

sokaklar›na 

anemlerin 


annemlere 

9 


9 

Verbal Categories 



2 2 



3 3 


109 


Negation 

10 

Standart negation is marked on the verb using the negative morpheme -mA as in 

gelmedi. The alternative negative marker de¤il is used with adjectival It is your turn! and nominal 

predicates as in Olcay mutlu de¤il, Olcay ö¤retmen de¤il. It can also occur with a 

preceding clause, but this type of use is more marked since it is restricted to -mIfl, 

-(I)yor, and -(y)AcAK clauses only: gelmifl de¤ilsin, geliyor de¤ilsin, gelecek de¤ilsin, 


but *geldi de¤ilsin, *gelir de¤ilsin, *gelmeli de¤ilsin. Notice that the person agreement 

marker is obligatorily used with de¤il in these sentences to avoid otherwise 

ungrammatical forms: *geliyorsun de¤il, *geleceksin de¤il, *gelmiflsin de¤il. However, 

this constraint becomes optional when de¤il is used with a preceding It is your turn! clause negated 

with -mA. Double negatives formed in this way allow both person marked preceding 

clauses as in gelmeyeceksin de¤il and/or person marked de¤il as in gelmeyecek 

de¤ilsin. Double negatives with de¤il also allow the past and present tense markers 

in their preceding clauses: gelmedi de¤ilsin, gelmez de¤ilsin as well as gelmedin 

de¤il, gelmezsin de¤il (Erguvanl›-Taylan, 1986: 159-177). 

It is also possible to convey negative meaning with derivational markers as in 

Olcay mutsuz. Negative derivational markers create contradictory meanings that 

are mutually exclusive. This kind of negation is not verbal since the use of it is 

restricted to non-verbal categories. 

Tense, Aspect, Mood (TAM) 

Tense and aspect communicate information about time. In order to understand the 

meaning of a noun, we do not have to consider time, but messages conveyed by 

verbs are understood based on various information about time. This information 

can be hidden in the lexical meaning of a verb. For example, some verbs inherently 

do not last long, i. e. s›çra-, k›r-, hapfl›r-, but some do, i. e. oku- yüz- uyu-. Some 

verbs focus on the beginning or the finishing of an event, i. e. baflla-, bit-, son ver, 

some on the ongoing nature of it, i. e. sür-, ol-, dur-, yet, some others emphasize 

a change in state of affairs, i. e. büyü-, so¤u-, yefler-. This type of intrinsic information 


10 


11 11 


12 12 


13 13

110 

Figure 7.1 

Table 7.2 

Overlap in Time 

Reference 


about the internal temporal structure of a verb is called lexical aspect. However, 

regardless of this lexical make-up of a verb, the time frame expressed by it can be 

manipulated by using tense and aspect markers in a language. Tense is a 

grammatical category that locates the event in time. Time, as we know it, indicates 

a temporal dimension, and it is linear. When we speak, we choose a point in time 

from which events are viewed. This point in time is our reference point and 

tense is used to locate events in time with respect to that point. Most 

characteristically, the moment of speech is chosen to be the reference point. An 

event may take place anterior to the reference point, it can include the reference 

point, or it can be posterior to the reference point as shown below: 

X 

TIME LINE 

X X 

event reference point 

(=the moment of speech) 

X 

event 

event 

This way of viewing events gives us three tense distinctions: past, present, and 

future. However, this terminology may sometimes be misleading since past markers 

may be used in non-past situations and present markers in several others. Some 

examples from Turkish are given in Table 7.2. 

past meaning present meaning future meaning 

past marker Vaktiniz var m›yd›? Haydi, ben gittim! 

present marker Çocuk bafl›n› kald›r›r 

ve yafll› adam bakar. 

Yar›n gelirim. 

progressive marker Annesi sabahlara kadar 

ders çal›flt›¤›n› söylüyor 

Yar›n gidiyoruz. 

As can be seen in the above table, only primary meanings of these markers 

coincide with their labels. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that the label 

used to represent a tense category is not necesarily associated with only this meaning. 

Therefore, some grammarians prefer using a two-way distinction as past vs non-past 

instead of the more traditional three-way distinction past vs present vs future. 

Another feature to note about tense is that it is a deictic category. The 

interpretation of tense is relative to the time of utterence. An event that took place 

in 1923 is viewed as past today because our reference point for this interpretation 

is 2004. We are looking at this event from the year 2004. 1923 is anterior to 2004; 

therefore, an event in it is past. However, the same event was viewed as present 

in 1923, or even future in 1922. So, tense is determined on the basis of the reference 

time. When this time changes, the temporal interpretation of the event also changes. 

Aspect, on the other hand, is not a deictic category. It does not locate events 

on a time frame; therefore, it does not select a reference point to describe events. 

Rather, it conveys information about the nature of the event. That is, the way in 

which the event occurs in time: Is it continuous? Is it a one-time event; and therefore, 

semalfactive? Does it involve multiple repetitions of a seriees of sub-events; and 

therefore, iterative? Is the event completed (perfective), or left open (imperfective)? 

etc. This kind of characterization does not affect the time of the clause.

Do we always talk about facts? Past, present, or future facts expressed by 

continuous, semalfative, iterative, perfective, or imperfective verbs? Not quite so. 

We also express our intentions, predictions, suggestions, hunches, hopes, demands, 

wishes, etc. Modality is the term used to refer to these meanings, namely the 

actuality of an event. This gives us two classes of mood: knowledge 

- based and action-based also called epistemic and deontic respectively (Palmer, 

1984: 153). Mood is the inflectional category that marks modality in a language. 

Epistemic modality indicates the degree of commitment on the part of the 

speaker to the actuality of the event marked by the verb. In other words, it is used 

to indicate different levels of certainty or possibility about the truth value of an 

event. This information can be conveyed based on direct sensory evidence 

(visual/auditory), or indirect evidence (reportative/inferential). For example, 

Osman hasta indicates a fact; and therefore, signals 100% certainty of the speaker 

(factive), but Osman hasta olabilir is non-factive since it indicates a possibility 

about which the speaker is less certain. Deontic modality conveys the kind of 

need (external/internal) which forces the speaker to perform an action. The 

following meanings are categorized as deontic: orders, obligations, suggestions, 

requests, permission, volition (wanting, willingness, intention, wishing, promising, 

threatening). The modal category ability is neither epistemic, nor deontic since it 

does not express a choice of behavior. 

It is difficult to draw lines between tense, aspect, and mood as they are inherently 

correlated. For example, the past is characterized as known fact as it already took 

place; whereas, the future is unknown and potential as it is yet to come. This 

conclusion implies a correlation between tense and mood: one between future 

tense and non-factive mood, and one between non-future tense and factive mood. 

For example, gelecek is non-factive in terms of mood, future in terms of tense; 

however, geldi is factive, and past. An event that holds at the moment of speech 

is present and therefore has not been completed. This signals a correlation between 

present tense and imperfective aspect. This correlation implies the reverse between 

past tense and perfective aspect. For example, geliyor conveys the present tense 

marker and it is aspectually incompletive, but geldi is in the past tense and 

aspectually perfective. 

There are languages in which each one of these temporal, aspectual, and modal 

meanings are distinguished by separate morphemes. However, in Turkish these 

meanings can be combined in a single morpheme -just as number and person 

marking is communicated by a single morpheme as in -k which marks both 1st 

person and plural number. This may lead to ambiguities in some cases. But, as we 

shall see shortly, contextual information and/or other lexical markers, i.e. adverbials, 

can be used as a filter to distinguish the message targetted by the speaker. 

Tense, Aspect, and Mood Markers in Turkish 

Turkish employs eleven morphemes to express temporal, aspectual and modal 

meanings. They are categorized into two groups. 

GROUP I : -DI, -mIfl, -(I)yor, -(y)AcAK, -(I/A)r, -sA, -A, -mAlI 

GROUP II : -(y)DI, -(y)mIfl, -(y)sA 


Group I morphemes can combine with group II morphemes, and always in 

that order, to form more complex forms. Possible combinations in the third person 

sigular are displayed in Table 7.3. 

111

2 2 



3 3 

112 




4 

Table 7.3 

Combinability of 

It 

Verbs 

is your 

in 

turn! 

the 3rd 

Person Singular 

5 

-DΙ 

-mΙfl 

4 

-(y)DI 

(past copula) 


geldiydi 

5 gelmiflti 

-(y)mIfl 

(evidential copula) 

X 

gelmiflmifl 

-(Ι)yor 

geliyordu geliyormufl 


-(y)AcAK It is your turn! gelecekti gelecekmifl 

6 -(Ι/A)r 6 gelirdi 

gelirmifl 

-sA 

gelseydi 

gelseymifl 


-A It is your turn! geleydi 

geleymifl 

7 -mA1Ι 7 gelmeliydi gelmeliymifl 


Look at the following It is your turn! and make a generalization about the minimal conditions necessary to 

8 generate grammatical 8 verbal stems in Turkish. 

*git-im *git-im-idi 


*git-idi-m 


*git-im-di 

9 9 

Let’s now have a closer look at the semantic features of these morphemes. 


-DI It is your turn! 

10 1. -DI marks 10 definite past as a tense marker in the context of definite time 

adverbials. In sentences such as Dün eve döndük, ‹ki y›l önce tan›flt›k, Buraya 


geçen y›l geldik, It is your the turn! events that are expressed by the verbs took place anterior to 

11 the reference 11 point. Therefore, they are characterized as past. 

2. -DI has aspectual meanings, as well. Two of them are perfective and perfect 


12 

(Kornfilt, 1997: 340-355). Perfective aspect focuses on completedness, whereas 


perfect on the present result of a past situation. A sentence such as saçlar›m 

12 

›sland› may be ambiguous between the two aspectual meanings. In a context 

such as saçlar›m ›sland› ama flimdi kurudu the event ‘to get wet’ is viewed as 


completed. It Therefore, is your turn! 

the aspectual meaning assigned to it is perfective. Compare 

13 this with 13Saçlar›m 

›sland› ve hala da ›slak. Now, the meaning foregrounds the 

current relevance, being wet, of the past situation, getting wet. Therefore, the 

aspect is interpreted as perfect. Similar examples are: 

(18) Gürkan ellerini y›kad›. 

implication: they are clean now, so he can eat. 

Gürkan Türkçe ödevini bitirdi. 

implication: it is ready now to be turned in. 

Pantolonuma çay döküldü. 

implication: it is wet now, so I have to change it. 

The perfect interpretation of -DI in (18) can be cancelled by providing additional 

contexts. Consider the following: 

(19) Gürkan önce ellerini y›kad› sonra da yüzünü. 

Gürkan Türkçe ödevini bitirdi ama daha di¤erleri var. 

Pantolonuma çay döküldü, bir de y›rt›ld›. 

-(y)sA 

(conditional copula) 

geldiyse 

gelmiflse 

geliyorsa 

gelecekse 

gelirse 

X 

X 

gelmeliyse


The same morpheme in (19) is interpreted as perfective. In a context where a 

series of successive events are described, the focus in each of them will be on their 

completedness rather than their present result. 

When used with appropriate adverbials, -DI marks recent past: Ekmekler 

yeni/henüz geldi. Lack of time adverbial in this context may lead to different 

aspectual interpretations. 

The so called experiential perfect, as well, is grammaticalized by -DI. This 

type of aspect “indicates that a given situation has held at least once during some 

time in the past leading up to the present.” (Comrie, 1976: 58). This meaning is 

reinforced by indefinite time adverbials such as hiç, hayat›nda, ömründe. Some 

examples are ömrümde et yemedim, hiç 50 kilo olmad›m, bir kere bile yalan 

söylemedim. In each of these examples, the speaker makes a remark about whether 

or not the situation described, i.e. eating meat, weighing 50kgs, lying, has ever 

held in his/her personal experience. 

It is important to note that the aspectual meanings of the morpheme -DI do not 

exclude its past meaning. All of the verbs above have past reference with respect 

to time. 

3. In terms of its epistemic modality, -DI signals direct evidence on the part of the 

speaker about the actuality of the event. Therefore, there is no less than 100% 

certainty in the meaning expressed. Since the events are directly witnessed by the 

speaker, they are factive. For example, in gitti ‘he left’, the speaker’s choice of - 

DI among other morphemes signals an embedded meaning of ‘I know’. So, a 

better translation would be ‘he left for sure’ or ‘I am sure he left.’ 

The function of direct evidence or direct experience is a good linguistic 

motivation to use -DI in narratives: stories or accounts of events. For example, “... 

Ben iflte böyle korkudan titrerken birden omuzuma bir el dokundu. Döndüm. 

Babamd›.” 

Although they may not have been experienced by the speaker, historical 

facts are expressed by -DI as well. School children always recite sentences like 

Atatürk 1881’de do¤du, 1938’de öldü without witnessing these events. The reason 

is that historical events are conventional and known to everybody. So, having 

personal experience is irrelevant in this context. 

4. In copular sentences 1 , past is expressed by -(y)DI instead of -DI: doktordu, 

hastayd›, aç›ktt›, karayd›, babamd›. 

Sometimes, both -(y)DI and -DI are used with present or future reference to 

denote politeness. Zaman›n›z var m›yd›? is more polite than Zaman›n›z var m›? 

Similarly, Birkaç soru sormak istedim is more polite than birkaç soru sormak istiyorum. 

In terms of epistemic modality, -(y)DI marks uncertainty with present 

reference. Observe the difference between Senin ad›n Ecem mi?, a pure question 

used to seek information, and Senin ad›n Ecem miydi? a question used to check 

memory retention. The underlying meanings for each are I don’t know, so tell me, 

and I forgot, so remind me respectively. Here are more examples to show this 

contrast: 

113

1 1 



2 2 



3 3 

Table 7.4 

other -(y)DI 

-(y)DI vs Other 


Morphemes 

4 

‘don’t-know-tell-me’ It is your turn! 

meaning 4 

Bu telefon nas›l aç›l›yor? 

Nas›l konuflacak? 

Ö¤renci misin? 


5 


‘forgot-remind-me’ 

5 

meaning 

Ö¤rencisin, de¤il mi? 

Bu telefon nas›l aç›l›yordu? 

Nas›l konuflacakt›? 

Ö¤renci miydin? 



Ö¤renciydin, de¤il mi? 

6 6 


7 

5. Surprisingly enough, -DI is used with future/present reference as well. Consider 


Hadi ben gittim! used when the speaker is about to leave a place, or Geldim, geldim! 

used when 7 the speaker is about to open the door whose bell is ringing. The event to 

go will take place posterior to the moment of speech. On the other hand, to come is 


taking place It is at your the turn! same time the speech is made. Therefore, -DI is characterized to 

8 have future 8 and present reference in these contexts. 


What aspectual It is your meaning/s turn! can be expressed by the following? 

9 Annem 9 geldi. 

-mIfl 



1. -mIfl, as well as its copular form -(y)mIfl, stands in opposition to -DI in its modal 

10 

10 

functions. These two morphemes are contrasted with respect to the kind of 

evidential modality they mark. As mentioned before, -DI marks witnessed past. 


This kind It of is meaning your turn! is attested by direct sensory evidence. However, in the 

11 context of 11-mIfl 

indirect evidence is suggested. The meaning involved is secondhand; 

and therefore, a hearsay. Observe the difference between Zeynep kitab› 


okumufl and It is Zeynep your turn! kitab› okudu. Even though both have past reference, in the 

12 

first example, 

12 

the speaker is reporting a hearsay. S/he cannot have witnessed the 

process of reading and the end state of finishing. This kind of externality marked 

by -mIfl is also observed in sentences such as uyumuflum, çok yemiflim, 



yorulmuflum. However, in the second example, the choice of -DI clearly states that 

13 

both the 

13 

process and the end state have been eye-witnessed by the speaker. 

It should be noted that a hearsay can be expressed by -DI in the context of 

prepared minds. If prior events lead to an expected result, the speaker selects - 

DI instead of -mIfl even though direct experience is not at play (Slobin & Aksu, 

1982: 196). For example, not long ago there was a public discussion on the new 

law of civil rights. After a long lasting media coverage, the law finally passed. 

When something like this happens, native speakers tend to report the news by 

using -DI as this is an expected event. Therefore, Yeni medeni kanun geçti is more 

natural in this context. However, despite the preceding process that provides 

familiarity, the speaker may not be ready for such a change, or he may not wish 

for it. In this context, the passing of the new law is interpreted as an unexpected 

event by the speaker. Then he would be conditioned to use -mIfl instead of -DI: 

Biliyor musun, yeni medeni kanun geçmifl. This gives us another function of -mIfl: 

surprise in the context of unprepared minds. Similarly, Aaaa, Demet de gelmifl! 

entails that Demet’s coming is unexpected; and therefore, surprising for the speaker.

-mIfl has another evidential function through which it marks inferential 

meaning. Zeynep kitab› okumufl can be interpreted as an inference if the speaker 

utters it based on situational evidence. For example, s/he might see Zeynep’s book 

whose pages are color marked with underlined sentences and notes from cover to 

cover. Based on this evidence s/he can say, ‘Mmm, Zeynep kitab› okumufl.’ Or 

Zeynep can be heard in a talk making arguments based on the book whose content 

is familiar to him/her. This is evidence enough to infer that Zeynep has read the 

book. As the speaker has not eye-witnessed the process of reading, but only the 

end-state of it, s/he chooses -mIfl to mark this kind of (indirect) evidential 


information. Notice that Zeynep kitab› okudu is ruled out in this context since -DI 

requires direct evidence; and therefore, factive, not evidential. Similarly, 

1 

Zeynep 

kitab› okumufl is ruled out if uttered upon seeing Zeynep reading the book. The 

reason is that -mIfl requires inference based on indirect experience, It is your i.e. turn! observation, 

1 

not on direct experience. 

2 2 

It should be noted that there may be an overlap between the modal and 

aspectual functions of -mIfl. As mentioned earlier, an inference It is your is made turn! based on 

a result state. Therefore, it would not be wrong to assume that an inference 3 has 

also got current relevance. For example, Zeynep kitab› okumufl may entail that she 

3 

knows about the book and she can talk about it. This interpretation has current 


relevance; and therefore, is assigned the aspectual meaning of perfect. So, we can 

4 

say that there is a semantic similarity between perfect and inferential as both 

categories present events via their results (Comrie, 1976: 110). However, the same 

4 


sentence may also be used as an answer to the question Zeynep ne yapm›fl? In this 

context, not the result, but the event itself and its realization is prioratized. 

5 

Therefore, the aspectual meaning is perfective. 

By the same token, the inferential meaning of -mIfl can be It is associated your turn! with past 

5 

reference since an inference is made based on the result of a past event. 6 

2. -mIfl is used in narratives centering around unreal events, i.e. myths, tales, 

dreams, etc. This can be associated with the hearsay/reportative It is your function turn! of -mIfl 

6 

that marks events external to the personal experience of the speaker. 7Here’s an 

extract from a children’s story: ...Bir padiflah›n bir o¤lu varm›fl.Günün birinde 

7 

can› s›k›lm›fl, düflmüfl yollara... Yolda giderken bir dervifle rastlam›fl. Dervifl 


flehzadeye, ‘fiehzadesin, güzelsin, bu yollarda ne gezersin?’ demifl. fiehzade de 

8 

derdini anlatm›fl... All the events marked with -mIfl in this extract express a 

situation outside the personal experience of the speaker. This coincides with the 

semantics of -mIfl; and thus, determines the speaker’s preference It is your for turn! it over other 

8 

morphemes. 

9 9 

In what context/s can the following sentences be used? 

Zeynep’i sinek ›s›rm›fl vs Zeynep’i sinek ›s›rd›. 



10 

-(I)r/-(A)r 


The so called aorist has a complex morphology; and therefore, deserves a full 

account. Monosyllabic stems, except for those ending in /l/ or /r/ take 11 the low 

vowel suffix -(A)r: kofl-ar, sev-er. (Exceptions are also possible: gir-er, sor-ar, etc.) 


11 

But polysyllabic stems, as well as monosyllabic ones ending in /l/ or /r/, and those 


with derived stems take the high vowel suffix -(I)r: yen-ir (a monosyllabic, but 

12 

derived stem), aktar-›r (a polysyllabic stem), gör-ür (a monosyllabic stem with a 

final /r/). 


12 



13 13 

115 











10

116 

Table 7.5 

Morphology of the 

Aorist 


The negative of the aorist displays a rather peculiar morphology, as well. The 

consonant of the morheme, which is /r/, becomes /z/ when combined with the 

negative morpheme -mA. Then this /z/ is dropped when used with the first person 

singular subject; and it is changed into /y/ when used with the first person plural. 

See below for examples. 

positive negative 

1st singular ara-r-›m ara-ma-[dropped]-m 

2nd singular ara-r-s›n ara-ma-z-s›n 

3rd singular ara-r-ø ara-ma-z-ø 

1st plural ara-r-›z ara-ma-y-›z 

2nd plural ara-r-s›n›z ara-ma-z-s›n›z 

3rd plural ara-r-lar ara-ma-z-lar 

Let’s now turn to the functions of -(A)r/-(I)r. 

1. -(A)r/-(I)r is used to mark the aspectual meaning of habitual. Comrie (1976: 27- 

28) defines habituality as “a situation which is characteristic of an extended period 

of time.” This definition makes an emphasis on typicality. Consider the examples: 

(20) Bal›k yemem. 

Saat 12’den önce yatmam. 

Yedi saat uyurum. 

Babam kendine çok dikkat eder. 

Bizim eve çok misafir gelir. 

All the sentences in (20) reflect regularly repeated behavior that is characterized 

as typical of the subject. 

2. Closely related to this function, -(A)r/-(I)r is also used to mark generic 

meanings. This is not surprising as both generic and habitual make emphasis on 

the characterization of an entity (Yavafl, 1980: 103). When we say bal›klar yüzer 

‘fish swim’, we express an inherent characteristic of the fish. Similarly, bal›k yemem 

‘I don’t eat fish’ can be taken as a permanent property which characterizes the 

subject. In other words, not eating fish is seen as the dinstinctive feature of the 

entity. Other examples of generic statements are zürafalar›n uzun boyunlar› olur, 

aslan kükrer, tavuk g›daklar, insan düflünür, bebekler sevgi ister. 

The generic interpretation in these statements may be due to the timeless 

nature (Menges, 1968: 128) of the Turkish aorist. Timeless means omnitemporal. 

If something is viewed as omnitemporal, its truth value holds for all times. Scientific 

facts can be put in this category as well. Consider günefl do¤udan do¤ar, befl kere 

befl yirmibefl eder, bütün canl›lar yafllan›r, ay dünyan›n etraf›nda döner, ›s›nan 

hava yükselir, z›t kutuplar biriribirini çeker. The truth value of these statements is 

constant. They represent facts which hold irrespective of time. They are true for 

the past, present, and future. This meaning, which is illustrated in Figure 7.2, is 

conveyed by -(A)r/-(I)r in Turkish.

TIME LINE 

X 

G ü n e fl d o ¤ u d a n d o ¤ a r 

3. -(A)r/-(I)r has modal functions as well. One such function is prediction. See 

(21) below. 

(21) a. Osman sebze sever, öyleyse fasulye de yer. 

b. *Osman karar verdi, öyleyse fasulye yer. 


Based on prior knowledge about the subject, i.e. his likes and dislikes, the 

speaker in (21a) makes a prediction about his potential behavior. From the 

ungrammaticality of (21b), it is clear that, epistemically, this form does not denote 

strong certainty. A decision implies strong certainy; therefore, it cannot be used 

with -(A)r/-(I)r which has contradictory semantics. Compare, however, ben 

üniversite s›nav›n› kazan›r›m, ben bu masay› kald›r›r›m, ben bu ifli kotar›r›m. In 

these examples the speaker and the subject is identical. This leads us to a different 

interpretation. Here the speaker makes a prediction about his/her ability to 

accomplish something (Yavafl, 1980: 105). This signals self-assurance, which 

denotes stronger certainty. 

In addition to these epistemic meanings, -(A)r/-(I)r also has some deontic 

meanings. One of them is volition on the part of the speaker: Sana onbeflten 

veririm, evimi size veririm, yüzde befline raz› olurum. In all of these examples, the 

speaker signals willingness about the realization of the verb. Notice that for this 

kind of interpretation, the speaker and the subject must be identical. This function 

is similar to promising: Söz, gelirken oyuncaklar›m› da getiririm; Söz, a¤z›m› 

açmam. These examples have future reference as well. 

-(A)r/-(I)r is used in offers /invitations/requests. This is a function which is 

closely related to volition. Some examples are: Biraz daha al›r m›s›n›z?, Bize gelir 

misin?, Biraz sessiz olur musun? 

4. -(A)/-(I)r is used in narratives. Especially, in third person narration and story 

telling, the choice of -(A)r/-(I)r over other possible markers brings more immediacy 

to the text because past meanings remain alive in the present. Look at the following 

extracts. 

(22) “...‹hanet de o vakit bafllar zaten. Kendini sevmeye bafllamas›yla. 

‘Kendimi sevdi¤imi anlad›m,’ der ölüm sorgusunda, ‘ve hayat›...’ 

Kendisi hesab›na ve d›flar›daki hayat ad›na içerideki dünyaya 

ihanetin bedelini de bilir...” (K›rca, 1997: 24) 

“ ...O¤lan az uyur, çok uyur. Bir de bakar ki, k›z yok. Ne oldu diye 

gezinirken, orada bir kuyu bulur. Kuyunun içine bakar ki, dibinde 

bir gürültü, çalg› ça¤anak art›k deme gitsin. Derken, kuyunun içinden 

bir kufl ç›kar. Kufl, o¤lan› görünce, ‘Ey yi¤it, sen burada ne ar›yorsun?’ 

diye sorar...” (Kunos, 1991: 128) 

Figure 7.2 

117

6 6 



7 7 



8 8 

The same effect is created in demonstrations. Consider the example below 


9 

and see how It is your the turn! speaker provides a description of a process accompanied by a 

visual demonstration: 

9 


10 

(23) Önce ka¤›d›m›z› ikiye katlar›z. Böylece ortas›n› buluruz. 

Sonra It is your da turn! tekrar aç›p, bu kek her iki kenar› ortaya gelecek 

flekilde 10 iki taraftan katlar›z... 


What is the It function is your turn! of -(A)r/-(I)r in the following? 

11 Yaflar 11 Kemal ‹nce Memed’te köy insan›n› anlat›r. 

-(I)yor 



1. -(I)yor has several aspectual functions. One such function is to mark the 

12 12 

progressive aspect in Turkish. When events are viewed as non-complete or in 

progress, they are marked with -(I)yor: Ne yap›yorsun?, Kitap okuyorum. Note 


that this function It is your turn! 

has present reference. 

13 Like the 13 aorist, -(I)yor has the aspectual meaning of habitual. Therefore, the 

examples given in (20) can be marked with -(I)yor as well: Bal›k yemiyorum, 

Saat 12’den önce yatm›yorum, Yedi saat uyuyorum, Babam kendine çok dikkat 

ediyor, Bizim eve çok misafir geliyor. Even though both -(A)r/-(I)r and -(I)yor 

mark habituality, the latter lacks the typicality function of the former mentioned 

above. It merely serves as a marker which signals a certain regular behavior of the 

subject. It does not make a reference to any property associated with the subject 

(Yavafl, 1980: 101). Other examples are: Kardeflim bankada çal›fl›yor, Ben müzik 

dinlemeyi seviyorum, Hiç devams›zl›k yapm›yorum. Note that, as a semantic 

feature of habituality, the actuality of the events in these examples applies to past, 

present, and most probably future as well. In other words, a sentence such as 

müzik dinlemeyi seviyorum entails I did, do, and most probably will like listening 

to music.’ 

-(I)yor marks the so called the perfect of persistant situation (Comrie, 1976) 

in Turkish. As Comrie puts it (p. 60), it is used to “describe a situation that started 

in the past, but continues (persists) into the present.” Some examples are: on y›ld›r 

buradan al›fl verifl ediyorum, geçen y›ldan beri dans dersleri al›yorum, onunla 

k›sa bir süreden beri tan›fl›yoruz, ne zamandan beri bu ifli yap›yorsun? 

-(I)yor marks iterativity when used with verbs otherwise semalfactive. For 

example, öksürmek is a one time verb; and thus, semalfactive. When we say Sevim 

öksürdü, we mean she caughed only once. However, this interpretation is cancelled 

if -DI is replaced by -(I)yor. Sevim öksürüyor is iterative as it now denotes a series 

of repeated coughs, not a single one. Other examples are: Zeynep bafl›na vurdu 

vs Zeynep bafl›na vuruyor, Hakan topu tekmeledi vs Hakan topu tekmeliyor, Can 

hapfl›rd› vs Can hapfl›r›yor. 

2. -(I)yor is also used with future reference to mark scheduled future events: 

Yar›n eve dönüyorum, Pazartesi bütün faturalar›m› ödüyorum, okul iki y›l sonra 

bitiyor. Notice that this meaning is cancelled in the absence of the time adverbials. 

3. -(I)yor has past interpretation, as well: Rapor son rakamlar› veriyor, 

araflt›rmalar bunu gösteriyor, gazeteler öyle yaz›yor. This type of usage is 

restricted to the verbs of communication (Quirk et. al., 1985: 181). Even though 

past reference is acceptable in these contexts, -(I)yor is chosen to mark the currently 

operative nature of the situation. Therefore, a sentence such as rapor son rakamlar›


veriyor suggest that even though it was written in the past, it still reveals this 

information. Likewise, the suggestion in the next two examples is that 

8 

research 

studies and newspapers still speak to us about these events. 


8 

4. -(I)yor is used in narratives, commentaries, and demonstrations. It is your turn! Like the 


aorist, the choice of -(I)yor provides immediacy and generates excitement. 9 

Therefore, it increases the dramatic effect of the events narrated. Consider the 

9 

language samples used in a commentary, narrative, and demonstration It is your turn! in (23 a, b, 


and c) respectively. 

10 

10 

(23) a. Hakan topu Rüfltü’ye at›yor, ama maalesef top Rüfltü’ye gelmiyor. 


b. K›rm›z› Bafll›kl› K›z içeriye giriyor ve karfl›s›nda hain kurdu buluyor. 

c. Önce so¤an›m›z› kavuruyoruz, sonra biraz da su ilave ederek pifliriyoruz. 

11 


11 

Think of a context in which the following sentence cannot be acceptable. It is your turn! 


On y›ld›r buradan al›fl verifl ediyorum. 

12 12 

-(y)AcAK 



1. -(y)AcAK is the future marker in Turkish. Koflacak, gelece¤iz, vereceksin, 

13 13 

soracaklar all indicate that the events described by the verbs will take place 

posterior to the moment of speech. 

2. When combined with relevant adverbials, -(y)AcAK marks the prospective 

aspect in Turkish. Sentences such as Otobüs flimdi hareket edecek (=it has not 

departed yet, but will soon), annem hemen gelecek (=she is not here now, but 

soon will be) make a reference to a present state related to a future event. This 

meaning is symmetrical with the retrospective function of perfect. Retrospective 

links a present state to a past situation; whereas, prospective links a present state 

to a subsequant situation (Comrie, 1976: 64). 

3. Recall that -(I)yor and -(A)r/-(I)r are also used to mark futurity. However, the 

three morphemes differ in some respects. -(I)yor and -(y)AcAK are contrasted on 

the basis of whether or not the event is scheduled; and therefore, more definite. 

For non-scheduled, less definite events, the choice is between -(y)AcAK and - 

(A)r/-(I)r (Yavafl, 1980: 84). This shows that -(y)AcAK can be used for both planned 

and unplanned events; whereas, -(I)yor and -(A)r/-(I)r are restricted to only planned 

and unplanned events respectively. 

(24) a. S›nav tarihleri belli oldu. *Edebiyat s›nav› Sal› günü olur. 

b. S›nav tarihleri belli oldu. Edebiyat s›nav› Sal› günü olacak. 

c. S›nav tarihleri belli oldu. Edebiyat s›nav› Sal› günü oluyor. 

As evidenced by the ungrammaticality of (24a), -(A)r/-(I)r is disallowed in the 

context of a definite scheduled event. Let’s now see which of these morphemes can 

cooccur with an unscheduled; and therefore, less definite event. Consider the following 

examples. Notice that an adverbial of a weak possibility, san›r›m, is included as a 

semantic test. Our assumption is that san›r›m and markers which denote definiteness 

will be in complimentary distribution as they display a conflict in their semantics. 

(25) a. Sa¤l›¤›n bozuluyor, san›r›m sigaray› b›rak›rs›n. 

b. ?Sa¤l›¤›n bozuluyor, san›r›m sigaray› b›rakacaks›n. 

c. *Sa¤l›¤›n bozuluyor, san›r›m sigaray› b›rak›yorsun. 



6 6 



7 


7 

119



8 8 



9 9 

120 




10 

The acceptability 10 of (25a) shows that -(A)/r/-(I)r can cooccur with san›r›m; and 

thus, less strong. However, (25b) is marginal and (25c) is ungrammatical due to 


11 

the semantic It is conflict your turn! between san›r›m, and that of -(I)yor and -(y)AcAK. The fact 

that -(I)yor is ruled out but -(y)AcAK may be kept in the environment of adverbials 

11 

that mark weak possibility shows that -(I)yor is stronger than -(y)AcAK. 

4. -(y)AcAK can be used to make assumptions based on prior knowledge about 


a situation: It is eve your gitme, turn! annem flimdi al›flveriflte olacak; doktoru ara, odas›nda 

12 olacak; 12 paspas› kald›r, anahtar alt›nda olacak. 


Is the following It is your sentence turn! 

acceptable as a definite future event? 

13 Sa¤l›¤›n 13 bozuluyor, mutlaka sigaray› b›rak›yorsun. 

Mood Markers in Turkish 

-sA 

-sA, as well as its copular form -(y)sA, is a mood marker, which denotes 

conditional meanings: bilsen (remote condition/wish), bilseydin (unfulfilled 

condition/counterfactual wish) vs bilseymifl (reported condition/wish), okusayd›n 

(past conditional) (see Unit 12 for more). 

-(y)A 

-(y)A is the optative mood marker, which is the expression of speaker’s wish. 

yapay›m (let me do it), yapal›m (let’s do it). It is used much less commonly in 

other persons: yapas›n, yapa, yapas›n›z, yapalar. 

-mAlI 

-mAlI marks the modal functions of obligation/necessity, and assumption. 

Aliye olmal› may convey necessity in a context where she is the only person 

without whom a situation will be incomplete. So, the speaker implies that there 

must be Aliye there, otherwise they will fail. It may also be interpreted as an 

assumption in a context where, for example, the speaker has reason to believe 

that Aliye will be at his/her door ringing the bell at the time of the utterance. 

Therefore, s/he makes an assumption based on this information. 

-(y)Abil 

-(y)Abil is the modal category that marks ability and possibility. A statement 

such as okuyabilirim may be ambiguous between the two functions. Depending 

on the context, it may either mean ‘I am capable of reading’, or ‘I may read.’ 

Imperative 

Imperative is a modal category which denotes commands. It can be negated and 

inflected for two of the voice categories (reflexive and causative) in Turkish. Some 

examples of second person singular imperative are: tara, taran, tarat, tarama, 

taranma, taratma. 

Turkish allows special forms of imperative which are expressed in the second 

and third person plural as well: taray›n(›z)/taras›nlar, taran›n(›z)/tarans›nlar, 

tarat›n(›z)/tarats›nlar. 

The category imperative does not always suggest an order. For example, Bak, 

ne yapt›n! is simply an exclamation used as an expression of annoyance or 

discomfort. Also, the negative imperative may be used as a warning in the context

of appropriate adverbials: Sak›n ona söyleme!, Asla bir daha taksiye binme!, Hele 

yalan hiç söyleme! 

Make table which displays the temporal, aspectual, and modal meanings It is your marked turn! in Turkish. 


14 14 

Voice 

Voice is another grammatical category which is marked on verbs. It signifies the 

nature of the participation of a participant in the process, event or action 15 described 

by the verb. There are three types of participants: the subject (the first participant), 

the direct object (the second participant), and the indirect It is your object turn! (the third 

15 

participant). Subjects are typically agents, direct objects represent the affected 1 party 

of the action, and indirect objects represent the entity that receives the direct object. 

By looking at the voice morphology of a verb we can answer the It is following your turn! questions: 

1 

Is it important to identify the first participant? (active) 

Is it more important to express the second participant? (pasive) 

2 2 


Are the first and second participants identical? (reflexive) 

Is the first participant a single subject or a group of subjects doing something 

3 

together, or to one another? (reciprocal) 

Are there intermediaries that perform the verb for the subject? It is (causative) 

your turn! 

3 

4 

The voice morphology used to encode this kind of information in Turkish can 

4 

be shown as: active döv, the passive döv-ül, the reflexive döv-ün, It is your turn! the reciprocal 

döv-üfl, and the causative döv-dür. 

5 5 

Active 


All the verbs that are not marked for voice, and that require a subject are categorized 

as active verbs. They can be transitive iç- or intransitive uyu-. 6 6 

(26) a. Tam befl bardak su içtim. 

b. Bebek uyuyor. 


The active voice used in (26a, b) does not carry voice morphology, and indicates 

that the subjects are the performers of the verbs. 



8 8 

Passive -Il or -(I)n 

Passive in Turkish is formed by attaching the morpheme -Il It is to your verbs turn! ending in 


consonants except /l/, and its alternate -(I)n to the verbs ending in /l/ or 9 a vowel: 

yar- vs yar-›l; sat- vs sat-›l; sev- vs sev-il; but, kal- vs kal-›n, al- vs al-›n, and ata- 

9 

vs ata-n, tara- vs tara-n. Notice that the vowel in -(I)n is deleted in the environment 


of a syllable final stem vowel. 

10 

Passivization is a process of supressing the subject. In this process an active 


10 

transitive verb with a direct object, becomes a passive intransitive verb with a 


subject only. Therefore, passive morphology is said to decrease the valency of a 


verb. By valency we refer to the argument structure of a verb; namely the 11 number 

of noun phrases of that verb. For example, in Aslan kükredi, the verb kükre has 

11 

only one argument: aslan; whereas in Aslan av›n› yakalad›, It is your yakala- turn! has two 


arguments: aslan and av. 

12 12 

Compare the active sentence Suzan cam› k›rd› and its passive version Cam 

k›r›ld›. How is the passive form generated? Can we say the passive morpheme -Il 



13 13 

121 










7 7

122 


is attached to the stem first as in *Suzan cam› k›r›ld›, and then the subject is 

supressed as in *Cam› k›r›ld›? Maybe, but so far our derivation has generated an 

ungrammatical form. How can we reach the grammatical Cam k›r›ld›? It is claimed 

that a subjectless verb with passive morphology cannot assign accusative case to 

its arguments (Sezer, 1991: 44). So, our derivation in fact generated the grammatical 

Cam k›r›ld› since the passive morphology absorbed accusative case. Even though 

the passive morphology blocks accusative case assignment, it tolerates other cases: 

Uçaktan korkulmaz, Burada motosiklete binilmez. The caseless counterparts of 

these examples are ungrammatical: *Uçak korkulmaz, *Burada motosiklet binilmez. 

Passive voice allows double passives in Turkish. This process has an emphatic 

function which intensifies the passive meaning of the verb. It also serves as a means 

to disambiguate the passive forms made with -(I)n from the reflexive having a similar 

form (Lewis, 1967: 150; Özkaragöz, 1986: 78): aran- vs aran›l-, beslen- vs beslenil-. 

Types of Passive 

There are two types of passive in Turkish: personal and impersonal. The distiction 

between the two is made based on whether the verb is transitive or intransitive. 

Study the following examples 

(27) a. Bütün s›n›f kütüphaneyi kulland›. 

b. Kütüphane kullan›ld›. 

(28) a. Bütün s›n›f kütüphaneye gitti. 

b. Kütüphaneye gidildi. 

Kullan- is a transitive verb and takes a direct object, whereas git- is an intransitive 

verb and does not require a direct object. To form personal passives, the direct 

object of a transitive verb becomes the subject of a passive verb as in (27b). 

However, intransitive verbs are objectless, so they lack a direct object to go to the 

subject position of the passive. Therefore, they form impersonal passives without 

an overt subject as in (28b). The fact that kütüphane in this axample is not the 

subject is evident from its lacking subject properties: nominative case and 

agreement (Kornfilt, 1997: 324). It is even possible to form impersonal passives 

that do not contain a noun phrase of any kind: erken yat›l›r, h›zl› yürünmez, çok 

konuflulmaz. 

Impersonal passives are of two type: unergatives and unaccusatives. Unergative 

and unaccusative verbs can be distinguished by easily observed semantic facts. 

Intransitive verbs that denote volitional acts are categorized as unergative, and those 

that denote non-volitional acts as unaccusative (Biktimir, 1986: 56). For example, 

tak›l-, bo¤ul-, düfl-, bat-, çürü- are unaccusatives; çal›fl-, kofl-, oyna-, kaç-, dans etare 

unergatives. Since they are intransitive, both groups of verbs have only one 

argument: surface subject. But in unaccusatives this surface subject is in fact serves 

as the underlying object of the verb. For example, in Ecem düfltü, Ecem is the 

syntactic subject, but semantically it is the person that is affected by the action 

denoted by the verb. 

To recapulate, examine the following sketch.

Restrictions on Impersonal Passives 

It seems that animacy of a noun phrase plays a crucial role in passivization. 

Animacy is a semantic category that specifies whether a noun refers to a nonliving 

thing (inanimate) or a living thing (animate: human vs non-human). It is 

argued that only verbs that can take human subjects can form impersonal passives. 

(Biktimir, 1986: 59; Knecht, 1985: 67). This generalization is supported by the 

native speaker judgement of the following as ungrammatical: *Burada k›fl›n 

buzlan›l›r, *Bu yolda hep ar›zalan›l›r, *Bu tencerede fokurdan›r. Buzlan-, 

ar›zalan- and fokurda- are verbs that take non-human subjects; therefore, they are 

not allowed to appear in passive constructions. Verbs with human subjects, on the 

other hand, form grammatical impersonal passives: Burada çal›fl›ld›, dans edildi, 

konufluldu, yemek yendi. But there are also intransitive verbs that are true of both 

human and non-human subjects. The passive reading of such verbs always yields 

underlying human subjects. For example, even though a non-human subject such 

as bitkiler is logically possible in Hastalan›nca sarar›l›r, it is always assumed that 

there is a human subject in it. Similarly, upon hearing a sentence such as Burada 

kofluldu, a native speaker would never assume that a dog ran there. 

Another restriction reveals a difference between the behavior of unaccusative 

and unergative passives in different tense contexts. It is claimed that unaccusative 

passives are restricted to the aorist tense (the present tense), whereas unergatives 

can appear with other tenses along with the aorist (Sezer, 1991: 64). Compare: 

(29) a. Kaygan zeminde düflülür. 

b. *Kaygan zeminde düflüldü. 

(30) a. Burada koflulur. 

b. Burada kofluldu. 

As the ungrammaticality of (29b) shows, unaccusative passives disallow specific 

readings of the verb; therefore, they must be used in the aorist tense. 

Another formal restriction on impersonal passives is that they disallow agentive 

phrases. In personal passives, the supressed subject may optionally be expressed 

by an agentive phrase, which is typically formed with the postposition taraf›ndan, 

or with the suffix -CA in more formal contexts. 

(31) a. Bahç›van çiçekleri sulad›. 

b. Çiçekler suland›. 

c. Çiçekler bahç›van taraf›ndan suland›. 

d. Çiçekler bahç›vanca suland›. 


(31d) is strange because -CA requires a more formal context such as Park ve 

bahçelerin belediyece sulanmas›na valilikçe onay verildi. 

Figure 7.3 

personal (from transitive verbs) 

passive unergative (volitional) 

impersonal (from intransitive verbs) 

unaccusative (non-volitional) 

123

124 


Let’s now look at the following examples of impersonal passives with agentive 

phrases. The resulting ungrammaticality can be considered as another indication of 

their property of being impersonal (Knecht, 1985: 40): *Kütüphaneye ö¤renciler 

taraf›ndan gidildi, *Baflar›ya ö¤renciler taraf›ndan susand›, *Evden çocuklar 

taraf›ndan fazla uzaklafl›lmad›, *Çocuklar taraf›ndan erken yat›l›r, *Sporcular 

taraf›ndan hergün koflulur. 

Another restriction is on the person agreement used in impersonal passives. 

The ungrammaticality of *benden kaç›ld›m, *benden kaç›ld›n, *benden kaç›ld›k, 

*benden kaç›ld›n›z, and *benden kaç›ld›lar, but the grammaticality of benden 

kaç›ld›, okula gidildi, burada dans edildi show that only third person singular 

verb is allowed in impersonal passives. 

Reflexive -(I)n 

Reflexive morphology indicates that the verb is performed by the subject and 

for/to the subject again. That is, the first and the second participants refer to the 

same person. Therefore, like the passive, the reflexive morpheme decreases the 

valency of the verb. The non-reflexive form may include the reflexive pronoun 

kendi to signal the reflexive meaning. 

(32) a. Leyla kendini y›kad›. 

b. Leyla y›kand›. 

If the sentences in (32) are claimed to be identical in meaning, then we should 

conclude that the reflexive pronoun kendi and the reflexive morpheme -(I)n have 

identical functions. If this is the case, then we can even say that the reflexive 

morpheme in (32b) represents the reflexive pronoun in (32a) functioning as the 

direct object of the sentence. If this claim, too, is true, two identical forms 

representing the direct object should be disallowed in the same context. Let’s use 

them together to test our assumption: *Leyla kendini y›kand›. As we correctly 

assumed, used in the same context, the two forms yield an ungrammatical sentence. 

Therefore, the reflexive pronoun and the reflexive suffix cannot co-occur in the 

same environment; they are mutually exclusive. 

After this quick summary of the semantics of the reflexive morphology, let’s 

underline one formal feature of it before we go any further. It is important to notice 

that the reflexive and the passive morphemes are homonymous. That is, both 

meanings are manifasted by morphemes that look and sound alike: -(I)n. But do 

not forget that this surface form has two distinct functions. Therefore, y›kand› is 

ambiguous between passive and reflexive readings. It may express a meaning like 

somebody washed himself/herself as well as somebody was washed by someone else. 

Reciprocal -(I)fl 

In reciprocals, subject and direct object are combined into a single compound 

subject, thus valency is reduced from transitive to intransitive. The reciprocal 

morphology always assumes a plural reading, and marks either mutual or collective 

participation in the situation described by the verb. That is, both the subject and 

the object of the non-reciprocal verb act as the subject of the reciprocal verb. 

(33) a. Sedat Tolga’y› buldu. 

b. Sedat’la Tolga bulufltular.

In (33a) there are two participants: a singular subject and a singular object; but 

in (33b) there is only one participant: a plural subject. 

There are two types of participation: mutual and collective. If the reciprocal 

morpheme is used with a transitive verb, it conveys a reading of mutual participation: 

anlafl-, bo¤ufl-, kap›fl. If, however, it is used with an intransitive verb, it conveys a 

reading of collective participation: gülüfl-, kaç›fl-, a¤lafl-, uçufl-. In mutual 

participation the direction of the action works both ways; from one participant to the 

other. In collective participation, action is performed in a group without necessarily 

being performed in the same circle each time. For example, Aliye’yle Suna itifltiler 

indicates that both participants acted upon each other in the same manner. However, 

Aliye’yle Suna kaç›flt›lar lacks a cyclical interpretation of the action performed. 

Rather, it indicates a jointly perfomed action in different directions. 

It is also possible to use a reciprocal pronoun with verbs of mutual action as in 

(34a), but not with those of collective action as marked ungrammatical in (34b). 

(34) a. Aliye’yle Suna biribirleriyle iyi anlafl›yorlar. 

b. *Aliye’yle Suna birbirleriyle kaç›fl›yorlar. 

Note that the noun phrases used with a reciprocal verb are obligatorily in the 

commitative form made with the postposition ile as in (34a). Other forms are not 

allowed: *Aliye Sunay› anlafl›yor, *Aliye’yle Suna biribirlerini anlafl›yorlar. 

Causative -DIr, -(I)t, -(I)r, -Ar 

All causative verbs are transitive.The causative situation always implies one more 

participant than the non-causative equivalent. Therefore, the valecy of a causative 

verb is greater than that of a non-causative. In addition to the subject, a second or 

even a third party can be included in the sentence by using the causative 

morphemes: ald›=one participant, al-d›r=two participants, and al-d›r-t=three 

participants. 

There is a three-way valency distinction: intransitive, monotransitive, and 

ditransitive. Turkish allows causatives of all three types as displayed in Table 7.5. 

NON-CAUSATIVE 

CAUSATIVE 

INTRANSITIVE 

Nurdan öldü. 

Nurdan’› öldürdüler. 

MONOTRANSITIVE 

Ben kitab› okudum. 

Bana kitab› 

okuttular. 


DITRANSITIVE 

Ben anahtar› kutuya 

koydum. 

Bana anahtar› 

kutuya koydurdular. 

When added to the intransitive verb öl-, the causative suffix introduces a new 

participant (the causee) other than the subject (the causer). So, in the causative of 

an intransitive verb, the causer appears as the subject, onlar in the example; and 

the causee as the direct object, Nurdan› in the example. In causatives of 

monotransitive verbs, the causer is the subject of the causative verb, onlar in the 

example; and the causee is the indirect object, bana in the example. The direct 

object of the non-causative verb remains as the direct object of the causative. A 

ditransitive verb is made causative in the same way as a transitive verb is made 

causative. Note that the subject of a non-causative verb is the direct object of the 

intransive causative verb, but the indirect object of the monotransitive or ditransitive 

causative verb. 

125 

Table 7.6 

Valency Distinctions 

in Turkish Causative

126 


Semantics of causation exibits a number of different functions. Comrie (1985: 332- 

334) suggests three types of relations between the causer and the effect brought 

about: causation proper (cause/make), causation permissive (allow/let), and causation 

assistive (help). Some examples are: 

(35) a. Causation proper Onu doyurdum. 

b. Causation permissive Sak›n kap›y› açt›rma! 

c. Causation assistive Ona ders çal›flt›rd›m. 

With the proper meaning, the causer brings about a situation which might not 

have come about without him/her. With the permissive, the causer has the power 

to prevent the verb from happening, or allow it to happen. In the assistive, the 

verb may or may not have come about without the causer, but s/he helps bring it 

about as shown above. Using this criteria, the underlying messages signalled in the 

examples in (35) can be listed as: 

(a) I caused him/her to eat. 

(b) You have the power not to let him open the door. So, don’t let him! 

(c) I helped him with his lessons. 

In addition to marking the natural participants of a verb, one more causative 

marker can be added to the causative verb to include an element of force. Compare 

(a) ye-dir-t-tir and (b) ye-dir-t. Despite the extra causative morpheme in (a), there 

is no difference in the valency structure of (a) and (b). Both mean that ‘Have 

someone have someone else eat something’. However, the former sounds more 


14 forceful 14 

than the latter (Demircan, 2002: 84). 

It is your turn! a. What is the It is function your turn! of causative in the following? 

15 Param›z› 15 haraçç›lara yediriyoruz. 

b. What is the order of verbal categories in dayan›flt›r›ld›lar? (example from Lewis, 1967: 152) 



1 1 



2 2 



3 3 



4 4 



5 5 



6 6 



7 7 



8 8

Summary 

1. How many different categories are there? 

There are two grammatical categories: nominal and 

verbal. It is important to note that even though there 

are grammatical markers that typically apply to a 

particular category, there may be overlaps between 

categories. For example, number features can be seen 

both on nouns and verbs, but the one used on nouns 

is considered to be number marking, and the one on 

verbs agreement marking. Likewise, agreement is seen 

both on nouns and verbs. 

2. What is nominal categorization? 

Nominal categorization is the process that is inflected 

on nouns. Types of nominal categorization are number 

(singular vs plural), gender (feminine vs masculine vs 

neuter), and case (nominative, accusative, dative, 

locative, ablative, genitive). Note that Turkish does not 

have a grammatical category of gender, but, though not 

very productively, it employs several foreign suffixes 

and lexical derivations marking natural gender in 

humans and animals. Also note that the order of the 

morphemes in a nominal is: number+possessive+case 

3. What is verbal categorization? 

Verbal categorization includes grammatical marking on 

verbs. It marks, tense (present, past, future), aspect 

(completive vs incompletive), negation, voice (active, 

passive, reflexive, reciprocal and causative), and 

agreement (number, person) categories. Note that some 

of these morphemes do not like each other and they 

almost never occur in the same environment since they 

compete for the same slot in a stem. However, the 

commonly employed order of morphemes in a verbal 

stem is: voice+TAM+agreement. When there are more 

than one voice marking, the order is 

reflexive/reciprocal+causative+passive. Note also that 

modal and aspectual marking tend to precede tense 

marking. 


127

128 

Self-test 


1. Plural morpheme is not used with numeral 

quantifiers in Turkish. Then why is iki evleri var 

grammatical? 

a. -lAr is marks agreement in this example. 

b. The noun is in the accusative case. 

c. -lAr functions as the genitive marker. 

d. This sentence is subjectless. 

e. Both (c) and (d) 

2. Which one of the following is ambiguous? 

a. Ankara’ya sabahtan gittik. 

b. Ankara’ya senden önce gittik. 

c. Ankara’ya Eskiflehir’den gittik. 

d. Ankara’ya bayramdan bayrama gideriz. 

e. Ankara’ya en k›sa yoldan gittik. 

3. Which one of the following has a nominal plural? 

a. solard› 

b. soldular 

c. gözlere 

d. uygular 

e. gözlerler 

4. Which one has a reflexive morpheme? 

a. budand› 

b. okundu 

c. çi¤nendi 

d. giyindi 

e. u¤rand› 

5. What effect is created when causative is attached to 

intransitive verbs such as kop-, kuru-, dol-, and kaynaas 

in kopar-, kurut-, doldur- and kaynat-? 

a. They become impersonal. 

b. They become transitive. 

c. Their valency decreases. 

d. They become definite. 

e. They cannot be attached causative. 

6. Which one of the following has a reciprocal 

meaning? 

a. Son y›llarda ç›k›fla geçti. 

b. Suna kardefline sataflt›. 

c. Gizli buluflma herkes taraf›ndan ö¤renildi. 

d. De¤erler git gide yozlafl›yor. 

e. Kaset sat›fllar› yavafllad›. 

7. Which one of the underlined verbs is inferential? 

a. Etem gitmifl. Ifl›klar› yanm›yor. 

b. Etem gitmifl. Halas› söyledi. 

c. Etem gitti. Biliyorum. 

d. Etem gider. Hep öyle yapar. 

e. Etem gitti ama gelecek 

8. Why is the following setence ungrammatical? 

*Burada ö¤renciler taraf›ndan çal›fl›l›r. 

a. An intransitive verb cannot be pasivized. 

b. Agentive phrases are not allowed in impersonal 

passives. 

c. Agents are supressed in passive construction. 

d. Unaccusative verbs do not co-occur with agents. 

e. Personal passives absorbs agent phrases. 

9. Which one of the following is ambiguous between 

passive and active readings? 

a. Duvar y›k›ld›. 

b. Ete¤im tele tak›ld›. 

c. Gözlerin süzülmüfl. 

d. Çocuk annesine at›ld›. 

e. Sütü süzmüfl. 

10. Which one of the following includes a violation of 

agreement? 

a. *Sabaha beri çal›fl›yorum. 

b. *Gömle¤ini çal›nm›fl. 

c. *Mustafa ça¤›rd›lar. 

d. *Meral kendini tarand›. 

e. *Sen annenle mi gittiniz?

“ 


“(1) Türk yöneticisinin kap›s› daima aç›kt›r: Sekreter 

girer, geleni haber verir. (2) Ziyaretçi gelir, odac› çay 

getirir, imza için ya da bir fley sormak onay›n› almak 

için astlar› gelir. (3) Dolay›s›yla, yönetici bir yandan 

imza atar, imza atarken telefonla konuflur, geleni bafl› 

ile selamlar, eli ile buyur eder. (4) Yöneticinin bir 

dakikas› bofl de¤ildir ama yine de günlük ifllerini 

bitiremez ve çantas› ile eve ifl götürür ve evde dahi 

dosya inceler. (5) Tek kelime ile yöneticinin hiç vakti 

yoktur. (6) Çünkü gelen zarflar› dahi açan, her evrak›n 

havalesini bizzat yapan, her evraka imza atan yönetici 

çoktur. (7) Nitekim ‘imza atma’ konusunda ilginç bir 

öykü anlat›l›r; 

(8) Bakanl›k civar›nda , bir çöpçü ortal›¤› süpürürken 

rüzgar ç›kar ve süpürülen ka¤›tlar›n bir k›sm› havada 

uçmaya bafllar. (9) Bu s›rada bakan›n penceresi aç›kt›r. 

(10) Uçuflan ka¤›tlardan birkaç› bakan›n masas›n›n 

üzerine konar. (11) Çöpçüde bir telafl bafllar. (12) Ne 

yaps›n? Koflup bakanl›¤a, özel kalem müdürünün 

odas›na girer ve durumu anlat›r. (13) Özel kalem 

müdürü de bakan›n kap›s›n› çalar ve kendisine konuyu 

anlatmak ister. (14) “Efendim, pencereden ka¤›tlar...” 

demeye kalmadan, bakan “ben onlar› çoktan 

imzalad›m” der. (Bülent Ecevit, Milliyet, 7.3.1986) 

(15) Bu örnek olay bir f›kra olsa da, gerçekten Türk 

kamu yönetiminde bir üst kademe yöneticisi günde 

ortalama 740 imza atmaktad›r. (16) Ancak 740 imza atan 

bir yöneticinin baflar›l› olmas› mümkün de¤ildir. (17) 

Zira bu kifli, her gün kendi sa¤l›¤›ndan ve aile 

yaflam›ndan çalarak çal›flmaktad›r. 

(18) TOPLAM KAL‹TE YÖNET‹M‹NDE BAfiARININ 

‹LK ADIMI BAfiTA ÜST YÖNET‹M OLMAK ÜZERE, 

TÜM ÇALIfiANLARDA KAL‹TE B‹L‹NC‹N‹N 

OLUfiTURULMASINDAN GEÇMEKTED‹R.” 

(Samsun Emniyet Müdürlü¤ü, Toplam Kalite Yönetimi 

Çal›flmalar›ndan, 2002) 

” 


129 

EXERCISES: 

Find the following in the given text. 

1. one objective genitive _____________________ 

one subjective genitive _____________________ 

one partitive genitive _____________________ 

one true genitive _____________________ 

2. three examples of possesive marked noun phrases 

without their posessors. 

a. _______________ 

b. _______________ 

c. _______________ 

3. two personal passive constructions 

a. __________________ 

b. __________________ 

4. one verb having collective reciprocal ____________ 

5. four ablatives: 

a. three with ‘partitive’ function _____________ 

b. one with ‘action through’ meaning __________ 

6. one example of: 

verbal agreement with a predicate verb ____ 

verbal agreement with a predicative adjective ____ 

verbal agreement with a predicative noun ____ 

nominal agreement in a possessive construction____ 

nominal agreement in a subordinate clause ____ 

7. Which one/s of the following datives mark/s 

temporal location? 

evde in (4), civar›nda and havada in (8), günde in 

(15). 

8. We have seen that accusative case marking is 

optional. Is it possible to use it with the underlined 

word in (15)? Why?/Why not? 

9. Campare the temporal and aspectual meanings of - 

(A)r/(I)r in the first and second paragraphs. 

10. What TAM markers are used in the last paragraph? 

Compare their functions with the ones we discussed 

in Unit 7.

130 



Berk, L. (1999). English syntax: From word to 

discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Biktimir. T. (1986). Impersonal passives and the -ArAk 

construction in Turkish. In D.I. Slobin and K. 

Zimmer (Eds.), Studies in Turkish linguistics (pp. 

53-75). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 

Comrie, B. (1985). Causative verb formation and other 

word-deriving morphology. In T. Shopen (Ed.), 

Language typology and syntactic description: 

Vol. III (pp. 309-348). Cambridge: Cambridge 

University Press. 

Comrie, B. (1976). Aspect. Cambridge: Cambridge 


Demircan, Ö. (2003). Geçifllilik’ in Türkçe yorumu. XVI. 

Dilbilim kurultay› bildirileri, 82-96. 

Erguvanl›, E. (1984). The Function of word order in 

Turkish. Berkeley:University of California Press. 

Erguvanl›-Taylan, E. (1986). Some aspects of negation 

in Turkish. In A. Aksu-Koç & E. Erguvanl›-Taylan 

(Eds.), Proceedings of the Turkish linguistics 

conference, ‹stanbul, August, 1984, 159-177. 

‹stanbul: Bogaziçi University Publications. 

Gencan, T. N. (1966). Dilbilgisi. ‹stanbul: TDK. 

Johanson, L. (1998). The structure of Turkic. In L. 

Johanson and E. A csato (Eds.), The Turkic 

Languages (pp. 30-66). London: Routledge. 

K›rca, A. (1996). Hazan mevsiminde aflk. ‹stanbul: Can 

Yay›nlar›. 

Knecht, L. (1985). Subject and object in Turkish. 

Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. MIT: 

Massachusettes. 

Korkmaz, Z. (2003). Türkiye Türkçesi grameri flekil 

bilgisi. Ankara: TDK. 

Kornfilt, J. (1997). Turkish. New York: Routledge. 

Kunos, I. (1991). Türk masallar›. (Gani Yener, Trans.). 

‹stanbul: Engin Yay›nc›l›k. 

Lewis, G. (1967). Turkish grammar. Oxford: 


Menges, K.H. (1968). The Turkic language and 

peoples. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. 

Özkaragöz, ‹. (1986). Monoclausal double passives in 

Turkish. In D.I Slobin and K. Zimmer (Eds), Studies 

in Turkish Linguistics (pp. 77-91). Amsterdam: 

John Benjamins. 

Palmer, F.R. (1984). Semantics. Cambridge University 

Press. 

Slobin, D.I & Aksu A. (1982). Tense, aspect and modality 

in the use of the Turkish evidential. In P. J. Hopper 

(Ed.), Tense-aspect: Between semantics and 

pragmatics (pp. 185-200). Amsterdam: John 

Benjamins. 

Taylan, E.E. (2001). On the relation between 

temporal/aspectual adverbs and the verb form in 

Turkish. In E.E. Taylan (Ed.) The verb in Turkish, 

(pp. 97-128). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 

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markers in Turkish. Unpublished phD 

dissertation. University of Cansas. 

End Note 

1 Copular sentences are the sentences that have a 

verb (copula) which links a subject to a complement. 

One such verb is -(y)DI. Some examples are: Etem 

ö¤renci-y-di, Etem çal›flkan-d›, Etem ablas›ndan 

sonra-y-d›, Etem yard›m etmek isteyen-di, Etem ifl 

arayan-d› (see Unit 11 for more on this). 




1 1 



The following 2 is the 2 doubly marked forms of the given 

word classes. 



nouns 

3 3 

demonstrative personal possessive possessive reflexive verbs 


pronouns It is your determiners 

turn! pronouns pronouns 

4 

* evlerler * bunlarlar 

4 

bizler ? bizimler bizimkiler * kendimizler * geldikler 

It is your turn! * flunlarlar 

5 

* onlarlar 

sizler It is your ? turn! sizinler 

5 

* onlarlar * onlar›nlar 

sizinkiler * kendinizler * geldinizler 

onlar›nkiler * knedileriler * gldilerler 



6 6 

When we attach -lAr to the already plural forms, we get 



the above combinations. Only first and second person 

7 7 

plural pronouns are allowed to take the second marking 



for number. 8 The inflections 8 with the question mark can 

take It is your turn! the plural morpheme It is your turn! though the function of it is 

9 9 

slightly different. After you study the part on the 



category agreement, come back to this question again, 

10 

10 



and try to explain the difference. 

1 


1 


11 


11 


2 2 



Tafl, tafllar, 12 and tafllar›m 12 


It is your turn! are nominative. Yes, there are 

3 3 

markers It is your turn! on tafllar and It is your turn! tafllar›m, but they are not case 


13 13 


4 4 



5 5 



6 6 



7 7

markers. -lAr is the plural morpheme, -(I)m is the person 

agreement marker (see agreement). Tafl›n is ambiguous: 

In a phrase like tafl›n a¤›rl›¤› it is case marked (genitive), 



but in senin tafl›n it is in the nominative carrying person 

agreement. 

1 1 



2 2 

It is your turn! Recall It that is your turn! in modal contexts accusative 

3 3 

case may be used genericly. So there is in 

fact It is your turn! no difference It is between your turn! dondurma sevmez and 

4 4 



dondurmay› sevmez. The object is used as an abstract 

1 1 



category noun. But in bu dondurmay› sevdi, it has a 

5 5 



definite 2 reading because 2 of the time limitation marked 



by It is your the turn! 6verb. 6 It is your turn! 



1 1 

3 3 




It is your turn! Kardefline It is your turn! has a benefactive reading. Masa 

2 2 

4 4 

It is your turn! is inanimate, It is your turn! so we cannot consider it as 




the entity 3 that can 3 benefit from the action. The dative 

5 5 



case in masaya in fact indicates directionality. 





14 14 

6 6 




10 They 10are 

It is your often turn! 

used interchangeably, but 



25 25 

7 there 7is 

a slight difference between the two. 




Kaça 11 is more about 11 It is your turn! 


It is your the turn! total price; whereas; kaçtan 

36 36 

8 8 

inquires It is your turn! the price for It is your per turn! item. This function of ablative 

It It is your turn! 

12 12 


seems It is your turn! to be related It is to your its turn! 

41 7 41 

7 partitive semantics focusing on 

9 9 

parts It is your turn! of a whole. It is your turn! 




52 8 52 

8 

10 

10 


Kardeflimin It It is your turn! 

bak›c›s› (objective genitive), 



63 9 63 

9 

11 Sezen 11 Aksu’nun son kasedi (genitive of 

origin), It It is your turn! 

Osmanl›n›n It It is your son turn! 

sultan› (appositive genitive), 

It is your turn! 10 74 10 74 


avukat›n 12 itiraz› (subjective 12 genitive), a¤ac›n dallar› 



(partitive/part-whole It is your turn! 

It is your turn! genitive), çocu¤un bisikleti 

11 85 11 85 

13 13 

(genitive), anas›n›n k›z› (descriptive genitive). 

It 

It is 

is your 

your turn! 

turn! 

It 

It is 

is your 

your turn! 

turn! 

12 96 12 96 

I. We have seen that -lAr is typicaly used to 

It 

It is 

is your 

your turn! 

turn! 

It 

It is 

is your 

your turn! 

turn! 

10 7 

13 express 10 7 

13 the quantity of ‘more than one’. We 

also It is your turn! said that in formal It is your contexts turn! it is used to show respect. 

11 8 11 8 

Ambiguity of the given sentence can be explained by 



referring It is your turn! to these two It is your functions. 

turn! 

9 9 

12 12 

a. The mayor has more than one wife. 





b. The 10 mayor has 10 only one wife, but the speaker uses 

13 13 

the plural form out of respect. 



11 11 

II. The morpheme order in nominals in Turkish is 

noun+number+possessive+case. It is your turn! 

It is your turn! However, Anne-m-ler 

12 12 

(noun+possessive+number) seems to violate this 

generalization. It is your turn! This It is your is turn! the only case in Turkish that 

13 13 

switches the position of the possessive and number 

suffixes. It may be that -lAr does not convey its true 

function of plurality. It functions more like a derivational 

morpheme meaning family (-gil in some registers). If it 

really has a derivational function, then it can precede 

all other inflectional morphemes. Notice that if we want 

to pluralize the noun we have to say anne-ler-im 

(noun+number+possessive) 

3 3 



4 4 



5 5 



6 6 




7 7 

131 

It is your turn! Let’s first It is your try turn! to understand what makes the 

8 8 

given examples ungrammatical. 

* It is git-im your turn! 

stem+person It is your turn! agr. 

9 9 

* git-idi-m stem+Type II verb+person agr. 





* git-im-idi 1 1stem+person 

agr.+Type II verb 

10 

10 

* git-im-di stem+person agr.+Type I verb 





These 2combinations 2 

11 11 of verbal categories are not good 



enough It is your turn! 1 to form the 1 It minimal is your turn! verbal stem in Turkish. We 


have seen that verbs are marked for TAM, voice and 


agreement It is your turn! 2 categories. 2 It is your turn! Which ones are obligatory and 


in It is your what turn! 13 order? We 13know 

It is your turn! that voice is not an obligatory 


category. It seems that only agreement, and 

5 5 

combinations It is your turn! of Type It is your turn! II verbs and agreement are not 

It is your your turn! 


good enough. The last example having a Type I verb is 

61 1 61 

1 



not good either, at least in that order. But if we change 


51 51 


it to git-ti-m, 72 2 the result 72 

2 is grammatical. So, stem+Type I 



verb+person agreement is the minimal condition. 


62 62 


83 3 83 

3 



It It is your your turn! 

73 It can 73 

It It be is your turn! perfective turn! in a context such as: 

94 4 9 Kim geldi? 4 

Annem geldi. But perfect in a 



context It is your your turn! 

84 such as Annem 84 


geldi. Now that she is here we 

10 5 10 5 

can start cooking. 




95 95 


11 6 11 6 

It is your turn! Zeynep’i It is your sinek turn! 

›s›rm›fl can be uttered upon 

It It is is your your turn! 

turn! 10 6 10 6 It seeing It is is your a your turn! 

turn! rash on her body (indirect 

12 7 12 7 

evidence: It is your turn! 

It inferential). It is your turn! 

It can also be said after being 

It 11 11 

It is is your your turn! 

turn! 7 7 It It is is your your turn! 

turn! 

reported that Zeynep was bitten by a mosquito (indirect 

13 8 13 8 



evidence: It is your turn! hearsay). It is Zeynep’i your turn! sinek ›s›rd› can be uttered 


12 

8 

12 


upon 9 seeing a 9 

mosquito biting Zeynep (direct 


It is your turn! evidence). 




9 

13 

9 


10 

10 




10 


11 11 



11 


11 

12 12 





13 13 

Past in 10 present. 

If the speaker It is your turn! 

has stopped shopping in that 

store. 

It is your turn! No because It is your turn! 

-(I)yor is associated with 

13 

scheduled. 

13 

scheduled events. But this one is not

132 





Overlap in TAM in Turkish 


15 15 

tense aspect mood 

-DI It is your turn! past It is your turn! perfective factive 

1 1 

(future) (perfect of recent past, direct evidence 

It is your turn! (prasent) It is your experiential turn! perfect) 

2 2 

perfect 

-mIfl It is your turn! past It is your turn! perfect factive 

3 3 perfective evidential 



indirect evidence 

4 4 

(inferential&hearsay) 

-(A)r/-(I)r 


5 

timeless 


(future) 5 

habitual epistemic (prediction) 

deontic (volition, promise, 

(past) request, suggestion) 


-(I)yor 6 


present 6 progressive factive 

(future) perfect of persistant 


7 

(past) 


situation 

7 

iterative 


-(y)AcAK 

8 

future 


prospective 

8 

non-factive 

assumption 

It is your turn! It It is is your turn! 

9 

14 14 

9 




15 15 

10 

10 

a. It is your The turn! speaker certainly It is your turn! does not cause this to happen. 



1 1 

It sounds 11 like a 11 complaint. The underlying meaning 



It is your is turn! that 2 why do we 2 It is your let turn! this happen? Let’s do something 

12 12 

to prevent it. Let’s not let this go on! So it is causative 





permissive. 

3 3 

13 13 

b. It is your daya-n-›fl-t›r-›l-d›-lar turn! 

It is your turn! (stem+reflexive+reciprocal+ 

4 4 

causative+passive+tense+agreement) 



5 5 



6 6 



7 7 



8 8 



9 9 


10 


10 



11 11 



12 12 



13 13



Aims 

� 

� 

� 

� 


What is the classification of words in Turkish? 

What is the difference between prototypical and non-prototypical 

membership? 

How are protypes determined? 

What is open classes and closed classes? 

Key Words 

• word classes 

• prototypes vs non-prototypes 

• semantic criteria 

Contents 



Morphology 


Word Classes 

• grammantical criteria 

• open classes 

• closed classes 


• CLASSIFYING WORDS 

• CRITERIA FOR CLASSIFYING 

WORDS 

• WORD CLASSES 

• OPEN CLASSES IN TURKISH 

• CLOSED CLASSES IN 

TURKISH

Word Classes 

INTRODUCTION 

“There is a story among the Creeks that the birds once challenged the four-footed 

animals to a ball game. All the creatures with teeth were to be on one side, and all 

those with feathers were to be on the opposing team. When the designated day 

came, the animals separated into the two groups, but Bat came late. At first, he 

joined the animals with teeth, but they said: “No you have wings, you belong with 

the birds!” He went to the birds and they said: “No, you have teeth, you belong 

with the animals!” and drove him away, teasing him about his small size. He went 

back to the animals with teeth and begged to play with them. Finally, they agreed, 

saying: “You’re too small to help us, but since you have teeth, we’ll let you join 

our team.” The ballgame began, and soon it became clear that the birds were 

winning. They could catch the ball in the air where the four-footed animals couldn’t 

reach it. Suddenly, when all seemed lost, Bat swooped into the air and stole the 

ball from Crane. Again and again. Bat caught the ball, winning the game for the 

four-footed animals. His whole team agreed that even though he was small, he 

would always be classed with the animals having teeth.” (Martin, 1991: 8) 

Word classes are a necessary part of any description of a language. Children 

learning their language classify words as well as grammarians who write a 

description of language. This is because in order to use a word in a sentence, one 

should have knowledge of its part of speech or lexical category. A word stock 

such as ve, uçak, kald›k, ve, senden, annem, evde, oturduk, yaflad›k, ac›mas›z, 

soluksuz, evli, ancak, uçuk, apans›z, hep, oldukça is nothing more than a haphazard 

collection with no organization at all. But look at this one: 

uçak kald›k senden ac›mas›z hep ancak 

annem oturduk soluksuz oldukça ve 

evde yaflad›k evli 

uçuk 

apans›z 

By sorting the terms in this way, it is possible to see something about how the 

systems which organize language structure work. Deciding on the categories, and 

words which belong inside them is a very important part of analyzing a grammar. 

But how can we do it? The bat in our story was finally classed with the animals

136 


with teeth. But it was difficult. Recall that it was not admitted first because it had 

wings. Apparently, having wings does not satisfy class membership for animals 

with teeth. Birds did not want him either because he had teeth. Apparently, being 

a bird blocks having teeth. It is difficult to draw borderlines between classes, isn’t 

it? Do we have the same problem in linguistic classification? We know that adverbs 

modify adjectives. Çok, as an adverb, modifies iyi in çok iyi insan. Çabucak is an 

adverb as well, but why is *çabucak iyi insan ungrammatical? 

CLASSIFYING WORDS 

An important aspect of morphology is the classification of words into word classes, 

also known as lexical categories, or parts of speech. Among several attempts to 

classify parts of speech in Turkish, we will adopt the one illustrated in (1). Each 

bracketed word is specified as an example of the word class listed on the right. 

(1) 

a. Suzan okulu [bit]irdi ve ö¤retmen [ol]du. VERB 

b. [U¤ur] [araba]y› park etti. NOUN 

c. [Yeni] ö¤retmen çok [iyi]. ADJECTIVE 

d. [Genellikle] [çok] hareketlidirler. ADVERB 

e. Annem [için] bu ifl buraya [kadar]. POSTPOSITION 

f. Geldi [ve] hemen yatt›. CONJUNCTION 

g. [Ben]i görmedi. PRONOUN 

h. [Hiflflt] bebek uyuyor! INTERJECTION 

But what is a word class? A word class is made up of words sharing the common 

properties which characterize that class. However, as widely acknowledged in the 

literature (Aksan, 2000: 95; Banguo¤lu, 1995: 153; Csato and Johanson, 1998: 208, 

Deny, 1941: 193-198; Dilaçar, 1971: 98; Ergin, 1998: 217; Korkmaz, 2003:249, 

Kornfilt, 1997: 93), membership is not restricted to a single class and that many 

words may belong to more than one. For example, büyük is an adjective in büyük 

adam, a noun in büyükler gelmedi, and an adverb in büyük konufltu. Similarly, to 

take a commonly cited example, ara can occur as any one of the four different 

parts of speech: a noun in onunla aram›z iyi de¤il, an adjective in ara sokak, a 

postposition in direkler aras›, and an adverb in su ara ara ak›yor (Dilaçar, 1971: 

98). From these examples, it appears that there may not always be clear-cut 

boundaries between word classes. It seems that words form a network with 

intersecting categories. So how can we describe an intricate network in a step by 

step fashion? Should we give up on classifying words altogether? What measures 

can be taken to ease this task? 

It is necessary to understand that we cannot classify a given word by considering 

it in isolation. We also need to understand how it is used in a particular instance. 

It is also important to make a distiction between prototypical and nonprototypical 

members of a word class. For a given category, we may find two 

groups of examples: one sharing a number of central grammatical properties, and 

the other exhibiting some but not all of these properties. The core members having 

the full set of properties will be regarded as the prototypical examples. For example, 

gibi is a noun in senin gibiler, but how noun a noun is it? It certainly has the 

property of carrying the plural marker, which is typical of the category noun. 

However, the fact that it cannot preserve its nouniness in phrases like çal›flkan gibi 

and gördü¤ün gibi makes it non-prototypical. In these examples it loses its nominal

function. Conversely, a more prototypical noun such as kad›n would hold onto its 

nouniness in the same context: çal›flkan kad›n, gördü¤ün kad›n. Because gibi acts 

like a noun in one context but not in another, it is considered less of a noun than 

kad›n. This implies that grammatical likeness is not an all-or-nothing matter, but a 

matter of degree. Therefore, we may not always be able to give a definition of a 

category with the necessary conditions for category membership. Instead, we can 

begin with the definitions of the prototype. The central and most straightforward 

instances form a basis from which we can work progressively to the peripheral 

-the extensions beyond the prototype. 

Which one/s of the following belong/s to both of the classes specified It is on your the turn! left? Construct 


example sentences illustrating the two uses. 

1 1 

a. noun and verb : say-, soy-, sür-, boya-, savb. 

verb and adjective 

c. adjective and adverb 

d. adjective and noun 

: ak-, geç-, ekfli-, kal-, sar- 

: güzel, çok, kal›n, k›sa 

: yard›msever, köflesiz 


2 


2 



But how can we characterize prototypes? What makes a noun a prototypical 

noun, or a verb a prototypical verb? 

3 3 

CRITERIA FOR CLASSIFYING WORDS 

Semantic Criteria 

Unit 8 - Word Classes 

One claim is that words can be classified by looking at their meaning. It is your turn! In this view 


nouns are considered to denote persons, anne; places, okul; and things, 5 masa. 

Adjectives denote properties of nouns: iyi in iyi anne; büyük in büyük okul; uzun 

5 

in uzun masa. Adverbs modify the meaning of verbs, adjectives and other adverbs 


in terms of time, place/direction, manner etc.: dün, ileriye, h›zl›ca. Pronouns 

6 

replace nouns, therefore they denote persons, places and things: ben, sen, o, beni, 

bana, oras›, buras›. Postpositions mark relationships between their nouns and 


6 

other words in the rest of the sentence they are used: için, 

It is your 

ile, 

turn! 

göre, kadar. 


Conjunctions join words phrases and clauses: ve, veya, ama. Finally, interjections 7 

convey feelings or emotions: eh, ey, haydi, ya. 

7 

From the above criteria, we learn that, for example, adjectives It is your are turn! the modifiers 


of nouns. Therefore, if demir and büyük function as modifiers of the noun 8 kap› in 

demir kap› and büyük kap›, they must belong to the same category. Then why is 

8 

the expansion of the phrase into daha büyük kap› acceptable It is but your turn! the same type 


of expansion into *daha demir kap› is not? What about the grammatical çok 

9 

büyük 

kap› and the ungrammatical *çok demir kap›? By the same criteria, if nouns denote 

9 

persons, places and things, what do boflluk, yokluk and kimseler denote in bofllu¤a 


bakt›, yoklu¤una al›flamad›m and kimseler yolunu kaybetmedi? 

10 

Both büyük and demir in the above examples function as modifiers, but their 

combinatory possibilies do not seem to be compatible. This is a restriction on their 


10 

disributional property which cannot be explained by the semantic It is your criteria. turn! Likewise, 


the words boflluk, yokluk and kimseler cannot be categorized as nouns 11 by the 

semantic criteria since they do not refer to anything. However, we know that they 

11 

are nouns. But how? Maybe it is necessary to look at other It is criteria your turn! for a more 

objective and reliable classification. 

12 


12 

137 



4 4 



13 13

138 


Grammatical Criteria 

Considerable use is also made of the, so called, grammatical criteria in classifying 

words. Morphological properties coupled with distributional properties of 

words provide a clearer demonstration of class membership. Morphological 

properties concern the morphological structure of words, i.e. the inflectional and 

derivational morphemes that they can take. For example, words that take the same 

derivational morpheme are classified as belonging to the same word class. -lIk is 

productively used to create nouns in Turkish. This indicates that boflluk and yokluk 

given above belong to the category noun as well as fedakarl›k, sahtekarl›k, 

uzunluk. Similarly, words that take the same inflectional suffixes are considered 

to belong to the same word class. For example, the inflectional categories that 

signal nounhood are number and case. So, words that can carry this information 

are said to have prototypical characteristics for nounhood. Examine the following. 

(2) 

a. çocuk-lar b. çocuk-ta c. *kadar-lar d. *kadar-da 

kedi-ler kedi-de *yürü-ler *yürü-de 

çay-lar çay-da *h›zl›ca-lar *h›zl›ca-da 

The (2a) and (2b) examples can take number and case marking respectively, 

whereas the same combination is not permissible with the (2c) and (2d) examples. 

Therefore, words in (2a) and (2b) belong to the same class, but not the words in 

(2b) and (2c). Inflectional morphemes are useful in word classification, but they 

can only be used with words that undergo inflection. 

The distributional criteria, however, has a wider range of application. It concerns 

syntactic positions of words and the syntactic functions associated with them 1 . By 

this criteria, we can explain how a word like kimse is categorized as a pronoun: it 

can be used in the same position as a noun is used, and pronouns replace nouns 

by definition. 

(3) 

yoktu 

a. ‹lknur, e. yavaflça 

b. çocuk f. oku 

c. yokluk g. flflflt 

d. kimseler h. diye 

The words given in (3a, b, c, d) can be used in the given syntactic slot in (3) 

before the verb gelmedi to function as the subject, but not the ones in (3e, f, g, h). 

This means that the first group of examples belong to the same word class. 

This was to show you how semantic and grammatical tests can be used to 

identify at least the most prototypical members of a word class. They may also 

enable us to make generalizations about the deviations from the prototype, and 

thus discover the subclasses of each word class. 

WORD CLASSES 

As has been amply demonstrated in the EFL classrooms, word knowledge makes 

a considerable contribution to linguistic performance. Most second language 

learners find it difficult to communicate in the target language not because they


lack grammatical mastery, but merely because there is a discrepancy between their 

thoughts and the means with which they express these thoughts. Words are 

considered to be the bodies of the thought, and a lack of word knowledge results 

in a lack of expression of thought. Even in using their native language, most 

speakers experience times of being speechless. This indicates a difficulty in 

choosing the right words to express what we mean in the way that we mean it. 

Words have the power to create the intended impression on the receiver. However, 

not all words have the same semantic and syntactic/functional importance. 

Open Classes vs Closed Classes 

It is assumed that all languages make a distinction between open and closed partsof-speech 

classes. This distinction is made based on the difference between words 

in their semantic and functional importance. The open classes (also known as 

content words) include nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs; the closed classes 

include the rest: pronouns, postpositions, conjunctions, and interjections (also 

known as function words). The communicative value of content words is much 

higher because they are meaningful. Therefore, they are considered to be lexical 

items. Closed class words, on the other hand, do not contribute to the meaning of 

a sentence, but determine the syntax of it. In other words, the meaning of these 

words can only be explained by referring to the relationship they establish between 

the members of a sentence. So, we can say that open classes are more important 

semantically, but closed classes are so functionally. Aitchison suggested an analogy 

which equates open classes with bricks as building materials of a sentence, and 

closed classes with mortar as relating sentence items to one another (Aitchison, 

2003: 102). 

Open classes have unlimited membership. That is, they have a very large 

number of members. The closed classes, however, have relatively few members. 

It is possible to make a quick list of, say, the pronouns or conjunctions used in a 

language, but it might be a daunting job to make a list of all the nouns, verbs, 

adjectives and adverbs used in that language. 

The reason why open classes are called so is that they are open to new 

membership. Whenever languages are in need of new words to label the emerging 

concepts, they create or borrow words falling into this category. But it is less 

likely, though not impossible, to add new members to the closed classes, for 

example novel postpositions, or conjunctions, or pronouns. 

There are also inflectional differences between the two classes. Members of 

open classes undergo various grammatical inflections, so they have variable forms: 

uyu, uyur, uyuyor, uyuyacak, uyumal›. Closed classes, except It is your for turn! the pronouns, 

have invarient forms since they do not take up any grammatical inflections. 1 1 

a. Pick out from the following list those words that belong to a closed It is your class: turn! sen, yesen, 


geçen, içten, benden, hem, hemen. 

2 2 

b. Give a part-of-speech classification of the words in the following: Dostluk hakk›nda 

sohbetler pek hofla gidiyordu. 



3 3 

139 




4 4 



5 5 



6 6

140 


OPEN CLASSES IN TURKISH 

Nouns 

Can you imagine a language without nouns? I remember a student proposing this 

to me once. She was frustrated with the terminology used in one of her courses 

and was complaining about it to me. Her suggestion was not to use those technical 

terms at all. This is exactly like a language without nouns. How can you say 

something about, say a tree, without using the label a¤aç invented to refer to a 

tree? How economic is it to express this meaning by saying you know that tall 

plant in our garden with a long trunk made of wood which usually has leaves and 

branches, and which can live for many years? Even this definition is not free of 

nouns. Nouns are used as the means of labelling the world around us, and labelling 

can be said to be the substantial purpose of the existence of language. Therefore, 

nouns constitute one of the major word classes in a language. 

In terms of their form, nouns in Turkish can be bare, derived, and compound. 

Bare nouns have a root standing without any derivational morphemes attached to 

them as in kuzu, lale, baba. Derived nouns are formed by affixation as in oyuncak, 

bozgun. Compound nouns are made up of two words merged in one as in han›meli. 

In terms of their semantics, nouns are classified as countable vs uncountable 

(or mass). Kalem, kitap, masa are countable nouns since they can be individuated 

and counted one by one. Nouns such as süt, yo¤urt, su are uncountable because 

they cannot be individuated, thus cannot be counted. It is important to note, 

however, that uncountable nouns may have count and mass interpretations. 

Consider: 

(4) 

a. Bana bir ekmek verdi. 

b. Bana biraz daha ekmek verdi. 

In (4a) the noun ekmek is interpreted as a unit so it is countable. In (4b), 


1 


however, it is interpreted as a substance, therefore it cannot be counted. The 

difference 

1 

between the two can also be shown by the choice of Wh- words to go 

along with them. (4a) can be an answer to the question How many? whereas (4b) 


to the question It is your How turn! much? As we know, the former is used with countable nouns, 

2 and the latter 2 with uncountable nouns. 


Do the underlined It is your turn! noun phrases have count or mass interpretation? 

3 a. Bu 3hafta 

hep köfte yedik. 

b. Dört köfte bir çocuk için çok de¤il mi? 


4 


Nouns can also be classified as abstract vs concrete. Concrete nouns denote 

4 

the physical entities that can be perceived through our senses. They may refer to 

common members of a category such as kad›n, erkek, kedi, masa, sandalye, 


5 


known as common nouns; or to a particular person, place, or thing such as 

Hakan, Otel 5 Anadolu, Kafl›kç› Elmas›, known as proper nouns. Abstract nouns, 

on the other hand, refer to a quality, state or action as in iyilik, açl›k, yalan. 


As mentioned It is your turn! elsewhere, Turkish allows overlaps between word classes, so 

6 adjectives, 6 adverbs and postpositions can be used as nouns as in: 



7 7 



8 8

(5) 

a. [Büyükler] geldi. adjective 

b. [‹leriye] git biraz! adverb 

c. Senin [gibilere] güven olmaz. postposition 

Verbs are used as nouns as well. Through a process called nominalization, 

verbs can be subordinated. The resulting clauses in turn are used in positions that 

are characteristically filled by subject and object noun phrases as illustrated by the 

bracketed parts in (6). 

(6) 

a. [Onun birinci oldu¤]unu herkes biliyor. 

b. [Birinci olmak] bir hayaldi. 

c. [Onun s›navda birinci olmas›] sürpriz bir sonuçtu. 

But which of these noun types is the most prototypical? Let’s apply our tests for 

nounhood. The members that pass both the semantic and grammatical tests would 

be categorized as the most central members, whereas the others as peripheral 

since they can be used as nouns only when certain conditions are met. 

Criteria for Nounhood 



The most central members of nouns denote persons or concrete objects. In terms 

of function, they head noun phrases which characteristically function as the subject 

or object in a sentence. 

Morphological Criteria 

As far as the inflectional properties are concerned, prototypical nouns enter into 

inflectional contrasts of number, singular vs plural; and case nominative vs 

accusative, dative, locative, ablative, and genitive. 

In terms of derivational morphology nouns are most productively derived by 

morphemes such as -CA¤Iz and -CI from nouns, -lIk from nouns and adjectives; 

and -(y)AcAK, -ç, -DIK, -gA, -gAn, -GI, -(y)IcI, -(y)Ifl, -mA, -mAcA, -mAk, -mIfl, - 

(I/A)r, from verbs. Some examples include çocukca¤›z, simitçi, eflitlik, yiyecek, 

gönenç, tan›d›k, bilge, ergen, sayg›, sürücü, ç›k›fl, sarma, gülmece, yüzmek, dolmufl, 

yazar. It should be noted that some derivations display semantic fusion where 

the stem and the suffix melt in each other so much that we do not even consider 

the derived word as consisting of two distinct morphemes. For example, try to see 

the difference between yüzmek and çakmak. The former is simply a deverbal 

noun, that is a noun derived from a verb. It somewhat maintains its verbal features 

in that we interpret it as the act of swimming. We remain conscious about the fact 

that this word it composed of two morphemes. The latter, however, exibits semantic 

fusion. The derived form does not in any way remind the verbal features of the 

stem. That is, we do not think of it as the act of sparking, but rather an instrument 

by which we light something. Other examples of semantic fusion are dolmufl, 

k›yma, döner, dikifl, tokmak, yaflmak, giyecek. 

141

142 





Distributional Criteria 

The most prototypical distributional features of nouns in Turkish is their ability to 

appear with the determiners, especially the indefinite article bir as in bir adam. 

Determiners are the words that restrict the meaning of the noun in different ways. 

They include articles, demonstratives, possessives, quantifiers and numerals: bütün, 

bu, flu, o, benim, senin, onun, her, her bir, daha, az, iki, üç and so on. All 

prototypical nouns can be used with determiners. 

Another property of nouns is that they can be modified by adjectives as in iyi adam. 

Finally, nouns can combine with both an adjective and a determiner as in iyi bir adam. 

Based on what we have said so far, distributional criteria for nounhood include 

three tests: positions with a preceding determiner and/or adjective: Determiner 

_____, Adjective _____, or Determiner+Adjective _____. If a word can be used in 

these slots blank in a sentence, it has more noun features than others that cannot. 

Let’s now test which noun types are the most protypical. Consider the behavior 

of the noun Atatürkçülük in the following. 

(7) 

a. *Atatürkçülükler b. *bir Atatürkçülük c. Atatürkçülü¤ü 

d. iyi Atatürkçülük 


e. iyi bir Atatürkçülük 

1 This abstract 1 noun displays some prototypical features of nounhood. Firstly, its 

derivational structure reflects that it is a noun made from a noun by the suffix -lIk. 

2 

Secondly, its It is inflectional your turn! structure shows that it can take the accusative case marker 

as in (7c). Most probably it can take the others too: Atatürkçülükte, 

2 

Atatürkçülükten, Atatürkçülü¤e, Atatürkçülü¤ün. (7d) and (7e) show that it can 

3 

be modified as well. But the ungrammaticality of (7a) and (7b) shows its 


nonprototypical features. It cannot be pluralized, nor can it be used with bir 

without a 

3 

modifier. 


Which of the It following is your turn! nouns is/are the most typical? Why? 

4 masa 4 

sayg›s›zl›k 

belediyecilik 



5 5 

Verbs 


We have seen that a language cannot be without nouns. Can it be without verbs? 

This question It is is your equally turn! absurd. Think what exactly we do when we say something 

6 using language. 6 We talk about things and what happens to them. The former is 

expressed by nouns and the latter by verbs. This description is almost like the 


definition of It is a your sentence. turn! There is always a subject in a sentence which is expressed 

7 by a noun 7 phrase. The rest of the sentence is about what happens to this subject, 

and this information is predicated by verbs in a language. Then, nouns and verbs 


8 

can be defined as the skeleton of a language. 


How are verbs formed in Turkish? In terms of their form, verbs are classified 

8 

into three groups: bare verbs, derived verbs, and compound verbs. Bare verbs are 

predominantly mono sylabic with no derivational suffixes attached to them. Some 


9 


examples are aç-, ürk-, üre-, tut-, kork-, uyar. Derived verbs are composed of a 

stem, either 9 nominal or verbal, and a derivational morpheme as in art›r-, ço¤alt-, 

kirala-, tepele. Compound verbs consist of a noun followed by an auxilary as in 


yard›m et-, It mümkün is your turn! k›l-, yok ol-, naz yap-, ifl buyur-. 

10 

10 



11 11


Verbs can be classified in terms of their semantic structure as well. This kind of 

categorization focuses on the internal structure of the lexical meaning of a verb. 

Vendler (1967: 97-121) suggested four categories: activities, accomplishments, 

achievements, and states. As we mentioned earlier, verbs typically express rapid 

changes and they denote what people do. Depending on the nature of the action, 

doing something may involve an ongoing process in time. That is, some verbs 

denote actions that last a period of time. Activity verbs such as koflmak, yürümek, 

yemek yemek, araba kullanmak can be listed in this category along with 

accomplishment verbs such as deney yapmak, 100m. koflmak, büyümek. Besides 

the similarity in their procedural nature, activity and accomplishment verbs differ 

in their reference to an end point in the activity expressed. Accomplishments have 

a climax prior to which the action indicated by the verb is not fulfilled, whereas 

activities do not have such a terminal point. For example, koflmak as an activity 

verb denotes an action which does not require an end point for its completion. 

When the runner terminates the act of running at some point in the process, it can 

be said that s/he did perform the act of running. However, this does not hold for 

accomplishment verbs. For example, 100 metre koflmak cannot be said to have 

been performed if the runner stops the act of running at a point in the process. In 

order for a runner to say 100 metre kofltum, it is necessary for him/her to have run 

till the end point of 100 metre. Similarly, to be able to use the verb büyümek to 

denote an accomplishment requires reaching the specified point in time that is 

considered to be the end point of the process büyümek. A child, for example, 

cannot be considered to have grown up before that point. 

Achievement verbs are similar to accomplishment verbs as they have a terminal 

point. However, the two categories differ in their procedural nature. Achievements 

do not indicate a process in time. They denote instantaneous actions such as 

bulmak, durmak, bafllamak, do¤mak, ölmek, farketmek. For example, an action 

represented by the verb durmak can be defined as durmak only at the time when 

the act of stopping is performed, neither before, nor after it. It takes place at a 

definite time, and therefore does not last a period of time. Figure 8.1. is given to 

illustrate these distinctions. 

koflmak 100 m. koflmak 

durmak 

x x x 

100 m. 

“to run” 

“to run 100 m” “to stop” 

activity accomplishment 

achievement 

Note that not all verbs are dynamic, and not all verbs indicate a change of state. 

Some verbs may denote not what people do, but what people are, how they feel, 

where they are, what they believe, what they know, etc. Such verbs indicate 

persistent situations lasting a period of time. These are called stative verbs. They are 

non-agentive as they do not have agent subjects. Neither do they involve actions 

performed deliberately. Some examples are istemek, sevmek, nefret etmek, bilmek, 

inanmak. Table 8.1 is given to show the intersections between the formal and 

semantic characteristics of verbs. 

Figure 8.1 

143

1 1 



2 2 

It 

144 

is your turn! 



3 

Table 8.1 

Verb Types 


4 

3 

activities accomplishments 

bare kofl-, yüz-, sürbüyü- derived It kofltur-, is your turn! yüzdüriyilefl compound 4 arabakullandeneyyapachievementsçarpbafllagazabas- It is your turn! 

What is the semantic It is your turn! classification of the verb bay›l- in: 

5 a. Çorbaya 5 bay›ld›m. 

b. Kad›n bay›ld›. 






10 





Criteria for Verbhood 

6 6 



As mentioned earlier, prototypical verbs are those denoting rapid changes in the 

7 universe. 7They 

are characteristically events and actions. 

Morphological It is your Criteria turn! 

8 The most 8 salient signal for verbhood is probably the infinitive morpheme -mAk 

which can be attached to all verbs: gelmek, uyumak, olmak, bilmek, oturadurmak. 

Compare the It is your ungrammaticality turn! 

in the following when it is used with a noun 

9 *an›mak, 9an 

adjective *güzelmek, an adverb *h›zl›camak, a postposition *içinmek, 

a pronoun * benmek, and a conjunction *vemek . Inflectional contrasts, too, provide 

another distinctive property of verbs. They manifest themselves as tense, aspect, 


mood, voice, agreement, and negation markers on verbs. The ungrammaticality of 

10 

*k›rm›z›yor, *yumuflak›flt›, *h›zl›cam and *fakatmal› shows that morphemes 

marking aspect, voice, agreement, and mood are disallowed in non-verbal contexts. 


Only after converting these forms into verbs can the verbal suffixes be used with 

11 them: k›rm›z›lafl›yor, 11 yumuflaklaflt›, h›zland›m, fakatlamamal›. 

Prototypical verbs are tensed and all verbs have tensed forms. In terms of their 

derivational It is structure, your turn! verbs from nouns and adjectives are derived with the 

12 morphemes 12 such as -Al, (azal-), -dA (›fl›lda-), -lA (avla-), -sA (susa-) as well as 

deverbal verbal stems with morphemes such as -mA (görüflme), -Ar (kopar-), -n 

(difllen), -(y)Ifl (girifl), -t (titret). The very productive suffix -(y) IcI is also attached 


to verbs to form nouns as in sürücü, azmettirici, ba¤lay›c›, besleyici, betimleyici, 

13 13 

binici, arabulucu, büyüleyici, candand›r›c›, ferahtat›c›, cayd›r›c›. So, these 

morphemes may be representative of verbhood. 


Tensed verbs function as the head of predicates/clauses (see Unit 11 for more). 

Therefore, they are the most central/governing unit in the predicate so they restrict 

other elements in the predicate/clause. 

(8) 

a. Onu buldu. 

*Onu gitti. 

*Kardeflim doktor söyledi. 

states 

bil-, sev-, ol-, um 

yaflasevdal› 

ol- 

The verb bul- in (8) allows a direct object noun phrase, but -git does not. So, the 

test for transitivity is Direct Object Noun ___, and the one for intransitivity is ___:

(9) 

a. Noun ___ b. ___ 

Elmay› yedi. Gitti. 

Sevgi’yi gördü. Oturdu. 

Mektubu yazd›. Uyudu. 

The verb ol- in (10) allows a noun phrase (doktor) or an adjective (iyi) as its 

subject complement, but söyle- does not. This means that some It is verbs your turn! can be tested 


using the configuration Adjective/Noun ___. 

1 1 

(10) 

Kardeflim doktor oldu. 

Kardeflim iyi oldu. 

(11) Adjective ___ Noun _____ It is your turn! 


a. Baflar›l› oldu. d. Doktor oldu. 

3 3 

b. Hasta görünüyor. e. Doktordur. 

c. Hastad›r. f. Doktormufl. 



Such restrictions lead to verbal subcategories which are formed according 4 to 

the different sentence structures that verbs permit. The subcategories these tests 

4 

have generated so far are transitive verbs in (9a), intransitive It is verbs your turn! in (9b), and 


copular verbs in (10&11). 

5 5 

Explain the ungrammaticality of the following. 

A : O çocuk ne yap›yor? 

B : *Yiyor. 


Adjectives 

7 

Adjectives are like the cream of a cake. Even if you do not put cream in a cake it 

is still a cake, but a naked one. When you dress it with soft and rich cream, it 


7 

becomes more tasty. Nouns without adjectives are naked just It is like your a turn! cake without 


cream. Yes, they look more plain, but they are still nouns. This is what 8 makes 

adjectives modifiers, and therefore optional elements in a noun phrase. Compare 

8 

ö¤renci and çal›flkan ö¤renci. Ö¤renci is a noun phrase It with is your or turn! without the 


adjective çal›flkan. So, why do we even bother to use adjectives? They restrict 9 the 

possible referents of a noun in the real world. Ö¤renci alone can refer to any one 

9 

of, say 25 students in a classroom, but çal›flkan ö¤renci could It is your have turn! only one 

referent having the property the adjective denotes. 

10 

Adjectives can be used either attributively or predicatively (see Unit 11 for more). 


10 

(12) 

a. [Büyük oda] [benim]. 

b. [Benim odam] [büyük]. 



Büyük in (12a) is an attributive adjective because it is used within a noun 

12 

phrase to modify that noun. However in (12b) it is a predicative adjective, since 

it is used in the verb phrase as the complement of the subject. 


12 

What is the semantics of adjectives used in Turkish? Some It is your adjectives turn! may 


denote properties that can have varying degrees, and therefore they have 13gradable 13 

145 



2 2 



6 6 



11 11

146 


opposites. For example, the height of a door can come in different sizes; therefore 

a 200cm-door is taller than a 150 cm-door. What this means is that it is possible to 

denote different degrees of size in different contexts. Such adjectives are called 

gradable adjectives and they have gradable opposites. On the scale of size bigger 

or smaller sizes are possible raging from very big to very small. Some antonymous 

pairs include iyi:kötü, eski:yeni, güzel:çirkin, güçlü:zay›f. Gradations are possible 

through degree adverbs or comparatives: çok iyi:çok kötü; oldukça eski:oldukça 

yeni, daha güzel:daha çirkin, biraz güçlü:biraz zay›f. In these pairs the negative 

of an adjective does not imply absence of the property designated. So, to say that 

something is not ugly does not necessarily mean that it is beautiful. In addition, 

some adjectives, however, go beyond binary antonyms and form scales of more 

values such as s›cak:so¤uk, a pair which allows the intermediate qualities of ›l›k, 

kaynar, and serin. 

It is important to note that the positive counterpart in an antonymous pair is 

considered more basic. That is, the positive value is considered to be the default 

or given value. But how do we know this? Let’s look at the way we form qustions 

using these adjectives. 

(13) 

a. Ne kadar uzun? b. *Ne kadar k›sa? 

Ne kadar büyük? *Ne kadar küçük? 

Büyüklü¤ü ne kadar? *Küçüklü¤ü ne kadar? 

Uzunlu¤u ne kadar? *K›sal›¤› ne kadar? 

A¤›rl›¤› ne kadar? *Hafifli¤i ne kadar? 

The (a) examples in (13) show that when we want to question a gradable 

property, we always use the value of the positive end of the scale. The (b) examples 

cannot be used as a neutral, answer seeking question, but rather a more specific 

marked question. The implication in them is that the negative value was mentioned 

previously in the conversation, and the question is asked to test the size of this 

negative value. Therefore, a possible answer for the (b) questions always involve 

the negative value; whereas, both are possible with the (a) questions. 

(14) 

a. Ne kadar uzun? b. Ne kadar k›sa? 

Çok uzun. Çok k›sa. 

Çok k›sa. *Çok uzun. 

As an answer to (14a), both values can be used since it is an unmarked, neutral 

question asking the lenght/height of something. However, (14b) disallows çok 

uzun because the question is not asking just about the lenght/height, but about 

the short lenght/height. This shows that the positive value of gradable antonym is 

considered to be the basic one. 

Not all adjectives are gradable, though. That is, there are adjectives that cannot 

designate more or less of the value that they denote. These adjectives are labeled as 

non-gradable adjectives. Some examples are evli:bekar, ölü:sa¤, kad›n:erkek. Since 

they cannot be graded, they cannot combine with degree adverbs: *daha evli:*daha 

bekar, *biraz ölü:*biraz sa¤, *oldukça erkek:*oldukça kad›n. These adjectives designate 

only one quality and absence of it implies the antonym of that adjective. If someone 

is married, he is not single, and he cannot be less or more married.


It is clear that adjectives function as modifiers of nouns, but nouns can be used 

as modifiers as well. It is possible to say demir kap› as well as büyük kap›. In the 

former the noun demir is used as an adjective, in the latter the adjective is büyük. 

Even though they function in the same way, there are significant differences 

between the two. Earlier we mentioned that adjectives can be used with degree 

adverbs, but no noun can be used with a degree adverb: çok büyük kap› is OK, 

but *çok demir kap› is not. Adjectives can combine with other adjectives as in 

büyük kal›n kap›, but nouns cannot as in *demir kal›n kap›. Usually in a noun 

phrase adjectives precede nouns. Finally, nouns cannot be coordinated with other 

adjectives. Büyük ama dik kap› is acceptable, but *demir ama dik kap› is not. 

Coordination is a syntactic process that combine the two elements of the same 

type. The ungrammaticality of the last example shows that demir and büyük are 

not considered to be of the same nature. Apparently büyük is It more is your turn! of an adjective 

than demir which holds on to its nouniness. Since there are restrictions on 1 the way 

nouns are used as modifiers, they are regarded as peripheral members, and 

1 

therefore the modifier function is more characteristically filled It is by your adjectives. 

turn! 

Verbs, too, can be used as adjectives. This process is called adjectivalization, 

2 

the undergoers of which have characteristics of both verbs and adjectives. Some 

2 

examples are shown in brackets: [a¤layan] bebek, [sevdi¤imiz] ev, [k›r›lm›fl] vazo, 


[katlan›lmaz] dert, [gömülü] hazine, [akacak] kan. In these examples we see the 

attributive use of the adjectivalized verbs. Let’s now see if they can 

3 

be used 

predicatively. 


3 

(15) 

4 4 

a. *bebek a¤layan d. *dert katlan›lmaz 

b. *ev sevdi¤imiz 

c. vazo k›r›lm›fl 

e. hazine gömülü 

f. *kan akacak 


5 5 

The ungrammaticality of (15a, b, d, and f) may be due to their less fully 

adjectivalization. Therefore, unlike most prototypical adjectives, It is your turn! they are not 


flexible enough to be used predicatively. 

6 6 

The following morphemes are used to produce adjectivalized verbs? It is your Do they turn! display any 


semantic similarity? 

a. k›r›k, yan›k, bitmifl, boyanm›fl, trafll› 

7 7 

b. k›r›labilir, yap›labilir, bükülebilir. 



8 

Quantifying modifiers such as biraz, az, çok, birtak›m; numerals such as bir, 

iki, üç, dört; and ordinals such as birinci, ikinci, üçüncü are also classified as 

8 


adjectives. There are also compound adjectives such as aç›k sözlü, bofl bo¤az, 


ola¤anüstü. One last type of adjective is the the modifier reading of 9 genitive 

constructions. As we mentioned in Unit 7, an expression like baflar›lar›n çocu¤u 

9 

means baflar›l› çocuk. Is it gradable? *Çok baflar›lar›n çocu¤u, It *oldukça is your turn! baflar›lar›n 


çocu¤u. Can it be a predicative or attributive? Baflar›lar›n çocu¤u Ahmet, 10 but not 

*baflar›lar›n çocu¤u bir ö¤renci. So it can have a definite noun as its head in its 

10 

attributive use. Similarly, it can predicate a definite subject as It in is Ahmet your turn! baflar›lar›n 


çocu¤u, O baflar›lar›n çocu¤u. Bu ö¤renci baflar›lar›n çocu¤u. But which 11one/s of 

these adjective types are the most prototypical? 

11 

147 








12 12 



13 13



1 1 



148 


2 2 






Criteria for Adjectivehood 


3 Semantic 3 Criteria 

The most typical members of the category adjective are used to denote properties 

that can be It possessed is your turn! in varying degrees. The most salient properties are known 

4 as size, shape, 4 color, age, taste, smell, texture, evaluation. Examples for each are 

büyük oda, kare oda, mavi oda, eski oda, ac› biber, burcu koku, kal›n kumafl, 

güzel oda respectively. 


5 5 


Adjectives are not marked inflectionally in Turkish. A special case of degree 


specification in gradable adjectives is expressed analytically, not inflectionally, by 

6 6 

means of degree adverbs daha and en as in daha güzel, en güzel. In comparative 

constructions daha can in fact be used optionally: benden daha uzun and benden 

uzun are both It is your acceptable. turn! Other degree adverbs are oldukça, pek, fazla, fazlas›yla, 

7 o kadar, 7ne. 


Does mi in güzel It is your mi turn! güzel mark comparison? 

8 8 

In terms of derivational morphology, however, the catgory is marked by a 


9 

number of derivational morphemes such as -lI (sakall›), -CIl (insanc›l), -(I)msI 


(ac›ms›), -(I)mtrak (sar›mt›rak), -sAl (bilimsel). These are some examples deriving 

9 

adjectives from nouns. There are also morphemes that derive adjectives from 

verbs such as -Gan (al›ngan), -GIn (piflkin). 


10 


Another special case about adjectives is the derivation called reduplication 

(See Unit 106 

for more). The first syllable of an adjective can be doubled and then 

one of the consonants p, m, s, or r is either added to it or is used to replace the 


last consonant It is your of turn! it. This is done to intensify the meaning of the adjective: apaç›k, 

11 bembeyaz, 11 upuzun, yusyuvarlak (see Unit 6 for more). 


12 



Adjectives function as the head of an adjective phrase such as güzel in oldukça 

12 

güzel. Adjective phrases can be used as pre-head modifiers (16a), as predicative 

complements (16b), and rarely as post-head modifiers (16c). 



13 (16) 13 

a. sinirli k›z 

b. k›z sinirli c. Radyo 1 

sinirli oldu Kanal D 

onu sinirli buluyorum Kat 1 

The prototypical adjective occur in all of these positions, but peripheral 

members are restricted to only one or two of them, and excluded from the rest. 

So, the distributional test for the core members of the category is ___ (bir) Noun 

as exemplified in iyi (bir) çocuk, güzel (bir) ev, sakin (bir) flehir. This is the so 

called attributive position of adjectives. Another position for adjectives is the 

position preceding the copular verbs such as ol- and görün-: ___V copular Some 

examples are çocuk iyi, ev güzel, flehir sakin, güzel oldu, güzel görünüyor. 

Adjectives may also follow degree adverbs as in çok tatl›, biraz ac›, hafif s›cak,

orta flekerli, inan›lmaz zor, daha aç›k, en sa¤lam. The configuration for this test is 

Degree Adv. ___. 

It is important to note that morphological and distributional tests for objecthood 

may not be realiable. As we shall see shortly, they work for testing adverbhood as 

well. 

Adverbs 

Adverbs are just like adjectives in that they can be described as the cream of a 

cake. The difference is that they modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs. 

Without an adverb, a verb may look naked, but it retains its verb status. Therefore, 

like adjectives, adverbs are optional elements too (see Unit 11 for exceptions). 

They add a descriptive value to whatever they modify. It is important to note the 

difference between an adverb and an adverbial. Adverb is the grammatically 

distinct word class used only as modifiers of verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. 

Adverbials, on the other hand, are words that function as adverbs. Adverbials 

include adveibs as well. In çabucak ayr›ld›, çabucak is an adverb, but in dün 

ayr›ld›, dün is an adverbial because it is in fact a noun functioning as time adverbial. 

But yaz›n, k›fl›n, gündüzün are adverbs that are solely used to describe the time 

of the verb (see Unit 11 for more). 

In terms of their formal structure adverbs are of two type. Bare adverbs consist 

of a single word. Majority of them denote manner and time: asla, art›k, daha. 

Derived adverbs are formed with derivational morphemes from nouns and verbs. 

Morphemes such as -lEyIn (geceleyin), -In (ilkin), -CA (bence, delice, insanca), - 

DAn (akflamdan), -lA (hayretle), -cAk (çabucak), -cAcIk (çabucac›k), -sIzIn 

(ans›z›n) derive adverbs from nouns and adjectives. Morphemes such as -(y)A, - 

(y)Ip, -(y)ArAk, -(y)IncA, -(y)AlI derive adverbs from verbs as in abarta abarta, 

kap›y› çarp›p, kap›y› çarparak, kap›y› çarp›nca, buraya geleli. There are also 

morphemes that can attach to nominalized and adjectivalized verbs to form adverbs. 

Some examples are bakmaks›z›n (-mAksIzIn), dönmesiyle (-mAsIylA), a¤lad›kça 

(-DIkçA). 

Reduplication is another way of marking adverbial meanings in Turkish: a¤›r 

a¤›r, derin derin, mavi mavi, buram buram, damla damla (see Unit 6 for more). 

Criteria for Adverbhood 



Adverbs characteristically modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs in terms of 

time, place, direction, quality, manner, and degree. Core members express manner 

or degree, less central members express time and place (Huddleston, 1988: 120). 


Adverbs lack inflectional morphology. Like adjectives they enter into comparative 

and superlative contrasts, but they do so not by inflectional morphology, but by 

juxtaposition of degree adverbs such as daha and en. 

Derivational morphology deriving adverbs is more productively applied. Many 

adverbs, particulary manner adverbs, are derived from adjectives or nouns by the 

derivational suffix -CA: h›zl›ca, güzelce, askerce, çocukça. But it is neither a 

necessary nor a sufficient condition for adverb status. For example, reduplicated 

149



5 5 



150 


6 6 


7 

adjectives do not include -CA, but they function as adverbs as in: çabuk çabuk, 


k›s›k k›s›k, uzun uzun. Similarly, güzelce and canice include -CA, but they can be 

used as adjectives 

7 

as well: güzelce bir k›z, canice bir plan. But certain derivational 

morphemes derive adverbs and only adverbs such as -A added to reduplicated 


verbs as in It seve is your seve, turn! kofla kofla. The morpheme -lA added to nouns derives adverbs 

8 as well: hevesle, 8 ifltahla, merakla. 


Can you think It is of your other turn! adverbs that prototypically function as adverbs? 

9 9 



10 

Adverbs function as modifiers of verbs as in ak›ll›ca konufltu, adjectives as in çok 


ak›ll›, and adverbs as in çok ak›ll›ca konufltu. They are also used as connectors 

10 

between clauses and as modifiers of the entire clause: böylece, sonuç olarak, 

bundan dolay›, aç›kças›, ne yaz›k ki, maalesef, flüphesiz. The distributional tests 


11 


for all these positions are shown in the following in this given order. 

11 

(17) 


12 

a.___V b.___ Adj. 


Çabuk döndü. çok çabuk 

12 

‹yi uyudu. pek iyi 

c. ___ Adv. 

çok çabuk 

pek iyi 

d. S___ S 

Soru sordum; 

böylece, merak›m› 

e. ___ S 

Maalesef geldi 

Ne yaz›kki unuttum. 

H›zl› kofltu. hala h›zl› hala h›zl› giderdim. Gerçekten üzüldüm. 



13 This 13 test may not be reliable in that (17a) and (17b) may generate -instead of 

adverbs- a verb phrase consisting of a noun and a verb, and an adjective phrase 

consisting of two adjectives. Recall that some noun phrases are used before verbs 

in the given slot in (17a) as in kitab› bitirdi, and that two adjectives can be used 

one after the other in the given slot in (17b) as kal›n mavi in kal›n mavi kitap; or 

adverbs as in daha mavi (17c) and (17d) work better, but they only generate 

degree adverbs and sentence adverbs without accounting for the other two types. 

Another problem with the distributional criteria is that most adverbs retain 

considerable word order flexibility. This means that they do not have a fixed 

position within the sentence so they can satisfy a distributional test. 

Since adverbs are a very flexible class allowing many overlaps between other 

word classes, and since this flexibility makes it harder to develop an objective test 

for them, a larger class called particles are proposed. They include some adverbs, 

some conjunctions, and postpositions. 

CLOSED CLASSES IN TURKISH 

Postpositions 

Postpositions form phrasal constituents with nouns or noun phrases. That is, they 

are not used on their own. They always follow their noun complements as the 

head of a postpositional phrase: 

(18) [NOUN POSTPOSITION] 

anneme göre 

annem için


151 



Postpositions are relevant to morphology in that they govern morphological 1 

case categories. That is, they assign case to their noun complements. Some 

1 

postpositions assign nominative case as in Osman gibi, Salih It is your için, turn! kedi kadar; 


whereas some assign dative and ablative case as in ona göre, akflama kadar, 2 buna 

ra¤men, sana dair, ö¤retmene karfl›, dünden beri, senden yana, yar›ndan itibaren, 

2 

akflamdan önce, dersten sonra. Postpositions are invarient in It is their your turn! form with no 


inflectional contrasts, but they enter into different inflectional relations 3with their 

noun complements. Sometimes they behave differently with nouns and pronouns. 

3 

For example, gibi, as well as kadar and için, assigns nominative It is your case turn! to its noun 


complements, genitive to its pronoun complements in all persons except 4 third 

person plural: 

4 



nominative 

gibi 

nouns pronouns 

Rag›p gibi onlar gibi 

benim 

nouns 

Rag›p 

kadar 

kadar 

pronouns 

onlar 

kadar 

benim 

için 

5 

nouns pronouns 

Rag›p için onlar için 


6 

benim 

Table 8.2 

5 

Postpositions with 

nominals and 

pronominals It is your turn! 

6 

gibi kadar için 

senin gibi senin It is your turn! senin için 


X onun gibi X kadar X 7onun için 

7 

genetive *Rag›p’›n bizim gibi *Rag›p’›n onun *Rag›p’›n bizim için 

gibi sizin gibi kadar kadar It is için your turn! sizin için 


bizim 

kadar 

8 8 

sizin 



kadar 

9 9 

Considering the semantics of postpositions, which one/s of the following It is your turn! is/are used to 

express more than one meaning? And what are the meanings expressed? 10 

gibi karfl› 

kadar beri 

ra¤men önce 


10 



11 11 

Most of the postpositions can be used adverbially too, but their postpositional 



function appears when they are used with noun complements (Huddleston, 1988: 

12 12 

125, Lewis, 1967: 90). For example, afla¤›da is an adverbial in afla¤›da kald›m, but 

a postposition in derenin afla¤›s›nda kald›m. 

Limited number of postpositions can be modified by degree It adverbs is your turn! such as tam, 


pek, çok, pek çok, biraz. Some examples are okulun tam önünde, akflamdan 13 çok 13 

sonra, dersten biraz önce, toplant›n›n tam ortas›nda, tam anneme göre, tam kardeflim 

için, but not *tam annem sayesinde, *tam vali taraf›ndan, *tam olaya ra¤men. 

Postpositions have a variety of functions. First they head postpositional phrases. 

Then these postpositional phrases may have different functions in a clause as 

shown below (see Unit 11 for more).

152 


(18) 

a. [Kutunun içine] koydu. complement in a verb phase 

b. [Ö¤leden önce] bitirdi modifier in a verb phrase 

c. [Bana göre] bu çok yanl›fl. peripheral dependent in a clause 

d. Saklan›lacak yer [sand›k gibi]ydi. predicative 

e. [Çocuk gibi] kad›n. modifier in a noun phrase 

f. [Annesi gibi] zeki. modifier in an adjective phrase 

g. [Annesi gibi] çabuk yapt›. modifier in an adverb phrase 

Post positions can take subordinate clauses as their complements as well: 

gitmek için, gelmesine ra¤men, istedikleri gibi, söyledikleri üzere, kalmalar›na 

iliflkin. 

Pronouns 

Pronouns are used to replace nouns. So, everywhere we see a noun in a sentence, 

it is possible to see a pronoun. For example, nouns are used as the subject and /or 

the object in a sentence, so can be pronouns: 

(20) 

a. Coflkun geldi. b. Coflkunu gördüm. c. Coflkuna bakt›m. 

O geldi. Onu gördüm. Ona bakt›m. 

The difference, however, is that nouns can be used referentially; whereas, 

pronouns are used anaphorically. What this means is that nouns are used 

independently, but pronouns are always bound to another word or phrase 

(antecedent) used earlier in the discourse, and they are used to refer back to that 

antecedent. Without knowing the antecedent, it is impossible to identify the 

referent of a pronoun. In Ben dün bir kitap ald›m, bugün de onu okudum bir kitap 

is the antecedent of the pronoun o, so the pronoun is bound to bir kitap and is 

used to refer back to it. The subject of the sentence is ben, it is a pronoun also, 

but what is the antecedent of that pronoun? There is in fact no antecedent in the 

text to bind ben. Then, how do we understand the referent of it? In every 

conversation situation it is given that there are at least two participants: the speaker 

and the hearer. That is, the speaker is the given participant in every context, so is 

the hearer. The former is characteristically marked as the first person and the latter 

as the second person. There may be a third party who is not existant in the context, 

that party is referred to by the third person marker. This means that there are three 

types of involvement in a conversation and they may be either singular or plural. 

This gives us our table of personal pronouns: ben, sen, o, biz, siz, onlar. 

Do pronouns have permenant referents? That is, whenever we use a noun such 

as masa, it has the same referent: an object that prototypically have four legs and 

a square top. But does o used in the above example always refer to bir kitap? Of 

course not, it may refer to a cat in dün bir yavru kedi bulmufltuk, bugün onu 

kaybettik. Similarly, ben refers to whoever uses it: in one context, for example, it 

may be someone called Seval, in another it may be Seval’s mother. Likewise, here 

refers to where the speaker stands: in a classroom context with the teacher saying 

come here it refers to where the teacher is standing in that classroom. More 

examples can be given, but this should suffice to illustrate that pronouns do not 

have permanent referents. They are deictic words that take their referents from the 

context.


Another difference between nouns and pronouns is that nouns are the members 

of the open classes whereas pronouns are those of closed classes. What does this 

mean? Nouns are open to new derivations, but pronouns are very restricted in this 

respect. Only few derivations are possible: benlik, senlik, senli benli, bensiz, sensiz, 

buncac›k (Korkmaz, 2003: 399). 

Types of Pronouns 

Various subclasses of pronouns are distinguished in Turkish: personal, reflexive, 

reciprocal, demonstrative, indefinite, interrogative, and genitive. 

Personal pronouns, as mentioned earlier, are used to refer to the speaker, 

the person spoken to, and other person/s absent from the context. The equivalent 

of personal pronouns is expressed by person markers on the verb too. 

Reflexive pronouns are coreferential with the subject. They are formed with 

the pronoun kendi inflected in different persons: kendim, kendin, kendisi, 

kendimiz, kendiniz, kendileri. 

Reciprocal pronouns are coferential with the subject also, but they reflect 

mutual participants. The reciprocal pronoun in Turkish birbiri is formed with 

birbir followed by the possessive marker. It is always plural, therefore cannot be 

inflected for the singular persons: birbirimiz, birbiriniz, birbirleri. 

Demonstrative pronouns are items which specify the spatial location of an 

object with respect to the location of the speaker and the hearer. Like the category 

person, demonstrative is a deictic category too. That is, demonstrative pronouns 

bu, flu, o, bunlar, flunlar, onlar take their referents from the context. They express 

varying degrees of proximity bu being the nearest, flu farther and o the farthest 

from the speaker and the hearer. They can also be used as adjectives: bu kitap, o 

çocuk. Their adverbial form is bura-, flura-, and ora-; böyle, flöyle, and öyle. 

Another subclass of pronouns is composed of those pronouns called the 

indefinite pronouns. They are non-deictic in that they do not have any specific 

referents. Kimse, herkes, falan, filan, fley are some examples in Turkish. The 

second person pronoun sen can be used in this way too: Önce sebzeleri y›k›yorsun, 

sonra kaynat›yorsun. In this example the speaker is not necessarily referring to 

the hearer, but using it more generically to refer to anyone who is interested in 

cooking this particular dish. Other pronouns are formed by adding the possessive 

marker to some indefinite adjectives, adverbs and other pronouns: baflkas›, baz›s›, 

baz›lar›, biri, birisi, biriniz, ço¤u, gerisi, hepsi, kimi, öbürü, öteki, tümü, etc. Some 

indefinite pronouns are formed as compounds as in birço¤u, birkaç›, her biri, hiç 

biri, hiç kimse, bir fley, her fley, her kim (Korkmaz, 2003: 433). Finally, possessive 

pronouns are formed by adding ki to the genitive of personal pronouns: benim-ki, 

senin-ki, onun-ki, bizim-ki, sizin-ki, onlar›n-ki. 

Interrogative pronouns represent persons, places, things in questions: kim, 

ne, hangi; and the relative pronoun ki is used to replace the head noun in the 

relative clause: ‹stanbul ki, yedi tepe üstünde kurulu, bay›r bacadan geçilmiyor. 

It should be noted that all pronouns, like nouns, can be inflected for case. 

Some examples are illustrated in Table 8.3 in the singular and plural. 

153



6 6 



154 7 


7 

nominative accusative dative locative ablative genitive 

singular 

1st ben beni bana bende benden benim 

2nd sen seni sana sende senden senin 

3rd o onu ona onda ondan onun 

plural 

1st biz bizi bize bizde bizden bizim 

2nd siz sizi size sizde sizden sizin 

3rd Table 8.3 

It Personal is your turn! Pronouns 


8 8 



9 9 



10 

10 onlar onlar› onlara onlarda onlardan onlar›n 


Can you make It is your tables turn! showing the declensions of reflexive, reciprocal, possessive, 

11 demonstrative, 11 and interrogative pronouns? 

Conjunctions 


Conjunctions It is are your turn! of two types: coordinating and subordinating. In this section, the 

12 focus will 12 be on coordination as subordination will be dealt with in Unit 12. 

Coordinating conjunctions are the words that are used to mark coordination 


between words, It is your turn! 

phrases, and clauses. There are three major coordinators: ve, 

13 

veya, ancak. 

13 

More recently, though, the noun art› has been added to this list. It 

has, in informal Turkish, taken on a coordinative function to the extent that it can 

now freely replace ve. Ve, as well as its new alternate art›, has an additive function 

which can also be expressed by ile and de: çocuk ve annesi, çocuk ile annesi, 

annesi de, çocuk art› annesi, art› annesi. Ve also marks the order of events when 

used to combine predicates: kalkt› ve lambay› södürdü means s/he first got up and 

then turned off the light. Sometimes, relations other than coordination may be 

implied by ve as in cüzdan› çal›nd› ve tepesi att›. The implication is that tepesi att› 

is the consequence of cüzdan› çal›nd›. But this meaning cannot be ascribed to 

only ve since it can be conveyed in the absance of it by juxtaposition as well: 

cüzdan› çal›nd›, tepesi att›. Veya offers alternatives, and ancak marks contrastive 

relations. 

Before we discuss the semantics of how coordination works, it is important to 

note that Turkish allows simple juxtaposition of words, phrases and clauses to 

signal coordination: 

(21) 

a. Elma, portakal ald›k. 

b. Bodrum’da bir yazl›k, Ankara’da bir k›fll›k ald›k. 

c. Nefle odaya girdi, elektrikler söndü. 

The coordinated constructions in (21) are simply put one after the other without 

any explicit marking of coordination. But semantically they are interpreted as 

though and were there (Lewis, 1967: 206). Juxtaposition may also be used to 

intensify the meaning: yürüdü, yürüdü, yürüdü. 

But what are prototypical features of explicit coordinators? There are two types 

of logical relation in coordination: conjunction and disjunction. (Tarski, 1994). 

The former is marked by ve the latter by veya 

(22) 

a. Aya¤a kalkt› ve soru bombard›man›na bafllad›. 

b. Evde yoklar veya duymad›lar.


(22a) displays an example of conjunction. In this kind of relation, the meaning 

of the sentence is true only if the components of it are true. That is, aya¤a kalkt› 

ve soru bombard›man›na bafllad› is true only if s/he actually stood up and s/he 

actually started asking questions. (22b) is an example of disjunction. It is true only 

one of its components is true. That is, evde yoklar veya duymad›lar is true if either 

one of evde yoklar and duymad›lar is true, but false if both are false. 

There are two types of disjunction: exclusive and inclusive (Levinson, 1983: 

138). If it is exclusive, it forces a choice on the part of the hearer between the 

alternatives. In kahve veya çay ikram edebilirim, the speaker does not expect the 

hearer to have them both. One choice excludes the other. Therefore, if we want 

to block this interpretation we say kahve ve/veya çay ikram edebilirim or kahve 

veya çay veya ikisini de ikram edebilirim. In evde yoklar veya duymad›lar, there is 

no such exclusive interpretation. Both alternatives are possible, It is so your it turn! is an example 


of inclusive disjunction. 

1 1 

Coordination of smaller units may have equivalent conjunctive or disjunctive 

underlying clauses: For example in O çok [genç] ve [güzel]di two It is your adjective turn! phrases 


are coordinated, but its underlying meaning has a clausal interpretation: 2 [o çok 

gençti] ve [o çok güzeldi]. Similarly, Ali’ye veya Ayfle’ye söyledi means Ali’ye söyledi 

2 

veya Ayfle’ye söyledi. But this may not be allowed in all contexts. Compare: 



(23) 

a. Bir ö¤retmen [genç] ve [güzel]di. 

3 3 

b. [Bir ö¤retmen güzeldi] ve [bir ö¤retmen gençti]. It is your turn! 


4 

Phrasal coordination in (23a) does not imply the clausal coordination in (23b). 

The determiner bir seems to have a separate noun phrase each time it is repeated. 

4 

Therefore, in (23b) it sounds like there are more than one It teacher is your turn! being talked 


about. 

Other conjunctions are shown in (24) as bracketed forms. 

5 5 


(24) 

6 

a. Geçen y›l alt›n› kazand› [ancak] bu y›l gümüflle yetindi. 

b. [Hem] Suat [hem de] Meral kazay› gördüler. 


6 

c. [Ya] annem [ya da] babam beni karfl›layacak. 



d. [Ne] geldiler [ne de] gördüler. 

7 7 

Ancak expresses contrast, so most naturally it has a discriminating It is your turn! function. In 

(24a), the contrastive standing of what happened last year and this year is marked 

8 

by the coordinator. Fakat and ama are used in the same way. In some cases, they 

may be used concessively: Erken kalkt›m ama/fakat/ancak derse yetiflemedim. 


8 

The conjunction marks the oddity of the second event despite It is the your first. turn! 


Hem ... hem de and ya ... ya da correlate with ve and veya respectively. 9 They 

emphasize a coordinative relation. The difference is that ya ... ya da is exclusive. 

9 

It leaves out one of the two possibilities. So, what (24c) means It is your is turn! that either my 


mom or my dad will come, not both. Similarly, ne ... ne is a correlative coordinator 

10 

as well. But it marks negative correlation. (24d) means they did not come and they 

10 

did not see. 


Double coordination is not a allowed in Turkish: *Ne Ayfle’yi tan›yorlar ama ne 

de biliyorlar. 

11 


11 

Is Ali’yi gördüm ama ne Ayfle ne de Fatma görmedi an example of It is double your turn! coordination? 


Is it ungrammatical? 

12 12 

155 



13 13



6 6 



156 

7 Turkish Phonology 7 and Morphology (Türkçe Ses ve Biçim Bilgisi) 


Which It one is your of turn! these coordinators are more prototypical? Huddleston (1988: 

8 195-196) 8 suggests the following criteria. Reducibility to one element is a 

prototypical feature of coordination. Ali ve Ayfle ö¤retmen can be reduced to Ali 


ö¤retmen. It However, is your turn! this may not be possible in sentences having inherent plural 

9 meanings 9 or agreement: Ali ile Ayfle kardefller cannot be reduced to *Ali kardefller. 

Coordination allows a change in order without distorting the semantic content: 

Ayfle genç ve güzel vs Ayfle güzel ve genç. But the order may not be reversible in 



anaphoric constructions: erken gel de patronla görüfl vs *patronla görüfl de erken 

10 

gel. For many 

10 

cliches only one order is possible, peynir ekmek, yukar› afla¤›, gece 

gündüz, baylar bayanlar, kad›n erkek. 


Likeness It is of your class turn! and function is another property of coordinated elements: 

11 *Ali ve çocukça 11 a¤lad› is ungrammatical since a noun and an adverb, members of 

two different words classes, are coordinated. But sometimes this does not yield 

ungrammatical forms as long as the coordinated elements share the same function: 



Hemen ya da yemekten sonra yapabiliriz. So, likeness of function may sometimes 

12 be a sufficient 12 condition for coordination. 


Which one of It is the your following turn! 

is better? Why? 

13 a. Onun 13 yalan söyledi¤i ve cehaleti herkesçe biliniyor. 

b. Onun yalac›l›¤› ve cehaleti herkesçe biliniyor. 

Open endedness is the ability to allow infinite number of elements to 

coordinate. Ve and veya are the most prototypical in that sense: Ankara, ‹stanbul, 

‹zmir, Ayd›n ve/veya Eskiflehir. Ama and hem...hem de, ya .... ya da, ne ... ne de 

are restricted to two: *Ankara, ‹stanbul, ‹zmir, Ayd›n ama Eskiflehir; *hem Ankara, 

‹stanbul, ‹zmir, Ayd›n hem de Eskiflehir; *ya Ankara, ‹stanbul, ‹zmir, Ayd›n ya da 

Eskiflehir; *ne Ankara, ‹stanbul, ‹zmir, Ayd›n ne de Eskiflehir. 

Ve and veya are similar in their range of positions too. They coordinate at any 

place, but there are some restrictions for the others. For example, hem ... hem de 

cannot combine clauses: *Hem Ali onu sevdi, hem de Ahmet sevdi. Ama cannot 

coordinate noun phrases unless they stand in a contrastive relation: *[Ali’yi] ama 

[Ayfle’yi] gördüm is not grammatical, but [kalemlerimin hepsini] ama [kiplar›m›n 

birini] buldum is grammatical since ama marks a contrast in quantification. 

[Kitaplar›m› de¤il] ama [kalemlerimi] buldum is also grammatical because it 

displays a contrast in polarity. 

Interjections 

This category is one of the reflections of human character of language. It includes 

words expressing a range of different emotional reactions: sadness (of), surprise 

(ya), happiness (yafla), excitement (oley), regret (tüh, tövbe), longing (ah), fear 

(hi), praise (aferin), disappointment (aflk olsun) etc. They are also used as 

attention gatherers: hey, flflflt, huu, etc. By changing intonation, the same 

interjection may be used to express different feelings. For example, aman may 

express fear in Aman Allah›m, request in Aman öyle demeyin, warning in Aman 

dikkatli sürün, and surprise in aman ne pahal›. To intensify the meaning 

expressed, they can be juxtaposed one after the other: tüh tüh, vah vah, of of, ah 

ah. Interjections do not have a fixed position in a sentence, therefore they can be 

used sentence initially, medially or finally. They can take case markers and be 

used as nouns: ah›m› alma, ne ahlar çektim, vahlar kar etmedi.

Summary 

1. What is the classification of words in Turkish? 

Classifying words is not a black-and-white issue, and it 

is not always easy to account for the grey spots. This 

difficulty in drawing clear-cut boundaries between 

classes is acknowledged in the literature too resulting 

in different approaches to word classification. 

Generally, an eight-part-of-speech classification is 

recognized and we adopt the one given below: 

a. Suzan okulu [bit]irdi ve ö¤retmen [ol]du. VERB 

b. [U¤ur] [araba]y› park etti. NOUN 

c. [Yeni] ö¤retmen çok [iyi]. ADJECTIVE 

d. [Genellikle] [çok] hareketlidirler. ADVERB 

e. Annem [için] bu ifl buraya [kadar]. POSTPOSITION 

f. Geldi [ve] hemen yatt›. CONJUNCTION 

g. [Ben]i görmedi. PRONOUN 

h. [Hiflflt] bebek uyuyor! INTERJECTION 

2. What is the difference between prototypical and nonprototypical 

membership? 

How can you classify penguins? Are they birds or fish? 

They can be classified as birds since they have wings, 

but they can also be classified as fish as they can swim. 

Penguins may be an example of peripheral 

membership. They can neither be fully birds nor fish. 

But a robin is considered to be a typical member bearing 

all the necessary features of the category bird. Similarly, 

in linguistic categorization too, there may be central 

members of a word class as well as more peripheral 

members overlaping between classes. Core members 

are the prototypes or protptypical members of a 

category, wheras peripheral members are the nonprotypes 

or non-prototypical members of that category. 


157 

3. How are prototypes determined? 

They are determined by considering the central features 

of a category. In language, these features include 

semantic and grammatical facts. There are tests to 

determine the relevant features of a candidate for 

membership for a particular category. They are of two 

types: semantic and grammatical. Semantic criteria 

define semantic composition of a member. Grammatical 

criteria include morphological and distributional tests. 

Morphological tests measure the inflectional and 

derivational properties of a candidate. Distributional 

tests reveal the combinatory possibilities of the 

cadidates and the positions where they occur in a 

sentence. 

4. What is open classes and closed classes? 

Not all words have the same semantic and functional 

value. Open classes include nouns, verbs, adjectives, 

and adverbs. These are also called content words. As 

the label implies, they are rich in their content. That is, 

they are words with lexicalized meanings. Closed 

classes include function words such as pronouns, 

conjunctions, postpositions, and interjections. These 

words mark relationships between words, so they are 

important in terms of their function. Open classes are 

so called because they are open to new membership, 

whereas closed classes are more restricted in this 

respect.

158 

Self-test 


1. Which one of the following belongsto a different 

part-of-speech (word class)? 

a. Sa¤lam yap›l›, dik durufllu bir gençti. 

b. Dik bir dereye indiler. 

c. Sesi dik ve küstaht›. 

d. Hiç bir fley söylemeden dik dik bakt›. 

e. Bütün dik aç›lar 90 derecedir. 

2. Which one includes an interjection used as a noun? 

a. sar›lar 

b. yürüyüfller 

c. s›rt› pekler 

d. ahular 

e. ahlar 

3. How do we know that büyü- is a verb? 

a. It cannot take number marking. 

b. It cannot be used with a determiner. 

c. It can take case markers. 

d. It can take aspect markers. 

e. It can assign case to its arguments. 

4. Which one is a countable noun? 

a. pilav 

b. prinç 

c. bulgur 

d. irmik 

e. ilmek 

5. Which one can belong to more than one word class? 

a. evsiz 

b. s›zlanmalar 

c. gittikleri 

d. sadelik 

e. insafs›zl›k 

6. Which one is an activity verb? 

a. Dün cüzdan›m kayboldu. 

b. Annem hep flark› söyler. 

c. Babam oldukça sinirlidir. 

d. Anahtar kap›da m›d›r? 

e. Klasik müzik sever. 

7. Which one is an ungradable pair? 

a. uzak: yak›n 

b. ölümlü: ölümsüz 

c. cimri: cömert 

d. tehlikeli: güvenli 

e. hatas›z: hatal› 

8. Which one is a postposional phrase? 

a. kalem benim. 

b. çocuklar içeri! 

c. babam, iflte! 

d. buna göre 

e. bu ne görkem! 

9. Which one is NOT used deictically? 

a. Sen ne zaman gittin? 

b. Biz çoktan uyumufltuk bile. 

c. ‹nsan bu kadar geç yatar m›? 

d. Bu insanlar burada toplanm›fl ne yap›yorlar? 

e. Ben böyle fley duymad›m. 

10. Which coordinator has an additive fuction? 

a. Nefle odaya girdi ve oturdu. 

b. Bodrum’da bir yazl›k ve Ankara’da bir k›fll›k 

ald›k. 

c. Evde yoklar veya duymad›lar. 

d. Ço¤u Ankara’l› veya ‹stanbul’luydular. 

e. Uçakla de¤il trenle gidiyoruz.

“ 


The following extract is from Gaarder’s Sofi’nin Dünyas› 

(Gülay Kutal, Trans. 1994: 97-99) 

“Niçin bütün atlar ayn›d›r Sofi? Belki de hiç ayn› 

olmad›klar›n› düflünüyorsundur. Ama yine de bütün 

atlarda ortak olan bir fley vard›r; bir at› di¤er fleylerden 

ay›rmakta güçlük çekmememizi sa¤layacak bir ortakl›k 

vard›r. Bir tek at “de¤iflir” elbette. Yafllan›r, topallamaya 

bafllar, zamanla hastalan›r ve ölür. Ancak “at biçiminin” 

kendisi mutlak ve de¤iflmezdir. 

Dolay›s›yla Platon’a göre mutlak ve de¤iflmez olan fley 

fiziksel bir “hammadde” de¤ildir. Mutlak ve de¤iflmez 

olan fley, tüm fleylerin ona benzeyerek olufltu¤u bir 

tak›m tinsel ya da soyut örnek resimlerdir. 

Ne demek istedi¤imi anl›yorsan bu paragraf› 

atlayabilirsin. Ben yine de vurgulayay›m: Elinde bir 

tak›m legolar var ve bunlardan bir at yap›yorsun.Sonra 

legolar› biribirinden ay›r›p bir torbaya koyuyorsun. 

Torbay› flöyle bir sallamakla ortaya yeniden bir at 

ç›kmas›n› bekleyemezsin. Lego parçalar› kendi bafllar›na 

yeniden bir at oluflturabilirler mi? Hay›r, at› tekrar sen 

yapmak zorunda kal›rs›n Sofi. Ve at› yeniden 

yapabilmeni sa¤layan fley, kafandaki bir at›n nas›l 

oldu¤unu gösteren resimdir. Legolarla yapt›¤›n ilk at, 

daha sonra yapaca¤›n atlara bir örnek oluflturmufltur. 

Senin uzaydan gelmifl oldu¤unu ve o zamana dek tek 

bir f›r›n görmemifl oldu¤unu varsayal›m. Bir anda 

içinden güzel kokular gelen bir f›r›n ve f›r›n›n vitrininde 

birbirinin t›pat›p ayn› 50 çörek görüyorsun. Her halde 

kafan› kafl›y›p bu çöreklerin nas›l böyle birbirinin ayn› 

oldu¤unu kendine sorard›n. Tabii çörek adamlar›n bir 

tanesinin kolu kesik olabilir, bir baflkas› bafl›n›n bir 

parças›n› yitirmifl olabilir, ya da bir baflkas›n›n karn›nda 

tepecik oluflmufl olabilir. Ancak bir süre düflündükten 

sonra tüm çörek adamlar›n ortak bir bilefleni oldu¤unu 

anlard›n. Hiçbiri tamamen mükemmel olmasa da 

hepsinin ortak bir kökenden geldi¤ini tahmin ederdin. 

Tüm çöreklerin tek ve ayn› bir biçimden olufltu¤unu 

anlard›n. Daha da ötesi Sofi, bu biçimi görmek için 

içinde güçlü bir istek duyard›n. Çünkü kal›b›n kendisi, 

tüm bu yar›m yamalak kopyalardan çok daha 

mükemmel ve bir bak›ma çok daha güzel olmal›, diye 

düflünürdün. 

Platon “duyular dünyas›n›n” arkas›nda bir baflka 

gerçeklik olmas› gerekti¤ine inan›yordu. Bu gerçekli¤e 

idealar dünyas› ad›n› veriyordu. Bu dünyada, do¤ada 

gördü¤ümüz olaylar›n arkas›ndaki mutlak ve de¤iflmez 

“örnek resimler” bulunur. Bu ilginç anlay›fla Platon’un 

idea ö¤retisi diyoruz.” 

” 


159 

EXERCISES: 

1. What does this text remind you about prototypes? 

2. Analyze the underlined words in the above text. 

State what word class they belong to. How do you 

know that they belong to that particular word class? 

Also state whether they are prototypical examples 

of the word class you think they represent? You 

should also account for other similar examples in 

the text. You may include examples of your own to 

support your answer.

160 



Aitchison, J. (2003). Words in the mind. Oxford: 

Blackwell Publishing. 

Aksan, D. (2000). Her yönüyle dil. Ankara: TDK. 

Atabay, N., Kutluk, ‹. & Özel, S. (1983). Sözcük türleri. 

Ankara: TDK. 

Banguo¤lu, T. (1995). Türkçenin Grameri. TDK. 

Braun, F. & Haig, G. (2000). The Noun/adjective 

distinction in Turkish: An Empirical approach. 

Proceedings of the nineth international 

conference on Turkish linguistics, Lincoln 

College, Oxford, 1998, 85-92. 

Berk, L.M. (1999) English syntax. New York: Oxford 


Croft, W. (1991). Syntactic categories and 

grammatical relations. Chicago: University of 

Chicago Press. 

Deny, J. (1941). Türk dili grameri. (Ali Ulvi Elöve, 

Trans.). ‹stanbul: MEB. 

Dilaçar, A. (1971). Gramer: Tan›m›, Ad›, Kapsam›, Türleri, 

Yöntemi, E¤itimdeki Yeri ve Tarihçesi. TDYAB, 83- 

145. 

Ergin, M. (1998). Türk dilbilgisi. ‹stanbul: Bayrak Bas›m 

Yay›m. 

Erguvanl›-Taylan, E. (Ed.) (2001). The verb in Turkish. 

Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 

Gaarder, J. (1991). Sofi’nin dünyas›. (Gülay Kutal, 

Trans.) ‹stanbul: Pan Yay›nc›l›k. 

Givon, T. (1984). Syntax: A Functional-typological 

introduction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 

Hofmann, R. (1993). Realms of meaning: an 

Introduction to semantics. London: Longman. 

Huddleston, R. (1988). English grammar. Cambridge: 


Jackson, H. (1990). Grammar and Meaning. London: 

Longman. 

Johanson, L. & Csato, E.A. (Eds.) (1998) The Turkic 

languages. London: Routlege. 

Korkmaz, Z. (2003). Türkiye Türkçesi grameri flekil 

bilgisi. Ankara: TDK 

Kornfilt, J. (1997). Turkish. New York: Routlege. 

Levinson, S.C. (1983). Pragmatics. Combridge: CUP 

Lewis, G.L. (1967). Turkish grammar. Oxford: 


Martin, J. (1991). The determination of grammatical 

relations in syntax. Unpublished doctoral 

dissertation. UCLA. 

Palmer, F. (1971) Grammar. London: Penguin. 

Sopen, T. (Ed.) (1985). Language typology and 

syntactic description: Vol.3. CUP. 

Türkçe Sözlük 9. Bask›. Ankara: TDK 

Vendler, Z. (1967). Linguistics in philosophy. 

Cornell: Cornell University Press. 

End Note 

1 Distribution is in fact a syntactic property, but since 

syntax and morphology are interrelated, we will 

take up some aspects of syntax in this chapter as 

well. 




1 1 



a. soy: Kabu¤unu soymadan yeme! (verb)/Ayn› soydan 

2 2 

geliyoruz. (noun) 



boya: 3 Saç›m› boyad›m. 3 (verb)/Boyalar›m› kaybettim. 

It is your (noun) 

turn! 


4 4 

sav: Bafl›mdan bir türlü savamad›m onu. 



(verb)/Ortaya 5 çeflitli 5 savlar sürüldü. (noun) 

b. ak: Sular akm›yor.(verb)/Ak çarflaflara sar›ld›. 



6 6 

(adjective) 

It is your geç: turn! Evin önünden It is your turn! geçtik. (verb)/Geç evliliklerin 

7 7 

uzun sürdü¤ü söyleniyor. (adjective) 



ekfli: 8 Yo¤urt ekflimifl.(verb)/Ekfli 8 

yo¤urt sevmem. 

(adjective) 



9 9 

c. güzel: güzel k›z (adjective)/Güzel yazd›. (adverb) 



çok : çok çocuk (adjective)/çok güzel (adverb) 

10 

10 

kal›n: kal›n kitap (adjective)/Dilimleri kal›n kesti. 



(adverb) 11 11 

k›sa: k›sa gezi (adjective)/Gezi k›sa sürdü. (adverb) 



12 12 

d. yard›msever: yard›msever bir insan (adjective)/ 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

yard›mseverler turn! 

It 

derne¤i It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 

turn! (noun) 

13 

1 

13 

1 



2 2 

a. It is your sen turn! (pronoun) hem It is your turn! (conjunction) benden (pronoun) 



3 3 

b. Dostluk: 1 noun/sohbetler: 1 

noun/hofla git-: verb/ 



It is your hakk›nda: turn! postposition/ It is your turn! pek: adverb 

4 4 

2 2 




5 

3 


5 

3 



In It is your (a) turn! köfte is used It as is your a turn! 

6 6 substance, so it is uncountable; 

4 4 

whereas in (b) the topic is four pieces of meatballs. Its 





7 7 

countability 5 is also 5 marked explicitly with the numeral 



dört. 



8 8 

6 6 




9 

7 


9 

7 




10 

8 


10 

8 




11 

9 


11 

9 





12 12 

10 

10



1 1 



2 2 



3 3 



4 4 



Prototypical nounhood include: MASA 

5 5 

SAYGISIZLIK BELED‹YEC‹L‹K 

a. concreteness concrete abstract abstract 



b. number6 6 masalar sayg›s›zl›klar *belediyecilikler 

c. It is case your turn! 

It is your masada turn! sayg›s›zl›kta belediyecilikte 

7 

d. It is determiner your turn! 

7 

It is your bir turn! masa bir sayg›s›zl›k bir belediyecilik 


e. adjective 

8 


iyi masa 

8 

büyük sayg›s›zl›k iyi belediyecilik 


f. adjective+determiner 



iyi bir masa büyük bir sayg›s›zl›k iyi bir belediyecilik 


9 9 

Since It is your turn! masa satisfies It is all your turn! the tests for nounhood, it is the 


most prototypical one. Belediyecilik seems to be the 

10 

10 



most peripheral since it fails one of the tests: (b). 




1 

5 




1 

5 



In It is your (a) turn! the verb bay›l- It is your is turn! used as a state of perception. It 

2 2 


is It is your not turn! something It done is your turn! 

1 1 deliberately, so it is not an 




activity. 3 It does not 3 require an end point, so it is not an 


accomplishment 2 verb. 2 


It is your turn! Neither is it an achievement for 



4 4 

the It is your same turn! 8 reason. (b) 8 It is is your an turn! achievement because it accurs 

3 3 



at It is your a turn! 

single moment. It is your turn! 

5 


19 


4 



6 


4 



6 


5 5 

Ye- It is your is turn! a transitive verb, It is your turn! so it cannot be used without a 


turn! 


turn! 

7 7 

It is your turn! 11 3 11 3 It is your turn! 

noun phrase 1 unless 1 it is given earlier in the discourse. 

6 


It 

It It is 

is is your 

your turn! 

turn! 

8 


42 6 


It 

8 It It is 

is is your 

your turn! 

turn! 

12 

42 


7 



7 





9 9 turn! 

a. It is your They turn! 13 

51 3 express completed 13 

51 

3 It is your turn! result. For example, k›r›k 

8 8 

It is your is turn! the resultant state It is your turn! 

It of breaking. 


It It It is is your turn! 

10 

10 

It is your turn! 62 4 62 


b. They express potentiality. For example, if an object 

9 9 





is turn! k›r›labilir, 11 it 11has 

It is your the turn! potential of breaking. 



10 

It 

It 

is your turn! 


12 


10 

It 

It 

is 

is 

your 

your 

turn! 


12 84 


11 11 

No, It It is your turn! it does not. It functions It is your turn! 



as an intensifier to augment 

13 9 13 



the quality beautiful. To mark comparison, we need to 

12 12 



use daha or gibi: beden daha güzel or benim gibi güzel. 

10 



13 


13 


11 79 11 79 

Two It It is is your your turn! 

turn! more examples It It is is your your are: turn! 

turn! -sIzIn (üzülmeksizin), -DIr 

12 810 12 810 

(günlerdir). These words seem to be idiosyncratically 


turn! 


turn! 

adverb. 

13 911 13 911 



10 12 10 12 

The It It is is your your turn! turn! semantics of kadar It It is is your your turn! turn! allows three different uses: 

11 13 11 13 

benim kadar uzun (comparison), akflama kadar 



(temporal), and eve kadar (direction). When it is used 

12 12 

to mark comparison it assigns nominative case to its 



nouns, 13but genitive 13 to its pronoun complements. When 

it is used to mark a temporal or directional relation, it 

marks its complement with dative. 

Possessive 



161 

Reflexive 


1 st 

kendim kendimi kendime kendimde kendimden kendimin 

2 nd 

kendin kendini kendine kendinde kendinden kendinin 

3 rd 

kendi kendini kendine kendinde kendinden kendinin 

1 st 

kendimiz kendimizi kendimize kendimizde kendimizden kendimizin 

2 nd 

kendiniz kendinizi kendinize kendinizde kendinizden kendinizin 

3 rd 



12 12 


13 


13 

kendileri kendilerini kendilerine kendilerinde kendilerinden kendilerinin 

Reciprocal 

1 st 

2 nd 

3 rd 

1 st benimki benimkini benimkine benimkinde benimkinden benimkinin 

2 nd seninki seninkini seninkine seninkinde seninkinden seninkinin 

3 rd onunki onunkini onunkine onunkinde onunkinden onunkinin 

1 st bizimki bizimkini bizimkine bizimkinde bizimkinden bizimkinin 

2 nd sizinki sizinkinin sizinkine sizinkinde sizinkinden sizinkinin 

3 rd onlar›nki onlar›nkini onlar›nkine onlar›nkinde onlar›nkinden onlar›nkinin 

Demonstrative 


bu bu bunu buna bunda bundan bunun 

flu flu flunu fluna flunda flundan flunun 

o o onu ona onda ondan onun 

bunlar bunlar bunlar› bunlara bunlarda bunlardan bunlar›n 

flunlar flunlar flunlar› flunlara flunlarda flunlardan flunlar›n 

onlar onlar onlar› onlara onlarda onlardan onlar›n 

böyle böyle böylesi böylesine böylesinde böylesinden böylesinin 

flöyle flöyle flöylesi flöylesine flöylesinde flöylesinden flöylesinin 

öyle öyle öylesi öylesine öylesinde öylesinden öylesinin 

Interrogative 

6 6 



7 7 



8 8 



9 9 


10 


10 



11 11 


X X X X X X 

X X X X X X 

X X X X X X 

1 st birbirimiz birbirimizi birbirimize birbirimizde birbirimizden birbirimizin 

2 nd birbiriniz birbirinizi birbirinize birbirinizde birbirinizden birbiriniz 

3 rd birbirleri birbirlerini birbirlerine birbirlerinde birbirleriden birbirlerinin 


ne ne neyi neye nede neden neyin 

neler neler neleri nelere nelerde nelerden nelerin 

kim kim kimi kime kimde kimden kimin




is your turn! 

8 8 




is your turn! 

9 9 




is your turn! 

10 

10 




is your turn! 

11 11 



9 


9 


12 


12 


162 


No, it is 10 not ungrammatical, 10 


It is your turn! neither is it an example of 

13 13 

double It is your turn! coordination. It is your turn! There are two layers of 

11 11 

coordination here: ne coordinates Ayfle to Fatma, ama 



coordinates [ne Ayfle ne Fatma] to Ali. 

12 12 



13 13 

(a) is odd because it violates the likeness of class in 

coordination. It is not totally ungrammatical, but as you 

may all agree, (b) is much better since the coordinated 

elements in it belong to the same class and share the 

same function.

Key to “self-test” 

Unit 1 

1. d forming a minimal pair. 

refer to ‘Phonetics and Phonology’ section. 

2. c Language is the conversion of sounds. 

refer to ‘Introduction’ 

3. b The writing system of languages are not 

sufficient. 

refer to ‘Sound vs Letter’ section. 

4. a May be different from its surface realization. 


5. d The underlying representation is indicated by 

square brackets. 


Unit 2 

1. b Which of the following describes the initial 

sound of the Turkish word ‘civa’? 

The right answer is, (b) voiced palato-alveolar 

affricate 

refer to Table 2.1 

2. c To which of the symbol does voiceless glottal 

fricative correspond? 

The right answer is, (c) h 

3. b Which set of the following sounds contains all 

voiced sounds? 

The right answer is, (b) b, d, g, r, l 

4. a Which set of the following sounds is stops? 

The right answer is, (a) t, k, p 

5. e Which set of the following sounds is alveolar? 

The right answer is, (e) n, l, t, z, s 

Unit 3 

Key to “Self-test” 

1. c The right answer is (c), mid front rounded. 

163 

2. b The right answer is (b), ortak as /o/ is a mid 

back rounded vowel. 

3. a The right answer is (a), i. 

4. b The right answer is (b), tuR√ 

5. e The right answer is (e), high front rounded. 

Unit 4 

1. b The right anwers is (b), aç 

2. a The right anwers is (a), seslenmek 

3. e The right anwers is (e), rounding harmony 

4. a The right anwers is (a), denge 

5. d The right anwers is (d), sayaç

164 

Unit 5 


1. a If incorrect, reread the Structure of Words. 

2. e If incorrect, reread the Structure of Words. 

3. b If incorrect, reread Derivational Morphemes vs 

Inflectional Morphemes. 

4. a If incorrect, reread Derivational Morphemes vs 


5. c If incorrect, reread Allomorphy. 

6. a If incorrect, reread Morpheme Ordering. 

7. c If incorrect, reread Morpheme Ordering. 

8. c If incorrect, reread Allomorphy and Endnote 1. 

9. e If incorrect, reread Derivational Morphemes vs 


10. c If incorrect, reread the Structure of Words. 

Unit 6 

1. e If incorrect, reread Compounding. 

2. a If incorrect, reread Clipping. 

3. b If incorrect, reread Metaphorical Extension. 

4. e If incorrect, reread Reduplication. 

5. a If incorrect, reread Conversion. 

6. b If incorrect, reread Borrowing. 

7. d If incorrect, reread Acronyms. 

8. c If incorrect, reread Borrowing. 

9. a If incorrect, reread Semantic Change. 

10. b If incorrect, reread Conversion. 

Unit 7 

1. a If incorrect, reread Agreement. 

2. c If incorrect, reread the Ablative Case. 

3. c If incorrect, reread Number and Agreement. 

4. d If incorrect, reread Reflexive and Passive. 

5. b If incorrect, reread Causative. 

6. c If incorrect, reread Reciprocal. 

7. a If incorrect, reread -mIfl 

8. b If incorrect, reread Passive. 

9. a If incorrect, reread Passive. 

10. e If incorrect, reread Agreement. 

Unit 8 

1. d If incorrect, reread Adjectives and Adverbs. 

2. e If incorrect, reread Interjections and Nouns. 

3. d If incorrect, reread Verbs. 

4. e If incorrect, reread Nouns. 

5. a If incorrect, reread Nouns. 

6. b If incorrect, reread Verbs. 

7. b If incorrect, reread Adjectives. 

8. d If incorrect, reread Postpositions. 

9. c If incorrect, reread Pronouns and Nouns. 

10. b If incorrect, reread Conjunctions.

Glossary 

A 

A superordinate (or a hypernym): It is a word that is gen- 

eral enough to include some words with a more specific 

meaning, known as hyponyms. 

Ablative: A type of case which typically marks “direction 

from” by the suffix -DAn: evden, arabadan. 

Acceptability: Comprehensibility of a grammatical unit in 

terms of making sense out of it, though it may not be 

grammatical. 

Accomplishment: A process verb that has an end point to 

be reached for its completion: daire çizmek, börek yapmak, 

iyileflmek. 

Accusative: A type of case which typically marks the direct 

object by the suffix -(y)I: evi, arabay›. 

Achievement: A verb expressing an instantaneous change 

which occurs at a single moment: kazanmak, vurmak, 

devirmek, bafllamak, do¤mak, ölmek. 

Acronym: A word which is formed as the short for a set of 

other words by combining only the initial letters of these 

words: RTÜK from Radyo Televizyon Üst Kurulu, CMUK 

from Ceza Muhakemeleri Usulü Kanunu. 

Act: The type of a Noun Clause that denotes the act itself 

rather than the actual happening. Acts cannot be confirmed 

or falsified. 

Active voice: A verb that is not marked for voice and that 

requires a subject: iç-, uyu-. 

Activity: A process verb that does not require reaching an 

end point for the action to have been performed: yazmak, 

içmek, sürmek, yürümek, yüzmek. 

Adjectival compound: A compound whose central element 

is an adjective: gözü pek, uzun boylu, vurdumduymaz. 

Adjectivalization: A grammatical process that creates adjectives 

or expressions similar to adjectives: merakl›, temizlenebilir, 

ç›kmaz, k›r›k, k›r›lm›fl. 

Adjective: A word which modifies a noun: s›cak in s›cak su, 

faydal› in faydal› kitap. 

Adjunct: An optional element in a phrase or clause that functions 

as a modifier. For example, adjectives, relative 

clauses, adverbs of manner, time, etc. are adjuncts. Note 

that they can be deleted and the phrase is still complete. 

(Also see modifier). 

Adverb: A modifier of a verb, adjective, or other adverbs: 

h›zl› in h›zl› koflmak, çok in çok h›zl›. 

Glossary 

165 

Adverbial: Any word, group of words, or clause that functions 

like an adverb. For example, geçen y›l is a NP; but 

it is an adverbial. 

Adverbialization: A grammatical process that creates adverbs 

or expressions similar to adverbs: h›zla, h›zl›ca, h›zl› 

olmak için. 

Affix: A bound morpheme which can be attached to a stem 

as a prefix, suffix, or infix: -den in evden, na- in nahofl. 

Affixation: A process through which a bound morpheme is 

attached to a stem either to form a new word or to inflect 

the stem: evci, evler. 

Affricate: A combination of a stop and a fricative. 

Agreement (subject-verb agreement): The compatibility 

between the verbal suffixes and subjects in terms of person 

and number marking. 

Agreement: A grammatical category marked on a word to 

indicate this word’s grammatical relationship to another. 

For example, a verb has to agree with its subject in person 

and number in Turkish: -m on the verb in ben geldim 

indicates a first person and singular subject which agrees 

with the syntactic subject ben having the same person 

and number characterization. 

Allomorph: A variant of a morpheme: the -ak of bardak and 

the -ek of benek are allomorphs of the “diminutive” 

morpheme -Ak. 

Allophone: Variation of a phoneme that does not change the 

meaning of a word. 

Alveolar: Sound produced at the alveolar ridge. 

Anaphora: The act of referring to an entity that preceed the 

pronoun. 

Antonyms: A word with an opposite meaning to another 

word: k›sa as the antonym of uzun, büyük as the 

antonym of küçük. 

Approximant: Approximation of two articulators but without 

a turbulent airstream. 

Arbitrary PRO: The subject of a -mEK clause that refers to all 

people or any human being. For example, [PRO iyi uyumak] 

sa¤l›k için gereklidir. 

Argument: A noun phrase that occurs in a verb phrase as 

part of the predication: the verb öpmek in bebe¤i öptü 

has one argument, the direct object bebek. Sometimes 

subjects are treated arguments as well. 

Aspect: A grammatical category which is inflected on verbs. 

It is indicated by verbal suffixes. It describes the way in 

which the event occurs. This information can be con-

166 


veyed by the lexical make-up of the verb as in z›pla- 

(punctual) as opposed to yefler- (process). It can also be 

conveyed by grammatical markers as in otur-du (perfective 

conveyed by -DI), otur-uyor (imperfective conveyed 

by -(I)yor). Aspect is non-deictic. 

Assimilation: One sound acquiring some property or properties 

of the neighboring sound. 

Attributive adjective: An adjective that modifies a noun in a 

noun phrase: kolay in kolay ifl, or dikkatli in dikkatli 

sürücü. 

B 

Backformation: A word formation process through which a 

morphologically simple word is formed from a more 

complex one: iletifl-< iletiflim. 

Backness harmony: Vowels within a word agreeing in backness. 

Backness: Position of the highest tongue body in the vocal 

tract. 

Bilabial: Sound produced with two lips. 

Binary antonym: Binary antonyms are terms that have opposite 

meanings at two distinct points. There is no grading 

in between. 

Binary branching tree: A tree diagram that has two branches 

at each node. 

Blending: A word formation process that combines parts of 

two words to from a single word with a new meaning: 

Avrasya from Avrupa and Asya. 

Borrowing: A process through which words in one language 

are taken and used in another language, and a word 

obtained in this way: eflya from Arabic, amaç from 

Persian, mant› from Chinese, bravo from Italian, enstrüman 

from French. 

Bound morpheme: A morpheme that cannot stand by itself. 

Affixes are bound morphemes: -GAç in süzgeç or k›skaç, 

-DIK and -(I)m in sevdi¤im, -na in natamam. 

Bracketing: A way of representing the information found in 

a tree diagram by using brackets. For instance, [S [NP k›z 

kardeflim] [VP çok kitap okur]] is an example of bracketing. 

Broadening: A widening seen on a word to have a larger 

semantic field: alan now referring to a “research field” in 

addition to its earlier meaning referring to an “area of 

land” only. 

C 

Calque: See loan translation. 

Case assigner: A word, usually a verb, an adjective, or a 

postposition, that assigns a grammatical role to another 

word by case markers. For example, the verb hofllanmak 

the adjective uzak and the postposition beri are all 

ablative case assigners: senden hoflland›m, gözden uzak, 

y›llardan beri. 

Case: A grammatical category associated with nouns that 

marks their grammatical relationship to other elements 

in a sentence: nominative: kufl, accusative: kuflu, dative: 

kufla, locative: kuflta, ablative: kufltan, genitive: kuflun. 

Cataphora: The act of referring to an entity that follows the 

pronoun. 

Causative: A verb which indicates a condition which is caused 

by someone or something: öldürmek is causative since 

it implies a causer, but ölmek is not in the absence of a 

causer. 

Clause: A grammatical unit with subject and predicate structure 

(NP VP). 

Clipping: A process through which words are shortened: 

kuru for kuru fasulye, or kondu for gecekondu. 

Closed class: A group of morphemes whose class membership 

is relatively limited and that does not readily allow 

new members: affixes, conjunctions, pronouns, etc. 

Coherence: The devices used to make a text the meaningful 

and unified. 

Cohesion: The linguistic devices that are used to link sentences 

in a discourse. 

Coinage: A word formation process through which a new 

word is made up without using any of the familiar methods 

of word formation. 

Collocation: A sequence of two or more words that co-occur 

Competence: Abstract and unconscious knowledge of the 

rules of one’s native language (see also performance). 

Complement: A part of a phrase that completes the meaning 

of a head. For example, objects in verb phrases are complements. 

A complement is the obligatory element, i.e. it 

cannot be omitted. 

Complementary distribution: A pattern of distribution 

which does not allow two or more sound/morphemes 

to occur in the same position. For example, -ler does not 

occur in the environment where -lar occurs or vice versa: 

tafllar, but not *tafller. 

Compounding: A word formation process through which 

two free morphemes are combined to form a single word 

with a new meaning: demirperde, kuflkonmaz, akbaba.

Concessive adverbial: A phrase or clause containing an 

expression that seems surprising or unexpected, as in 

the adverbial clause in the following sentence: [Ayfle çok 

yorgun olmas›na ra¤men] uzun uzun dans etti. 

Conjunct: An adverbial that is used to link sentences. 

Conjunction: A word that is used to join words, phrases, or 

clauses: ve, ancak, ama. 

Conjunctions: Adverbial used to connect sentences in a discourse. 

Connotation: Apart from its literal meaning, connotation 

involves some kind of emotional associations of the 

word. Denotation and connotation are related like the 

two sides of the same coin. 

Constituent structure: The systematic way in which the 

words of a sentence group together into phrases and 

clauses. 

Constituent: A word or any natural grouping of words that 

behaves as a syntactic unit with respect to grammatical 

rules. 

Context: the situation within which a speech act or communicative 

act exists or happens, and this context can help 

explain the meaning in the speech or communicative 

act. 

Control: When the covert subject (PRO) of a -mEk clause is 

the same as the subject or the object of the matrix clause, 

PRO is said to be controlled by that subject or object. 

For example, Ali [PRO sinemaya gitmek] istedi is a subject 

control structure; while annesi [PRO bebe¤i yemeye] 

zorlad› is an object control structure. 

Converse antonyms: Converse antonyms are terms that are 

determined by the opposite relations. 

Conversion: A process through which a word is used to signal 

a grammatical function different from its usual: boya 

used as both a noun and a verb. 

Co-operative principle: The assumption that participants in 

a conversation normally attempt to be informative, truthful, 

relevant, and clear. 

Copula: A verb that links the subject to its complement. For 

example, to be in English, and -ImEk in Turkish, such as 

in: Ali ö¤retmen idi. 

Co-referential: When two or more NPs refer to the same real 

world entity, they are said to be co-referential. 

Correctness: A traditional way of describing grammar that 

claims that there are correct or incorrect ways of speaking. 

Co-text: The linguistic context that includes clues such as 

grammar that help explain meaning. 

Glossary 

167 

Covert subject: A subject that is not explicitly expressed but 

that can be recovered from the sentence or discourse. 

For example, PRO and pro. 

D 

Dative: A type of case which typically marks “direction 

towards” by the suffix -(y)A: eve, arabaya. 

Daughter: The branches of a node in a tree diagram. 

Definite: A noun or a pronoun whose referent can be identified 

by the hearer: kitab› (definite) as opposed to bir 

kitap (indefinite). 

Deictic expressions: A word (such as this, that, these, those, 

now, then) that points to the time, place, or situation in 

which the speaker is speaking. 

Deictic: A term associated with words or expressions that 

take their referents from the context. Deictic words are 

related to a time, person(s) and place. For example, 

buras› and oras› refer to a place in relation to the speaker. 

Similarly, ben takes its referent in relation to the 

speaker, but sen in relation to the hearer. fiimdi refers to 

a time whenever it is uttered: it may refer to 5 pm if it is 

uttered at 5pm, but it may very well refer to 10 am when 

uttered at 10 am. 

Deixis: The aspect of pragmatics that covers words or expressions 

whose reference is based on the circumstances of 

the utterance. 

Demonstrative: A word that marks the location of something 

in terms of its proximity to the speaker, i.e. near or distant: 

bu (near the speaker), flu (distant from the speaker), 

o (more distant), etc. 

Denominal: A word that is formed from a noun: yurttafl from 

yurt, sestefl from ses, dilemek from dil, adamak from ad. 

Denotation: It is the literal meaning of words provided in a 

dictionary. 

Denotation: The meaning of a word, phrase or clause that 

relates it to the real life entity or event. For example the 

denotation of the word ev relates it to a building in which 

people live. 

Deontic modality: See Mood. 

Derivation: A word formation process through which new 

words are formed by adding affixes to words or morphemes: 

the word bulmaca is derived by adding the suffix 

-mAcA to the verb bul-. 

Derivational morpheme: An affix that changes the meaning 

and/or the category a word: -mAcA in bulmaca, -Uz in 

üçüz, -(I)t in geçit, -(A)v in türev, -lA in d›flla.

168 


Descriptive grammar: A grammar that describes how the 

language is actually spoken or written by native speakers 

rather than dictating what the rules should be. 

Determiner: A small class of function words (articles, demonstratives, 

quantifiers, and genitives) that precede the 

head noun in a NP. 

Deverbal: A word that is formed from a verb: dalga from dalmak, 

sezgi from sezmek, an›msamak from anmak, 

at›flmak from atmak. 

Diphthong: Vowel in which there is a change in quality during 

a single syllable. 

Direct evidence: Information that is directly witnessed by 

the speaker. Demet gel-di implies that the speaker has 

first-hand information about Demet’s coming. 

Direct object: The object of a verb that is assigned accusative 

case or remains caseless in Turkish, such as yemek yedim 

or yeme¤imi yedim. 

Discourse markers: Words that are used to show how a discourse 

is constructed. 

Discourse: A self sufficient linguistics unit from single utterance 

to an extended verbal expression in speech or writing 

Discourse: Any stretch of speech or writing that is longer 

than the sentence. 

Discourse: Discourse analysis is the study of how sentences 

in spoken and written language form larger meaningful 

units such as paragraphs, conversations, interviews, etc. 

Disjunct: An adverbial that expresses the speaker’s comment 

and point of view. 

Disjunction: A type of logical relation. If “p and q” are joined 

by disjunction, the result is “p or q”. A coordination like 

“p or q” is true only one of the components is true, but 

false if both are false: yumurtalar veya bardaklar k›r›ld› 

is true if either yumurtalar or bardaklar have been broken, 

but false if neither is broken. 

Ditransitive: A verb which requires a direct object and an 

indirect object: koymak, vermek. 

E 

Ellipsis: The act of deleting some phrases that can be understood 

from discourse content. 

Embedding Principle: In every language a clause can be 

subordinated under another clause. In all languages, 

there are noun clauses, relative clauses, etc. This is 

known as Embedding Principle. 

Embedding: The occurrence of one clause in another clause 

is known as embedding. 

Endocentric compound: A compound the meaning of which 

can be inferred from the meanings of the component 

words: akci¤er, göz kapa¤›, geçifl ücreti. 

Entailment: Entailment is a term that denotes that the meaning 

of a proposition is conveyed in the meaning of another 

proposition. 

Epistemic modality: See Mood. 

Eponymy: A word formation process through which a proper 

noun has come to be used as a common noun. For 

example, röntgen as the name of the person who invented 

X-rays is used to refer to X-ray. 

Euphemism: It is a term that is used instead of a word that is 

associated with a taboo or something that may be offensive. 

Antonym: Antonyms are words that have opposite 

meanings. 

Exocentric compound: A compound which denotes a meaning 

that is different from the meaning of its components: 

aslana¤z›, devetaban›, imambay›ld›. 

Exophora: The act of referring to and entity that is in the 

extra linguistic environment. 

Experiential perfect: A subclass of aspect which indicates 

that an event has taken place at least once. This meaning 

is conveyed by -DI accompanied by hiç in Ben böyle 

bir toplant›da hiç bulunma-d›-m. 

F 

Face saving act: An act that avoids a loss of dignity or prestige 

or face. 

Face threatening act: An act that violates expectations 

regarding self-image 

Face: In pragmatics, this term refers to someone’s self image. 

Fact: A noun clause that expresses an event that can be 

observed. This event can be can be true or false. We can 

question or argue against this fact. 

Factive: A modal meaning that marks actuality: Demet gel-di 

(factive: event taken place), Demet gel-ir (non-factive: 

event has not taken place). 

Felicity conditions: The conditions that allow us to determine 

under what circumstances it is appropriate to perform 

a certain speech act. 

Final devoicing rule: A rule which states that voiced stops 

and affricates become voiceless either in syllable or 

word-final position. 

Flap: Sound produced by a single tap. 

Free morpheme: A morpheme that can stand by itself: anne, 

sa¤l›k, ve, ile.

Fricative: Sound produced with partial obstruction so that 

G 

there is friction. 

Generic: A reference type which refers to a group rather than 

the specific members of that group: Kitap (generic) in 

kitap faydal›d›r as opposed to kitab› (definite) in kitab› 

faydal› buldum or bir kitap (indefinite) in bir kitap buldum. 

Genitive: A type of case which marks the “possessor” by the 

suffix -(n)In: evin, araban›n. 

Genre: Types of discourse. 

Glottal: Sound produced at the glottis. 

Gradable adjective: An adjective that characterizes a property 

in varying degrees. Therefore, the negative of a gradable 

adjective does not necessarily yield its opposite: 

s›cak; s›cak de¤il may imply not only the opposite so¤uk, 

but also ›l›k or serin. 

Gradable antonym: Gradable antonyms denote two opposite 

ends of a gradable or scalar dimension. 

Grammatical category: A category which marks a particular 

grammatical inflection that is associated with a particular 

word class: case and number as grammatical categories 

associated with nouns. 

Grammatical relation: The way a constituent of a sentence 

functions within a sentence. The most common grammatical 

relations are subject and object. 

Grammaticality: A syntactic unit, i.e. a phrase, clause or sentence 

that obeys the rules of grammar in a language and 

used or interpreted as such by native speakers. 

H 

Head parameter: The variation across languages related to 

the direction of the head in a phrase. The head can be 

at initial position, as in English, for the journey, where 

for is the head of PP. In Turkish the head is at final position, 

as in her fley için, where için is the head of PP. 

Head: The central element in a phrase. For example, the head 

of a NP is a noun. 

Hearsay: A type of modal meaning which indicates indirect 

(second-hand) evidence. It is also called reportative. For 

example, Demet gel-mifl implies that the speaker has 

heard that Demet has come; not that the event has not 

been witnessed by the speaker. 

Height: Height of the tongue body in the vocal tract. 

Glossary 

169 

Hypernym ( also known as superordinate): It is a word 

which is general and it includes the meaning of words 

with more specific meanings. 

Hyponym: A word whose meaning is included in the meaning 

of another word. For example, car, ship, bicycle, etc. 

are vehicles and each is a hyponym of the word vehicle. 

I 

Idiosyncratic property: Property that is not predictable. 

Illocutionary force: In speech-act theory, a speaker's intention 

in delivering an utterance. 

Immediate constituent: The highest constituents of a syntactic 

unit. For example, SÆ NP VP; NP and VP are immediate 

constituents of S. 

Impersonal passive: A passive construction made from an 

intransitive verb: gidilir, a¤lan›r, düflülür, bo¤ulunur. 

Implicature: A result of a listener making an inference as the 

most likely meaning an utterance may have in a given 

context. 

Indefinite pronoun: A pronoun that denotes someone or 

something with an unidentifiable. referent: herfley, biri, 

bir fley, herkes. 

Indirect evidence: Information that enables the speaker to 

make a deduction about the actuality of an event (also 

see Hearsay and Inferential). 

Indirect speech act: What is meant by a speaker's utterance 

that is not part of what is explicitly said. 

Inferential: A modal meaning which indicates indirect sensory 

(visual or auditory) evidence: Demet gel-mifl upon 

seeing Demet’s shoes on the mat (visual evidence) or 

upon hearing her talk in another room (auditory evidence). 

Note that the event has not been experienced 

directly by the speaker. 

Infinitive: The form of a verb that is not inflected for tense. 

Infix: A sound or group of sounds used within a word to 

change the meaning or function of that word: hakim 

from hüküm, tacir from tüccar. 

Inflectional morpheme: An affix that marks the grammatical 

class of word as noun, verb, adjective etc.: the “plural” 

-lAr of kitaplar as a noun marker, the past tense -DI 

of geldi as a verb marker. 

Innate: A quality that is pre-determined by the genetic nature 

of an organism, equipped from birth rather than acquired 

through experience. 

Intensifier: An adverbial that intensifies the meaning of the 

syntactic unit that it modifies.

170 


Interjection: A closed class consisting of words expressing 

emotional sates such as pain (Ay!), devastation (Yaz›k!), 

delight (Yaflas›n!). 

Interrogative pronoun: A pronoun which is used to form 

questions: ne, kim, nerede, neden, nas›l, kimin. 

Intransitive verb: A verb that cannot take an object. 

IPA: International Phonetic Alphabet used in linguistics to 

represent sounds of the languages of the world. 

Iterative: The type of aspectual meaning which signals that 

the event described by the verb has multiple cycles: 

kahkaha atmak (more than one burst of laugh), h›çk›r›k 

tutmak (more than one hiccup), k›k›rdamak (more than 

one giggle). 

L 

Labio-dental: Sound produced with lower lip and upper 

teeth. 

Language Acquisition Device (LAD): The innate mental 

apparatus for acquiring language. 

Letter: Arbitrary symbols used to represent sounds. 

Lexical aspect: The type of aspectual meaning that is not 

marked by a grammatical marker, but signaled, instead, 

by the lexical content of the verb. For example, 

hapfl›rmak is a verb that lasts only a second. But this 

property is hidden in the meaning of the verb. It is not 

marked by a grammatical morpheme as in yapar. In this 

example, the aspectual meaning of habituality is marked 

by -(A)r/-(I)r. (also see Aspect) 

Lexicon: An inventory of words in a language; or mental dictionary 

of a native speaker. 

Loan translation/calque: A literal translation of a word or 

expression from one language into another: serbest vurufl 

from free kick, insan kaynaklar› from human resources. 

Locative: A type of case which marks “location” by the suffix 

-dA: evde, arabada. 

Locutionary act: In speech-act theory, the act of making a 

meaningful utterance. 

M 

Main clause: The clause to which subordinate clauses are 

embedded (same as a matrix clause). 

Marked: An item which is less basic, less frequent, but more 

precise: doberman is more marked than köpek. A doberman 

is always a dog, but not vice versa. 

Matrix clause: The clause that is highest in a sentence and to 

which other clauses are subordinated. (same as a main 

clause). 

Metaphorical extension: An extention in the meaning of a 

word to refer to a referent with a comparable meaning: 

as with bafl in so¤an bafl›, or delmek in sözleri yürekleri 

deldi. 

Minimal pair: A pair of words differing only in one sound. 

Modifier: An element that modifies a head. (See also adjunct). 

Monotransitive: A verb that takes a direct object: sevmek, 

görmek, yemek. 

Mood: A grammatical category which is inflected on verbs. It 

is indicated by verbal suffixes. It describes the speaker’s 

opinion about the actuality of an event (epistemic modality), 

or the internal or external compulsion on the part of 

the speaker to perform an act (deontic modality). Some 

examples are: Gürkan çok çal›fl-mal› (deontic/obligation), 

Gürkan çok çal›fl-m›fl (epistemic/hearsay), Gürkan 

çal›fl-abilir (epistemic/possibility), Gürkan çal›fl-s›n 

(deontic/imperative). 

Morpheme: The smallest indivisible meaningful unit of a 

word. A morpheme cannot be broken into smaller elements 

without changing or distorting the meaning. For 

example, sil is a morpheme in Turkish. If the initial sound 

is removed it becomes il which has a different meaning. 

Words may consist of one morpheme or more. Sil is a 

word composed of one morpheme, whereas silgiler of 

three: the stem sil, the noun forming suffix -gi, and the 

plural suffix -ler. 

Morphology: The study of morphemes as the building structures 

of words, allomorphs as different forms of morphemes, 

and the ways in which they combine to form 

words. 

N 

Narrowing: A process during which a word loses some 

aspects of its meaning. For example erik was used to 

refer to peaches, apricots and pears in Old Turkish. It is 

now narrowed down to prunes only. 

Nasal: Sound produced with a total obstruction in the oral 

tract with a lowered velum. 

Neutral vowel: Vowel produced when the tongue is at rest 

position (schwa is a neutral vowel). 

Node: The labeled points in a tree diagram. For example, the 

following diagram illustrates NP, Adj. and N nodes. 

Nominal category: A grammatical category that is associated 

with nouns: case and number. 

Nominal compound: A compound whose central element is 

a noun: tak›m kaptan›, sokak bafl›, k›rkayak, külhanbeyi.

Nominal: Associated with the category noun. 

Nominalization: A grammatical process that creates nouns 

or expressions similar to nouns: yönelme, gedi¤ini, gelmen, 

gelmek, gelifl. 

Nominative case: A type of case which marks the subject by 

the zero morpheme -∆: ev, araba. 

Noun incorporation: Fusion of the object noun phrase with 

the verb: el ç›rpmak, gitar çalmak, bal›k tutmak, söz vermek. 

Noun Phrase (NP): A phrase that has a noun as its central 

constituent. 

Noun: A word that heads a noun phrase which functions as 

either the subject or object of a verb or a complement of 

a postposition or an adjective. Nouns can be preceded 

by adjectives and determiners: k›z, güzel k›z, bir k›z, 

güzel bir k›z. 

Number: A nominal grammatical category which marks the 

distinction between plural and singular. 

O 

Oblique: A Noun Phrase which has a case other than nominative 

and accusative. 

Onomatopoeia: Echoing natural sound using speech sounds: 

mööö, meee, cik cik, miyav, fl›r›l fl›r›l, v›c›k v›c›k. 

Open class: A group of morphemes whose class membership 

is so flexible that new members are readily welcome: 

verbs, adjectives, nouns, adverbs. 

Optative: A type of modal meaning which marks the speaker’s 

wish: Annemi ara-ya-y›m. 

Orthography The way words are spelled. 

P 

Palatal: Sound produced at the hard palate. 

Palato-alveolar: Sound produced at the back of the alveolar 

ridge. 

Parameters: Variations or dissimilarities across languages. 

For example, some languages allow verbs to be at sentence 

final position, while in other languages verbs take 

place at sentence-initial position. This is a parameter. 

Paraphrase: It is a term that is used to refer to propositions 

that entail each other. 

Passive: The rearrangement of a sentence which allows the 

direct object of a transitive verb to be the subject of that 

verb: the change of ö¤renci soruyu cevapland›rd› to soru 

ö¤renci taraf›ndan cevapland›r›ld›. 

Glossary 

171 

Perfect of persistent situation: A type of aspectual meaning 

which marks events that started in the past but continue 

up to the present: Anadolu Universitesi’nde çal›fl- 

›yor-um. 

Perfect: A subclass of aspect which marks current relevance. 

For example, -DI in Yemek ol-du as a call for dinner to 

mean ‘the process of cooking is completed, so we can 

eat it now’. 

Perfective: A subclass of aspect which marks completion. 

Yemek ol-du ama daha salata haz›r de¤il entails that the 

process of cooking is completed. 

Performance: A native speaker’s actual use of language in 

producing sentences. (see also competence). 

Performative verb: A verb--such as promise, invite, apologize, 

and forbid--that explicitly conveys the kind of 

speech act being performed. 

Perlocutionary force: In speech-act theory, a speaker's 

intention in delivering an utterance. 

Personal passive: A passive made from a transitive verb: arabalar 

y›kand› from arabalar› y›kad›lar, duvar örüldü from 

duvar› ördüler. 

Personal pronoun: One of the pronouns that represents the 

grammatical category of person: ben, sen, o, biz siz, onlar. 

Phoneme: A sound that can change the meaning of a word. 

Phonetics: Study of sounds. 

Phonology: Study of how speech is organized. 

Phrase Structure Rules: Rules formed by generalizing the 

structure of phrases. 

Phrase: A syntactic unit with a head, a word that is the central 

element. 

Polarity: A grammatical category that marks the state of being 

positive or negative on a verb: Etem geldi (polarity: positive), 

Etem gel-me-di (polarity: negative). 

Polysemy: Polysemy is one word with several but related 

meanings. 

Possessive adjective: An adjective used before a noun that 

marks ownership or possession: benim, senin, onun, 

bizim, sizin, onlar›n. 

Possessive pronoun: A pronoun used in a verb phrase to 

mark ownership or possession: benimki, seninki, onunki, 

bizimki, sizinki, onlar›nki. 

Postposition: A word used after a noun to mark various 

grammatical relationships with that noun: beri, sonra, 

üzerinde, için, dek, de¤in, ra¤men. 

Pragmatic competence: The ability to comprehend and produce 

a communicative act. 

Pragmatics: Study of speech and its meaning in context.

172 


Predicate: The verb phrase of a sentence which excludes the 

subject as shown in brackets: çocuk [güldü], küçük çocuk 

[durmadan güldü], s›n›f›n yaramaz çocu¤u [derste durmadan 

güldü]. Predicates express the action carried by 

the subject, description of the subject, or what happened 

to the subject. 

Predicative: Associated with a verb phrase: a predicative 

adjective used in a verb phrase as in cocuk [yaramazd›], 

a predicative noun used in a verb phrase as in kardefli 

[doktordu]. 

Prefix: An affix that is attached to the beginning of a stem: 

gayri- in gayrimeflru, anti- in antipropoganda, inter- in 

interdisipliner. 

Prescriptive grammar: A grammar which prescribes or dictates 

how language should be used, and what the rules 

are. 

Presupposition trigger: A presupposition trigger is a linguistic 

item that activates presupposition in an utterance. 

Presupposition: A presupposition is background belief, relating 

to an utterance. 

Presupposition: Presupposition is the part of an utterance 

that is implicitly assumed to be true and taken for granted. 

(semantics unit) 

Principles: Similarities across human languages. For example, 

every human language has rules, and every language 

must obey structure. Thus, structure-dependency 

is a principle of Universal Grammar. Principles can never 

be violated in any human language. (See also Embedding 

Principle). 

Pro: The null subject of a clause where the verb has person 

and number agreement, such as [pro okula gitti]. 

Process: A verb that denotes an event that takes place in an 

extended period of time 

Pronoun: A word that can replace a noun: o, onu, onlar, 

onlar›, etc. 

Proposition: Proposition is the meaning of a statement that 

can be true or false. 

Prospective: A type of aspectual meaning that links a present 

state to a future point: Art›k tatil planlar›na bafllayaca¤-›z 

(we haven’t yet, but we will soon). 

Prototype: A typical member of a category or class. For example, 

serçe, but not akbaba or devekuflu, is considered to 

be typical by many people even though all qualify as 

members of the category bird. 

R 

Reciprocal pronoun: A pronoun that is coreferential with 

the plural subject of a reciprocal verb: biribiri in birbirleriyle 

dövüfltüler. 

Reciprocal: A verbal category marked with the morpheme - 

(I)fl to show that more than one person acting as the 

subject of the verb are doing something to one another, 

or doing something collectively: dövüfltüler, üflüfltüler, 

çekifltiler. 

Recursion: The repetition of structures such as replacing one 

clause into another. 

Reduplication: A word formation through which new expressions 

are formed by repeating a syllable, a word, or even 

a clause: bembeyaz, h›r›l h›r›l, aram›fl taram›fl. 

Reference point: The point in time from which events are 

viewed. Conventionally, the moment of speech is taken 

as the reference point. 

Reference: The use of linguistic expressions such as pronouns 

to point out a previously mentioned entity or an 

entity within the situational context. 

Referent: The entity or the event that a NP or a Noun Clause 

refers to. 

Reflexive pronoun: A pronoun that is coreferential with the 

subject of a reflexive verb: kendi in kendini y›kad›. 

Reflexive: A verbal category marked with the morpheme - 

(I)n to express action done to or for the subject by the 

subject: y›kanmak, sar›nmak, sürünmek. 

Relative clause: A clause that is used to modify the head of 

a Noun Phrase. 

Relative pronoun: A pronoun that is used to replace the 

head noun in a relative clause: ki in Ecem, ki asla yalan 

söylemez, olay›n böyle gerçekleflti¤ini söylüyor. 

Relativize: The process of turning an underlying clause into 

a relative clause. 

Restrictive Relative clause: A clause that gives information 

about the head noun and restricts its possible referent. 

Thus, the denotation of the noun is identifiable. 

Retrospective: A type of aspectual meaning which links a 

present state to a past event: Cüzdan›m› unut-mufl-um ( 

I cannot pay because I forgot to take my wallet). 

Reversal: A process through which the meaning of a word is 

reversed from positive to negative or vice versa: felaket 

from “disaster” to “excellent”. 

Root: A free morpheme that bears neither a derivational nor 

an inflectional morpheme: sap, ben, bol, sa¤, sol.

Rounding harmony: Vowels within a word agreeing in 

rounding as well as backness. 

Rounding: Lip position in vowel production. 

S 

Schema (sing); Schemata (pl): The background knowledge 

that is necessary to understand a discourse. 

Semalfactive: The type of aspectual meaning which implies 

a one-cycle/one-time event: öksürmek, varmak (also see 

Iterative to compare). 

Semantic change: A process in which a word’s meaning has 

changed through broadening, narrowing, semantic elevation 

or semantic degradation. 

Semantic degradation: A change in meaning from positive to 

negative: felaket meaning “excellent” besides “disaster”. 

Semantic elevation: A change in meaning from negative to 

positive: çocuk now meaning “child” but once meaning 

“piglet”. 

Sister: The branches in a tree diagram of the same node. 

Sisters are at the equal level in a tree diagram. Sisters are 

always in a special relationship, such as modifier-head; 

complement- head relationship. 

Sound: Air coming out of the lungs. 

Speech act: A speech act is an utterance that serves a function 

in communication such as an apology, warning or 

congratulations. 

State: A verb which denotes a condition under no change or 

very slow change. Such verbs are non-dynamic and longlasting: 

sahip olmak, bilmek, inanmak, içermek, farkl› 

olmak, sevmek, istemek. 

Stem: A morpheme that bears a derivational or an inflectional 

morpheme: sap in sapla, bol in bolluk, sa¤ in sa¤a, sol 

in soldan. 

Stop: Sound produced with total obstruction in the oral tract 

and raised velum. 

Subject complement: A phrase in the predicate of a copular 

verb that completes the meaning of the subject. For 

example, Ali [doktor oldu], where doktor completes the 

subject and it has the same denotation with it. 

Subordinate clause: Any clause that cannot stand alone and 

that must be embedded under a main clause. 

Substitution: The use of linguistics expressions that can take 

place of another linguistic expression. 

Suffix: An affix that is attached to the end of a stem: -mAlI in 

gelmeli, -ArAk in gelerek, -mA and -(y)AcAK in gelmeyecek. 

Surface realization: How a sound surfaces in speech. 

Glossary 

173 

Syntax: The subfield of linguistics that investigates the sentence 

structure. 

Systematic regularity: Property that is predictable. 

T 

Tense: A grammatical category that is marked on verbs. It is 

indicated by verbal suffixes. It describes the meaning 

expressed by the verb in terms of time such as past or 

non-past. For example, Dünya güneflin etraf›nda dön-er 

is non-past, but adam›n bafl› dön-er ve düfl-er taken from 

a narrative is past. Tense is deictic. 

Text: A written discourse 

Transitive verb: Any verb that takes a direct object. 

Tree diagram: A representation of internal structure of sentences. 

In tree diagrams, linguists use branches that show 

the constituent structure. The following is an example of 

a tree diagram: 

Turn-taking: The manner and order in which the roles of the 

speaker and the listener interchange. 

U 

Ultimate constituent: The smallest constituents of a syntactic 

unit. 

Unaccusative: A type of impersonal passive made from intransitive 

verbs that denote involuntary acts: tak›lmak, 

bo¤ulmak, batmak, düflmek. 

Underlying representation: Representation at the phonological 

component of grammar; what is the in the mind. 

Underlying sentence: The level of sentence structure which 

shows the basic form from which a syntactic unit is 

derived. For example, the underlying sentence of the 

relative clause dün ald›¤›m çiçek is dün çiçek ald›m. 

Unergative: A type of impersonal passive made from intransitive 

verbs that denote volitional acts: kaçmak, koflmak, 

oynamak. 

Universal grammar: A grammar which tries to explain the 

rules that underlie every human language. (See also principles 

and parameters). It also refers to the genetically 

endowed information that consists of principles and 

parameters that enable the child to deduce a grammar 

from the input s/he receives. 

Unmarked: An item which is more basic, more frequent and 

therefore more salient. For example, singular is less 

marked than plural since the latter is more complex as it 

is formed based on the former by adding an extra morpheme.

174 

V 


Valency: The number of noun phrases required by a verb to 

complete a sentence: Koflmak has a valency of one as in 

Serap kofltu, but vermek has a valency of three as in 

Serap paketi annesine verdi. 

Velar: Sound produced at the velum (soft palate) 

Verb: A word that typically denotes rapid changes: koflmak, 

yürümek, dökmek, devirmek. A verb functions as the 

head of a predicate and bears inflections for the categories 

tense, aspect, mood, person, and number. 

Verbal category: A grammatical category that is associated 

with verbs: tense, aspect, mood, person agreement, number 

agreement. 

Verbal compound: A compound whose central element is a 

verb: resim yapmak, durup kalmak, un elemek, söyleyivermek. 

Verbal: Associated with the category verb. 

Vocal tract: The air passage above the larynx. 

Voice: A category that expresses the relationship between a 

verb and the noun phrases associated with it: active, 

passive, reciprocal, reflexive, causative. 

Voiced consonants: Consonants produced with vocal cord 

vibration. 

Voiceless consonants: Consonants produced without vocal 

cord vibration. 

Voicing: Presence or absence of vocal cord vibration 

Volition: A modal meaning which marks willingness. This 

meaning is conveyed by -(A)/-(I)r in Ben seninle gel-irim. 

It implies that the speaker is willing to be a partner 

in the event. 

Vowel harmony: Vowels within a word sharing similar properties. 

W 

Word class: A group of words which are similar in their 

semantic, morphological and syntactic behavior. The 

most common word classes are: noun, verb, adverb, 

adjective, pronoun, postposition, conjunction, interjection.

Dizin 

A 

Acronyms 78, 89, 91 

Agreement 96, 98, 107, 108, 109, 122, 124, 127 

Allomorphy 60, 70 

Allophone 2, 6, 9 

Allophones of Turkish consonants 14, 24 

Allophones of Turkish vowels 32, 40 

Aspect 96, 98, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 119, 127 

Assimilation 46, 51, 52, 53 

B 

Back Vowels 32, 36, 37, 39 

Backformation 78, 89, 91 

Backness 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42 

Backness Harmony 46, 54 

Blending 78, 89, 91 

Borrowing 78, 87, 89, 90, 91 

Bound Morpheme 60, 64, 65, 66, 67, 71 

C 

Case 98, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 122, 127 

Central Vowels 32, 35 

Clipping 78, 88, 89, 91 

Closed Classes 134, 139, 150, 153, 157 

Coinage 78, 87, 89, 91 

Compounding 78, 83, 84, 85, 86, 89, 91 

Consonants 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27 

Conversion 78, 86, 87, 91 

D 

Derivation 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 86, 87, 89, 91 

Derivational Morpheme 60, 65, 66, 68, 69 

F 

Final Devoicing 46, 48, 49, 50, 53, 55 

Free Morpheme 60, 64, 65 

Front Vowels 32, 36 

G 

Gender 96, 98, 100, 127 

Grammantical Criteria 134 

Grammatical Category 96, 98, 100, 110, 121, 127 

H 

Height 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42 

High Vowels 32, 35, 36 

‹ 

‹nflectional Morpheme 60, 65, 66, 68, 69, 72 

L 

Low Vowels 32, 35 

M 

Manner Of Articulation 14, 18, 20, 22, 23, 27 

Metaphorical Extension 78, 88, 91 

Mid Vowels 32, 35, 37 

Mood 96, 98, 109, 111, 120 

Dizin 

Morpheme 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72 

Morpheme Ordering 60, 68 

Morphology 60, 61, 62, 65, 68, 70, 72 

Multiple Process 78, 89, 91 

N 

Nasal Sounds 14, 15, 16, 20 

Nasal Tract 14, 15, 16, 17 

Negation 96, 109, 127 

Number 96, 98, 99, 102, 106, 108, 111, 121, 126, 127 

O 

Onomatopoeia 78, 86, 91 

Open Classes 134, 139, 140, 153, 157 

Oral Sounds 14, 15, 16 

Oral Tract 14, 15, 20, 23 

P 

Phoneme 2, 5, 6, 9 

Phonetics 2, 3, 7, 9 

Phonology 2, 3, 4, 9, 46, 47, 49, 55 

Place Of Articulation Assimilation 46, 51, 52, 53 

Places Of Articulation 14, 19, 20, 22 

Prototypes Vs Non-Prototypes 134 

R 

Rounded Vowels 32, 36, 39 

Rounding 32, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42 

Rounding Harmony 46, 54 

S 

Semantic Change 78, 88, 91 

Semantic Criteria 134, 137, 141, 144, 148, 149, 157 

Sound 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 

Sound vs. Letter 2, 7 

Surface Realization 2, 4, 5, 6 

175

176 

T 


Tense 96, 98, 102, 109, 110, 111, 123, 127 

U 

Underlying Representation 2, 4, 6 

Unrounded Vowels 32, 36, 39 

V 

Vocal Tract 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 27 

Voice 96, 98, 120, 121, 127 

Voicing 14, 18, 23, 27 

Voicing Assimilation 46, 51, 52, 53 

Vowel Harmony 46, 53, 54 

Vowels 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 

W 

Word Classes 134, 135, 136, 138, 140, 150?

turkish phonology and morphology (türkçe ses ve b‹ç‹mb‹lg‹s‹)

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