Noun compounds in turkish yüksel göknel signed

2013

NOUN COMPOUNDS

in TURKISH

YÜKSEL GÖKNEL

Yüksel Göknel

NOUN COMPOUNDS in TORKISH

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NOUN COMPOUNDS in TURKISH

İsim Tamlamaları

All noun compounds function as nominal phrases (NP) in sentences.

These compounds play a considerable part in transforming Turkish simple

sentences to be used in Phrase Structures. Therefore, they have to be

considered before going on with further explanations. Although these

compounds are called noun compounds, they naturally cover pronouns and

infinitives, as well. A noun compound is composed of two parts: the

“possessor” (tamlayan), and the “possessed” (tamlanan) parts. When a

pronoun is used in the possessor part of a compound, its possessor

personal allomorphs change according to the vowel and consonant

harmony rules of the Turkish language as follows:

DEFINITE NOUN COMPOUNDS

Belirtili İsim Tamlamaları

Possessor Personal Suffixes Attached to the Possessor Parts of the

Compounds:

ben-im (be*nim) (my), sen-in (se*nin) (your), o-/n/un (o*nun) (his, her, its),

biz-im (bi*zim) (our), siz-in (si*zin) (your), onlar-ın (on*la*rın) (their), okul-

un (o*ku*lun), sandalye-/n/in (san*dal*ye*nin), görüşme-/n/in(gö*rüş*me*nin)

Note: Although all the words that are used in the possessor parts of the

noun compounds function as determiners, they are called "possessive

adjectives" in traditional grammars.

As it is seen in the examples above, the possessor personal morphemes

following the personal pronouns are ben-im, sen-in, o-/n/un, biz-im, siz-in”,

onlar-ın. If a noun is used in place of the third person singular pronoun,

the allomorphs of the possessed nouns change according to the vowel

rules. When these pronouns, common nouns, or proper nouns end with

consonants, they take these suffixes, but if they end with vowels, they

need the /n/ glides to attach to the same possessor personal morphemes

to produce possessor determiners. ben-im (be*nim), sen-in (se*nin), o-/n/un (o*nun), biz-im (bi*zim), siz-in

(si*zin), on.lar-ın (on*la*rın), okul-un (o*ku*lun), örtü-/n/ün (ör*tü*nün),

çalış-ma-/n/ın (ça*lış*ma*nın), yüksel-me-/n/in (yük*sel*me*nin)

All pronouns, common nouns, proper nouns, and infinitives can be used in

the possessor parts of the noun compounds:


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ben-im okul-um; okul-un kapı-/s/ı; Ali-/n/in çanta-/s/ı; çalış-ma-/n/ın sonuç-u pronoun common N proper N infinitive

All common nouns, infinitives, and transformed nominalized sentences can

be used in the possessed parts of the noun compounds, such as:

ben-im okul-um Ahmet’-in gel-me-/s/i Ayşe-/n/in gülüş-ü ben-im git-tik-im

common N infinitive infinitive infinitive

The transformed nominalized sentences are used as subjects and objects,

but the last “noun + infinitive” compound (ben-im git-tik-im) can be used

both as subjects, objects, and as determiners in sentences:

Onun çalış-tık-ı-/n/ı biliyorum. onun çalış-tık-ı şirket nominalized phrs (obj) V nominalized phrs (det) noun

I know that he works. the company where he works nominalized sent (obj) D noun nominalized sent (det)

Posessor Personal Suffixes Attached to the Possessed Parts of the

Compounds

(ben): ♫ [im, ım, üm, um, em, am]: (ben-im sepet-im), (ben-im baba-am)

When the nouns end with consonants, these consonants detach from their

syllables, and attach to the first vowels of the allomorphs following them, but

when they end with vowels, they combine with the first vowels of the

identical vowels of the following allomorphs, which are showed in bold face.

(ben): ♫ [im, ım, üm, um, em, am]:

ben-im sepet-im (be*nim / se*pe*tim); ben-im okul-um (be*nim / o*ku*lum);

ben-im araba-am (be*nim / a*ra*bam); ben-im baba-am (ba*bam); ben-im

gül-me-em (be*nim /gül*mem); ben-im başla-ma-am (baş*la*mam); ben-im

turşu-um (be*nim / tur*şum); ben-im çene-em (be*nim / çe*nem) (sen): ♫ [in, ın, ün, un, en, an]:

sen-in defter-in (se*nin / def*te*rin), sen-in mesele-en (me*se*len), sen-in

kutu-un (ku*tun), sen-in tarla-an (tar*lan), sen-in ev-in (e*vin), sen-in göz-

ler-in (se*nin / göz*le*rin), sen-in yüz-me-en (se*nin / yüz*men)

(o), or a proper noun, or a common noun): ♫ [i, ı, ü, u]:

In the possessor part of a noun compound, either “o”, or a "noun", or an

"infinitive" can be used. The possessor personal allomorphs attached to

both the possessor and the possessed parts of the compouns are as follows:


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possessor possessed example

…C-[in, ın, ün, un]; …C-[i, ı, ü, u] Jack-in okul-u

. ..C-[in, ın, ün, un] …V-[/s/i, /s/ı, /s/ü, /s/u] Jack-in araba-/s/ı

…V-[/n/in, /n/ın, /n/ün, /n/un] …C-[i, ı, ü, u] perde-/n/in kumaş-ı

…V-[/n/in, /n/ın, /n/ün, /n/un] …V-[/s/i, /s/ı, /s/ü, /s/u] Ayşe-/n/in anne-/s/i

In the table above, “…C” represents a noun ending with a consonant; “…V”

represents a noun or a pronoun ending with a vowel.

In the examples below, the identical vowels that combine are written in

bold face, and the consonants that detach from their syllables and attach

to the first vowels of the following morphemes are single underlined.

o-/n/un kalem-i (o*nun / ka*le*mi); köy-ün deli-/s/i (kö*yün / de*li*si); ev-in

kedi-/s/i (e*vin / ke*di*si); cümle-/n/in son-u (cüm*le*nin / so*nu); okul-un

şarkı-/s/ı (o*ku*lun / şar*kı*sı); deli-/n/in gül-me-/s/i (de*li*nin / gül*me*si);

çalış-ma-/n/ın sonuç-u (ça*lış*ma*nın / so*nu*cu); ağla-ma-/n/ın neden-i

(ağ*la*ma*nın / ne*de*ni); kız-ın güzel.lik-i (kı*zın / gü*zel*li*ği)

(biz): ♫ [im.iz, ım.ız, üm.üz, um.uz, em.iz, am.ız]:

biz-im okul-um.uz (bi*zim / o*ku*lu*muz); biz-im tencere-em.iz (bi*zim / ten*-

ce*re*miz); biz-im baba-am.ız (bi*zim / ba*ba*mız); biz-im köy-üm.üz

(bi*zim / kö*yü*müz); biz-im sorun-um.uz (so*ru*nu*muz), biz-im bahçe-

em.iz (bah*çe*miz), biz-im anlaş-ma-am.ız (an*laş*ma*mız). (siz): ♫ [in.iz, ın.ız, ün.üz, un.uz, en.iz, an.ız]: siz-in davul-un.uz (si*zin / da*vu*lu*nuz); siz-in araba-an.ız (a*ra*ba*nız);

siz-in kız-ın.ız (kı*zı*nız); siz-in kafa-an.ız (ka*fa*nız), siz-in bahçe-en.iz

(si*zin / bah*çe*niz); siz-in torba-an.ız (tor*ba*nız); siz-in konuş-ma-an.ız

(ko*nuş*ma*nız).

(onlar): ♫ [i, ı, ü, u] or ([ler-i, lar-ı]):

o/n/-lar-ın okul-u (on*la*rın / o*ku*lu); o/n/-lar-ın çiçek-ler-i (on*la*rın /

çi*çek*le*ri); onlar-ın konuş-ma-lar-ı (on*la*rın / ko*nuş*ma*la*rı); o/n/-lar-ın

anne-/s/i (on*la*rın / an*ne*si); o/n/-lar-ın kedi-/s/i (on*la*rın / ke*di*si) (ben-im) defter-im (be*nim / def*te*rim) (my notebook)

(ben-im) baş-ım (ba*şım) (my head)

(ben-im) göz-üm (gö*züm) (my eye)

(ben-im) sakal-ım (sa*ka*lım) (my beard)

(ben-im) sorun-um (so*ru*num) (my problem)

(ben-im) kuş-um (ku*şum) (my bird)


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Jack’in okul-u (ce*kin / o*ku*lu) (Jack’s school)

Since a personal possessor morpheme in the possessed part of a

compound is enough to help someone understand the possessor pronoun

in the possessor part of a compound, the parts in the brackets above may

be ignored unless they are intentionally stressed. One can say (ki*ta”bım)

in place of (be*nim / ki*ta*bım). If only the possessed part of the compound

is used, the stress is on “bım”. If both parts are used, the stress is on “nim”.

If a possessed noun in a compound ends with a vowel, and the first vowel

of a personal possessor morpheme starts with the same vowel, these two

identical vowels combine, and are verbalized as a single vowel:

ben-im araba-am (be*ni*ma*ra*bam); (a*ra*bam) (my car) liaison)

ben-im mesele-em (be*nim / me*se*lem); (me*se*lem) (my problem)

ben-im tarla-am (be*nim / tar*lam); (tar*lam) (my field)

ben-im kafa-am (be*nim / ka*fam); (ka*fam) (my head)

ben-im sandalye-em (be*nim / san*dal*yem); (san*dal*yem) (my chair)

ben-im pipo-um (be*nim / pi*pom); (pi*pom) (my pipe) (The “u” drops.)

ben-im karı-ım (be*nim / ka*rım); (ka*rım) (my wife)

ben-im deri-im (be*nim / de*rim); (de*rim) (my skin)

ben-im su-/y/um (be*nim / su*yum); (su*yum) (my water)

ben-im anne-em (be*ni*man*nem); (an*nem) (my mother) (liaison) .

If the possessed noun of a compound ends with the unvoiced /p/, /k/, /ç/,

or /t/ consonants, they change into their counterpart voiced consonants /b/,

/ğ/, /c/, or /d/ respectively: Bebek-im (be*be*ğim) (my baby) (The /k/ changes into /ğ/)

Köpek-im (kö*pe*ğim) (my dog) (The /k/ changes into /ğ/)

Çorap-ım (ço*ra*bım) (my sock) (The /p/ changes into /b/)

Araç-ım (a*ra*cım) (my vehicle) (The /ç/ changes into /c/)

Dert-im (der*dim) (my trouble) (The /t/ changes into /d/) All the monosyllabic roots, and most words ending with /t/ do not change

their last consonants when they are suffixed:

at-ım (a*tım) (my horse); süt-üm (sü*tüm) (my milk); kürk-üm (kür*küm)

(my fur); ip-im (i*pim) (my rope); saç-ım (sa*çım) (my hair); hap-ım

(ha*pım) (my pill); sepet-im (se*pe*tim) (my basket); saat-im (sa*a*tim)

(my watch); demet-im (de*me*tim) (my bunch); kürk-ün (kür*kün) (your

fur); at-lar-ım.ız (at*la*rı*mız) (our horses).


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When “senin” is used in the possessor position, the possessed nouns

are suffixed with [in, ın, ün, un, en, an] possessor personal allomorphs:

defter-in (def*te*rin) (your notebook)

baş-ın (ba*şın) (your head)

göz-ler-in (göz*le*rin) (your eyes)

tuz-un (tu*zun) (your salt)

baba-an (ba*ban) (your father)

sandalye-en (san*dal*yen) (your chair)

If possessed nouns end with vowels or /p, t, k, ç/ unvoiced consonants, they

undergo the same changes as they do in the examples above: köpek-in (kö*pe*ğin), çorap-ın (ço*ra*bın), gömlek-in (göm*le*ğin), bıçak-ın

(bı*ça*ğın); but süt-ün (sü*tün), sepet-in (se*pe*tin), araba-an (a*ra*ban) The third person possessed nouns are suffixed with [i, ı, ü, u] allomorphs:

ev-i (e*vi), okul-u (o*ku*lu), kalem-i (ka*le*mi), ceket-i (ce*ke*ti), düğün-ü

(dü*ğü*nü), göz-ü (gö*zü), baş-ı (ba*şı), kaş-ı (ka*şı), oğul-u (oğ*lu)

When a third person possessed noun ends with a vowel, it takes an /s/

glide when it is attached to a possessor personal suffix:

araba-/s/ı (a*ra*ba*sı) (his car); bahçe-/s/i (bah*çe*si) (his garden); tarla-/s/ı

(tar*la*/ı) (his farm); halı-/s/ı (ha*lı*sı) (his carpet); leke-/s/i (le*ke*si) (its

stain); öfke-/s/i (öf*ke*si) (his rage); kapı-/s/ı (ka*pı*sı) (his door); gaga-/s/ı

(ga*ga*sı) (its beak); anne-/s/i (an*ne*si); baba-/s/ı (ba*ba*sı); çeşme-/s/i

(çeş*me*si) (its tap); yama-/s/ı (ya*ma*sı) (its patch); gel-me-/s/i (gel*me*si)

(his coming)

If the possessor adjectives are used together with the possessed parts of

the compounds, the possessor adjectives become dominant and the stress

goes onto the possessor adjectives:

Onun arabası (o*nun / a*ra*ba*sı); onun bahçesi (o*nun / bah*çe*si)

The /p, t, k, ç / unvoiced consonants change into their voiced counterparts

/b, d, ğ, c / respectively as in the examples below. This consonant change

does not change the meaning of words.

o-/n/un corap-ı (o*nun / ço*ra*bı) (his sock); o-/n/un dolap-ı (o*nun /

do*la*bı) (his cupboard); o-/n/un amaç-ı (o*nun / a*ma*cı) (his goal);

onun sokak-ı (o*nun / so*ka*ğı) (his street); onun kapak-ı, (o*nun / ka*


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pa*ğı) (its lid); onun bacak-ı (o*nun / ba*ca*ğı) (his leg); onun ip-i (o*nun /

i*pi); onun süt-ü (o*nun / sü*tü)

A noun (or an infinitive) in a possessor position is used just like a third

person possessor pronoun. When a noun in the possessor position ends

with a vowel, it needs an /n/ glide to attached to ♫ [in, ın, ün, un]

allomorphs. As the third person singular pronoun is “o”, which has only one

vowel, it also needs the same /n/ glide to be attached to [un] allomorph.

Interrogative possessors can also be used in the possessor parts of the

compounds:

o-/n/un kapı-/s/ı (o*nun / ka*pı*sı) (its door); oda-/n/ın kapı-/s/ı (o*da*nın /

ka*pı*sı) (the door of the room); o-/n/un yakıt-ı (o*nun / ya*kı*tı) (its fuel);

araba-/n/ın yakıt-ı (a*ra*ba*nın / ya*kı*tı) (the fuel of the car); okul-un

otobüs-ü (o*ku*lun / o*to*bü*sü) (the bus of the school); bahçe-/n/in

kapı-/s/ı (bah*çe*nin / ka*pı*sı) (the gate of the garden); Kim-in tarla-/s/ı?

(ki*min↝ / tar*la*sı↝) çiftçi-/n/in tarla-/s/ı (çift*çi*nin / tar*la*sı) (the farm of

the farmer); Nere-/n/in halı-/s/ı? (ne↝re*nin / ha*lı*sı↝); oda-/n/ın halı-/s/ı

(o*da*nın / ha*lı*sı) (the carpet of the room); Kim-in karı-/s/ı? (ki*min↝ /

ka*rı*sı↝); Jack’in karı-/s/ı. (ja*kin / ka*rı*sı) (Jack’s wife); yürü-me-/n/in

yarar-ı (yü*rü*me*nin / ya*ra:*rı) (the benefit of walking); Ne-/y/in renk-i?

(ne*yin↝ / ren*gi↝) şarap-ın renk-i (şa*ra*bın / ren*gi) (the color of the

wine); çiçek-in güzellik-i (çi*çe*ğin / gü*zel*li*ği) (the beauty of the flower)

When the noun compounds ending with vowels are suffixed by the

allomorphs of the [İ], [E], [DE], or [DEN] morphemes, they take the /n/ glides:

Jack, Mary’-/n/in köpek-i-/n/i ısır-dı.

(jack ~/ me*ri*nin / kö*pe*ği*ni / ı*sır*dı ↷)

Jack bit Mary’s dog.

Jack, Mary’/n/in köpek-i-/n/e bir taş at-tı.

(jack~ / mary*nin / kö*pe*ği*ne / bir / taş / at*tı ↷)

Jack threw a stone at Mary’s dog.

Köpek, Mary’/n/in bahçe-/s/i/n/-de.

(kö*pek~ / mary*nin / bah*çe*sin*de ↷)

The dog is in Mary’s garden.

Ben, Mary’/n/in okulu/n/-dan gel-i.yor-um.

(ben / mary*nin / o*ku*lun*dan / ge*li*yo*rum ↷)

I’m coming from Mary’s school.


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The inflectional plural allomorphs [ler, lar] are attached to noun roots or

stems first, and then the other allomorphs follow:

çocuk-lar-ım (ço*cuk*la*rım), okul-lar-ım.ız (o*kul*la*rı*mız), çiçek-ler-i

(çi*çek*le*ri), araba-lar-ın.ız (a*ra*ba*la*rı*nız), komşu-lar-ım.ız (kom*şu*-

la*rı*mız), saat-ler-im (sa*at*le*rim), sepet-ler-in.iz (se*pet*le*ri*niz)

The personal allomorphs below are attached to the plural allomorphs above:

(ben-im) kitap-lar-ım (ki*tap*la*rım) (my books); (sen-in) çiçek-ler-in (çi*-

çek*le*rin) (your flowers); (biz-im) oyuncak-lar-ım.ız (o*yun*cak*la*rı*mız)

(our toys).

As the possessor pronouns in the compounds are generally ignored, only

the possessed parts of the compounds are used. When the possessor

parts are used together with the possessed parts of a compound, the pos-

sessor parts are stressed. However, when only the possessed parts are

used, the stress goes onto the possessed part:

"ben-im kitaplar-ım" (be*nim / ki*tap*la*rım); → "kitaplar-ım (ki*tap*la*rım)

Kitap-lar-ım (ki*tap*la*rım) (my books); kedi-ler-im.iz (ke*di*le*ri*miz) (our

cats); köpek-ler-i (kö*pek*le*ri) (his dogs); sepet-ler-im.iz (se*pet*le*ri*miz)

(our baskets); dost-lar-ım (dost*la*rım) (my friends); soru-lar-ım (so*ru*-

la*rım) (my questions); sorun-lar-ım.ız (so*run*la*rı*mız) (our problems);

kafa-am (ka*fam) (my head); pencere-em (pen*ce*rem) (my window); kafa-

an (ka*fan) (your head); kafa-/s/ı (ka*fa*/s/ı) (his head); okul-u (o*ku*lu) (his

school); giysi-/s/i (giy*si*si) (her dress); araba-an.ız (a*ra*ba*nız) (your car);

kapı-ın.ız (ka*pı*nız) (your door); yüz-ü-ün.üz (yü*zü*nüz) (your face).

Contrary to the English intonation, in a Turkish “adjective + noun” com-

pound, the stressed syllable is on the adjective, not on the noun.

In Turkish: sarı gül (sa*rı / gül); in English: "yellow rose" (ye*low / rose).-

When the first, the second or the third person plural possessor pro-

nouns are used in the possessor part of a noun compound such as

“bizim”, “sizin”, and “onların”, both the singular and the plural possessed

nouns can be used in the possessed part of a noun compound:

bizim arabamız, or bizim arabalarımız; sizin kediniz, or sizin kedileriniz;

onların odası, or onların odaları; bizim evimiz, or bizim evlerimiz.


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INDEFINITE NOUN COMPOUNDS

Belirtisiz İsim Tamlamaları

The “possessor + possessed” compounds described above are all de-

finite. When “odanın kapısı” is said, it means “the door of the room”. How-

ever, when we say “kapı zil-i” instead of “kapı-/n/ın zil-i”, we mean “door

bell”, where “door” is indefinite. The indefinite Turkish noun compounds

are structurally different from the English indefinite noun compounds. For

instance, in the Turkish compounds, the allomorphs of [İ] are attached to the

second parts of the compounds, such as “okul çanta-/s/ı”, but in English,

only two nouns are used as “school bag”. When the possessed parts end

with consonants, they take the allomorphs of [İ], but when they end with

vowels, they take the /s/ glides together with the allomorphs of [İ]. The

indefinite interrogative possessors can also be used in the possessor

parts of these compounds: Here are some examples of the indefinite noun compounds:

Ne çanta-/s/ı? (ne↝ / çan*ta*sı↝); Okul çanta-/s/ı (o*kul / çan*ta*sı) (school

bag); Ne soru-lar-ı? (ne↝ / so*ru*la*rı↝); Sınav soru-lar-ı (sı*nav / so*ru*-

la*rı) (examination questions); öğrenci kavga-/s/ı (öğ*ren*ci / kav*ga*sı) (stu-

dent fight); otomobil yarış-ı (o*to*mo*bil / ya*rı*şı) (car race); insan hak-lar-ı

(in*san / hak*la*rı) (human rights); Ne reçel-i? elma reçel-i (el*ma / re*çe*li)

(apple jam); Ne kaza-s/ı? (ne↝ / ka*za:*sı↝); araba kaza-/s/ı (a*ra*ba / ka*-

za:*sı) (car accident); kalem kutu-su (ka*lem / ku*tu*su) (pencil box); kış

bahçe-/s/i (kış / bah*çe*si) (winter garden); işsizlik sorun-u (iş*siz*lik / so*-

ru*nu) (unemployment problem); yaz eğlence-/s/i (yaz / eğ*len*ce*si)

(summer entertainment); güneş gözlük-ler-i (gü*neş / göz*lük*le*ri)

(sunglasses); patates salata-/s/ı (pa*ta*tes / sa*la*ta*sı) (potato salad); hava

kirlilik-i (ha*va / kir*li*li*ği) (air pollution); baş ağrı-/s/ı (ba*şağ*rı*sı)

(headache); it dalaş-ı (it / da*la*şı) (dog fight); mürekkep leke-si

(mü*rek*kep / le*ke*s/) (ink stain)

NOUN COMPOUNDS WITHOUT SUFFIXES

Takısız Tamlama

There are some other noun compounds that are made up of two nouns:

tahta kutu (tah*ta / ku*tu) (wooden box); altın bilezik (al*tın / bi*le*zik) (gol-

den bracelet); porselen fincan (por*se*len / fin*can) (china cup); demir ka-

pı (de*mir / ka*pı) (iron door); taş bina (taş / bi*na:) (stone building); plas-

tik oyuncak (plas*tik / o*yun*cak) (plastic toy); bakır tel (ba*kır / tel) (cop-

per wire); mermer heykel (mer*mer / hey*kel) (marble statue); kız arkadaş


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(kı*zar*ka*daş) (girl friend); erkek arkadaş (er*ke*kar*ka*daş) (boy friend);

gümüş para (gü*müş / pa*ra) (silver coin); tahta köprü (tah*ta / köp*rü)

(wooden bridge); Beyaz Saray (be*yaz / sa*ray) (The White House).

The pronouns used in the possessor position of the noun compounds are

also used in place of “mine”, “yours”, “his”, “hers”, “ours”, ” theirs”

and “Jack’s” as in the following:

Bu kitap benim. This book is mine.

Şu ayakkabılar onun. Those shoes are hers.

Bu araba Jack’in. This car is Jack’s.

Şu gömlek senin. That shirt is yours.

Şu şeyler onların. Those things are theirs.

Bu yanlışlar bizim. These mistakes are ours.

This similarity could be seen in the following two sentences:

Bu benim kitabım. This is my book. Bu kitap benim. This book is mine.

Bu senin araban. This is your car. Bu araba senin. This car is yours.

Sometimes the [Kİ] morpheme, which does not follow the vowel harmony

rules and consequently has no allomorphs, is attached to “benim”, “senin”,

“o-nun”, “Jack’in” possessor pronouns. This morpheme generally means

“this one among others”:

Bu çanta benim-ki.

(bu / çan*ta / be*nim*ki ↷)

This bag is mine (among others).

Şu koltuk sizin-ki.

(şu / kol*tuk / si*zin*ki ↷)

This seat is yours (among others).

Bu masa Jack’in-ki. This table is Jack’s (among others).

Bu araba Oğuz’un-ki. This car is Oğuz’s (among others). The first parts of the noun compounds are syntactically determiners. For in-

stance, in the expressions, “the car”, “this car”, “all cars”, and “my car”; “the”,

“this”, “all”, and “my” have determining functions. Therefore, one cannot put

“a“, “an”,“the”, or “some” before these words, such as *“the this car”, *“the all

cars”, *“a my car”.


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The possessor parts of the definite noun compounds are words like “the”

and “some”; therefore, in English, people say “ the gate of the garden”, but

in Turkish, people say “bahçe-/n/in kapı-/s/ı”, where “bahçe-/n/in” is a

determin-er, so we can formulate “bahce-/n/in kapı-/s/ı” as “D + N”.

“NOUN + INFINITIVE” COMPOUNDS

“İsim + Mastar” Tamlamaları

The infinitives, as they are nouns, are also used in the “possessor + pos-

sessed” compounds. All noun compounds are of several kinds:

“pronoun + noun” ⟶ o/n/un araba-/s/ı (his car)

“noun + noun” ⟶ oda-/n/ın kapı-/s/ı (the door of the room)

“pronoun + infinitive” ⟶ o/n/un anla-ma-/s/ı (his understanding),

o/n/un okul-a geç gel-me-/s/i (his coming to school late)

“infinitive + noun”⟶ gecik-me-/n/in ceza-/s/ı (the punishment of being late)

“infinitive+infinitive”⟶öde-me-/n/in gecik-me-/s/i (the delay of the payment)

Some examples are as follows:

ben-im git-me-em (my going); o-/n/un bakış-ı (her looking); siz-in git-tik-in.iz

(git*ti*ği*niz) (that you went); biz-im buluş-ma-am.ız (our meeting); biz-im

çalış-ma-am.ız-ın sonuç-u (bi*zim / ça*lış*ma*mı*zın / so*nu*cu) (the result

of our working); işsizlik-in art-ma-/s/ı (iş*siz*li*ğin / art*ma*sı) (the increase

of the unemployment); okul-a geç kal-ma-/n/ın sonuç-u (o*ku*la / geç /

kal*ma*nın / so*nu*cu) (the result of coming to school late).

In the compounds above, the identical vowels combine, and the single

underlined consonants detach from their syllables and attach to the first

vowels of the following morphemes while the oral system of the Turkish

language is reorganizing the morphemes in harmony with the Turkish sound

system.

The parallelism between the above compounds and those of the following

ones are obvious:

ben-im tencere-em, onun baş-ı, siz-in bilet-in.iz, ben-im ev-im

As it is seen, the infinitives are nouns that are produced from verb roots,

stems and frames by adding [me, ma], [iş, ış, üş, uş], and [dik, dık, dük, duk,

tik, tık, tük, tuk] allomorphs. These infinitives, except the [mek, mak]


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infinitives that are used in the possessor parts, are used in noun compounds

in sentences as Nominal Phrases such as:

ben-im gül-me-em, sen-in gül-üş-ün, o-/n/un ağla-dık-ı (ağ*la*dı*ğı), biz-im

bekle-me-em.iz, Ahmet’-in çalış-ma-ma-/s/ı, onlar-ın gel-me-me-/s/i, çocuk-

un bul-un-ma-/s/ı, biz-im bul-uş-ma-am.ız, araba-/n/ın çal-ın-ma-/s/ı…

It is possible in Turkish to produce chain noun compounds by lengthening

the compounds above as far as the word that ends the chain because all

natural languages are infinitely productive within the framework of the “NP +

VP” innate logical sentence pattern:

gençler-in spor yap-ma-/s/ı ⟶ possessor + possessed

yapma-/s/ı-/n/ın önem-i ⟶ possessor + possessed

önem-i-/n/ın anla-şıl-ma-/s/ı ⟶ possessor + possessed

gerek-ir. ⟶ VP Gençler-in spor yapma-/s/ı-/n/ın önem-i-/n/in anla-şıl-ma-/s/ı gerek-ir. NP VP

(genç*le*rin / spor / yap*ma*sı*nın / ö*ne*mi*nin / an*la*şıl*ma*sı / ge*re*kir)

It is necessary to understand the importance of the youngsters’ playing sports.

PREPOSITIONS (ENG) and POSTPOSITIONS (TURK) (edatlar)

The English prepositions “on”, “in”, “under”, “near”, “behind”, “in front

of” are all nouns in Turkish: üst (on), alt (under), yakın (near), iç (in), arka

(behind, back), ön (front) …

As all the words above can be attached to the allomorphs of the mor-

phemes [İ], [E], [DE] and [DEN], they are nouns. Besides these morphemes,

the allomorphs of [İ], which are also the allomorphs of the possessed

morpheme [İ], can be attached to the above nouns to form the possessed

parts of the noun compounds:

Masa-/n/ın üst-ü (ma*sa*nı*nüs*tü) (the upper side of the table) (liaison)

Kutu-/n/un iç-i (ku*tu*nu*ni*çi) (the inside of the box) (liaison)

Karyola-/n/ın alt-ı (kar*yo*la*nı*nal*tı) (the underside of the bed) (liaison)

Sandalye-/n/in arka-/s/ı (san*dal*ye*ni*nar*ka*/s/ı) (the back of the chair)

The two parts of the compounds above can also be separately said: (ma*sa*nın / üs*tü), (ku*tu*nun / i*çi), (kar*yo*la*nın / al*tı), (san*dal*ye*nin

/ ar*ka*sı).


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When the above compounds are used as objects, they take the allomorphs

of the defining [İ] morpheme linked by the /n/ glides:

Masa-/n/ın üst-ü-/n/ü temizledi-im. (ma*sa*nın / üs*tü*nü / te*miz*le*dim ↷)

I cleaned the surface of the table.

In the sentence above, the first /ü/ is the personal possessed allomorph; the

second /ü/ is the defining morpheme, and the /n/ phonemes are the glides

linking the successive /a/ /ı/, and /ü/ /ü/ vowels. In such compounds, either

of the stressable syllables of the possessor or the possessed parts of a

compound can be stressed. The dominant word syllables are symbolized in

bold face, and the secondarily stressed syllables are showed in italics. The

weakly stressed syllables are printed in regular type. See how the meanings

of the sentences change when the primarily stressed words change in the

following sentences:

(ma*sa*nın / üs*tü*nü / te*miz*le*dim↷)

I have cleaned the upper side of the table, not the upper side of any other fur-

niture.

(ma*sa*nın / üs*tü*nü / te*miz*le*dim↷)

I have cleaned the upper side of the table, not the underside or the legs of it.

(ma*sa*nın / üs*tü*nü / te*miz*le*dim ↷)

I have cleaned the upper side of the table, so I have done my work.

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