Formation of Turkish Possession
Formation of Turkish Possession
There is a construction in Turkish which means "belonging to"
In English generally only the Possessor is marked as in
Janet'shouseThe 's tells us that the house belongs to Janet.
Possession can also be marked by both the Possessor and the Possessed:
THE hair OF THE dog.
Both words hair and dog are marked.
This construct is the method that Turkish uses.
Both the Possessor and the Possessed are always marked:
- köpeğin tüyüThe hair of the dog
[LIT: köpeğ-in tüy-ü "dog-the-of hair-the"]
The Possessor in Turkish
In Turkish the Possessor is suffixed with -in -ın -un -ün
Buffer -n- is used when suffixed to vowels: →
-nin -nın -nun -nün
The -in suffix means "of, belonging to.."
Turkish Grammar calls it Suffix of Ownership [genitive]
Formation of the Possessor:
Words ending in a consonant add -in, -ın, -un, -ün
- adam → adamın
[adam-ın]the man's, of the man - göz → gözün
[göz-ün]the eye's, of the eye - All plural forms end in a consonant -ler / -lar
- adamlar → adamların
[adam-lar-ın]the men's, of the men - fareler → farelerin
[fare ler in]the mice's, of the mice, - lastikler → lastiklerin
[lastik-ler-in]the tyres', of the tyres - Nouns ending in vowels use buffer letter -n to form -nin
- banyo → banyonun
[banyo-nun]the bath's, of the bath. - köprü → köprünün
[köprü-nün]the bridge's, of the bridge. - The plurals are formed without the buffer -n-
- banyoların
[banyo-lar-ın]the baths', of the baths - köprülerin
[köprü-ler-in]the bridges', of the bridges
Formation of the Possessed
The possessed item in Turkish is suffixed with -i, -ı, -u, -ühis, hers, its.
Buffer -n- is used when suffixed to vowels: →
-si, -sı, -su, -sü
The only exception is suwater.
Su uses the buffer letter -y- → suyu
[susu is incorrect]The Possessive Relationship Explained
Both the Possessor and Possessed are suffixed in Turkish.
This is the model for all Possessive Relationships in Turkish.
- The Possessor:adamın
[adam-ın]of the man with The Possessed:eli[el-ı]hand-his - adamın elithe man's hand, the hand of the man
[LIT: adam-ın el-i "man-of hand-his"] - The Possessor:Mehmet with the Possessed:paltoovercoat
- Mehmet 'in paltosuMehmet's overcoat
[LIT: Mehmet-'in palto-su "Mehmet-of overcoat-his"]
- The irregular noun suwater →
adamın suyu
[adam-ın su-yu]
the man's water
Proper Names are kept separated.
With Proper Names the suffix is separated by an apostrophe:
Nouns beginning with a capital letter take a separated suffix:
LondraLondon →
Londra'nınLondon's, of London.
Plurals of the Turkish Possessive Relationship -
The plurals are formed by the addition of -ler / -lar to either the Possessor, the Possessed or to both according to context.
Both Possessor and Possessed Singular
- adamın arabasıthe man's car
[adam-ın araba-sı] - evin damıthe roof of the house
[ev-in dam-ı]
The Possessor Plural and Possessed Singular
- yıldızların ışığıthe light of the stars
[yıldız-lar-ın ışığ-ı] - adamların arabasıthe men's car
[adam-lar-ın araba-sı]
The Possessor Singular and Possessed Plural
- adamın arabalarıthe man's cars
[adam-ın araba-lar-ı] - odanın duvarlarıthe walls of the room
[oda-nı duvar-lar-ı]
Both Possessor Plural and Possessed Plural
- adamların arabalarıthe men's cars
[adam-lar-ın araba-lar-ı] - çocukların oyunlarıthe children's games
[çocouk-lar-ın oyun-lar-ı]
Turkish Possessive Relationship in Use
The possessive relationship is a compound noun.
Further suffixes are added to the possessed item(s) to modify the meaning:
- Adamın arkadaşına kitabı verdim.
[Adam-ın arkadaş-ı-na kitab-ı verdim.]
I gave the book to the man's friend.
[LIT: Man-of friend-his-to book-the gave-I.] - Oğlunun kardeşinden bu şapkasını aldım.
[Oğlu-nun kardeş-in-den bu şapka-sı-nı al-dım.]
I got this hat from his son's brother.
[LIT: Son-his-of brother-his-from this hat-his got-I.]
Turkish Possessive Relationship Model
| Both the Possessor and | the Possessed Singular |
|---|---|
| adamın arabası | the man's car |
| adamın arabasının | of the man's car, the man's car's |
| adamın arabasına | to the man's car |
| adamın arabasını | the man's car (object) |
| adamın arabasında | in the man's car |
| adamın arabasından | from the man's car |
| adamın arabasıyla | with the man's car |
| Possessor Singular with | the Possessed Plural |
|---|---|
| adamın arabaları | the man's cars |
| adamın arabalarının | of the man's cars, the man's car's |
| adamın arabalarına | to the man's cars |
| adamın arabalarını | the man's cars (object) |
| adamın arabalarında | in the man's cars |
| adamın arabalarından | from the man's cars |
| adamın arabalarıyla | with the man's cars |
| Possessor Plural with | the Possessed Singular |
|---|---|
| adamların arabası | the men's car |
| adamların arabasının | of the men's car, the men's car's |
| adamların arabasına | to the men's car |
| adamların arabasını | the men's car (object) |
| adamların arabasında | in the men's car |
| adamların arabasından | from the men's car |
| adamların arabasıyla | with the men's car |
| Both Possessor and | Possessed Plural |
|---|---|
| adamların arabaları | the men's cars |
| adamların arabalarının | of the men's cars, the men's cars' |
| adamların arabalarına | to the men's cars |
| adamların arabalarını | the men's cars (object) |
| adamların arabalarında | in the men's cars |
| adamların arabalarından | from the men's cars |
| adamların arabalarıyla | with the men's cars |
Separation of Possessor and Possessed in Turkish
The Possessive Relationship can be separated by adjectives or adjectival phrases:
- Adamın eski arkadaşından.
From the man's old friend. - Adamın büyük ve pahalı arabasında.
In the man's large and expensive car.
Chaining Turkish Possessors
- evin kapısının penceresi.
the house's door's window. - evin kapısının pencereleri.
the house's door's windows. - evlerin kapısının penceresi.
the houses' door's window. - Ali'nin defterinin sayfaları yırtılmıştır.
Ali's notebook's pages are torn.
[LIT: have been torn] - Bahçenin duvarlarının tuğlaları kırılmıştır.
The garden's walls' bricks are broken.
[LIT: have been broken] - Mehmet'in bisikletinin lastikleri aşınılmıştır.
Mehmet's bicycle's tyres are worn down.
[LIT: have been worn down] - Arabamızın motorunun benzin deposunun doldurma kapağı eksiktir.
Our car's engine's petrol tank's filler cap is missing.
[LIT: is absent, -tir makes this definite]
Turkish "possessed nouns" have to be made definite.
