The Turkish Possessive Construction
The Turkish Possessive Construction
The Possessive Construction is two nouns where the first noun "owns" the second noun:
Ev house and duvar wall produces a Possessive Construction:
evin duvarı
[ev-in duvar-ı]the wall of the house
[LIT: "the house-of wall-its".]The first noun is the Possessor:
It takes a Suffix of Ownership
[Genitive Suffix] →ev-in of the house, the house's.
The second noun is the Possessed Object:
It takes the 3rd Person Suffix → duvarı its wall.
Turkish Extended Possessive Constructions
The "motion toward", "motion away" and "static" conditions can be added to the possessed noun:
evin duvarına
to the wall of the house
[dative: "to the house's wall"]evin duvarında
at/on/in the wall of the house
[locative: "in / on / at the house's wall"]evin duvarından
from the wall of the house
[ablative: "from / by / through the house's wall"]Odanın içinde yer bulup oturdu.
He found a place in the room and sat down.
[LIT: "In the inside of the room"]Mehmet'in kutuda ne var?
What is in Mehmet's box?
Bilmem, onun içine bakmadım.
I don't know, I have not looked inside it
[LIT: "to the" inside "of" it.]Bankanın içinden bir ses geliyordu.
A sound was coming from inside the bank
[LIT: "from the" inside "of" the bank.Bu odanın içindekiler birbiriyle sohbet ediyor.
The people in this room are chatting to each other.
[LIT: "The people "that are in the" inside of this room are chatting to each other."]Turkish Possessive Construction - Omission of the Ownership Suffix
In many cases the suffix of ownership from the possessor may be omitted with very little difference in meaning:
Fabrikanın içinde çok insan çalışıyor.
Fabrika içinde çok insan çalışıyor.
Both the above mean: Many people are working in the factory.
Turkish Definite Possession
The possessor noun carries the ownership suffix.
It is definite and refers to a particular specific posessor known to the speaker.
Bu hayvanlar mağaranın içinde yaşar.
These animals ive in the cave.
[a definite cave]Eşyalarımı kutunun içine koydum.
I put my things into the box.
[a specific box]Turkish Demonstratives are Definite
The use of a demonstrative adjective this,that causes a noun to be specific, so it
must take an ownership suffix:Bu şehrin içinde çok insan var.
There are many people "living" in this city.
Bu bahçenin içinde çok çeşit çiçek bulunur.
Many type of flowers are to be found in this garden.
Yangın, o adamın ofisinin duvarın içinde başlamış.
Apparently the fire started in that man's office wall.
[chained possession "in the inside of wall of the office of that man"]Turkish Indefinite Possession
If however the Possessive Suffix is absent then the noun becomes indefinite and is often used in a general sense:
Bu hayvanlar mağara içinde yaşar
These animals live in caves / a cave.
[caves generally]Eşyalarımı kutu içine koydum.
I put my things into a box / boxes.
[indefinite box / boxes]
