Turkish Possessive Adjectives my, your, his, our, their
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21.03.2018, 10:14 21.03.2018, 10:14
Turkish Possessive Adjectives my, your, his, our, their
Examples of the Suffixed Possessive Adjectives -im -ım -üm my
Question:
Which cat? Answer:
my cat.The word "my is a Possessive Adjective describing the noun cat.
The Turkish suffix -ım -im -um -üm is added to final consonants:
kolum
[kol-um]
my armThe leading vowel is dropped from the "-im" suffix -m when added nouns ending in a vowel:
arabam
[araba-m]
my carTurkish Possessive Adjective Reference Summary
The suffixes for all the persons: my, your, his, our, your, their
- Possessive Adjective Reference
- my
‑ım ‑im ‑um ‑üm
After vowels: -m - your
‑ın ‑in ‑un ‑ün
After vowels: -n your - his her its
‑ı ‑i ‑u ‑ü
After vowels: ‑sı ‑si ‑su‑ ‑sü - our
‑ımız ‑imiz ‑umuz ‑ümüz
After vowels: ‑mız ‑miz ‑muz ‑müz - your
‑ınız ‑iniz ‑unuz ‑ünüz
After vowels: ‑nız ‑niz ‑nuz ‑nüz - their
‑ları ‑leri
- The E-Dotted Vowels Singular
- el → elim my hand
- diş → dişim my tooth
- göz → gözüm my eye
- gül → gülüm my rose
- The E-Dotted Vowels Plural
- eller → ellerin your hands
- dişler → dişlerin your teeth
- gözler → gözleriniz your
(pl.)
eyes - güller → gülleri his / their roses
- The A-UnDotted Vowels Singular
- ay → ayım my month
- kız → kızın your daughter
- dost → dostu his / her pal
- sabun → sabunum my soap
- The A-UnDotted Vowels Plural
- aylar → aylarımız our months
- kızlar → kızlarımız our daughters
- dostlar → dostları his / their pals
- mektuplar → mektuplarım my books
The Plural suffix is always added first.
The Possessive Suffix follows the Plural Suffix.
- ellerim my hands
[el-ler-im]
- odalarımız our rooms
[oda-lar-ımız]
Adding the Possessive Adjective to words that end in a vowel
- When the word ends in a vowel then the Possessive Suffix drops its own initial vowel.
- kedi cat → kedim
[kedi-m]
my cat - The Possessive Suffix does not lose its vowel when attached to the plural of a noun.
It follows the final consonant of -ler -lar - kediler cats → kedilerim
[kedi-ler-im]
my cats - The Third Person Singular Possessive Suffix -i his, her, its becomes -si [uses Buffer Letter -s-] when added to a noun ending in a vowel.
- oda room → odası
[oda-s-ı]
his room
Buffer letter -s- is used to keep two vowels apart.
The single exception su water
The word su water is the single irregular noun in Turkish.
It takes a buffer letter -y- with all its suffixes.
- su water
- suyum my water
- suyun your water
- suyu his water
- suyumuz our water
- suyunuz your water
- suları their water
Turkish Consonant Mutation when adding Suffixes
Mutation: p ⇔ b
- kitap book → kitabım my book → kitaplarım my books
Mutation: k ⇔ ğ
- sokak street→ sokağım my street → sokaklarım my streets
Mutation: t ⇔ d
- armut pear → armudu his pear → armutları his pears/their pear(s)
- This example armutları his pears/their pear(s) can be construed three ways:
- armutlar -ı his pears → armut -ları their pear OR their pears
- The plural -lar suffix cannot be re-duplicated.
["armutlarları"is wrong.]
The context usually makes clear the singularity or plurality of the noun:
To be explicit then onun his or onların their can be used: - onun armudu his pear
[he has singular pear]
- onun armutları his pears
[he has plural pears]
- onların armudu their pear
[they have a singular pear]
- onların armutları their pears
[they have plural pears]
Turkish Possessive Adjectives showing difference of Singular and Plural Nouns
Vowel Harmony must be observed when suffixing singular or plural words.
- kapı door
- kapım my door
- kapılarım my doors
- bahçe garden
- bahçem my garden
- bahçelerim my gardens
- oda room
- odası his room
- odaları his rooms
- aile family
- ailesi his family
- aileleri their family/families
- araba car
- arabamız our car
- arabalarımız our cars
- otobüs bus
- otobüsümüz our bus
- otobüslerimiz our buses
- kulak ear
- kulağınız your ear
- kulaklarınız your ears
- şemsiye umbrella
- şemsiyeniz your umbrella
- şemsiyeleriniz your umbrellas
- domuz pig
- domuzu his pig
- onun domuzları his pigs
[domuzlar-ı]
- onların domuzları their pig(s)
[domuz-ları]
- göz eye
- gözü his eye
- onun gözleri his eyes
[gözler-i]
- onların gözleri their eye(s)
[göz-leri]
Turkish Suffixed Possessed Nouns - Extended
A noun with the possessive suffix being a noun in its own right can be subject to further suffixes.
Buffer letter -n- is used when adding second suffixes to possessed items.
For third person singular his, her, its and third person plural their:
- arabasına
[araba-sı-n-a]
to his/her car - elmalarından
[elma-ları-n-dan]
from their apple(s) - kedi cat. Singular kedi ends in a vowel so only suffix -m is added:
- kedim my cat
[kedi-m]
- kedimden from my cat
[kedi-m-den]
- kedime to my cat
[kedi-m-e]
- kediler cats. Plural kediler ends in a consonant so suffix -im is added:
- kedilerim my cats
[kedi-ler-im]
- kedilerimden from my cats
[kedi-ler-im-den]
- kedilerime to my cats
[kedi-ler-im-e]
- araba car. Singular araba ends in a vowel so only suffix -n is added:
- araban your car
[araba-n]
- arabana to your car
[araba-n-a]
- arabanda in your car
[araba-n-da]
- arabalar cars. Plural arabalar ends in a consonant so total suffix -ım is added:
- arabaların your cars
[araba-lar-ın]
- arabalarına to your cars
[araba-lar-ın-a]
- arabalarında in your cars
[araba-lar-ın-da]
- elma apple ends in a vowel so third person suffix using buffer letter -sı is added:
- onun elması his apple
[elma-s-ı]
- onun elmasında in his apple
[elma-s-ı-n-da]
- onun elmasından from his apple
[elma-s-ı-n-dan]
- onun his used to show that this apple belongs to one person.
- elmalar apples
- onun elmaları his apples
[elma-lar-ı]
- onun elmalarında in his apples
[elma-lar-ı-n-da]
- onların elmasında in their apple
[elma-s-ı-n-da]
- onların elmasından from their apple
[elma-s-ı-n-da]
- onların elmaları their apples
[elma-ları]
- onların elmalarında in their apples
[elma-ları-n-da]
- onların elmalarından from their apples
[elma-ları-n-dan]
- onların their is used to show that this/these apple(s) belongs to more than one person.
- köy village
- köyümüz our village
[köy-ümüz]
- köyümüzde in our village
[köy-ümüz-de]
- köyümüzden from our village
[köy-ümüz-den]
- köyler villages
- köylerimiz our villages
[köy-ler-imiz]
- köylerimizde in our villages
[köy-ler-imiz-de]
- köylerimizden from our villages
[köy-ler-imiz-den]
- köpek dog
- köpeğiniz your dog
[köpeğ-iniz]
- köpeğinizde on your dog
[köpeğ-iniz-de]
- köpeğinize to your dog
[köpeğ-iniz-e]
The Rule of Consonant Mutation -k changes to -ğ is operating here when a vowel suffix is being added to a hard consonant.
- köpekler dogs
- köpekleri their dogs
[köpek-leri]
- köpeklerine to his dogs
[köpek-ler-i-n-e]
- OR to their dog(s)
[köpek-leri-n-e]
- köpeklerinden from their dogs
[köpek-leri-n-den]
- ev house
- onların evi their house
[ev-i]
- onların evine to their house
[ev-i-n-e]
- onların evlerinde in their houses
[ev-leri-n-de]
- onların evlerinden from their houses
[ev-leri-n-den]
- evler houses
- onun evleri his houses
[ev-ler-i]
- onun evlerinde in his houses
[ev-ler-i-n-de]
- onun evlerinden from his houses
[ev-ler-i-n-den]
A reminder about buffer letter -N-
A noun with the possessive suffix can be subject to further suffixes.
Buffer letter -n- is used when adding second suffixes to possessed noun.