Turkish Nouns
Turkish has six grammatical cases
A nominative case which carries no ending and five cases each with a typical ending. According to Vowel Harmony the vowels of the ending match the base word.
The endings of the cases are:
- Genitive: -in/-ın/-un/-ün
- The Genitive is the Case of Ownership
- Accusative: -i/-ı/-u/-ü
- The Accusative is the Direct Object of a Verb - it equates to - the.. - in English
- Dative: -a/-e
- The Dative is the Case of Movement Towards - it equates to - to., towards.. - in English.
- Locative: -da/-de or -ta/-te - according to Consonant Mutation rules.
- The Locative is the Case of Place - it equates to - in.. on.. at.. - in English.
- Ablative: -dan/-den or -tan/-ten - according to Consonant Mutation rules.
- The Dative is the Case of Movement Away - it equates to - from.. by.. via.. - in English.
Nouns - Diminutive and Affectionate
The suffix -cik
This suffix is vowel harmonised (see Vowel Harmony Reference in left panel) forms are cik -cık -cuk -cük.
This suffix becomes -çık -çik -çuk -çük when it mutates to its hard form when it is added to words which end in a hard consonant (see Consonant Mutation Reference in the left panel.)
Some Examples
- baba - father - becomes -babacık - daddy
- Mehmetçik - Lit:Little Mehmet - is the affectioniate word for a soldier. This would be a Tommy in English.
- kedi - cat - becomes - kedicik - pussycat
- köpek - dog - becomes - köpecik - puppy
- Final -k in the noun stem is usually dropped when adding this suffix. Because the terminal -k is dropped then the suffix takes its soft form of -cik.
-
The following examples also show this loss of terminal -k
- küçük - small - becomes - küçücük - little
- ufak - small - becomes - ufacık - tiny, minute
- minik - small and nice - becomes - minicik - wee, tiny
Vowel Production
Sometimes when adding the diminutive Suffix -cik it causes an extra vowel to be inserted - in effect the suffix becomes -icik.
- az - less - becomes - azıcık - little less as in birazıcık - just a little
- bir - one - becomes - biricik - unique
- dar - narrow - becomes - daracık -narrowish
In the word - azıcık - Although this inserted vowel is written, it is often glossed over in actual speech.
An Endnote
If we add the possesssive pronouns such as -im to the diminutives - "my" - (babacık + -ım becomes babacığım..! - daddy..!)
So you can often hear children crying - babacığım - (baba-cığ-ım) - (my) daddy or anneciğim - (anne-ciğ-im) - (my) mummy or even "köpeciğim!" - "my little puppy!".
The suffix -lik
This suffix is vowel harmonised (see Vowel Harmony Reference in left panel) forms are -lik -lık -luk -lük.
The suffix -lik is very heavily used in Turkish. It has four main uses in Turkish as follows;
1. Formation of Abstract Nouns
The main use of the suffix -lik is to form Abstract Nouns from Adjectives.
Some examples of Positive Abstract Nouns
güzel - beautiful - becomes - güzellik - beauty
mutlu - happy - becomes - mutluluk - happiness
iyi - good - becomes - iyilik - goodness
çocuk - child - becomes - çocukluk - childhood
It should be noted that the English Abstract nouns end in -ness (generally)
Of course these abstract nouns can be further suffixed in Turkish according to their function in meaning
mutluluğum... - my happiness...
An Example
- Hepimiz, çocukluğumuzu mutsuzluk içinde geçirdik.
- Hep-imiz, çocuk-luğ-umuz-u mut-suz-luk iç-i-nde geç-ir-dik
- All of us passed our childhood in unhappiness
- or
- Hepimizin çocuk-luğu mutsuzluk içinde geçti
- Hepimiz-in çocuk-luğ-u mutsuzluk iç-i-nde geçti
- All of our childhood(s) passed in unhappiness.
Thanks to Kadir Demirel for suggestions in this section - JG - Nov. 2006
2. Forming nouns of Usage
When adding -lik to concrete nouns or verb stems it forms nouns and adjectives meaning - suitable for.. intended for... place of...
Examples of Nouns of usage
tuz - salt - becomes - tuzluk - salt cellar
biber - pepper - becomes - biberlik - pepper shaker
göz - eye - becomes - gözlük - spectacles
kira - hire - becomes - kiralık - for hire
satılmak - to sell - becomes - satılık - for sale
3. Forming Nouns of Location
Bakan - Minister - becomes - Bakanlık - Ministry
çamaşır - linen, laundry items - becomes - çamaşırlık - a laundry
orman - forest - becomes - ormanlık - forest place
In this example of - forest - we can see that Turkish uses -lik to make a Substantive Noun of Location, as in the following example:
O tepenin arkasında büyük bir ormanlık bulunur - There is a large forest (to be found) behind that hill - here the word - ormanlık - is used as a general Substantive Noun of Location.
We may go on to talk about this particular - orman - itself: O ormanda çok yabani hayvan varmış. - It seems there are many wild animals in that forest.
Some Example of Place Names
Many place names - (have a look at a Turkish map) - often end in the suffix -lik. One that springs to mind is Ayvalık - Place of the Quince -(ayva), there is also a place near Çeşme called Değirmenlik - Place of the Mill - değirmen)
It is difficult to translate this suffix directly into English, we can only say - "Quince" or "Quinceville" and "Milltown" or "Millhill" or whatever..
Some examples of Place of..
Arising from the above we can also form nouns like:
elmalık - apple orchard - from - elma - apple
sebzelik - vegetable garden, stall - from - sebze - vegetable
çiçeklik - flower garden, stall - from - çiçek - flower
kitaplık - book case - from - kitap - book
4. The Suffix -lik with Numbers
A number is normally used as an adjective thus the number 10 (as an adjective) - on yumurta - ten eggs.
Turkish changes numbers and numeric expressions into nouns by the addition of the -lik suffix thus the number 10 - on - becomes - onluk - the amount of ten.
This is like saying - Lend me a tenner.. - in English - where the number 10 has become a noun of the amount ten.
The suffix -lik is often added to counted nouns to produce a complex counted noun. Let us take our example of - on yumurta - ten eggs. If we say - I want a ten egg box.. - in English - then we understand that our requirement is - A box that will contain the amount of ten eggs..
Let us look at some possibilities in Turkish:
on yumurta bir kutu - ten eggs one box - this example has no meaning in Turkish - it is just two items - "ten eggs" and "one box"
Turkish will use a counted noun - on yumurtalık - ten eggs-amount - thus - I want a ten egg box.. - becomes:
On yumurtalık bir kutu istiyorum - Lit: I want a ten egg-amount box
Note: If we want to say - I want a box of ten eggs - the Turkish uses the -li - furnished with... containing... - suffix:
On yumurtalı bir kutu istiyorum - I want a box containing ten eggs.
İki kişilik çadır var mı? - Lit: Is there a tent of two person-amount? - in English - Is there a double tent?
Evet var. Kaç günlük ? - Lit: Yes, there is. How many day-amount? - in English - Yes there is. For how many days?
5. The suffix -sizlik
Some examples of Negative Abstract Nouns
The -lik suffix is often added to the -siz - without, lacking in.. suffix to form Negative abstract nouns.
sabır - patience - becomes - sabırsız - impatient - and the abstract noun sabırsızlık - impatience
dikkat - care - becomes - dikkatsiz - careless and the abstract noun - dikkatsizlik - carelessness
Adding further suffixes according to Function of Meaning
Demin dikkatsizliğini (dikkat-siz-liğ-i-ni) fark ettim - I just noticed your carelessness.
Note that - dikkat - is from an Arabic Femine Plural - and as such it does not follow Turkish Vowel harmony Rules as the final letter -a- is pronounced very long - dikkAAt. Consequently anyadded suffixes take the Dotted form.
Many thanks to Nilda Ginn for corrections and suggestions to this above - JG Feb. 2006
and thanks to Kadir Demirel for corrections. JG Nov. 2006
More about Compound Nouns
- Bisikletimizi bıraktığımız yeri hatırlayamayacağız
- Bisiklet-imiz-i bırak-tığ-ımız yer-i hatırla-ya-ma-y-acağız
- We will not be able to remember the place where we leave/have left our bicycle(s).
In these sentences - yer - is the place that we can not remember where we left the bicycle, and - bisiklet - is the bicycle. Therefore both of them should be in accusative case. If we had wanted to say - I can't remember my bicycle's place - then we should have said - Bisikletimin yerini hatırlayamıyorum
In this sentence - Bisikletimin yeri - is something like a - Definite Noun Combination In Turkish it is called a - Belirtili isim tamlaması
The first component is in genitive form The second component gets the suffix -i (if it ends with a vowel it usually gets the buffer letter -s except the word - su - water - which takes buffer letter -y- to produce suyu - (the only irregular noun in Turkish)
Definite Noun Completion - Belirtili isim tamlaması
Here the first noun possesses the noun it modifies. The second noun is then suffixed as definitive.
We should note that both components retain their grammatical funtion as a noun in their own right. The first noun
- bisikletimin garajı - [Bisiklet-im-in garaj-ı] - my bicycle's garage - [the garage of my bicycle]
- kapının zili - [kapı-nın zil-i] - the door-bell - [the bell of the door]
- Mehmet'in arabası - [Mehmet'-in araba-sı] - Mehmet's car - [the car of Mehmet]
- pencerinin perdesi - [pencere-nin perde-si] - the window-curtain -[the curtain of the window]
All the above are Definite Compound nouns as they are both particular and both Definite. If we take the last example "the window its-curtain" - pencerenin perdesi - the window's curtain - we can see that it is a particular curtain belonging to a particular window. But we can also make this an Indefinite noun "any window curtain" - pencere perdesi - window curtain - This then is the difference between Definite and Indefinite (see below) Compound Nouns.
Indefinite Noun Completion - Belirtisiz isim tamlaması
Here the first noun acts as an adjective to describe the second noun which is suffixed as a definitive noun.
An explanation:
When two nouns are joined - as in lamp-post, the second noun takes the third person possessive suffix, e.g. ışık direği - (ışık direğ-i) - lamp-post [Lit: Lamp its-post].
Similarly - gece kulübü - (gece kulüb-ü) - nightclub [Lit: night its-club]
This is the way that Turkish shows a connection between the two words to mak a complex noun - the first noun "lamp" becomes an adjective to describe the second "post" which is made into a definitive noun by the addition of the third person suffix.
Of course further suffixes can be added to this complex noun as required:
- ışık direği - [direğ-i - (from direk)] - lamp post - [lamp its-post]
- ışık direğini - [direğ-i-ni] - his lamp post
- ışık direğininden - [direğ-i-ni-nden] - from his lamp post
- ışık direğinden - [direğ-i-nden] - from the lamp post
Some more examples
- bisiklet yeri - [bisiklet yer-i] - the bicycle place
- kapı kolu - [kapı kol-u] - the door handle yaz okulu - [yaz okul-u] - the summer school
- yolcu gemisi - [yolcu gemi-si] - the ferry boat - (Lit: the traveller boat)
- elma ağacı - [elma ağac-ı] - the apple tree
- ayakkabı boyası - [ayakkabı boya-sı] - the shoe polish
- bilgisayar ekrani - [bilgisayar ekran-i] - the computer screen
- öğrenci karnesi - [öğrenci karne-si] the student (shool) report
- su borusu - [su boru-su] - the water pipe
- deniz suyu - [deniz su-yu] - the sea water
In the last example above you will see that the definititive of - su (water) - is suyu - [not susu] - this is an exception, and is the ONLY unique exception in the Turkish languge.
Non-attached Completion - Takısız isim tamlaması
Used for indicate the material used . Neither noun is made definitive - thus producing a Combined Noun.
Here the first noun of material acts as an adjective describing the main noun which follows. This shows that adjectives always precede their noun in Turkish; it is important to realise this.
- Tahta kapı - Wooden door
- Alüminyum pencere - Aluminium Window
Thanks to Bahaddin Çankurt for the above - JG. Nov 2006
Postpositions
Unlike English prepositions, they follow the substantive.
- 1. Postpositions which require that the preceding noun have the Motion Away From (ablative) -den/-dan, -ten/-tan - from - suffix:
- -dan dolayı - because of.
- -dan başka - except for, apart from, other than.
- -dan beri - since.
- -dan evvel - before (in time).
- -dan sonra - after.
Examples
Bundan dolayı - because of this
Mehmet'in yaptıktan dolayı asla başarmayız - Because of what Mehmet did we will never succeed.
ondan başka - except for that
Piyanomdan başka herşeyi geri bıralacağım - Except for my piano I will leave everything behind
Ondan beri - since then
saat üçten beri - since 3 o'clock. - (üç-ten beri)
saat üçten beri sizi arıyordum. - I have been looking for you since three o'clock
Geçen haftadan beri hasta oldum. - I have been ill since last week.
şundan evvel - before (in time) that
Mayıs ayından evvel mühendis olarak çalışmakta bulunuyordum. - Before May I was working as an engineer.
Ondan sonra - after that Haziran ayından sonra işimden emekli oluyordum. - After July I retired from my work.
saat üçten beri - since 3 o'clock. - (üç-ten beri)
- 2. Postpositions which require that the preceding noun have the Motion Towards (dative) -e/-a -ye/-ya - to/toward suffix:
- -e nazaran - in regard to, compared with.
- -e kadar - up to, until, as far as.
- -e rağmen - despite.
- -e doğru - straight toward.
- -e göre - according to.
- -e karşı - against.
Examples
şimdiye kadar - [şimdi-ye kadar] - up to now.
Gelecek pazar güne kadar bekleyelim. - Let us wait until next Sunday.
Ankara'ya kadar - as far as Ankara
Çarşıya kadar gidiyorum. - I am going as far as the shops.
buna rağmen - [bu-na rağmen] - in spite of this
Kalan benzinimiz olmamasına rağmen bir garaj bulmalıyız - Despite us having no petrol left we must (still) find a garage.
bankaya doğru - [banka-ya doğru] - straight to the bank
Evden okula doğru gidin. - Go straight to school from home.
sana göre - [san-a göre] - according to you
Bu gazeteye göre hiç yeni haberı daha çıkmamış. - According to this newspaper no more new news has happened yet.
işinize nazaran - [iş-iniz-e nazaran] - with regard to your work
Yeni plana nazaran evimizin arka bahçesi küçültülecekmiş. - [küçül-t-ül-ecek-miş - seemingly-will-be-made-small] - According to the new plan our back garden wil be made smaller.
duvara karşı - [duvar-a karşı] - against the wall
Garajın kapısına karşı bisikletimi bırakmışım. - I believe I left my bicycle against the garage door.
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