Some Rules about using Buffer Letters
Turkish makes use of three buffer letters -n- -y- -s- mainly to keep vowels apart when adding suffixes.
There are rules on the choice of these suffixes which will be discussed below.
The Suffix -i - his, her, its
The suffix -i -ı -ü -u - his, her, its - always takes buffer letter -s- to become -si -sı -sü -su when added to a root word which ends in a vowel
| Simple Noun - Meaning |
Suffixed Noun - Extended Meaning |
| kedi - cat |
kedisi - his/her cat |
| şemsiye - umbrella |
şemsiyesi - his/her umbrella |
| kapı - door - |
kapısı - his/her/its door |
| palto - overcoat |
paltosu - his overcoat |
| ütü - flatiron |
ütüsü - his/her iron |
| araba - car |
arabası - his/her car |
| kuzu - lamb |
kuzusu - his/her lamb |
The buffer letter
-s- is only used for the third person singular possessive suffix - it is not used in any other instance.
Buffer Letter Examples
Buffer Letter usage - his, her, its
Turkish makes use of three buffer letters -n-, -y-, -s- mainly to keep vowels apart when adding suffixes.
The buffer letter -s-
The rules are as follows: Suffix -i -ı -ü -u - his, her, its - always takes buffer letter -s- when added to a root ending in a vowel - thus taking the form - -si -sı -sü -su.
| Plain Noun |
Extended Noun |
| kedi |
cat |
kedisi |
his cat |
| şemsiye |
umbrella |
şemsiyesi |
his umbrella |
| kapı |
door |
kapısı |
his door |
| palto |
overcoat |
paltosu |
his overcoat |
| ütü |
flatiron |
ütüsü |
her iron |
The suffix -i - the Direct Object Pointer
Note: Grammarians call this the Accusative Case
The suffix -i, -ı, -u, -ü - Direct Object Pointer - always takes buffer letter -y to become -yi, -yı, -yu, -yü - when added to a root word which ends in a vowel
-
Noun - Meaning - Suffixed Noun - Extended Meaning
- kedi - cat - kediyi - the cat - as an Object of a Verb
- banka - bank - bankayı - the bank - as the Object
The buffer letter -y- is only used with simple nouns which have not already been suffixed
But it takes buffer letter -n- to become -ni, -nı, -nu, -nü when added as a second suffix to an already extended noun.
This shift of buffer letter - y to n - enables the listner to discern that the word is already agglutinated (extended) by previous suffixes.
-
Noun - Meaning - Suffixed Noun - Extended Meaning
- kedisi- his/her cat - kedisini - his/her cat - as an Object
- bankası - his/her bank - bankasını - his/her bank - Object
To reiterate: The buffer letter
-n- is used on nouns which have already been extended by the addition of a suffix
The Suffix -a - to, towards.
The suffix -a, -e - to, towards - always takes buffer letter -y to become -ya -ye - when added to a root word which ends in a vowel
-
Noun - Meaning - Suffixed Noun - Extended Meaning
- kedi - cat - kediye - to the cat
- banka - bank - bankaya - to the bank
The buffer letter -Y- is only used with simple nouns which have not already been suffixed
But it takes buffer letter -n- to become -ne, -na when added as a second suffix to an already extended noun.
This shift of buffer letter - y to n - enables the listner to discern that the word is already agglutinated (extended) by previous suffixes.
-
Noun - Meaning - Suffixed Noun - Extended - Meaning
- kedisi - his/her cat - kedisine - to his/her cat
- bankası - his/her bank - bankasına - to his/her bank
To reiterate: The buffer letter
-n- is used on nouns which have already been extended by the addition of a suffix
The buffer letters -y- and -n-
The Suffix -a or -e - to, towards
Suffix -e -a - to, towards. This takes buffer letter -y- when added directly as the first suffix to a root word which ends in a vowel - thus taking the form -ye, -ya
- kediye - to the cat
- babaya - to the father
But it takes buffer letter
-n- when added as a second suffix to an already extended noun - thus taking the form
-ne, -na.
- kedisi - his cat
- kedisine - to his cat
- babaları - their father
- babalarına - to their father
This shift of Buffer Letter -y to -n helps the listener to discern that that noun has already been extended by a previous suffix.
The suffix -da, de - in, on, at
The suffix -dan, -den - from, than, via, through
Both these suffixes require a buffer -n- when added to an extended word
-
Simple - Noun - Meaning - Suffixed Noun - Extended Meaning
- bankadan - from the bank - bankasından - from his bank
- bankada - in/at the bank - bankasında - in/at his bank
- bankalardan - from the banks - bankalarından - from their bank(s)
- evden - from the house/from home - evinden - from his house
- evlerde - in the houses - evlerinde - in their houses
- kediden - from the cat - kedilerinden - from their cat(s)
The suffixes -de and -dan are added directly to Simple Nouns.
They become
-nda and
-ndan when added to nouns which are already suffixed in order to keep the suffix apart from the extended noun.
The Buffer Letter -n- used with -de and -den
Suffix -de -da - in, on, at - and -den -dan - from, via, by, through
These two suffixes also take a buffer letter
-n- after the -
his - or -
their - suffix - thus taking the forms
-nde, -nda , -nden, -ndan.
In these cases vowels are not being kept apart but the suffix is being seperated from the noun it modifies for the sake of clarity.
- evinde - in his house
- evlerinde - in their house
- evinden - from his house
- evlerinden - from their house
- bankasında - in his bank
- bankalarında - in their bank
- kedisinden - from his cat
- kedilerinden - from their cat or from his cats
The Personal Interrogative Pronoun - kim? - who?
The pronoun kim? - who? - has a plural in Turkish: kimler? - who? - wheras English makes do with one form who for both singular and plural:
-
Singular - Meaning - Plural
- kim - who? - kimler
- kime - to whom? - kimlere
- kimin - whose? - kimlerin
- kimi - who? (obj.) - kimleri
- kimde - on who? - kimlerde
- kimden - from whom? - kimlerden
- kiminle - with who? - kimlerle
-
Some Further Examples
- Kimi gördünüz? - Whom did you see? - Objective Singular
- Kimleri gördünüz? - Whom (what people) did you see? - Objective Plural
- Arabayı kimlerden aldınız? - From whom (plural) did you buy the car?
- Parayı kime verdiniz? - To whom did you give the money to?
- Bu gözlük kimin? - Whose are these glasses?
- Kiminle geldi? - Who did he come with?
Translation of - somebody.. anybody.. anybody..? nobody..
The translation of - somebody. - (positive) is -biri - (singular) OR birileri - (plural) - in Turkish
The translation of - nobody...... - (negative) is - kimse - in Turkish
The translation of - anybody.... - (negative) is - kimse - in Turkish
The translation of - anybody?... - (positive or negative question) - is kimse in Turkish
The word -
kimse - is very much that same as -
personne - in French
inasmuch as it can mean -
nobody.. (negative)
or
anybody..? (positive and negative questions)
according to the sentence context.
Some Examples
These examples show that the word somebody in Turkish can a singular "sombody" - biri - or - some plural "sombodies" - birileri
- Biri (birileri) var. - There is sombody there.
- Positive statement uses - somebody.. - in English.
- Kimse var mı? - Is there anybody there?
- Positive question uses - anybody..? - in English.
- Kimse yok. - There is nobody there.
- Negative statement uses - nobody.. - in English.
- Kimse yok mu? - Isn't there anybody there?
- Negative question uses - anybody..? - in English.
Further Examples of Usage
- Şimdiden evde biri (birileri) olmalı
- There must be somebody at home by now. - Positive Statement.
- Saat sekizde parkta kimse görünmedi.
- At eight o'clock there was nobody to be seen in the park - Negative Statement.
- Saat sekizde parkta kimse var mıydı?
- Was there anybody in the park at eight o'clock? - Positive Question.
- Bu anda ofisinizde kimse yok mu?
- Isn't there anybody in your office at the moment? - Negative Question.
Thanks to Nurcan Akaltun Çiftçi for corrections to the above section - JG - May 2008.
Special Case - the Diminutive Form - kimsecik
If the diminutive form - kimsecik - is used with the negative as in - kimsecik yok... - the the meaning becomes - nobody at all...
- Odanin içerinde (or içinde) kimse var mı? - Is there anybody in the room?
- Odada kimsecik yok. - there is nobody at all in the room.
Note: A rule to remember: - kimsecik - is only used with negative verbs.
The words -
kimse and
kimsecik - are invariable.
It does not take any further suffixes.
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