Addendum to The Oxford Turkish Grammar

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Summaries

A-10.5 More on bura-X and ora-X. When marked with the genitive and accusative, the deictic elements bura and ora are used as subject and object respectively, whereas the dative, locative, ablative, and instrumental forms are applied as adverbial phrases. In non-possessive forms the items bura and ora point at a place (location), but when marked with the instrumental they also allow for an interpretation in terms of ‘aspect of something’ which is given by the context or situation. However, the semantics of possessive forms are different. For the first and second person of bura and ora, the location referred to is without exception a body part, but for possessives third person this is only so if the referent is animate; otherwise some other locus is meant. Also with third person possessives a figurative interpretation in terms of ‘aspect of the matter’ is possible. 

A-10.6 From adverbial to postposition: N-gen ora-X. Forms such as bura-X and ora-X are not only used in adverbial phrases, but are also applied in adjectival constructions by adding the suffix –ki to a locative, e.g. ora-da-ki N ‘the N there’, as well as the first member in appositions, e.g. ora-X bir yer-X ‘a place (somewhere) there’. With the locative form orada this latter structure is part of the pattern N-gen orada bir yer-X, which is a hybrid structure that overlaps with N-gen ora-X. This construction does two things: it makes reference to some remote locus (hence, ora-X), and secondly, it specifies the approximate whereabouts of that locus: in, around, by, at, or near the N. Thereby this structure expresses a considerable degree of vagueness. 

A-13.4.6. Reclassifying ziyade and more is in first instance meant to rectify the claim that ziyade is a postposition, as made in section 13.3. It can be reclassified as a quantifier of the group which includes çok, fazla, and az. Furthermore, the type of standard applicable in comparisons based on these quantifiers will be explored, together with the ordering patterns found in structures in which the quantifier modifies the predicate rather than an object. The final section deals with comparisons with two subjects and two objects: A loves B more than X loves Y. 

A-26.3.9. On the usage of the question particle. This section provides an overview of the function the question particle fulfils in syntax. The standard types are yes/no questions (e.g. Gittin mi? ‘Did you go?’) and choice-questions (e.g. Çay mı, kahve mi, sana ne vereyim? ‘Tea or coffee, what shall I give you?’). Furthermore, the particle is applied in the following domains. Focalization is achieved by placing the particle after the target element. At the end of a subordinate clause the question particle functions as a connective and provides the temporal background or a conditional setting for the main clause. Both standard types are found in expressions of consequence / result. Nominal doublets with a question particle placed in between express intensity and similar structures based on a verb express the modality of ‘certainty’. Several types of questioned negative sentences are applied as a rhetoric device to express the opposite of what is asked or said, but they are also used to express surprise or amazement, or to attract attention. 

A-27.7. On the functions of –(y)sE / ise describes how this particle is used in domains other than that of the conditional clause. First, attached to a question word the suffix –(y)sE forms an adverbial phrase expressing some degree of vagueness with regard to its meaning (e.g. niyeyse ‘for some reason’; nasılsa ‘somehow’; neredense ‘from whatever place’, etc.). Secondly, in temporal, locative, and postpositional adverbials the element –(y)sE forms a connective which may express contrast. Another function of –(y)sE / ise is fronting or topicalizing the subject or object of a sentence. 

A-30.1.4. Transitive etmek is a notion that suffers from a considerable lack of exposure in the linguistic literature. The verb etmek is usually analysed as intransitive, and functioning as the pre-eminent means to form a composite verb on the basis of a noun or adjective. On the other hand, its status as a pure auxiliary is doubtful given the facts that etmek pops up as a participle in relative clauses and that it governs the accusative for its definite objects. For instance, whereas it is often assumed that for instance ziyaret ‘visit’ is fused with etmek into the derivation ziyaret etmek (-i) as a solid, unbreakable unit, constructions such as Bu aile-yi ziyaret-i et-ti ‘He visited this family’ with accusative marked ziyaret-i, and relative clauses such as Türkiye’ye et-tiğ-im ziyaret ‘the trip I made to Turkey’ seem to constitute a strong contradiction to this assumption. In connection with the observation that etmek in the sense of ‘to do’ has partially been replaced by (transitive) yapmak ‘to do / make’ over the past couple of decades, particularly among speakers of Turkish in the diasporas, the question may be raised if the popularity of transitive etmek on the Internet can somehow be linked to this phenomenon. 

A-30.1.5. Transitive olmak has in all likelihood not found much attention either (if any at all) in grammar books. Used as an auxiliary, it denotes a transition in physical or mental state, as in for instance hasta olmak ‘to fall ill’ and tedavi olmak ‘to get treatment’. These expressions are not some type of collocation, because the nouns they are based on function as superordinate category (hypernym): hasta ‘ill’ can be substituted by virtually any kind of disease or ailment and instead of tedavi ‘treatment’ any of its hyponyms (words for which tedavi ‘treatment’ serves as an umbrella term) are actually being used with olmak. Traditionally such expressions are analysed as the derivational result of a noun combined with the auxiliary verb olmak. However, there are arguments in favour of a different viewpoint, namely that there also exists a transitive verb olmak ‘to undergo’, taking definite objects. Such objects are noun phrases containing a demonstrative or a possessive suffix, e.g. Grip aşı-nız-ı ol-du-nuz mu? ‘Did you get your vaccination against the flu?’ The basis for the application of the latter suffix category is that the event referred to by the object is expected or implied.  

A-30.1.6. Deprivative etmek and olmak. This contribution is on the sequence noun-possessive-ablative functioning as the second object in structures based on the transitive form etmek (-i,-den) ‘to deprive s.o. of s.t’ and on the  intransitive form olmak (-den) ‘to be deprived of s.t.)’. Both verbs are the basis for idiomatic expressions of some sort, since their overall meaning cannot always be derived from the elements that make up the structure. 

A-30.4.9. Orientations and perspectives deals with various verbs that take the same type of object, in this way representing different orientations – process or action. An orientation to a process underlies ameliyat olmak in the sense of ‘to undergo an operation’, and typical action verbs are ameliyat etmek ‘to operate’ and ameliyat yapmak ‘to operate’. The perspective from which a state of affairs is to be presented determines the choice between active or passive verb form. The main question for nouns such as ameliyat ‘operation’ is what determines the choice of the active or passive verb: principal players (subjects) of active verbs are the patient (X olmak) and the doctor (X etmek and X yapmak), whereas for passive verbs the subjects are the patient in (X edilmek) and the X in (X yapılmak). This shows clearly that X olmak and X edilmek are process-oriented (subject = patient), and also that X etmek and X yapmak are action-oriented (subject = doctor). 

A-31.2.10. Forms in –(y)IcI is about a deverbal suffix that produces nouns and adjectives for which it can be assumed that the original argument structure of the verb is (partly) retained for adjectives, but not for nouns. Adjectives in –(y)IcI can take indefinite and definite (accusative marked) direct objects, whereas the ‘logical’ objects of nouns end up as the (zero marked) complement in a compound or as the (genitive marked) possessor in a genitive-possessive construction. 

A-31.10. Versatility and erraticism is a discussion and analysis of nouns that take a direct object. These nouns have a verbal counterpart in etmek and are predominantly of Arabic origin, but a small number of such nouns have been copied from other languages as well. For instance, (biz-im) ilk Türkiye’yi ziyaret-imiz sırasında ‘during our first visit to Turkey’ contains no transitive verb, but does contain a direct object nonetheless. Since it is rather exceptional for nouns to have a direct object, for some of these nouns alternative constructions appear to have been developed in order to avoid the expression of that direct object. However, the number of alternative expression is not equal for all nouns, a fact which makes some nouns more versatile than others. At the same time the class of these nouns is in that respect rather erratic as a whole. 

A-37.1.8. More on var and yok. The aim of this section is to go into several properties of var olmak versus yok olmak on the one hand, and var etmek versus yok etmek on the other, and more particularly, it will be investigated to what degree both pairs are each others semantic counterparts. In addition to this, each of these four verbs has a passive counterpart. In sum, there is a var-based group consisting of var olmak ‘to come into being; to exist’ (with passive var olunmak) and var etmek ‘to bring into existence’ (with passive var edilmek) and a yok-based verb group consisting of yok olmak ‘to disappear; to cease to be; to vanish’ (with passive yok olunmak) and yok etmek ‘to erase, to eliminate; get rid of’ (with passive yok edilmek). The analysis corroborates the findings of section A-30.4.9 with regard to the action-oriented nature of constructions in etmek and the process-oriented nature of constructions in olmak. Also constructions in edilmek a ‘processed’ is involved, but passive forms based on olunmak allow only for an impersonal interpretation.