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MORPHEMES, ALLOMORPHS
and
SYLLABLES
in
TURKISH
and
ENGLISH
YKSEL GKNEL
2016
2201
6201
6
YGOKNEL@OUTLOOK.COM
ur ar r
r er ir
As one could see, the two diagrams look exactly like one another. All the
words in the Turkish language follow either the first or the second harmony
sequences. The words borrowed from other languages do not follow these
sequences as expected, but the suffixes that attach to them follow the vowels of the last syllables of such words. Consequently, one could build up
meaningless vowel chains made up of only vowels following the two vowel
chains:
o*u*u*a**a*, o*a**a, **e*e*i, *e*i*e, "***", "o*a"
For instance:
kom*u*ya (o*u*a); kom*u*lar*dan (o*u*a*a); ge*le*cek*ler (e*e*e*e);
o*lu*tur*duk*la*r*mz*dan (o*u*u*u*a***a); u*nu*ta*lm (u*u*a*);
o*ku*la (o*u*a); ten*ce*re*ye (e*e*e*e); ka*a*ma*ya*cak (a*a*a*a*a)
One could make up Turkish meaningless vowel chains as many as one
wishes using the vowel chains above. I advise those who are interested in
learning Turkish to make up meaningless vowel chains like the chains
above, they should repeat them loudly again and again. If they do so, they
tava-/y/
How should we choose which allomorph we must use to attach to a free morpheme?
The de bound morpheme has four allomorphs de, da, te, ta. You cannot
choose any one of them you like. You have to choose the allomorph that can
follow the last vowel of a free morpheme following the vowel and consonant
harmony rules of the Turksh sound system. These allomrphs are generally
used to produce subject complements, therefore they are underlined brown.
Consider the following:
Jack ev-de. (ev-de is an adverbial subject complement.)
Jack is at home. (at home is an adverbial subject complement.)
Jack okul-da. (okul-da is an adverbial subject complement.)
Jack is at school. (at school is an adverbial subject complement.)
Elmalar sepet-te,
The apples are in the basket.
Jack butfak- ta.
Jack is in the kitchen.
If you check the Turkish vowel harmony sequences, you can see that they
are following the vowel and consonant harmony rules given in the diagrams
having straight and curved arrows above:
ev-de e-e, okul-da u-a, sepet-te e-e, mutfak-ta a-a
The bound allomorphs that are attached to free morphemes:
The Turkish bound allomorphs and their English corresponding articles and
prepositions are as follows:
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def obj
def obj
def obj
def obj
In English: He saw me. He saw you. He saw him. He saw us. He saw them.
obj
obj
obj
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obj
obj
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[im, m, m, um] = I
[sin, sn, sn, sun] = you
[] allomorphs = he, she, it
[iz, z, z, uz] = we
[siniz, snz, snz, sunuz] = you
[] or [ler, lar] = they
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(an*la*ma*dm)
(an*la*ma*dn)
(an*la*ma*d)
(an*la*ma*dk)
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(gr*me*dim)
(gr*me*din)
(gr*me*di)
(gr*me*dik)
(o*ku*ma*dm)
(o*ku*ma*dn)
(o*ku*ma*d)
(o*ku*ma*dk)
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If you notice, you can see that all the stressed syllables come before the
me, ma negative allomorphs.
Past continuous tense positive and their allomorphs:
In this tense, main verbs are followed by one of the iyor, yor, yor, uyor
continuous allomorphs as in the present continuous tense followed by a simple past tense du allomorph, and the verb phrase ends in a subject allomorph (Ben) um, (Sen) un, (O) , (Biz) uk, (Siz) unuz, (Onlar)
lar-di. The other allomorphs are not used in this tense because of the
YOR morpheme, whose yor second syllable never changes. Follow the
examples:
Gel-iyor-du-um. (I was coming), Gel-iyor-du-un. (You were coning).
Gel-iyor-du (He was coming), Gel-iyor-du-uk. (We were coming),
Gel-iyor-du-unuz. (You were coming), Gel-iyor-lar-d. (They were
coming)
The single underlined consonants detach from their syllables and attach to
the vowels following them, and the identical vowels combine and become
single vowels as in all sentences. You can formulate the syllable sequen-
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exadbut
exwill
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Grev-i-/n/i bitir-mi-tir.
(g*re*vi*ni / bi*tir*mi*tir )
He must (may) have finished his duty.
Ev-den ayrl-m-tr.
(ev*den / ay*rl*m*tr )
He must (may) have left home.
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verb
subj
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ADJECTIVE
VERB
ADJECTIVE
VERB + ADJECTIVE
get (feel) hungry
become confused
cloud, get cloudy
get ugly
go crazy
increase in value
get deep, deepen
be careful
correct, fix
bend
turn sour
become (get) poor
get younger
come true
grow difficult
grow stronger
eabecome butiful
get ready
get wet
get better
become impolite
get crowded
get dark
worry, feel anxious
become (get) dirty
redden, blush
get shorter, shorten
envy
be angry
get easy
grow worse
dry
decrease, become
smaller
become purple
cheer up
ripen
A
Aptal
Bulutlu
irkin
Deli
Deerli
Derin
dikkatli
Dzgn
Eri
Eki
Fakir
Gen
Gerek
G
Gl
Gzel
Hazr
Islak
yi
Kaba
Kalabalk
Karanlk
Kaygl
Kirli
Krmz
Ksa
Kskan
Kzgn
Kolay
Kt
Kuru
Kk
ack
aptalla
bulutlan
irkinle
delir
deerlen
derinle
dikkat et
dzelt
eril
eki
fakirle
genle
gerekle
gle
glen
gzelle
hazrlan
slan
iyile
kabala
kalabalkla
karar
kayglan
kirlen
kzar
ksal
kskan
kz
kolayla
ktle
kuru
kl
hungry
foolish
cloudy
ugly
crazy
precious
deep
careful
straight
bent
sour
poor
young
true
difficult
strong
beautiful
ready
wet
good, well
impolite
crowded
dark
worried
dirty
red
short
envious
angry
easy
bad
dry
small
Mor
Neeli
Olgun
morar
neelen
olgunla
purple
cheerful
ripe
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VERB
ADJECTIVE
VERB + ADJECTIVE
Pahal
pahalan
expensive
adjective
Parlak
Rahat
Renkli
Sakin
Serin
Sert
verb
parla
rahatla
renklen
sakinle
serinle
sertle
adjective
shiny
comfortable
colorful
calm
cool
solid, hard
Sinirli
Sklm
Souk
Tembel
Umutlu
Uslu
sinirlen
skl
sou
tembelle
umutlan
uslan
nervous, angry
bored
cold
lazy
hopeful
well-behaved
Uzun
uza
long
zgn
Yanl
Yaramaz
Yal
Yeil
Yoksul
Yksek
Zayf
Zengin
Zor
zl
yanl
yaramazla
yalan
yeillen
yoksulla
yksel
zayfla
zenginle
zorla
sorry
wrong
naughty
old
green
poor
high
weak
rich
difficult
become more
expensive
verb + adjective
shine
relax
become colorful
calm down
become cooler
become hard,
harden
get angry
be bored
become (get) cold
grow lazier
become hopeful
become wellbehaved
get (grow) longer,
lengthen
be (feel) sorry
be mistaken
get naughtier
grow older
turn green
get poorer
rise
lose weight
get rich
get difficult
Those who want to find more example sentences can find them in my
free book titled English Turkish Grammar Functional and Transformational, Yuksel Goknel on the internet.
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