noun compounds in Turkish

1. 2016
NOUN
COMPOUNDS
IN
TURKISH
Yüksel Göknel
Y G O K N E L @ O U T L O O K . C O M

2. NOUN COMPOUNDS IN TURKISH
2
“POSSESSIVE + OWNED” NOUN COMPOUNDS
İsim Tamlamaları
All noun compounds function as nominal phrases in sentences. These
compounds play a considerable part in transforming Turkish simple
sentences to be used in Phrase Structures. Therefore, they have to be con-
sidered before going on with further explanations. Although these com-
pounds are called noun compounds, they naturally cover pronouns and
infinitives, as well. A noun compound is composed of two parts: the “pos-
sessive” (tamlayan), and the “owned” (tamlanan) parts. When a pronoun
is used in the possessive part of a compound, its possessive personal
allomorphs change according to the vowel and consonant harmony rules of
the Turkish language as follows:
DEFINITE NOUN COMPOUNDS
Belirtili İsim Tamlamaları
Possessive Personal Allomorphs Attached to the Possessive Parts
of the Compounds:
ben-im (be*nim) (my), sen-in (se*nin) (your), o-/n/un (o*nun) (his, her,
its), biz-im (bi*zim) (our), siz-in (si*zin) (your), onlar-ın (on*la*rın) (their),
okul-un (o*ku*lun), sandalye-/n/in (san*dal*ye*nin), görüş-me-/n/in (gö*rüş*-
me*nin)
Note: Although all the words that are used in the possessive parts of the
noun compounds function as modifiers, they are called "possessive
adjectives" in traditional grammars. Turkish glides are: /n/, /s/, /ş/, /y/.
As it is seen in the examples above, the possessive personal morphemes
following the personal subject pronouns are ben-im, sen-in, o-/n/un, biz-
im, siz-in”, onlar-ın. If a noun is used in place of the third person singular
pronoun, the allomorphs of the possessive nouns change according to the
vowel rules. When these pronouns, common nouns, or proper nouns end
with consonants, they take these suffixes, but if they end with vowels, they
need the /n/ glides to attach to the same possessive personal morphemes
to produce possessive modifiers.
ben-im (be*nim), sen-in (se*nin), o-/n/un (o*nun), biz-im (bi*zim), siz-in
(si*zin), onlar-ın (on*la*rın), okul-un (o*ku*lun), örtü-/n/ün (ör*tü*nün),
çalış-ma-/n/ın (ça*lış*ma*nın), yüksel-me-/n/in (yük*sel*me*nin).

3. NOUN COMPOUNDS IN TURKISH
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All subject pronouns, common nouns, proper nouns, and infinitives can be
used in the possessive parts of the noun compounds:
ben-im okul-um; okul-un kapı-/s/ı; Ali-/n/in çanta-/s/ı; çalış-ma-/n/ın sonuç-u
pronoun common noun proper noun infinitive
All common nouns, infinitives, and transformed nominal phrases can be
used in the owned parts of the noun compounds, such as:
ben-im okul-um Ahmet’-in gel-me-/s/i Ayşe-/n/in gül-üş-ü ben-im git-tik-im
common noun infinitive infinitive infinitive
The transformed nominal phrases are used as subjects or objects, but the
last “noun + infinitive” compound (ben-im git-tik-im) can be used both as
subjects, objects, and as modifiers in sentences:
O-/n/un çalış-tık-ı-/n/ı bil-iyor-um. O-/n/un çalış-tık-ı şirket
noun compound-/n/ı (def obj) verb subj noun compound (modifier) noun
I know that he works. the company where he works
noun clause (obj) det noun noun clause (modifier)
Posessive Personal Allomorphs Attached to the owned Parts of the
Compounds
im, ım, üm, um, em, am = my
The possessive pronouns and the possessive allomorphs [im, ım, üm,
um, em, am] attached to the owned parts of the noun compounds carry the
same meanings. Therefore, “derfter-im” means “my notebook”. Therefore,
when only “defter-im” is used “ben-im” pronoun is generally ignored unless
it is thought very important. All the other pronouns are treated similarly:
im, ım, üm, um, em, am = my
Sepet-im (se*pe*tim) my basket; okul-um (o*ku*lum) my school; araba-
am (a*ra*bam) my car; baba-am (ba*bam) my father; gül-me-em (gül*-
mem) my laughter.
in, ın, ün, un, en, an = your
defter-in (def*te*rin) your notebook; mesele-en (me*se*len) your
problem; kutu-un (ku*tun) your box; tarla-an (tar*lan) your field; ev-in
(e*vin) your house; gözler-in (göz*le*rin) your eyes; yüz-me-en
(yüz*men) your swimming.

4. NOUN COMPOUNDS IN TURKISH
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[i, ı, ü, u] = o-/n/un (his , her, its), okul-u = his school, baba-/s/I =his
father, anne-/s/I = his mother, iş-i = his job, sorun-u = his problem.
In the possessive part of a noun compound, either “o”, or a "noun", or an
"infinitive" can be used. The possessive personal allomorphs attached to
both the possessive and the owned parts of the compounds are as follows:
possessive owned example
…C-[in, ın, ün, un]; …C-[i, ı, ü, u] Jack-in okul-u
. ..C-[in, ın, ün, un] …V-[/s/i, /s/ı, /s/ü, /s/u] Jack-in araba-/s/ı
… V-[/n/in, /n/ın, /n/ün, /n/un] …C-[i, ı, ü, u] perde-/n/in kumaş-ı
… V-[/n/in, /n/ın, /n/ün, /n/un] …V-[/s/i, /s/ı, /s/ü, /s/u] Ayşe-/n/in anne-/s/i
In the table above, “…C” represents a noun ending with a consonant; “…V”
represents a noun or a pronoun ending with a vowel.
In the examples below, the identical vowels that combine are written in
bold face, and the consonants that detach from their syllables and attach
to the first vowels of the following morphemes are single underlined.
kalem-i (ka*le*mi) his pencil; köy-ün deli-/s/i (kö*yün / de*li*si); ev-in
kedi-/s/i (e*vin / ke*di*si); cümle-/n/in son-u (cüm*le*nin / so*nu); okul-un
şarkı-/s/ı (o*ku*lun / şar*kı*sı); deli-/n/in gül-me-/s/i (de*li*nin / gül*me*-si);
çalış-ma-/n/ın sonuç-u (ça*lış*ma*nın / so*nu*cu); ağla-ma-/n/ın ne-den-i
(ağ*la*ma*nın / ne*de*ni); kız-ın güzellik-i (kı*zın / gü*zel*li*ği)
[imiz, ımız, ümüz, umuz, emiz, amız] = biz-im (our)
okul-umuz (o*ku*lu*muz) our school; tencere-emiz (ten*ce*re*miz) our
saucepan; baba-amız (ba*ba*mız) our father; köy-ümüz (kö*yü*müz) our
willage; sorun-umuz (so*ru*nu*muz) our problem; bahçe-emiz (bah*çe*-
miz); our garden, anlaş-ma-amız (an*laş*ma*mız) our agreement.
[iniz, ınız, ünüz, unuz, eniz, anız] = siz-in (your)
davul-unuz (si*zin / da*vu*lu*nuz) your drum; araba-anız (a*ra*ba*nız)
your car; kız-ınız (kı*zı*nız) your daughter; kafa-anız (ka*fa*nız) your
head” bahçe-eniz (bah*çe*niz) your garden; iş-iniz (i*şi*niz) your work;
konuş-ma-anız (ko*nuş*ma*nız) your talk.
[i, ı, ü, u] or ([ler-i, lar-ı]) = onlar-ın (their)
onlar-ın okul-u (on*la*rın / o*ku*lu); onlar-ın çiçekler-i (on*la*rın /

5. NOUN COMPOUNDS IN TURKISH
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çi*çek*le*ri); onlar-ın konuş-ma-lar-ı (on*la*rın / ko*nuş*ma*la*rı); onlar-
ın anne-/s/i (on*la*rın / an*ne*si); onlar-ın kedi-/s/i (on*la*rın / ke*di*si).
defter-im (def*te*rim) (my notebook)
baş-ım (ba*şım) (my head)
göz-üm (gö*züm) (my eye)
sakal-ım (sa*ka*lım) (my beard)
sorun-um (so*ru*num) (my problem)
kuş-um (ku*şum) (my bird)
Jack’in okul-u (ce*kin / o*ku*lu) (Jack’s school)
Since a personal possessive morpheme in the owned part of a compound
is enough to help someone understand the possessive pronoun in the
possessive part of a compound, the possessive pronouns are generally
ignored unless they are intentionally stressed. One can say “kitap-ım” in
place of “ben-im kitap-ım”. If only the owned part of the compound is used,
the stress is on “bım”. If both parts are used, the stress is on “nim”.
If an owned noun in a compound ends with a vowel, and the first vowel of a
personal possessive morpheme starts with the same vowel, these two
identical vowels combine, and verbalize as a single vowel:
araba-am (a*ra*bam); (my car)
mesele-em (me*se*lem); (my problem)
tarla-am (tar*lam); (my field)
kafa-am (ka*fam); (my head)
sandalye-em (san*dal*yem); (san*dal*yem) (my chair)
pipo-um (pi*pom); (pi*pom) (my pipe) (The “u” drops.)
karı-ım (ka*rım); (ka*rım) (my wife)
deri-im (be*nim ; (de*rim) (my skin)
su-/y/um (su*yum); (su*yum) (my water)
If an owned noun of a compound ends with the unvoiced /p/, /k/, /ç/, or /t/
consonants, they change into their counterpart voiced consonants /b/, /ğ/,
/c/, or /d/ respectively:
Bebek-im (be*be*ğim) (my baby) (The /k/ changes into /ğ/)
Köpek-im (kö*pe*ğim) (my dog) (The /k/ changes into /ğ/)
Çorap-ım (ço*ra*bım) (my sock) (The /p/ changes into /b/)

6. NOUN COMPOUNDS IN TURKISH
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Araç-ım (a*ra*cım) (my vehicle) (The /ç/ changes into /c/)
Dert-im (der*dim) (my trouble) (The /t/ changes into /d/)
All the monosyllabic roots and most words ending with /t/ do not change
their last consonants when they are suffixed:
at-ım (a*tım) (my horse); süt-üm (sü*tüm) (my milk); kürk-üm (kür*küm)
(my fur); ip-im (i*pim) (my rope); saç-ım (sa*çım) (my hair); hap-ım
(ha*pım) (my pill); sepet-im (se*pe*tim) (my basket); saat-im (sa*a*tim)
(my watch); demet-im (de*me*tim) (my bunch); kürk-ün (kür*kün) (your
fur); atlar-ımız (at*la*rı*mız) (our horses).
When “sen-in” is used in the possessive position, the owned nouns are
suffixed with [in, ın, ün, un, en, an] possessive personal allomorphs:
defter-in (def*te*rin) (your notebook) i
baş-ın (ba*şın) (your head)
gözler-in (göz*le*rin) (your eyes)
tuz-un (tu*zun) (your salt)
baba-an (ba*ban) (your father)
sandalye-en (san*dal*yen) (your chair)
If owned nouns end with wovels or /p, t, k, ç/ unvoiced consonants, they
undergo the same changes as they do in the examples above:
köpek-in (kö*pe*ğin), çorap-ın (ço*ra*bın), gömlek-in (göm*le*ğin),
bıçak-ın (bı*ça*ğın); but süt-ün (sü*tün), sepet-in (se*pe*tin), araba-an
(a*ra*ban)
The third person owned nouns are suffixed with [i, ı, ü, u] allomorphs:
ev-i =his house, okul-u= his school, kalem-i =his,pecil, ceket-i, düğün-
ü, göz-ü, baş-ı (ba*şı), kaş-ı (ka*şı), oğul-u (oğ*lu)
When a third person owned noun ends with a vowel, it takes an /s/ glide
when it is attached to a possessive personal suffix:
araba-/s/ı (a*ra*ba*sı) (his car); bahçe-/s/i (bah*çe*si) (his garden); tarla-
/s/ı (tar*la*sı) (his farm); halı-/s/ı (ha*lı*sı) (his carpet); leke-/s/i (le*ke*si)
(its stain); öfke-/s/i (öf*ke*si) (his rage); kapı-/s/ı (ka*pı*sı) (his door);
gaga-/s/ı (ga*ga*sı) (its beak); anne-/s/i (an*ne*si); baba-/s/ı (ba*ba*sı);
çeşme-/s/i (çeş*me*si) (its tap); yama-/s/ı (ya*ma*sı) (its patch); gel-me-
/s/i (gel*me*si) (his coming).

7. NOUN COMPOUNDS IN TURKISH
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If the possessive pronouns are used together with the owned parts of the
compounds, the possessive pronouns (modifiers) become dominant and the
stress goes onto the possessive pronouns:
Onun arabası (o*nun / a*ra*ba*sı); onun bahçesi (o*nun / bah*çe*si)
The /p, t, k, ç / unvoiced consonants change into their voiced counterparts
/b, d, ğ, c / respectively as in the examples below. This consonant change
does not change the lexical meaning of the words.
o-/n/un corap-ı (o*nun / ço*ra*bı) (his sock); o-/n/un dolap-ı (o*nun /
do*la*bı) (his cupboard); o-/n/un amaç-ı (o*nun / a*ma*cı) (his goal);
o-/n/un sokak-ı (o*nun / so*ka*ğı) (his street); o-/n/un kapak-ı, (o*nun /
ka* pa*ğı) (its lid); o-/n/un bacak-ı (o*nun / ba*ca*ğı) (his leg); o-/n/un ip-i
(o*nun / i*pi); o-/n/un süt-ü (o*nun / sü*tü).
A noun (or an infinitive) in an owned position is used just like a third person
possessive pronoun. When a noun in the possessive position ends with a
vowel, it needs an /n/ glide to attach to ♫ [in, ın, ün, un] allomorphs. As the
third person singular pronoun is “o”, which has only one vowel, it also
needs the same /n/ glide to attach to [un] allomorph. Interrogative
possessives can also be used in the owned parts of the compounds:
o-/n/un kapı-/s/ı (o*nun / ka*pı*sı) (its door); oda-/n/ın kapı-/s/ı (o*da*nın /
ka*pı*sı) (the door of the room); o-/n/un yakıt-ı (o*nun / ya*kı*tı) (its fuel);
araba-/n/ın yakıt-ı (a*ra*ba*nın / ya*kı*tı) (the fuel of the car); okul-un
otobüs-ü (o*ku*lun / o*to*bü*sü) (the bus of the school); bahçe-/n/in
kapı-/s/ı (bah*çe*nin / ka*pı*sı) (the gate of the garden); Kim-in tarla-
/s/ı? (ki*min↝ / tar*la*sı↝) çiftçi-/n/in tarla-/s/ı (çift*çi*nin / tar*la*sı) (the
farm of the farmer); Nere-/n/in halı-/s/ı? (ne↝re*nin / ha*lı*sı↝); oda-
/n/ın halı-/s/ı (o*da*nın / ha*lı*sı) (the carpet of the room); Kim-in karı-
/s/ı? (ki*min↝ / ka*rı*sı↝); Jack’in karı-/s/ı. (ja*kin / ka*rı*sı) (Jack’s
wife); yürü-me-/n/in yarar-ı (yü*rü*me*nin / ya*ra:*rı) (the benefit of walk-
ing); Ne-/y/in renk-i? (ne*yin↝ / ren*gi↝) şarap-ın renk-i (şa*ra*bın /
ren*gi) (the color of the wine); çiçek-in güzellik-i (çi*çe*ğin / gü*zel*li*ği)
(the beauty of the flower)
When the noun compounds ending with vowels are suffixed by the
allomorphs of the [İ], [E], [DE], or [DEN] morphemes, they take the /n/ glides:
Jack Mary’-/n/in köpek-i-/n/i ısır-dı.
(jack / me*ri*nin / kö*pe*ği*ni / ı*sır*dı ↷)
Jack bit Mary’s dog.

8. NOUN COMPOUNDS IN TURKISH
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Jack Mary’/n/in köpek-i-/n/e bir taş at-tı.
(jack / mary*nin / kö*pe*ği*ne / bir / taş / at*tı ↷)
Jack threw a stone at Mary’s dog.
Köpek Mary’/n/in bahçe-/s/i/n/-de.
(kö*pek~ / mary*nin / bah*çe*sin*de ↷)
The dog is in Mary’s garden. (“In Mary’s garden” is subject complement.)
Mary’/n/in okul-u/n/-dan gel-iyor-um.
(mary*nin / o*ku*lun*dan / ge*li*yo*rum ↷)
I am coming from Mary’s school.
The inflectional plural allomorphs [ler, lar] are attached to noun roots or
stems first, and then the other allomorphs follow:
çocuklar-ım (ço*cuk*la*rım), okullar-ımız (o*kul*la*rı*mız), çiçekler-i
(çi*çek*le*ri), arabalar-ınız (a*ra*ba*la*rı*nız), komşu-lar-ımız (kom*şu*-
la*rı*mız), saatler-im (sa*at*le*rim), sepetler-iniz (se*pet*le*ri*niz)
The personal allomorphs below are attached to the plural allomorphs above:
kitaplar-ım (ki*tap*la*rım) (my books); çiçekler-in (çi*-çek*le*rin) (your
flowers); oyuncak-lar-ımız (o*yun*cak*la*rı*mız) (our toys).
As the possessive pronouns in the compounds are generally ignored, only
the owned parts of the compounds are used. When the possessive parts
are used together with the owned parts of a compound, the possessive parts
are stressed. However, when only the owned parts are used, the stress
goes onto the owned parts:
"ben-im kitaplar-ım" (be*nim / ki*tap*la*rım) = "kitaplar-ım (ki*tap*la*rım)
Kitap-lar-ım (ki*tap*la*rım) (my books); kediler-imiz (ke*di*le*ri*miz) (our
cats); köpekler-i (kö*pek*le*ri) (his dogs); sepet-ler-imiz (se*pet*le*ri*miz)
(our baskets); dostlar-ım (dost*la*rım) (my friends); sorular-ım (so*ru*-
la*rım) (my questions); sorunlar-ımız (so*run*la*rı*mız) (our problems);
kafa-am (ka*fam) (my head); pencere-em (pen*ce*rem) (my window);
kafa-an (ka*fan) (your head); kafa-/s/ı (ka*fa*sı) (his head); okul-u (o*ku*lu)
(his school); giysi-/s/i (giy*si*si) (her dress); araba-anız (a*ra*ba*nız) (your
car); kapı-ınız (ka*pı*nız) (your door); yüz-ünüz (yü*zü*nüz) (your face).

9. NOUN COMPOUNDS IN TURKISH
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Contrary to the English intonation in a Turkish “modifier + noun”
compound, the stressed syllable is on the modifier, not on the noun. In Turk-
ish: sarı gül (sa*rı / gül); in English: "yellow rose" (ye*low / rose).
When the first, the second or the third person plural possessive pro-
nouns are used in the possessive part of a noun compound such as
“bizim”, “sizin”, and “onların”, both the singular and the plural owned
nouns can be used in the owned part of a noun compound:
bizim araba-amız, or bizim arabalar-ımız; sizin kedi-iniz, or sizin kedi-
ler-iniz; onların oda-/s/ı, or onların odalar-ı; bizim ev-imiz, or bizim ev-
ler-imiz.
INDEFINITE NOUN COMPOUNDS
Belirtisiz İsim Tamlamaları
The “possessive + owned” compounds described above are all definite.
When “oda-/n/nın kapı-/s/ı” is said, it means “the door of the room”.
However, when we say “kapı zil-i” instead of “kapı-/n/ın zil-i”, we mean
“door bell”, where “door” is indefinite. The indefinite Turkish noun
compounds are structurally different from the English indefinite noun
compounds. For instance, in the Turkish compounds, the allomorphs of [İ]
are attached to the second parts of the compounds, such as “okul çanta-
/s/ı”, but in English, only two nouns are used as “school bag”. When the
owned parts end with consonants in Turkish, they take the allomorphs of
[İ], but when they end with vowels, they take the /s/ glides together with the
allomorphs of [İ]. The indefinite interrogative words can also be used in the
first parts of these compounds:
Here are some examples of the indefinite noun compounds:
Ne çanta-/s/ı? (ne↝ / çan*ta*sı↝); Okul çanta-/s/ı (o*kul / çan*ta*sı) (school
bag); Ne soru-lar-ı? (ne↝ / so*ru*la*rı↝); Sınav soru-lar-ı (sı*nav / so*ru*-
la*rı) (examination questions); öğrenci kavga-/s/ı (öğ*ren*ci / kav*ga*sı) (stu-
dent fight); otomobil yarış-ı (o*to*mo*bil / ya*rı*şı) (car race); insan hak-lar-ı
(in*san / hak*la*rı) (human rights); Ne reçel-i? elma reçel-i (el*ma / re*çe*li)
(apple jam); Ne kaza-s/ı? (ne↝ / ka*za:*sı↝); araba kaza-/s/ı (a*ra*ba / ka*-
za:*sı) (car accident); kalem kutu-su (ka*lem / ku*tu*su) (pencil box); kış
bahçe-/s/i (kış / bah*çe*si) (winter garden); işsizlik sorun-u (iş*siz*lik / so*-
ru*nu) (unemployment problem); yaz eğlence-/s/i (yaz / eğ*len*ce*si)
(summer entertainment); güneş gözlük-ler-i (gü*neş / göz*lük*le*ri)
(sunglasses); patates salata-/s/ı (pa*ta*tes / sa*la*ta*sı) (potato salad); hava
kirlilik-i (ha*va / kir*li*li*ği) (air pollution); baş ağrı-/s/ı (ba*şağ*rı*sı)

10. NOUN COMPOUNDS IN TURKISH
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(headache); it dalaş-ı (it / da*la*şı) (dog fight); mürekkep leke-/s/i (mü*rek*-
kep / le*ke*s/) (ink stain)
NOUN COMPOUNDS WITHOUT SUFFIXES
Takısız Tamlama
There are some other noun compounds that are made up of two nouns:
tahta kutu (tah*ta / ku*tu) (wooden box); altın bilezik (al*tın / bi*le*zik) (gol-
den bracelet); porselen fincan (por*se*len / fin*can) (china cup); demir ka-
pı (de*mir / ka*pı) (iron door); taş bina (taş / bi*na:) (stone building); plas-
tik oyuncak (plas*tik / o*yun*cak) (plastic toy); bakır tel (ba*kır / tel)
(copper wire); mermer heykel (mer*mer / hey*kel) (marble statue); kız
arkadaş (kı*zar*ka*daş) (girl friend); erkek arkadaş (er*ke*kar*ka*daş) (boy
friend); gümüş para (gü*müş / pa*ra) (silver coin); tahta köprü (tah*ta /
köp*rü) (wooden bridge); Beyaz Saray (be*yaz / sa*ray) (The White House).
The pronouns used in the possessive position of the noun compounds are
also used in place of “mine”, “yours”, “his”, “hers”, “ours”, ” theirs”
and “Jack’s” as in the following:
Bu kitap ben-im. This book is mine.
Şu ayakkabılar o/n/un. Those shoes are hers.
Bu araba Jack’in. This car is Jack’s.
Şu gömlek sen-in. That shirt is yours.
Şu şeyler onlar-ın. Those things are theirs.
Bu yanlışlar biz-im. These mistakes are ours
This similarity could be seen in the following two sentences:
Bu benim kitab-ım. This is my book. Bu kitap benim. This book is mine.
Bu senin araba-an. This is your car. Bu araba senin. This car is yours.
Sometimes the [Kİ] morpheme, which does not follow the vowel harmony
rules, and consequently has no allomorphs, is attached to “benim”,
“senin”, “o-nun”, “Jack’in” possessive pronouns or nouns. This
morpheme generally means “this one among others”:
Bu çanta ben-im-ki.
(bu / çan*ta / be*nim*ki ↷)
This bag is mine (among others).

11. NOUN COMPOUNDS IN TURKISH
11
Şu koltuk siz-in-ki.
(şu / kol*tuk / si*zin*ki ↷)
This seat is yours (among others).
Bu masa Jack-in-ki. This table is Jack’s (among others).
Bu araba Oğuz-un-ki. This car is Oğuz’s (among others).
The first parts of the noun compounds are syntactically modifiers. For in-
stance, in the expressions “the car”, “this car”, “all cars”, and “my car”,
“the”, “this”, “all”, and “my” have modifying functions. Therefore, one
cannot put “a“, “an”, “the”, or “some” before these words, such as *“the this
car”, *“the all cars”, *“a my car”.
The possessive parts of the definite noun compounds are words like “the”
and “some”; therefore in English, people say “ the gate of the garden”, but in
Turkish, people say “bahçe-/n/in kapı-/s/ı”, where “bahçe-/n/in” is a modifier;
so we can formulate “bahce-/n/in kapı-/s/ı” as “modifier + noun”.
“NOUN + INFINITIVE” COMPOUNDS
“İsim + Mastar” Tamlamaları
The infinitives, as they are nouns, are also used in the “possessive +
owned” compounds. All noun compounds are of several kinds:
possessive pronoun + noun- [i, ı, ü, u] ⟶ ev-i (his house), arba-/s/ı (his car)
possessive noun + noun-[i, ı, ü, u]⟶ oda-/n/ın kapı-/s/ı (the door of the room)
possessive pronoun + infinitive-[i, ı, ü, u] ⟶ o/n/un anla-ma-/s/ı(his understand-ing),
o/n/un okul-a geç gel-me-/s/i (his come-ing to school late)
infinitive + noun-[i, ı, ü, u]⟶ gecik-me-/n/in ceza-/s/ı (the punishment ofbe-ing late)
infinitive + infinitive-[i, ı, ü, u]⟶öde-me-/n/in gecik-me-/s/i (the delay of the payment)
The /n/ and /s/ consonants used above are glides (semi vowels).
Some examples are as follows:
git-me-em (my go-ing); bak-ış-ı (her look-ing); git-tik-iniz (git*ti*ği*niz)
(that you went); buluş-ma-amız (our meet-ing); çalış-ma-amız-ın sonuç-
u (bi*zim / ça*lış*ma*mı*zın / so*nu*cu) (the result of our work-ing); işsiz-
lik-in art-ma-/s/ı (iş*siz*li*ğin / art*ma*sı) (increaseing of the unemploy-
ment); okul-a geç kal-ma-/n/ın sonuç-u (o*ku*la / geç / kal*ma*nın / so*-
nu*cu) (the result of come-ing to school late).

12. NOUN COMPOUNDS IN TURKISH
12
In the compounds above, the identical vowels combine, and the single
underlined consonants detach from their syllables and attach to the first
vowels of the following morphemes while the oral system of the Turkish
language is reorganizing the morphemes in harmony with the Turkish sound
system.
The parallelism between the above compounds. and those of the following
ones are obvious:
ben-im tencere-em, o-/n/un baş-ı, siz-in bilet-iniz, ben-im ev-im
As it is seen, the infinitives are nouns that are produced from verb roots,
stems and frames by adding [me, ma], [iş, ış, üş, uş], and [dik, dık, dük,
duk, tik, tık, tük, tuk] allomorphs. These infinitives, except the [mek, mak]
infinitives that are used in the owned parts, are used in noun compounds in
sentences as Nominal Phrases, such as:
ben-im gül-me-em, sen-in gül-üş-ün, o-/n/un ağla-dık-ı (ağ*la*dı*ğı), biz-im
bekle-me-emiz, Ahmet’-in çalış-ma-ma-/s/ı, onlar-ın gel-me-me-/s/i, çocuk-
un bulun-ma-/s/ı, biz-im buluş-ma-amız, araba-/n/ın çalın-ma-/s/ı…
It is possible in Turkish to produce chain noun compounds by lengthening
the compounds above as far as the word that ends the chain because all
natural languages are infinitely productive within the framework of the “NP +
VP” innate logical sentence pattern:
gençler-in spor yap-ma-/s/ı ⟶ possessive + owned
yap-ma-/s/ı-/n/ın önem-i ⟶ possessive + owned
önem-i-/n/in anla-şıl-ma-/s/ı ⟶ possessive + owned
gerek-ir. ⟶ verb (Note: The /s/ and /n/ consonants are glides.)
Gençler-in spor yap-ma-/s/ı-/n/ın önem-i-/n/in anla-şıl-ma-/s/ı gerek-ir.
subject predicate
(genç*le*rin / spor / yap*ma*sı*nın / ö*ne*mi*nin / an*la*şıl*ma*sı / ge*re*kir)
It is necessary to understand the importance of the youngsters’ playing sports.