Turkish Converbal Suffixes

@cite{goksel-kerslake-2005} @cite{kornfilt-1997}

Medial clause markers in Turkish: converbal (zarf-fiil) suffixes on the verb stem that link clauses in a chain. Like Korean, Turkish has no switch-reference morphology; each converbal suffix directly encodes the interclausal semantic relation. Turkish converbs are the textbook examples of UD VerbForm.Conv.

Turkish converbal constructions are productive: chains can be extended by adding medial clauses with converbal suffixes before the single final verb. The converbal verb lacks person/number agreement (this is carried only by the final verb), but some converbs allow tense or aspect marking.

Inventory

Suffix	Meaning	Negation
-(y)ip	sequential 'and then, having done'	-meyip
-(y)erek	manner/simultaneous 'by doing, while doing'	-meyerek
-(y)ince	temporal/conditional 'when, once'	-meyince
-ken	simultaneous 'while (in the state)'	-mazken
-dikce	proportional 'as, the more...the more'	-medikce
-meden	negative 'without doing'	(inherently negative)
-AlI	temporal 'since doing'	-meyeli
-casina	manner 'as if'	-mezcesine

structure Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.ConverbEntry : Type

A Turkish converbal suffix entry.

• form : String

  Suffix form (romanized). Allomorphs separated by /, vowel harmony indicated by parenthesized alternant.

• gloss : String

  Semantic relation gloss.

• inherentlyNegative : Bool

  Whether the converb is inherently negative.

• negativeForm : Option String

  Negative form (if not inherently negative).

instance Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.instReprConverbEntry : Repr ConverbEntry

Equations

• Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.instReprConverbEntry = { reprPrec := Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.instReprConverbEntry.repr }

def Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.instReprConverbEntry.repr : ConverbEntry → Nat → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

instance Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.instBEqConverbEntry : BEq ConverbEntry

Equations

• Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.instBEqConverbEntry = { beq := Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.instBEqConverbEntry.beq }

def Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.instBEqConverbEntry.beq : ConverbEntry → ConverbEntry → Bool

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
• Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.instBEqConverbEntry.beq x✝¹ x✝ = false

def Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.ip : ConverbEntry

-(y)ip: sequential 'and then, having done'. The most common converb for narrative sequencing. Links temporally ordered events with shared or different subjects.

Equations

• Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.ip = { form := "-(y)ip", gloss := "and then/having done (sequential)", inherentlyNegative := false, negativeForm := some "-meyip" }

def Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.erek : ConverbEntry

-(y)erek: manner or simultaneous 'by doing, while doing'. The medial event specifies the manner or accompanies the following event.

Equations

• Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.erek = { form := "-(y)erek", gloss := "by doing/while doing (manner/simultaneous)", inherentlyNegative := false, negativeForm := some "-meyerek" }

def Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.ince : ConverbEntry

-(y)ince: temporal or conditional 'when, once, upon doing'. Marks the medial event as a temporal anchor or condition.

Equations

• Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.ince = { form := "-(y)ince", gloss := "when/once (temporal/conditional)", inherentlyNegative := false, negativeForm := some "-meyince" }

def Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.ken : ConverbEntry

-ken: simultaneous 'while (in the state)'. Attaches to the aorist or progressive stem. Marks ongoing state during the following event.

Equations

• Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.ken = { form := "-ken", gloss := "while (simultaneous state)", inherentlyNegative := false, negativeForm := some "-mazken" }

def Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.dikce : ConverbEntry

-dikce: proportional 'as, the more...the more'. Marks a proportional or gradual temporal relation.

Equations

• Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.dikce = { form := "-dikce", gloss := "as/the more (proportional)", inherentlyNegative := false, negativeForm := some "-medikce" }

def Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.meden : ConverbEntry

-meden: negative converb 'without doing, before doing'. Inherently negative — there is no affirmative counterpart.

Equations

• Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.meden = { form := "-meden", gloss := "without doing (negative)", inherentlyNegative := true, negativeForm := none }

def Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.ali : ConverbEntry

-AlI: temporal 'since doing'. Marks the medial event as a temporal starting point for the main event. Example: geleli üç gün oldu 'it's been three days since (s/he) came'.

Equations

• Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.ali = { form := "-AlI", gloss := "since doing (temporal)", inherentlyNegative := false, negativeForm := some "-meyeli" }

def Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.casina : ConverbEntry

-casina: manner 'as if, as though'. Marks the medial event as a simulative manner description.

Equations

• Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.casina = { form := "-casina", gloss := "as if (simulative manner)", inherentlyNegative := false, negativeForm := some "-mezcesine" }

def Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.allConverbs : List ConverbEntry

All converbal suffixes.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

def Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.affirmativeConverbs : List ConverbEntry

Affirmative converbs (non-inherently-negative).

Equations

• Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.affirmativeConverbs = List.filter (fun (x : Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.ConverbEntry) => !x.inherentlyNegative) Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.allConverbs

def Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.negativeConverbs : List ConverbEntry

Inherently negative converbs.

Equations

• Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.negativeConverbs = List.filter (fun (x : Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.ConverbEntry) => x.inherentlyNegative) Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.allConverbs

theorem Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.converb_count : allConverbs.length = 8

8 converbal suffixes in total.

theorem Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.affirmative_count : affirmativeConverbs.length = 7

7 affirmative converbs.

theorem Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.negative_count : negativeConverbs.length = 1

1 inherently negative converb (-meden).

theorem Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.affirmative_have_neg_form : (affirmativeConverbs.all fun (x : ConverbEntry) => x.negativeForm.isSome) = true

Every affirmative converb has a negative form.

theorem Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.meden_no_neg_form : meden.negativeForm = none

The inherently negative converb has no separate negative form.

theorem Fragments.Turkish.MedialVerbs.polarity_partition : affirmativeConverbs.length + negativeConverbs.length = allConverbs.length

7 + 1 = 8: affirmative + negative exhausts the inventory.