On Turkic transformativizers and ... - Turkic Languages

184 Lars Johanson
The combination of the postterminal B converb with the posttransformative phase of
the initiotransformative auxiliary verbs yields the meaning ‘to be at a point where the
crucial (initial or final) limit has been transgressed’.
Changes in the phonetic shape
The phonetic shape of these postverbial constructions have often been reduced in the
course of the grammaticalization processes. One example mentioned above is the B
deletion in Khakas, e.g. kil < kil-ĭp. +T-markers of the fused types -(I)bIS- < B + ïs-
(Khakas, Shor, Chulym Turkic) and -(I)bIt- < B + ït- (Tuvan, Tofan), which often
express sudden and quick action, go back to constructions of the B converb suffix
and the old finitransformative auxiliary verb ï:δ- ‘to send, to release’. This verb has
been retained in various phonetic shapes, e.g. Orkhon Turkic, Old Uyghur, Karakhanid,
Khorezmian Turkic ï:δ-, Khakas ïs-, Tuvan ït-, Yakut ï:t- and Chuvash yar-.
For example, the Khakas item ïz-ïb-ïs- ‘to send (suddenly)’ consists of the lexical
verb ïs- + the converbial construction B + ïs-. In most Turkic languages, however,
ï:δ- was weakly realized as [ïy], [ï], [iy], etc. (e.g. Koman, Karaim, Altay Turkic). It
was largely replaced by the complex marker ï:δ-u bėr-, which consists of ï:δ- + A
suffix + bėr- ‘to give’ and developed into ė:ber-, ė:ver-, yeber-, yiber-, etc., e.g. Kumyk,
Noghay yiber-, Tatar ∆iber-, Kazak, Karakalpak žiber-, Kirghiz ∆iber-, Uzbek
yuµbår-, Karachay-Balkar iyer-. As postverb auxiliaries these markers very often
highlight the sudden transgression of the initial limit of an action, e.g. Tatar yï©la-p
∆iber- ‘to burst out crying (suddenly)’.
The modern Turkish postverb -(y)Iver-, which expresses sudden, quick, immediate,
easy, effortless, incidental actions, seems to go back to this construction. It is
often analyzed as a combination of an A converb suffix and ver- ‘to give’, but it is
difficult to explain the suffix variant -(y)I and the semantic content of the marker. In
the Turkish dialect described by Demir (1993), the construction yápï ver-, in which
the lexical verb carries high pitch, means ‘to do something quickly’. The construction
yapí ver, however, in which the converb suffix carries high pitch, has benefactive
(object version) meaning: ‘to do something for somebody’ (a beneficiary).
The latter meaning of bėr- ‘to give’, an action performed to benefit others, is
already attested in the East Old Turkic texts, e.g. balbal qïl-u bėr- ‘to erect a stele for
somebody’, cf. modern Uyghur išle-p ber- ‘to work for somebody’. It seems more
reasonable to derive Standard Turkish -(y)Iver- from a postverbial construction
including the auxiliary verb *yiber-. Clauson notes that this construction has survived
in all modern Turkic groups, “except perhaps SW” (1972: 37). The presence of
similar markers such as Turkmen -(I)ber-, e.g. gid-iber- ‘to go quickly’, is a further
reason to assume that the Southwestern group is not exceptional in this respect. Note
that the Turkmen benefactive (object version) postverbial construction is B + ber-,
i.e. clearly distinct from -(I)ber-. The same relation obtains between modern Uyghur
B + ber- (benefactive action) and -(I)ver- (spontaneous, sudden, quick, incidental
action). The verb for ‘to send’ in Eastern Turki dialects is iber-, ėber-, iver-, ėvėr-,