Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

6
PRINCIPLES OF SUFFIXATION
In Turkish the vast majority of words which contain more than one syllable are complex.
Processes of word formation create words that can be very long and sometimes
correspond to whole sentences in English. The main word formation process in Turkish is
suffixation, the formation of a new word by attaching an affix to the right of a root. Any
linguistic item to which suffixes can be added, whether this is a simple root or a
combination of a root plus suffix(es), is referred to as a stem.
The principles that apply to the attachment of a suffix to a stem also apply to some of
the clitics that can be placed after the final suffix of a phrase (Chapter 11).
In 6.1 we describe the conditions which determine the vowels and the consonants in
suffixes and clitics and the changes that take place at the boundaries between stems and
suffixes. In 6.2 irregular alternations to the stem are discussed, and 6.3 explains the order
of suffixation in a word.
6.1 THE FORM OF SUFFIXES
Almost all suffixes in Turkish have more than one form. The initial consonant in some
suffixes and the vowels in almost all suffixes depend on the consonants or vowels that
precede them. For example, the plural suffix has two forms, -lar (as in kuş-lar ‘birds’)
and -ler (as in kedi-ler ‘cats’), with only the vowel alternating between ‘a’ and ‘e’,
whereas the perfective suffix has eight forms, -dı, -di, -du, -dü, -tı, -ti, -tu, -tü (as in kal-dı
‘remained’ but düş-tü ‘fell’), where both the consonant and the vowel are subject to
alternation. The alterable sounds in a suffix are indicated in this book by capital letters,
hence the plural suffix is written as -lAr, and the perfective suffix as -DI.
6.1.1 VOWEL ALTERNATION IN SUFFIXES
The vowel of a particular suffix is selected on the basis of the rules of vowel harmony,
which are explained in 3.2. Some suffixes and clitics do not undergo vowel harmony (see
3.4).