Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

(vi) hangi-si (or hangiler-i if a plural referent is intended) ‘which of’
(vii) hiçbir-i ‘none of’
(viii) a pronominalized adjectival (18.4 (i)), such as en akıllılar-ı ‘the most
intelligent (ones)’.
The function of this construction is to pick out one or more items from a distinct set:
(131) {Komşularımızdan bazısı} televizyonlarını çok açıyorlar.
‘Some of our neighbours turn their televisions on very loud.’
Under the same conditions as explained in 14.5.1 (ii), the modifier may be expressed by
the ablative-marked form of a postposition based on iç- or ara-. For examples see (65),
(69) in Chapter 19.
In the case of heads based upon tane, the choice between this construction and the
bare-headed version described in (iii) of the previous section offers a distinction of
meaning:
(132)
The noun phrase 167
(a) Bana {küçüklerden iki tane} lazım.
‘I need [two of th e sma ll ones
(b) {Küçüklerden iki tanesi} bana lazım.
‘I need [two of the small ones}.’
In (132a) the ablative-marked modifier noun phrase is understood generically, i.e as
referring to a type of thing rather than to a discrete set. The head noun phrase denotes
simply a certain or approximate number of items of the type specified (‘small ones’). In
(132b), on the other hand, the presence of -(s)I on the head noun phrase imparts a definite
meaning to the modifier noun phrase, making it refer to a particular set of ‘small ones’.
When they are in the direct object role, -(s)I-marked partitives obligatorily take
accusative case marking:
(133) {Bu ilaç-lar-dan hangi-ler-in}-i alıyorsun?
these medicine-PL-ABL which-PL-3SG.POSS-ACC
‘{Which (ones) of these medicines} are you taking?’
14.5.3 THE -(s)I-MARKED PARTITIVE CONSTRUCTION WITH
GENITIVE-MARKED MODIFIER
The third way of expressing a partitive relation is by means of the genitivepossessive
construction (14.4). In many cases this is interchangeable with the -(s)I-marked partitive
construction with ablative-marked modifier (14.5.2):
(134) {Komşularımızın bazısı} televizyonlarını çok açıyorlar.
‘Some of our neighbours turn their televisions up very loud.’
(135) {Bu ilaçların hangilerin}-i alıyorsun?
‘{Which (ones) of these medicines} are you taking?’