Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

15
ADJECTIVAL CONSTRUCTIONS,
DETERMINERS AND NUMERALS
Adjectivals are words or constructions that modify noun phrases. Simple adjectivals
consist of a single word, i.e. an adjective (see 7.1.1 (iii)):
(1) küçük evler
‘small houses’
(2) beyaz elbisem
‘my white dress’
Complex adjectivals vary in their degree of complexity. They range from structures
consisting of a noun phrase marked with a suffix such as -lI or -ki to relative clauses, (as
in (4)), which have a sentence-like structure:
(3) bahçedeki ağaç
‘the tree in the garden’
(4) [manzarası olan] bir ev
‘a house which has a view’
After a brief survey of the functions of adjectivals (15.1), and an overview of the ways in
which adjectives can be formed in Turkish (15.2), section 15.3 examines the structure of
complex adjectivals (except for relative clauses, for which see Chapter 25). The next two
sections look at how adjectivals can be modified (e.g. çok güzel ‘very nice’, daha küçük
‘smaller’) or complemented (e.g. buraya uygun ‘suitable for here’).
In 15.6–15.8 we present other classes functionally related to adjectivals, namely
determiners (e.g. bir ‘a(n), bu ‘this’), numerals, the enumerator tane and measure terms.
15.9 explains how these items interact with adjectivals within the noun phrase.
15.1 FUNCTIONS OF ADJECTIVALS
Adjectivals express qualities that are ascribed to entities. In Turkish, as in other
languages, they can be used attributively, that is as a modifier of a noun phrase, or
predicatively, as the subject complement in a linking sentence (12.1.1.2) or small clause
(24.5).
(i) The attributive function:
In Turkish attributive adjectivals, whether simple or complex, always precede the
noun they qualify:
yüksek ağaç ‘tall tree’