Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

‘Who was there at the party?’
Turkish: A comprehensive grammar 266
Another frequently used position for wh-phrases is the position that their answers would
occupy in the corresponding affirmative sentences:
(94) Kim onlar-ı okul-dan kaç-ar-ken gör-müş?
who they-ACC school-ABL run.away-AOR-CV see-EV/PF
‘Who saw them running away from school?’
(95) Bu boya-lar-dan hangi-sin-i yan-da-ki dükkan-dan al-dı-n?
this paint-PL-ABL which-3SG.POSS-ACC next.door-LOC-ADJ
shop-ABL buy-PF-2SG
‘Which of these paints did you buy from the shop next door?’
In informal speech a wh-phrase can be placed in other positions, as long as it is before the
predicate:
(96) Erol’un kim doktor olduğunu söyledi?
‘Who said Erol was a doctor?’
Unlike other wh-phrases, those corresponding to non-case-marked direct objects and
oblique objects have a fixed position. These occur immediately before the predicate (see
23.2.1):
(97) Bugün hastalara öğle yemeğinde ne ver-di-ler?
what give-PF-3PL
‘What did they give the patients today for lunch?’
(98) Necla ne-den korkuyor?
what-ABL fear-IMPF
‘What is Necla scared of?’
Note that where neden means ‘why’ it can be in any position before the predicate.
The most common place for a wh-phrase that is a subject complement is at the end of
the sentence, which is the unmarked position for predicates of linking sentences
(23.1.2.1):
(99) Soru-lar-ı dağıt-acak ol-an kişi kim-di?
question-PL-ACC distribute-FUT be-PART person who-P.COP
‘Who was the person that was supposed to distribute the questions?’
However, it can also occur at the beginning of a sentence:
(100) Ne-dir bana sormak istediğin soru?
what-GM
‘What is the question you wanted to ask me?’
19.2.3 WH-PHRASES AND STRESSED PHRASES
In a wh-question it is possible for a phrase other than the wh-phrase to be stressed. This
happens when the speaker wants the addressee to focus on a particular phrase in the
question. In such cases the stressed phrase precedes the wh-phrase.