Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

Definiteness, specificity and generic reference 331
(49) Hırsız pencereden girer.
‘Burglars/a burglar come(s) in through windows/a window’.
The use of insan ‘human being’ in the sense of the English generic pronoun ‘one’ (see
18.6.2) is a special instance of the bare generic:
(50) Para sıkıntısı insan-a üzüntü ver-ir.
money problem person-DAT distress give-AOR
‘Money problems cause one distress.’
22.4.1.2 The indefinite generic
The indefinite generic is a noun phrase marked with bir that has generic reference. It
expresses a typical member of a class. It occurs mainly in the following contexts:
(i) A noun phrase that includes adjectival modifiers (Chapter 15):
(51) {Akıllı bir insan} borçlanmaktan kaçınır.
‘{A wise person} avoids getting into debt.’
(52) {[Yurtdışında okumak isteyen] bir öğrenci}, iyi İngilizce öğrenmeli.
‘{A student [who wants to study abroad]} must learn English well.’
Because generics are inherently non-specific, the adjectival can be a relative clause with
olan omitted (see 22.2.1, 25.4.1.1):
(53) {[Elli yaşını geçmiş] bir insan}-ın bu memlekette iş bulması kolay değil.
‘It’s not easy for {a person over fifty} to find work in this country.’
(ii) A noun phrase that includes one of the indefinite determiners herhangi bir ‘any’ or
böyle bir/şöyle bir/öyle bir ‘such a’ (15.6.1):
(54) {Herhangi bir anne} bu sorunu tanır.
‘{Any mother} would recognize this problem.’
(55) {Öyle bir okul}-da okumak zor.
‘It’s hard to study in {such a school}’
(iii) A noun phrase followed by bile ‘even’ (see 28.3.1.1):
(56) Bunu {bir çocuk} bile anlayabilir.
‘Even {a child} could understand this.’
22.4.2 GENERIC REFERENCE BY PLURAL NOUN PHRASES
The plural generic, consisting of a plural-marked noun phrase, is closer in meaning to the
indefinite generic than to the bare generic, in that it also generalizes from individual to
class rather than vice versa. It makes reference to the collectivity of individuals that are
seen as constituting a class. In comparison with the bare generic, the plural generic makes
a less absolute kind of generalization, hinting at the possibility that it will not apply
equally to all members of the class.