Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

Noun clauses 353
(6) O gün Suzan “Artık dayan-a-m-ıyor-um” de-miş-ti bana.
that day Suzan now bear-PSB-NEG-IMPF-1SG say-PF-P.COP I(DAT)
‘That day Suzan had said to me “I can’t bear [it] any longer”.’
(7) Bana genellikle “Sen küçüksün, gelemezsin” de-n-iyor-du.
say-PASS-IMPF-P.COP
‘I was usually told “You’re too young; you can’t come”.’
(ii) The second use of de- differs only slightly from the first. Here the subordinate clause
is not claimed to present the exact words uttered by a specific person on a specific
occasion, but rather to encapsulate the gist of a more generalized utterance, attributed to
unspecified people. Quotation marks are not found with this usage of de-.
(8) [New York ağustosta çekilmez] di-yor-lar.
say-IMPF-3PL
‘People say [New York is unbearable in August].’
(iii) The use of de- to express thoughts rather than utterances is very common in informal
registers. Although the context may imply that the thought is articulated in speech,
quotation marks are not used, because the emphasis is on the substance of the thought
rather than on a particular utterance of it.
(9) [Tören bir saat sürer] diyelim.
‘Let’s suppose [the ceremony will last an hour].’
Where the verb in the subordinate clause is marked with one of the optative forms -sIn, -
(y)AyIm, -(y)AlI m or the conditional -sA, the thought is also a desire for something to
happen (see 21.4.4).
(10) [Herkes kendi yiyeceklerini kendi getirsin] diyorum ben.
‘I think [everyone should bring their own food].’
(11) [Bu belirsizlik bit-se artık] di-yor-du-k.
this uncertainty end-OPT now say-IMPF-P.COP-1PL
‘[If only this uncertainty would end], we thought.’
Note that the verb söyle-, the other verb in Turkish which means ‘say’, contrasts with de-
in terms of the type of noun clause that can be used with it. Söyle- can only be used with
non-finite clauses (see 24.4.2.2 and 24.4.3.1); moreover, it always denotes a spoken
utterance.
24.2.2 INTERROGATIVE SENTENCE AS SUBJECT OR OBJECT OF
A VERB OF COGNITION
A finite question clause can be the subject or object of a verb of cognition such as bil-
‘know’, anla- ‘understand’. The main verb is usually negative or interrogative:
(12) [Çocuğ-un baba-sı kim] bil-in-iyor mu?
child-GEN father-3SG.POSS who know-PASS-IMPF INT
‘Is it known [who the child’s father is]?’
(13) [Ertan’ı neden bu kadar beğeniyorsun] anlayamıyorum.