Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

Relative clauses 381
that of subject of the verb kır- ‘break’ (cf. kız oyuncaklarını kırdı ‘the girl broke her
toys’), whereas in (3) it is the direct object of the verb gör- ‘see’ (cf. her gün kızı okulda
görüyorum ‘I see the girl at school every day’). In (4), on the other hand, kız is the
possessor of anne-si ‘her mother’ (cf. the genitive-possessive construction kız-ın anne-si
‘the girl’s mother’). These processes are referred to as ‘relativizing the subject’,
‘relativizing the direct object’, ‘relativizing the possessor’, etc. The participle suffix used
in non-finite relative clauses is selected on the basis of the nature of the relationship of
the head noun to the relative clause in any particular instance.
When relativizing a constituent of a nominal sentence (12.1.1.2) the suppletive form
ol- of the copula (12.1.1.3) is used as the bearer of the participle suffixes:
(6) [ağır yaralı ol-an] hastalar
seriously injured be-PART patients
‘the patients [who are seriously injured]’
(7) [çocukların evde olacağı] bir gün
‘a day [when the children will be at home]’
The construction in (6) corresponds to the nominal sentence Hastalar ağır yaralı ‘The
patients are seriously injured’.
The verb bulun-‘be (found)’ can also be used when relativizing one of the constituents
of a nominal sentence, especially where location is involved:
(8) iç-in-de üç top bulun-an/ol-an kutu (cf. Kutunun içinde üç top var.)
inside-3SG.POSS-LOC three ball be-PART box
‘the box [which has/had three balls inside it]’
25.1.1 MARKERS OF NON-FINITE RELATIVE CLAUSES: THE
PARTICIPLE SUFFIXES
25.1.1.1 -(y)An
A non-finite verb form which contains -(y)An does not get inflected for case or person,
except in headless relative clauses (see 25.3). This participle occurs in the following
circumstances:
(i) In clauses where the relativized constituent is the subject of the verb in the relative
clause:
(9) [burada sat-ıl-an] kitap-lar (cf. Kitaplar burada satılıyor.)
here sell-PASS-PART book-PL
‘the books [(which are) sold here]’
(10) [öğretmen ol-an] Haydar (cf. Haydar öğretmen.)
teacher be-PART Haydar
‘Haydar, [who is a teacher]’
(ii) In clauses where the relativized constituent is the possessor (14.4) of some constituent
of the relative clause: