Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

(34) [içine [Handan’ın bahçesinden toplanmış] birkaç çiçeğin konmuş olduğu] bir
vazo
‘a vase [into which a few flowers [picked from Handan’s garden] had been put]’
(iv) In clauses where the relativized constituent is a possessed item (a noun phrase with
possessive marking):
-DIK/-(y)AcAK are used only in cases where the possessed item is not part of the
subject of the verb in the relative clause. Otherwise -(y)An is used (see 25.1.1.1 (iii)). (35)
and (36) are examples of this type of -DIK/ -(y)AcAK clause, in which the possessed
constituent is respectively part of a direct object (arabanın sol aynası ‘the left mirror of
the car’) and an oblique object (ev sahibinin köpeği ‘the landlord’s dog’):
(35) [araba-nın kır-dığ-ın] sol ayna-sı (cf. Arabanın sol aynasını kırdın.)
car-GEN break-PART-2SG.POSS left mirror-3SG.POSS
‘the left mirror of the car, [which you broke]’
(36) [ev sahib-in-in kork-tuğ-um] köpeğ-i (cf. Ev sahibinin köpeğinden
korkuyorum.)
landlord-NC-GEN fear-PART-1SG.POSS dog-3SG.POSS
‘the landlord’s dog, [which I’m afraid of]’
(v) Special usages of -DIK/-(y)AcAK:
Where the relativized constituent is the non-definite (i.e. categorial or indefinite)
object of the verb in the relative clause, -(y)AcAK can also appear without any person
marking:
(37) [çayla yiyecek] bir şeyler (cf. Çayla insan bir şeyler yer/yiyebilir.)
‘things [to eat with tea]’
The relativized constituent in this type of construction can also, as in the case of yaş ‘age’
in (38), have an adverbial relation to the relative clause. For an example with zaman
‘time’ see (30) in Chapter 20.
(38) [seni anlayacak] yaş(ta değil) (cf. Bu yaşta seni anlayamaz.)
‘(s/he is not) old enough (lit. ‘at an age’) [to understand you]’
Although it is not overtly marked, the verbs in these constructions express possibility, a
value normally associated with the modality suffix -(y)Abil. The lack of person marking
on the verb indicates that the clause lacks an agent. As a result, those where the
relativized constituent is a direct object can generally be interchanged with clauses where
the verb is in the passive voice:
(39)
Turkish: A comprehensive grammar 386
(a) [Hasan’a yönelt-ecek] soru (cf. Hasan’a birisi soru yönelt(ebil)ir.)
direct-PART
‘a question/questions [to direct to Hasan]’
(b) [Hasan’a yönelt-il-ecek] soru
direct-PASS-PART
‘a question/questions [to be directed to Hasan]’