Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

Relative clauses 395
Note that olan cannot be omitted from relative clauses in which the verb is suffixed with -
mAktA, -(I)yor or -mAz. However, it can be omitted from clauses which have nominal
predicates and relativized possessors:
(80) [kapağ-ı boyalı] bir kutu (cf. kapağı boyalı olan bir kutu)
lid-3SG.POSS painted a box
‘a box with a painted lid’ (lit. ‘whose lid is painted’)
(81) [önü bahçeli] ev (cf. önü bahçeli olan ev)
‘a house/houses with (a) garden(s) in front’
There are semantic differences between a relative clause which contains olan and a
‘truncated’ one where it is omitted. Truncated relative clauses are nearly always of the
restrictive type (see 25.2). Moreover, there is a tendency for the head of a truncated
relative clause to have non-specific reference. It may be a non-specific indefinite noun
phrase (22.2.1), such as bir öğrenci in (82), denoting any member of the class öğrenci
that fits the description provided by the relative clause:
(82) [Notu düşük] bir öğrenci bu sınavı alamaz.
‘A student [who has a low grade] cannot take this exam.’
Alternatively, it can be a generic noun phrase (22.4), such as bebek below, in which the
truncated relative clause narrows down the class ‘baby’ in such a way as to designate
only those that have eaten their food.
(83) [Yemeğ-in-i ye-miş] bebek ağlamaz.
food-3SG.POSS-ACC eat-PF
‘A baby [that has eaten its food] doesn’t cry.’
However, truncated relative clauses are sometimes used with specific noun phrases
(definite or indefinite) as their head. This occurs mainly where the relative clause
contains -(y)AcAk:
(84) [Sınava girecek] öğrenciler burada.
‘The students [who will be taking the exam] are here.’
Relative clauses which contain olan, on the other hand, may be either restrictive, as in
(85), or non-restrictive, as in (86):
(85) [Yemeğini yemiş olan] bebek ağlamaz.
‘A baby [that has eaten its food] doesn’t cry.’
(86) [Yemeğini yemiş olan] bebek hemen uykuya daldı.
‘The baby, [which had eaten its food,] immediately fell asleep.’
25.5 OTHER COMPLEX ADJECTIVAL CONSTRUCTIONS
The suffixes -(y)IcI and -(A/I)r can also be used in complex adjectival constructions.
Clausal formations with these suffixes are very rare in comparison with participial
relative clauses, see 7.2.1.1 for examples.