Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

Adverbial clauses 405
26.2.1 GENITIVE CASE MARKING OR ITS ABSENCE IN THE
SUBJECT OF A NON-FINITE ADVERBIAL CLAUSE
The overt subject of most kinds of non-finite adverbial clause is non-case-marked:
(27) [Zehra torununu görmek iste-diğ-i için] Bursa’ya uğradık.
Zehra want-CV-3SG.POS S for
‘[Because Zehra wanted to see her grandchild] we stopped off in Bursa.’
In the following types, however, the subject receives genitive case marking:
(i) clauses that have the subordinator -mA:
(28) [Zehra-nın torunu nu gör-ebil-me-si için] ne yapabiliriz?
Zehra-GEN want-PSB-CV-3SG.POSS for
‘What can we do [in order for Zehra to be able to see her grandchild]?’
(ii) clauses formed with -DIğI/-(y)AcAğI gibi expressing manner (26.3.8 (iii)), but not
those expressing addition (26.3.1) or time (26.3.16 (iv)):
It should be noted that the absence of subject case marking differentiates (most)
adverbial clauses with -DIK and -(y)AcAK from relative clauses (25.1.1.2) and most noun
clauses (24.4.3, 24.4.6) formed with the same subordinators.
26.2.2 POSSIBILITY OF THE ADVERBIAL CLAUSE HAVING A
SEPARATE SUBJECT FROM THAT OF THE SUPERORDINATE
CLAUSE
In most converbial constructions there is complete freedom for the subjects of the
subordinate and superordinate clauses to be either the same or different:
(29) Makine [tamir ed-il-dikten sonra] yeniden bozul-du.
machine repair AUX-PASS-CV after again break.down-PF
‘[After being repaired], the machine broke down again.’
(30) [Makine tamir ed-il-dikten sonra] iş-e yeniden başla-dı-k.
machine repair AUX-PASS-CV after job-DAT again begin-PF-1PL.
‘[After the machine was repaired] we began the job again.’
(31) [Haberi duyduğunuz sırada] burada mıydınız?
‘Were you here [at the time you heard the news]?’
(32) [Haberi duyduğunuz sirada]Filiz burada mıydı?
‘Was Filiz here [at the time you heard the news]?’
There are, however, certain exceptions to this general rule:
(i) Adverbial clauses whose converb includes the subordinator -mAK cannot contain
within them an overtly expressed subject. Their understood subject is, in the majority of
cases, identical with the subject of the superordinate clause:
(33) Çocuk, [dondurma al-mak için] biz-den para iste-di.
child ice.cream buy-CV for we-ABL money ask.for-PF
‘The child asked us for money [to buy an ice cream].’