Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

Turkish: A comprehensive grammar 422
27.2.1 AORIST+-(y)sA
Conditional clauses with the aorist are of two types. The first, which is more obviously
‘predictive’, is called an open conditional. In this type both the condition expressed and
its consequence are in the future. The second type itself embraces two closely related
kinds of statement, generic and habitual. In this type the predictability relates not to the
relationship between a pair of future events but to that in a recurrent pattern of events.
Where the verb in the main clause is also in the aorist form there is potential ambiguity
between the two types:
(13) [Mehmet geç yat-ar-sa] zor kalk-ar.
Mehmet late go.to.bed-AOR-COND.COP difficult get.up-AOR
(i) ‘[If Mehmet goes to bed late] he’ll have difficulty getting up.’ (Open)
(ii) ‘[If Mehmet goes to bed late] he has difficulty getting up.’ (Habitual)
27.2.1.1 Open conditionals
In open conditionals the speaker does not know whether or not the condition will be
fulfilled, but treats it as a real possibility rather than a merely hypothetical one. When the
main clause expresses a statement, its verb is marked by either -(y)AcAK or the aorist. -
(y)AcAK is used if the event is regarded as certain to follow the fulfilment of the
condition, perhaps because of some prior decision (see 21.2.3):
(14) [Kayıt-lar onbeş-i bul-maz-sa] ders aç-ıl-ma-yacak.
registration-PL fifteen-ACC reach-NEG.AOR-COND.COP course open-PASS-
NEG-FUT
‘[If registrations do not reach fifteen], the course will not be run.’
The use of the aorist in the main clause, on the other hand, presents the consequence of
the fulfilment of the condition more as an assumption or probability (21.4.1.4):
(15) [8-de-ki otobüs-e bin-er-se] uçağ-a rahat rahat yetiş-ir.
8-LOC-ADJ bus-DAT take-AOR-COND.COP plane-DAT comfortably catch-
AOR
‘[If s/he takes the 8 o’clock bus] s/he’ll catch the plane comfortably.’
Whereas in other predictive conditionals the main clause has to be either a statement or a
question, in open conditionals the main clause can also be a volitional utterance (12.4
(iii), 21.4.4):
(16) [Engin’i görürsen] benden selam söyle.
say [IMP.2SG]
‘[If you see Engin], say hello to him from me.’
(17) [Kezban gelmezse] onu bir daha çağır-ma-ya-lım.
invite-NEG-OPT-1PL
‘[If Kezban doesn’t come], let’s not invite her again.’