turkish phonology and morphology (türkçe ses ve b‹ç‹mb‹lg‹s‹)

Although those suffixes which agree in voicing of the root final sound are stopinitial
or affricate-initial suffixes, not all stop- and affricate-initial suffixes assimilate
in voicing. –ken, –sa are just a few examples which do not assimilate as illustrated
in (13).
(13) af af-ken af-sa
av av-ken av-sa
Whether or not a suffix-initial consonant assimilates in voicing is not rule
governed, rather it is an idiosyncratic characteristic of a given suffix.
Suffixes with initial consonants other than stops and affricates do not assimilate
in voicing. Consider the plural suffix –ler as an example. In the words af-lar and
av-lar, the voicing of the root-final consonant remains the same. This and the
examples in (11) and (12) suggest that voicing assimilation, unlike place of
articulation assimilation, is progressive (from left to right; going forward). It is
the root-final sound that determines the voicing of the alternating suffix-initial
consonant.
In Turkish, final devoicing and voicing assimilation processes interact.
Remember that final devoicing rule applies syllable-finally. First, final devoicing
rule applies to words which have underlyingly voiced stops and affricate in final
position. As a result of this rule, voiced stops or affricate become voiceless. Then,
as voicing assimilation is progressive, alternating suffix-initial It is your voiced turn! consonant
becomes voiceless as illustrated in (14).
1 1
(14) UR -de final devoicing voicing assimilation
/k√b/ [k√bd√] [k√pd√] It [k√pt√] is your turn!
It is your turn!
/k√n√d/ [k√n√dd√] [k√n√td√] [k√n√tt√] 2 2
Find examples of suffixes (not discussed above) which alternate (i.e., It is assimilate your turn! in voicing)
It is your turn!
and show how it interacts with final devoicing rule.
3 3
VOWEL HARMONY
Unit 4 - Phonological Processes in Turkish
It is your turn!
Vowel Harmony can be considered a type of assimilation since neighboring
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vowels
become alike to share common properties. Consider the following examples in
It is your turn!
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(15).
It is your turn!
It is your turn!
(15) (I) ifl ifl-ler (II) k›z k›z-lar 5 5
ev ev-ler bal bal-lar
süt süt-ler muz It is muz-lar your turn!
It is your turn!
köy köy-ler tok tok-lar 6 6
In the first group of words, the plural suffix is –ler while the same suffix
It is your turn!
becomes –lar in the second group of words. The root-vowels in the first group of
words share a property common to all while the root-vowels in II share
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a different
common property. Can you name the property the first group of words share and
It is your turn!
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the property the second group of words share?
It is your turn!
It is your turn!
The root-vowels in the first group of words are /i, E, y, ø/. The property 8 these
vowels share is that they are all front vowels. Thus, the suffix –ler, which also
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contains a front vowel, is attached. Conversely, the vowels It in is the your turn! second group,
It is your turn!
/µ, a, o, u/, are all non-front vowels. Thus the plural suffix has the form 9–lar, with
a non-front vowel.
9
It is your turn!
10
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It is your turn!
It is your turn!
10
It is your turn! It is your turn!