Linking Verbs in English and Turkish, Yuksel Goknel, 2015-Signed

LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH SOME IMPORTANT POINTS TO LEARN BEFORE YOU BEGIN READING THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE 1. In this article, a verb phrase contains the main verbs and all the auxiliary verbs used together with the main verbs in English. It does not contain the subjects, the objects or the adverbials. However in Turkish, in addition to the auxiliary allomorphs, personal allomorphs that bear the meanings of the pronouns in the beginning of a sentence are attached to the verb phrases as a grammatical rule. For instance:

Yarın

ben-i

tomorrow

me

gör-e.bil-ir-sin. can see

you

(Read from right to left.)

If you read the English sentence under the Turkish sentence above starting from right to left, you can find the English equivalent of the Turkish sentence above. Additionally, in place of the English pronoun “you”, the Turkish personal allomorph “sin” is used instead of the pronoun “sen” of the Turkish sentence. As a general rule, the personal pronouns are generally ignored in Turkish sentences if they are not thought dominant. In order to understand the morphology of the Turkish words, we have to learn first the morphemes and allomorphs that form the meaningful elements of languages. According to English grammars, there are two kinds of morphemes in English: free morphemes, which are the word roots that cannot be divided into meaningful units, and bound morphemes, which are the prefixes or suffixes attached to them. This explanation is true when English is considered because all the auxiliary verbs, including the modal verbs, are free morphemes. On the other hand, if we consider their functions, we could say that the auxiliary verbs are syntactically related to main verbs. For instance, when we ask someone what “can” means, he cannot explain the meaning of this word without using a verb following it, such as: “can work”, “can remember”, “can understand”, “can be”. Therefore, the auxiliary verbs of the English language may be considered as bound morphemes as they do not convey sense without being followed by verbs. On the contrary, all the corresponding auxiliary verbs of the English language are expressed in allomorphs attached to one another in Turkish. The Turkish allomorphs that correspond to the English auxiliary verbs are showed in the following Turkish verb phrases: Gör - me - di - ik see

not

did

we (Read from right to left.)

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Different from English verb phrases, Turkish verb phrases contain subject allomorphs attached to the ends of the verb phrases. Additionally, there may also be a personal pronoun in the beginning of a Turkish sentence, and a personal allomorph conveying the same meaning of the personal pronoun in the beginning of a sentence. The personal allomorphs at the ends of the verb phrases are compulsory elements, but the pronouns used in the beginning of the sentences are optional elements because the personal allomorphs used at the ends of the verb phrases are enough to express the pronouns used in the beginning of the sentences. Therefore, these pronouns are generally ignored unless they are intentionally emphasized, such as: (Ben)

yarın

sen-i

I

tomorrow

you

Yarın tomorrow

İş-in-i

see

can

I

sen-i gör - e.bil.ir - im. (ya*rın / se*ni / gö*re*bi*li*rim) you

see

yap -

your work

gör - e.bil-ir - im. (“ben” can be ignored.)

do

can

I

(Read from right to left.)

ma.lı - sın. (i*şi*ni / yap*ma*lı*sın) must

you

(Read from right to left.)

Contrary to the English verb phrases, Turkish verb phrases start with the main verbs and the auxiliary allomorphs follow the main verbs in succession attached to one another. The succession of a Turkish verb phrase is as follows: Main verb- modal allomorph- time allomorph- personal allomorph In place of the auxiliary verbs of the English language, there are different auxiliary allomorphs carrying the same meaning of the morphemes in Turkish. For instance, the corresponding present continuous suffix “ing” of the English language is expressed in Turkish by the morpheme “i.yor”, which has four allomorphs “i.yor, ı.yor, ü.yor, u.yor” produced by the sound system. These allomorphs change following the last vowels of the main verbs, such as: Gel-i.yor-um. Çalış-ı.yor-um. Gül-ü.yor-um. Otur-u.yor-um.

TURKISH PHONEMES and LETTERS Turkish has 29 letters in its alphabet that represent the phonemes. Some of these letters / o, u, a, ı / and / ö, ü, e, i / are vowels (ünlüler), and the others / b, c, ç, d, f, g, ğ, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, ş, t, v, y, z / are consonants (ünsüzler). All the letters above represent phonemes, that is why they are shown between “/ /” signs. Phonemics is not interested in detailed phonetic differences. Some of the vowels / ı, ö, ü / do not exist in English. They are pro-

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH nounced: /ı/ as in English “again”; /ö/ as in German “schön”; and /ü/ as in German “hütte” respectively. Among the consonants, there are the / ç, ş, ğ / phonemes, which are pronounced as “ch” as in “church”, “sh” as in “fish”; and to produce the /ğ/ phoneme, which does not exist in English, first produce /g/ phoneme, and make it longer by letting your breath pass between your tongue and the hard palate of your mouth while vibrating your vocal cords.

THE TURKISH VOWEL AND CONSONANT HARMONY Turkish is said to be an agglutinative language, which means that suffixes are attached to word roots, stems and frames one following the other in sequence to arrange words. To understand how these syllable and suffix chains are arranged, one should understand the vowel and consonant harmony rules of the Turkish language before one begins to attach suffixes to roots or stems, and to the suffixes following them.

VOWEL HARMONY SEQUENCE A Turkish speaker follows two certain harmony chains to produce a vowel harmony sequence: 1. The hard vowel harmony chain. 2. The thin vowel harmony chain. 1. The hard (back) vowel harmony chain is “o ⟶ u ⟶ a ⇄ ı”

2. The thin (front) vowel harmony chain is “ö ⟶ ü ⟶ e ⇄ i” In both chains, the first vowels /o/ and /ö/ never repeat themselves. The other vowels can be repeated as many times as necessary. The arrow ( →) points to the vowel that should follow the previous one. The arrows (⇄), pointing to both directions, show that /i/ may follow /e/, or /e/ may follow /i/. In the hard vowel harmony chain, /a/ and /ı/ do the same. Furthermore, besides the arrows, the letters “r” are put under repeatable vowels to complete our diagrams: 1. The hard (back) vowel harmony chain: “o ⟶

ur ⟶ ar ⇄ ır”

2. The thin (front) vowel harmony chain: “ö ⟶ ür ⟶ er ⇄ ir”

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH As one could see, the two diagrams above look exactly like one another. All the words in the Turkish language follow either the first or the second harmony sequences. The words borrowed from other languages do not follow these sequences as expected, but the suffixes that attach to them follow the vowels of the last syllables of such words. Consequently, one could build up meaningless vowel chains made up of only vowels following the two vowel chains: “o*u*u*a*ı*a*ı”, “o*a*ı*a”, “ü*ü*e*e*i”, “ö*e*i*e”, "ö*ü*ü*ü", "o*a" For instance: “kom*şu*ya” (o*u*a); “kom*şu*lar*dan” (o*u*a*a); “ge*le*cek*ler” (e*e*e*e); “o*luş*tur*duk*la*rı*mız*dan” (o*u*u*u*a*ı*ı*a); “u*nu*ta*lım” (u*u*a*ı); “o*ku*la” (o*u*a); “ten*ce*re*ye” (e*e*e*e); “ka*ça*ma*ya*cak” (a*a*a*a*a) One could make up Turkish meaningless vowel chains as many as one wishes using the vowel chains above. I advise those who are interested in learning Turkish to make up meaningless vowel chains like the chains above, and repeat them loudly again and again. When they do so, they can memorize the Turkish vowel harmony sequences easily and soundly as they learn a piece of music. When they repeat them, they may even feel and sound as if they were speaking Turkish. As it has already been stated, borrowed words do not follow the vowel harmony sequences, but the last syllables of such words attach to suffixes in accordance with the vowel and consonant harmony rules: patates-ler-i (pa*ta*tes*le*ri) “the potatoes”; televizyon-u (te*le*viz*yo*nu) “the television”; mandalina-/y/ı (man*da*li* na*yı) “the tangerine”; sigara-/y/ı (si*ga*ra*yı) “the cigarette”. The /y/ phonemes used above are glides (semivowels) inserted between two vowels to help them pass the voice from one vowel to the following one smoothly and harmoniously. They do not carry meaning. One more thing to add to the explanation above is that the words that are formed of two separate words do not follow the above vowel harmony sequences. For instance: kahverengi (kahve + rengi) “brown”; buzdolabı (buz + dolabı) “refrigerator”; bilgisayar (bilgi + sayar) “computer”; tavanarası (tavan + arası) “attic”.

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Besides the vowel harmony rules above, there are three more essential vowel rules to consider: 1. The verbs ending with vowels drop these vowels when they attach to the allomorphs of [İ.YOR]. These vowels are double underlined. Besides the double underlined vowels, there are some consonants that are single underlined which show that they detach from their syllables and attach to the first vowels of the following allomorphs to produce new syllables. In Turkish, morphemic sequences, which are loaded with meaning, are transformed into different syllables and phonemes by the Turkish sound system to be produced by the speech organs easily and harmoniously. In the following examples, the morphemic sequences of some verbal phrases are given first, and then their forms are separated into syllables by asterisks given between parentheses: Bekle-i.yor → (bek*li*yor); başla-ı.yor → (baş*lı*yor); anla-ı.yor → (an*lı*yor); gizle-i.yor → (giz*li*yor); oku-u.yor → (o*ku*yor); atla-ı.yor → (at*lı*yor) ye-i.yor → (yi*yor); gözle-ü.yor → (göz*lü*yor); gizle-i.yor → (giz*li*yor) Gel-i.yor-um → (ge*li*yo*rum); yüz-ü.yor-uz → (yü*zü*yo*ruz); iç-er-im → (i*çe*rim); yaz-a.cak-ım → (ya*za*ca*ğım); yakalan-a.cak-ız → (ya*ka*la*na*ca*ğız); gül-er-im → (gü*le*rim); kork-ar-ız → (kor*ka*rız) 2. When the last syllables of the nouns (including the infinitives), the verbs, and the inflectional morphemes end with vowels, and the first vowels of the following allomorphs start with the same vowels, these two vowels combine and verbalize as single vowels. For example, when the last vowel of the word “anne” and the first vowel of the allomorph “em” happen to be articulated together, they combine and verbalize as a single vowel: “anneem” → (an*nem). For instance: anne-en  (an*nen); tarla-am  (tar*lam); araba-an.ız  (a*ra*ba*nız); kafa-an  (ka*fan); git-ti-in  (git*tin); bekle-di-ik  (bek*le*dik); gül-düük  (gül*dük); yakala-dı-ım  (ya*ka*la*dım); git-me-em  (git*mem); çalış-ma-am  (ça*lış*mam); temizle-en-mek  (te*miz*len*mek); Dinle-er mi-sin?  (din*ler / mi*sin); ol-sa-am  (ol*sam), bil-se-em (bil*sem) If the last vowel of a word and the first vowel of an allomorph happen to be different, these two vowels are generally linked by the /y/ glides: oku-ma-/y/ız  (o*ku*ma*yız); gel-me-/y/iz  (gel*me*yiz); tava-/y/ı (ta*va*yı), salata-/y/ı (sa*la*ta*yı), uyku-/y/a → (uy*ku*ya).

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH TURKISH CONSONANT HARMONY SEQUENCE Consonants are grouped under two subdivisions: voiced consonants: / b, c, d, g, ğ, j, y, l, m, n, r, v, z / unvoiced consonants: / ç, f, k, p, s, ş, t / The voiced consonants are the phonemes that are produced by vibrating the vocal cords while the breath is passing through the throat. To understand the voiced and unvoiced difference, first produce the /v/ phoneme, which vibrates the vocal cords in your throat, and then, without changing the position of your teeth and lips, produce the same sound without vibrating the vocal cords to produce the unvoiced /f/ phoneme. When you do this, you feel no vibration in your throat. The consonants that vibrate the vocal cords are named voiced consonants; the consonants that do not vibrate them are called unvoiced consonants. By the way, one should keep in mind that all vowels and voiced consonants vibrate the vocal cords. The vowels and the voiced consonants, which vibrate the vocal cords, are both called vocals. Only the unvoiced consonants do not vibrate them. In Turkish, the voiced consonants are called "yumuşak (sedalı) ünsüzler", and the unvoiced consonants are called "sert ünsüzler". The /p/, /ç/, /k/, /t/ unvoiced consonants change into their voiced counterparts /b/, /c/, /ğ/, /d/ when they detach from their syllables and attach to the first vowels of the [i, ı, ü, u], or [e, a] allomorphs: /p/ changes into /b/: kitap-ı, kitap-a (ki*ta*bı, ki*ta*ba), sebep-i, sebep-e (se*be*bi, se*be*be), kebap-ı, kebap-a (ke*ba*bı, ke*ba*ba), çorap-ı, çorap-a (ço*ra*bı, ço*ra*ba), dolap-ı (do*la*bı, do*la*ba), şarap-ı, şarap-a (şa*ra*bı, şa*ra*ba), hesap-ı, hesap-a (he*sa:*bı, he*sa:*ba). /ç/ changes into /c/: ağaç-ı, ağaç-a (a*ğa*cı, a*ğa*ca), sayaç-ı, sayaç-a (sa*ya*cı, sa*ya*ca), amaç-ı, amaç-a (a*ma*cı, a*ma*ca), ayraç-ı, ayraç-a (ay*ra*cı, ay*ra*ca), demeç-i, demeç-e (de*me*ci, de*me*ce). /k/ changes into /ğ/: sokak-ı, sokak-a (so*ka*ğı, so*ka*ğa), tabak-ı, tabak-a (ta*ba*ğı, ta*ba*ğa), kürek-i, kürek-e (kü*re*ği, kü*re*ğe), bebek-i, bebek-e (be*be*ği, be*be*ğe), köpek-i, köpek-e (kö*pe*ği, kö*pe*ğe), ayak-ı, ayak-a (a*ya*ğı, a*ya*ğa), bardak-ı, bardak-a (bar*da*ğı, bar*da*ğa). /t/ changes into /d/: adet-i, adet-e (a*de*di, a*de*de), kanat-ı, kanat-a (ka*na*dı, ka*na*da), umut-u, umut-a (u*mu:*du, u*mu:*da), yoğurt-u, yoğurt-a

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH (yo*ğur*du, yo*ğur*da). As an exception: sepet-i, sepet-e (se*pe*ti, se*pe*te), nöbet-i, nöbet-e (nö*be*ti, nö*be*te). When the nouns or pronouns ending with /p, t, k, ç/ consonants detach from their syllables and attach to the first vowels of the [in, ın, ün, un] allomorphs, their last consonants /p, t, k, ç/ change into their voiced counterparts /b, d, ğ, c/ respectively. kitap-ın (ki*ta*bın), sebep-in (se*be*bin), kebap-ın (ke*ba*bın), çorap-ın (ço*ra*bın), ağaç-ın (a*ğa*cın), amaç-ın (a*ma*cın), sokak-ın (so*ka*ğın), kürek-in (kü*re*ğin), bebek-in (be*be*ğin), ayak-ın (a*ya*ğın), kanat-ın (ka*na*dın), yoğurt-un (yo*ğur*dun). Some /t/ phonemes, however, do not change: hayat (ha*ya:*tı), (ha*ya:*ta), (ha*ya:*tın); sanat (san*a*tı), (san*a*ta), (san*a*tın); sıfat (sı*fa*tı), (sı*fa*ta), (sı*fa*tın); saat (sa*a*ti), (sa*a*te), sa*a*tin); sepet (se*pe*ti), (se*pe*te), (se*pe*tin); gölet (gö*le*ti), (gö*le*te), (gö*le*tin); demet (de*me*ti), (de*me*te), (de*me*tin). The monosyllabic noun roots ending with unvoiced consonants do not change when they get the [İ], [E], [DE], [DEN] and the personal allomorphs: ek (eki, eke, ekte, ekten, ekin); sap (sapı, sapa, sapta, saptan, sapın); ip (ipi, ipe, ipte, ipten, ipin); hap (hapı, hapa, hapta, haptan, hapın); tüp (tüpü, tüpe, tüpte, tüpten, tüpün); top (topu, topa, topta, toptan, topun); saç (saçı, saça, saçta, şaçtan, saçın); iç (içi, içe, içte, içten, için); göç (göçü, göçe, göçte, göçten, göçün); maç (maçı, maça, maçta, maçtan, maçın); kök (kökü, köke, kökte, kökten, kökün); ok (oku, oka, okta, oktan, okun ), yük (yükü, yüke, yükte, yükten, yükün); kürk (kürkü, kürke, kürkte, kürkün); Türk (Türk’ü, Türk’e, Türk’te, Türk’ten, Türk’ün); at (atı, ata, atta, attan, atın); et (eti, ete, ette, etten, etin); süt (sütü, süte, sütte, sütten, sütün); ot (otu, ota, otta, ottan, otun); kart (kartı, karta, kartta, karttan, kartın. However, the final consonants of some monosyllabic nouns do change when they are attached only to [i, ı, ü, u], [e, a] and [in, ın, ün, un] allomorphs. They do not change when they are attached to the allomorphs of the morphemes of [DE] and [DEN]: but (bu*du), (bu*da), (bu*dun), (but-ta, but-tan); dip (di*bi), (di*be), (di*bin), (dip*te), (dip*ten); çok (çoğu, çoğa, çoğun, çokta, çoktan); gök (göğü, göğe, göğün, gökte, gökten); kap (kabı, kaba, kabın, kapta, kaptan); uç

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH (ucu, uca, ucun, uçta, uçtan); yurt (yurdu, yurda, yurdun, yurtta, yurttan); kurt (kurdu, kurda, kurdun, kurtta, kurttan); tat (tadı, tada, tadın, tatta, tattan). When [İ] or [E] morphemes come after the nouns ending with vowels, the /y/ linking semivowels (glides) are inserted between these two vowels to provide harmonious links: Testi (tes*ti*/y/i, tes*ti*/y/e); araba (a*ra*ba*/y/ı, a*ra*ba*/y/a); tarla (tar*la*/y/ı, tar*la*/y/a); salata (sa*la*ta*/y/ı, sa*la*ta*/y/a); martı (mar*tı*/y/ı, mar*tı*/y/a); tava (ta*va*/y/ı, ta*va*/y/a); teneke (te*ne*ke*/y/i, te*ne*ke*/y/e); makara (ma*ka*ra*/y/ı, ma*ka*ra*/y/a); kundura (kun*du*ra*/y/ı, kun*du*ra*/y/a); kafa (ka*fa*/y/ı, ka*fa*/y/a); su (su*/y/u, su*/y/a). When the nouns ending with vowels are attached to the possessive personal allomorphs of [İN], ♫ [in, ın, ün, un], which are used in the “possessive” parts of the noun compounds, the /n/ glides are inserted between the two vowels, such as: araba-/n/ın

⟶ (a*ra*ba*nın)

testi-/n/in

⟶ (tes*ti*nin)

ordu-/n/un

⟶ (or*du*nun)

öykü-/n/ün

⟶ (öy*kü*nün)

sergi-/n/in

⟶ (ser*gi*nin)

kafa-/n/ın

⟶ (ka*fa*nın)

makara-/n/ın ⟶ (ma*ka*ra*nın) The syllables written in bold face above are stressed. However, when pronouns are used in the possessive position, they are surffixed by the possessive [im, in, un, im, in, ın] allomorphs: ben-im (be*nim) my, sen-in (se*nin) your, o/n/-un (o*/n/un) his, her, its, biz-im (bi*zim) our, siz-in (si*zin) your, o/n/-lar-ın (on*la*rın) their. Note: The single underlined consonants in the examples above show the consonants that detach from their syllables, and attach to the first vowels of the following allomorphs to change the morphemes into syllables. Exception su (su*/y/un). Example: (a*ra*ba*/n/ın / hı*zı), (su*/y/un / hı*zı)

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH ENGLISH AND TURKISH SENTENCES In English and Turkish, tenses generally carry the same meanings, but the structure of their verb phrases is reverse. In English, a sentence starts with a pronoun or a noun which is followed by a main verb. If the main verb is transitive, an object follows it. However, a Turkish sentence is in reverse order. As it has been explained before, there may be two subjects in a Turkish sentence, an optional pronoun in the beginning of a sentence and a personal allomorph carrying the same meaning at the end. As a personal allomorph is enough to express the pronoun, this pronoun is not used if it is not thought to be important. Therefore, we will not use the pronouns in our example sentences unless they are emphasized. For instance: Her hafta araba-am-ı yıka-ar-ım. (“Ar” is the time allomorph.) every week

my car

wash

I

(Read the English sentence from right to left.)

The Turkish sentence above contains morphemes and allomorphs, which carry meaning. This sentence is a raw sentence because it has not been transposed into an oral sequence by the Turkish sound system yet. Now let us see how this raw sequence is transformed into an oral sequence to be uttered by the speech organs. All free morphemes have their own syllables separated by the sound system. For instance, in the example sentence above, the word “her” has a single syllable, but “haf*ta” has two syllables, which have already been arranged by the Turkish sound system. However, in the word “araba-am-ı”, there are two identical “a-a” vowels, which should be combined by the sound system to be uttered as a single vowel “a”. In Turkish verb phrases, “a-a”, “ee”, “i-i”, “ı-ı”, “u-u”, “ü-ü” identical vowels always combine and verbalize as single vowels as “a”, “e”, “i”, “ı”, “u”, “ü” to be uttered by the speech organs fluently. In the same word “araba-am-ı”, the consonant “m” is single underlined. This single underlined consonant detach from its allomorph and attached to the following vowel in accordance with the sound system, and our raw word “araba-am-ı” turns into (a*ra*ba*mı) oral sequence. All the single underlined consonants in this article detach from their morphemes and attach to the following vowels. Such underlines are not showed in normal writing. In the word “yıka-ar-ım”, there are also two “a-a” identical vowels that have to be combined, and there is a single underlined “r” phoneme that has to be detached from its morpheme and attached to the following vowel “ı”. Consequently, our raw sentence above changes into an oral sequence as follows: Her hafta araba-am-ı yıka-ar-ım. (her / haf*ta / a*ra*ba*mı / yı*ka*rım)

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH In the oral sentence above, the “/” slash marks separate words, and the asterisks “*” separate syllables. The syllables written in bold face indicate the stressed syllables in speech. The sound system of a language transposes the morphemic sequences into oral sequences to produce proper sequences to be used by the speech organs. As soon as we hear these transposed sequences, we understand the morphemic sequences. How then do we understand the morphemes when we hear an oral utterance? We understand it because the morphemes and allomorphs are heard in vocalized utterances together although their structures are transposed into a different mode. In other words, when we hear the transposed vocalized sequences, we simultaneously realize the underlying morphemes. The morphemes and the sound system of a language work together interactively to produce oral sentences. Morphemes and their allomorphs are basic elements of languages because the aim of a language activity is to transfer these meaningful elements to other people with our speech organs so that they may be able to hear them through their ears. Although morphemes have meanings by themselves, the syllables do not have meaning on their own. The following example sentences contain three different lines. The first line is a sentence made up of only morphemes following each other. These morphemes cannot be articulated unless they are transposed by the Turkish sound system. The Turkish sound system transposes the morphemic sequence in such a way that the morphemes may be easily articulated by the speech organs of a person and heard through his ears. Therefore we can name the first line as a raw sentence line. The second line between parentheses is a line transposed by the sound system. In this line, the morphemes are transformed into pronounceable syllables separated by the star symbols “*” to be uttered by the speech organs. In this line, you can also see the consonants that are detached from their syllables and attached to the following vowels, which are single underlined in the raw sentence line. The line under the verbalized line shows the English equivalent of the Turkish lines. 1. You can see some single underlined consonants “m” which indicate that they should be detached from their syllables and attached to the following vowels. 2. The double underlined vowels “e” indicate that these vowels drop and overlooked by the Turkish sound system. 3. The identical vowels following each other “a-a”, “e-e”, “i-i”, “ı-ı”, “ü-ü” combine and verbalize as single vowels, such as “a”, “e”, “i”, “ı”, “ü”

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Linking verbs are the verbs that carry information about the subject describing who, what, how, and where the subject is, was, can be, etc. The following are all linking verbs: is, are, was, were, has been, have been, will be, had been, must be, may be, etc. The information that the linking verbs carry to the subjects are called “subject complements”.

Present Positive: The compulsory personal allomorphs used with present “be” are as follows: (ben): [im, ım, üm, um]; (sen): [sin, sın, sün, sun]; (o): [ø]; (biz): [iz, ız, üz, uz]; (siz): [sin.iz, sın.ız, sün.üz, sun.uz]; (onlar): [(ø) (ler, lar)] The subject complements that give information about the subjects may be “nouns”, “pronouns”, “adjectives” or “prepositional phrases”. They are as follows: 1. Noun: (Ben) öğretmen-im (öğ*ret*me*nim) I am a teacher. (Sen) doktor-sun (dok*tor*sun) You are a doctor. O bir doktor (dok*tor). She is a doctor. Biz doktor-uz (dok*to*ruz) We are doctors. Siz bir öğretmen-sin.iz (siz / öğ*ret*men*si*niz) You are a teacher. Onlar asker (on*lar / as*ker) They are soldiers. (No time allomorphs are used when the linking verbs are present in Turkish.) 2. Adjective: (Ben) tembel-im (tem*be*lim) I am lazy. Sen çalışkan-sın (ça*lış*kan*sın) You are hardworking. O mutlu(dur) (o / mut*lu). She is happy. Biz iyi-/y/iz (biz / i*yi*yiz) We are all right. Yorgunsun.uz (yor*gun*su*nuz) You are tired. Onlar isteksiz. They are unwilling. 3. Postpositional phrases (adverbial): The allomorphs [de, da, te, ta] are expressed in English in the prepositions of “in”, “at”, “on”; and “önün-de”, “arkasın-da”, “yanın-da”, “yakının-da”, “altın-da” Turkish adverbials are used as subject complements. For example: ev-de (at home); okul-da (at school, in school); masa-da (on the table, at the table); kapı-da (at the door); kutu-da (in the box); bahçede (in the garden); hastane-de (in hospital, in the hospital); uçak-ta (on the plane), kapı-/n/ın ön-ü/n/-de (in front of the door).

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH The other [e, a] and [den, dan, ten, tan] allomorphs, which turn nouns into adverbials, are not used with the linking verbs “be”; they are used together with action verbs like “go”, “come”, “wait“, “sleep”, “jump”, etc. When the subject complements above end with vowels, they are linked to the personal allomorphs by the /y/ glides: Postacı kapı-da. The postman is at the door. Onlar şimdi uçak-ta. They are on the plane now. Ben kapı-da-/y/ım. I am at the door. Sen okul-dasın. You are at school. O mutfak-ta. She is in the kitchen. Biz haklı-/y/ız. We are right. Çiçek-ler vazo-da. The flowers are in the vase. The [E], [DE] and [DEN] morphemes are also used attached to “ön”, “arka”, “yan”, “üst”, “karşı”, “sol”, “sağ”, “alt”, “bitişik” nouns, such as “ön-e”, “arka/y/a”, “yan-a”, “üst-e”, “karşı-/y/a”, “yukarı-/y/a”, “ön-de”, “arka-da”, “yan-da”, “alt-ta”, “üst-te”, “karşı-da”, “sağ-da”, “sol-da”, “bitişik-te”, “ön-den”, “arkadan”, “yan-dan”, “üst-ten”, “karşı-dan”, “sağ-dan”, “yakın-dan”. These words are all nouns when they are without suffixes; if they were not, the [E], [DE] and [DEN] morphemes would not be attached to them. When they are together with these suffixes, they function either as adverbials, or when the [de, da, te, ta] allomorphs are used with the verbs “be” they are used as subject complements in sentences. Consequently, as these words are all nouns, they are also used in noun compounds like the simple noun compounds such as “oda-/n/ın kapı-/s/ı”; “perde-/n/in arka-/s/ı”; “ayna-/n/ın ön-ü”; “vazo-/n/un yan-ı”; “yatak-ın alt-ı” (ya*ta*ğın / al*tı); “bakkal-ın bitişik-i” (bak*ka*lın / bi*ti*şi*ği); “koltuk-un sağ-ı” (kol*tu*ğun / sa*ğı); “bakkal-ın karşı-/s/ı”; “ev-in arka-/s/ı”. When the [de, da] allomorphs are attached to the noun compounds above, they take the /n/ glides attached to the noun compounds to maintain a harmonious link between the noun compounds and the [de, da] allomorphs. The noun compounds attached to the [de, da] allomorphs function as subject complements when “be” verbs are used. Compare and consider the following sentences: Kedi perde-/n/in arka-/s/ı/n/-da. (per*de*nin / ar*ka*sı) subj

noun compound - /n/da (subj complement) predicate

(ke*di / per*de*nin / ar*ka*sın*da ↷). The cat is behind the curtain.

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Gözlük-ler-im ayna-/n/ın ön-ü/n/-de. (ay*na*nın / ö*nü) (göz*lük*le*rim / ay*na*nın / ö*nün*de ↷) My glasses are in front of the mirror. (The “im, ım, üm, um, em, am” Turkish possessive personal allomorphs all mean “ben-im”: “my”.) Terlikler-in karyola-/n/ın alt-ı/n/-da. (ter*lik*le*rin / kar*yo*la*nın / al*tın*da ↷) Your slippers are under the bed. (The “in, ın, ün, un, en, an” allomorphs mean “sen-in”: “your”.) Ben-im ev-im bakkal-ın bitişik-i/n/-de. (bak*ka*lın / bi*ti*şi*ği) (be*nim / e*vim / bak*ka*lın / bi*ti*şi*ğin*de ↷) My house is next to the grocer. Sen-in dükkân-ın bakkal-ın karşı-/s/ı/n/-da. (bak*ka*lın / kar*şı*sı) (se*nin / dük*kâ*nın / bak*ka*lın / kar*şı*sın*da ↷) Your shop is opposite (to) the grocer. İstasyon sol-da. (is*tas*yon / sol*da ↷) The station is on the left. İstasyon bakkal-ın sol-u/n/-da. (bak*ka*lın / so*lu) (is*tas*yon / bak*ka*lın / so*lun*da ↷) The station is on the left of the grocer. Karı-ım ev-de. (ka*rım / ev*de ↷) My wife is at home. Postane-/n/in ön-ü/n/-de-/y/im. (The “im” means “ben”: “I”.) (ben / pos*ta:*ne*nin / ö*nün*de*yim ↷) I am in front of the post office. In the sentences above, there are no time morphemes attached to the words “arkasın-da”, “önün-de”, “karşısın-da”, “ev-de”, etc. The absence of these time morphemes in the sentences above (“∅” zero morphemes) imply that the time is present.

Present Negative: To change the positive “be” linking verbs into negative forms, the negative making adverb “değil” is used after a subject complement, such as:

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Mutlu değil-im. (mut*lu / de*ği*lim) I am not happy. İstekli değil-sin.iz. (is*tek*li / de*ğil*si*niz) You are not willing. (The “sin.iz, sın.ız, sün.üz, sun.uz” personal allomorphs all mean plural “siz”: “you”.) Yakışıklı değil-sin. (The “sin, sın, sün, sun” personal allomorphs all mean singular “sen”: “ you”) /ya*kı*şık*lı / de*ğil*sin) You are not handsome. Ev-de değil-ler. (The “ler, lar” personal allomorphs mean “onlar”: “they”.) (ev*de / de*ğil*ler) They are not at home. Baba-am ev-de değil. ( (ba*bam / ev*de / de*ğil) My father is not at home.

Present Positive Question: To turn the positive linking verbs into the positive question forms, the [mi, mı] interrogative allomorphs are attached to the personal allomorphs, which are uses followed by the subject complements: Deli mi-/y/im? (de*li / mi*yim) Am I crazy? Ev-de mi-sin? (ev*de / mi*sin) Are you at home? Fatma-/n/ın göz-ler-i mavi mi? (fat*ma*nın / göz*le*ri / ma*vi / mi) Are Fatma’s eyes blue? Dikkatsiz mi-/y/iz? (The “iz, ız, üz, uz” personal allomorphs mean “biz”: “we”.) (dik*kat*siz / mi*yiz) Are we careless?

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Hazır mı-sın.ız? (ha*zır / mı*sı*nız) Are you ready? İyi-ler mi? (i*yi*ler / mi) Are they all right?

Present Negative Question: To turn a positive linking verb form into a negative linking verb form, the negative making adverb “değil” is used after the subject complement: Çalışkan değil mi-/y/im? (ça*lış*kan / de*ğil / mi*yim) Am I not hardworking? Sorumlu değil mi-sin.iz? (so*rum*lu / de*ğil / mi*si*niz) Are you not responsible? Anne-en ev-de değil mi? (an*nen / ev*de / de*ğil / mi) Is your mother not at home? İsteksiz degil-ler mi? (is*tek*siz / de*ğil*ler / mi) Aren’t they unwilling? Hazır değil mi-/y/iz? (ha*zır / de*ğil / mi*yiz) Aren’t we ready? Güzel değil mi-/y/im? (gü*zel / de*ğil / mi*yim) Am I not beautiful? The Question Words Used With the Linking Verbs: Nerede-sin.iz? Ev-de-/y/im. (ne*re*de*si*niz) Where are you? I am at home. Nasıl-sın.ız? İyi-/y/im. (na*sıl*sı*nız) How are you? I am quite well.

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Niçin hazır değil-/s/in? (ni*çin / ha*zır / de*ğil*sin) Why aren’t you ready? Kim-sin? (Ben) Ahmet-im. (kim*sin) Who are you? I am Ahmet. Nerede-/y/iz? İstanbul-da-/y/ız.

(ne*re*de*yiz) Where are we? We are in İstanbul. English does not have any suffıxes or prefixes to turn adjectives into verbs. Therefore, this deficiency is fulfilled by some linking verbs such as get, grow, look, turn, smell, sound, become, which are followed by nouns or adjectives (subject complements). As some Turkish adjectives can be turned into verbs by attaching some suffixes to adjectives, some English linking verbs are not used in Turkish. Therefore, verbs are used instead. In the following examples, you can see how Turkish adjectives turn into verbs by attaching some suffixes to adjectives: Güzel → güzel-leş, yaşlı → yaş-lan, soguk → soğu, uzun → uza, kısa → kısal, yorgun → yorul, hazır → hazır-lan, sarı → sarar, sinirli → sinir-len, sıcak → ısın, şüphe → şüphe-len, sakin → sakin-leş, kırmızı → kızar, güç → güç-leş, koku → kok, sarı → sarar.

Example Sentences: Herkes yaşlan-ır. (“Yaşlan” is an intransitive verb which means “grow old”.)

(her*kes / yaş*la*nır) Everybody grows old. (“Grow” is a linking verb, “old” is an adjective.) Hava soğu-u.yor. (“Soğu” is an intransitive verb which means “get cold”)

(ha*va / so*ğu*yor) It is getting colder. (“Get” is a linking verb, “cold” is an adjective.) Yorgun görün-ü.yor-sun. (“Görün” is a reflexive verb, “yorgun” is an adj.)

(yor*gun / gö*rü*nü*yor*sun) You look tired. (“Look” is a linking verb; “tired” is an adjective.) Yaprak-lar sonbahar-da sarar-ır. (“Sarar” means “turn yellow”.)

(yap*rak*lar / son*ba*har*da / sa*ra*rır) Leaves turn yellow in the autumn.

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Çorba nefis kok-u.yor. (“Kok” is an intransitive verb; “nefis” is an adverb.) (ço*ba / ne*fis / ko*ku*yor) The soup smells delicious. (“Smell” is a linking verb; “delicious” is an adj.) Öğrenci-ler sessiz kal-dı-lar. (“Kal” is an intransitive verb; “sessiz” is an adverb.) (öğ*ren*ci*ler / ses*siz / kal*dı*lar) The students remained silent. (“Remain” is a linking verb; “silent” is an adjective. Kendim-i iyi hisset-i.yor-um. (“Hisset” is a transitive verb; “iyi” is an adverb.) (ken*di*mi / i*yi / his*se*di*yo*rum) I feel good. (“Feel” is a linking verb; “good” is an adjective.) Aptallık et-i.yor-sun. (“Et” is a transitive verb; “aptallık” is its indefinite object.)

(ap*tal*lık / e*di*yor*sun) You are being foolish. (“Are being” is a linking verb; “foolish” is an adjective.) Üşü-dü/y/-se-en ceket-in-i giy. (“Üşü” is intransitive; it means “feel cold”) (ü*şü*düy*sen / ce*ke*ti*ni / giy) If you feel cold, put your coat on. (“Feel” is a linking verb; “cold” is an adj,) Fatma gün-den gün-e güzel-leş-i.yor. (“Güzel-leş” means “get beautiful”.)

(fat*ma / gün*den / gü*ne / gü*zel*le*şi*yor) Fatma is getting more beautiful day by day. Bu yumurtalar pis kok-u.yor. (“pis” is an adverb because “kok” is an action verb.) (bu / yu*mur*ta*lar / pis / ko*ku*yor) These eggs smell nasty. Proje-en ilginç gör-ün-ü.yor. (“İlginç” is used as an adverb in Turkish.) (pro*jen / il*ginç / gö*rü*nü*yor) Your project seems (sounds) interesting. Note: Nearly all adjectives in Turkish can be used as adverbs without changing their forms. For instance: O iyi bir kız-dır. (adjective) She is a good girl. (adjective) O iyi yüz-er. (adverb) She swims well. (adverb) Bu yavaş bir araba-dır. (adjective) This is a slow car. (adjective) Bu araba yavaş gider. (adverb) This car goes slowly. (adverb) O güzel bir kız-dır. (adjective) She is a beautiful girl. (adjective) O güzel şarkı söyler. (adverb) She sings beautifully. (adverb)

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH LINKING VERBS Simple Past The simple past tense allomorphs of the verb “be” are [di, dı, dü, du, ti, tı, tü, tu], which are attached to the personal allomorphs below: (ben) [im, ım, üm, um], (sen) [in, ın, ün, un], (o) [∅], (biz) [ik, ık, ük, uk], (siz) [in.iz, ın.ız, ün.üz, un.uz], (onlar) [ler, lar]

Positive: Ev-de/y/-di-im. (ev*dey*dim) I was at home. Hazır-dı-ın.ız. (ha*zır*dı*nız) You were ready . Mutlu/y/-du-uk. (mut*luy*duk) We were happy. Sarhoş-tu-lar. (sar*hoş*tu*lar) They were drunk. Öğrenci-ler neşeli/y/-di. (öğ*ren*ci*ler / ne*şe*liy*di) The students were cheerful. Araba-am kapı-/n/ın ön-ü/n/-de/y/-di. (a*ra*bam / ka*pı*nın / ö*nün*dey*di) My car was in front of the door.

Negative: To turn a positive linking verb into a negative statement, the negative making adverb “değil” is used after the subject complement, which is attached to past time and personal allomorphs: Yorgun değil-di-im. (yor*gun / de*ğil*dim) I was not tired. (I wasn’t tired.)

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Sorumlu değil-di-in.iz. (so*rum*lu / de*ğil*di*niz) You were not responsible. (You weren’t responsible.) Ev-de değil-ler-di. (ev*de / de*ğil*ler*di) They were not at home. (They weren’t at home.) Meşgul değil-di-ik. (meş*gul / de*ğil*dik) We were not busy. (We weren’t busy.)

Positive Question: To turn a positive linking verb into a positive question form, one of the [mi, mı, mü, mu] question allomorphs is attached to time and personal allomorphs separately: Dün okul-da mı/y/-dı-ın? (dün / o*kul*da / mıy*dın) Were you at school yesterday? Miting kalabalık mı/y/-dı? (mi*ting / ka*la*ba*lık / mıy*dı) Was the meeting crowded? Yorgun mu/y/-du-un.uz? (yor*gun / muy*du*nuz) Were you tired? Sorular zor mu/y/-du? (so*ru*lar / zor / muy*du) Were the questions difficult?

Negative Question: In negative question forms, the negative making adverb “değil” follows the subject complement as they are in the following examples: Dün okul-da değil mi/y/-di-in? (dün / o*kul*da / de*ğil / miy*din) Were you not at school yesterday? (Weren’t you at school?)

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Masal ilginç değil mi/y/-di? (ma*sal / il*ginç / de*ğil / miy*di) Was the story not interesting? (Wasn’t the story interesting? Öğrenci-ler öğren-mek için istekli değil mi/y-di-ler? (öğ*ren*ci*ler / öğ*ren*mek / i*çin / is*tek*li / de*ğil / miy*di*ler) Weren’t the students eager to learn? Hazır değil mi/y/-di-in.iz? (ha*zır / de*ğil / miy*di*niz) Were’t you ready? Have been, has been, had been, will be Kız kardeş-im on yıl-dır öğretmen. (kız / kar*de*şim / on / yıl*dır / öğ*ret*men) My sister has been a teacher for ten years. Hava üç gün-dür çok soğuk. (ha*va / üç / gün*dür / çok / so*ğuk) It has been very cold for three days. Oğlum yakında doctor ol-a.cak. (oğ*lum / ya*kın*da / dok*tor / o*la*cak) My son will be a doctor soon.

Modal Verbs with Liking Verbs Modal verbs can be used both with action verbs and liking verbs in English and Turkish. We will show only the modal verbs that are used with linking verbs in the following example sentences.

Present Modals Positive: ol-[a.bil-ir]-[personal allomorph] = “can be” or “may be” (Possibility) Turkish modal verbs are used followed by subject complements attached by one of the personal allomorphs: (ben) [im], (sen) [sin], (o) [∅], (biz) [iz], (siz) [sin-iz], [onlar) [ler]: Yorgun ol-a.bil-ir-im. (yor*gun / o*la*bi*li*rim) I may be tired.

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Sorumlu ol-a.bil-ir-sin. (so*rum*lu / o*la*bi*lir*sin) You may be responsible. Jack bahçe-de ol-a.bil-ir. (jack / bah*çe*de / o*la*bi*lir) Jack may be in the garden. Meşgul ol-a.bil-ir-iz. (meş*gul / o*la*bi*li*riz) We may be busy. İsteksiz ol-a.bil-ir-sin.iz. (is*tek*siz / o*la*bi*lir*si*niz) You may be unwilling. Turist ol-a.bil-ir-ler. (tu*rist / o*la*bi*lir*ler) They may be tourists.

Negative: ol-ma-/y/a.bil-ir-[personal allomorph] = may not be (Negative possibility) Ev-de ol-ma-/y/a.bil-ir-im. (ev*de / ol*ma*ya*bi*li*rim) I may not be at home. Mutlu ol-ma-/y/a.bil-ir-sin. (mut*lu / ol*ma*ya*bi*lir*sin) You may not be happy. Ankara-da hava güneşli ol-ma-/y/a.bil-ir. (an*ka*ra*da / ha*va / gü*neş*li / ol*ma*ya*bi*lir) The weather may not be sunny in Ankara. Okul-un ön-ü/n/-de ol-ma-/y/a.bil-ir-iz. (o*ku*lun / ö*nün*de / ol*ma*ya*bi*li*riz) We may not be in front of the school. Haklı ol-ma-/y/a.bil-ir-sin.iz. (hak*lı / ol*ma*ya*bi*lir*si*niz) You may not be right.

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Hoşlanmış ol-ma-/y/a.bil-ir-ler. (hoş*lan*mış / ol*ma*ya*bi*lir*ler) They may not be pleased.

Positive Question: “Can” is used in question forms in English In place of “may”: Başarılı ol-a.bil-ir mi-/y/im? (ba*şa*rı*lı / o*la*bi*lir / mi*yim) Can I be successful? Yarın bürom-da ol-a.bil-ir mi-sin? (ya*rın / bü*rom*da / o*la*bi*lir / mi*sin) Can you be in my office tomorrow? Anne-en öfkeli ol-a.bil-ir mi? (an*nen / öf*ke*li / o*la*bi*lir / mi) Can your mother be angry? Saat beş-te hazır ol-a.bil-ir mi-/y/iz? (sa*at / beş*te / ha*zır / o*la*bi*lir / mi*yiz) Can we be ready at five? Dikkatli ol-a.bil-ir mi-sin.iz? (dik*kat*li / o*la*bi*lir / mi*si*niz) Can you be careful? Birazdan hazır ol-a.bil-ir-ler mi? (bi*raz*dan / ha*zır / o*la*bi*lir*ler / mi) Can they be ready soon?

Negative Question: To turn the “ol-a.bil-r” modal form into negative, “ol-a.maz” modal form is used: Haklı ol-a.maz mı-/y/ım? (hak*lı / o*la*maz / mı*yım) Can’t I be right? Dürüst ol-a.maz mı-sın? (dü*rust / o*la*maz / mı*sın) Can’t you be honest?

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Jack futbol oynuyor ol-a.maz mı? (jack / fut*bol / oy*nu*yor / o*la*maz / mı) Can’t Jack be playing football? Suçsuz ol-a.maz mı-/y/ız? (suç*suz / o*la*maz / mı*yız) Can’t we be innocent? Dikkatli ol-a.maz mı-sın.ız? (kö*şe*de / de*ğil / mi*si*niz) Can’t you be careful? Sabırlı ol-a.maz-lar mı? (sa*bır*lı / o*la*maz*lar / mı) Can’t they be patient?

Ol-ma.lı = must be Positive: To arrange a “must be” model form in Turkish, a “subject complement + ol-ma.lı-[personal allomorph]” verb phrase should be used, which expresses either certainty or necessity or both. Here are some example sentences: Hazır ol-ma.lı-sın. (Certainty or necessity) (ha*zır / ol*ma*lı*sın) You must be ready. (Certainty or necessity) The Turkish and English sentences above are ambiguous because they may both mean “I am certain that you are ready” or “It is necessary for you to be ready”. O-/n/a inan-dık-im için aptal ol-ma.lı-/y/ım. (o*na / i*nan*dı*ğım / i*çin / ap*tal / ol*ma*lı*yım) I must be stupid to believe him. (I am sure that I am stupid.) (Certainty) Sinirli ol-ma.lı-sın. (si*nir*li / ol*ma*lı*sın) You must be nervous. (I am sure that you are nervous.) (Certainty) Baba-an dahi ol-ma.lı. (ba*ban / da*hi / ol*ma*lı) Your father must be genius. (I am sure your father is genius.) (Certainty)

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Dikkatli ol-ma.lı-/y/ız. (dik*kat*li / ol*ma*lı*yız) We must be careful. (It is necessary for us to be careful.) (Necessity) Cesur ol-ma.lı-sın.ız. (ce*sur / ol*ma*lı*sı*nız) You must be brave. (I am sure you are brave, or I want you to be brave.) Sabırsız ol-ma.lı-lar. (sa*bır*sız / ol*ma*lı*lar) They must be impatient. (I am sure that they are impatient.) (Certainty)

Negative: In the negative form, the negative making allomorph [ma] attaches to the verb “ol”: Sabırsız ol-ma-ma.lı-/y/ım. (sa*bır*sız / ol*ma*ma*lı*yım) I mustn’t be impatient. (Necessity) Üzgün ol-ma-ma.lı-sın. (I want you not to be sorry.) (Necessity) (üz*gün / ol*ma*ma*lı*sın) You mustn’t be sorry. Üzül-me-me.li-sin. (I advise you not to be sorry.) (Necessity) (ü*zül*me*me*li*sin) You mustn’t feel sad. Tertipsiz ol-ma-ma.lı. (Necessity) (ter*tip*siz / ol*ma*ma*lı) He mustn’t be untidy. Dikkatsiz ol-ma-ma.lı-/y/ız. (Necessity) (dik*kat*siz / ol*ma*ma*lı*yız) We mustn’t be careless. Kayıtsız ol-ma-ma.lı-sın.ız. (Necessity) (ka*yıt*sız / ol*ma*ma*lı*sı*nız) You mustn’t be indifferent. Geç kal-ma-ma.lı-lar. (Necessity) (geç / kal*ma*ma*lı*lar) They mustn’t be late.

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Positive Question: In question forms, the [mı] interrogative allomorph attaches to the personal allomorphs, and they follow the [ol-ma.lı] verb together as a separate word: Hazır ol-ma.lı mı-/y/ım? (Is it necessary?) (ha*zır / ol*ma*lı / mı*yım) Must I be ready? Sabah-leyin okul-da ol-ma.lı mı-sın? (Is it necessary?) (sa*bah*le*yin / o*kul*da / ol*ma*lı / mı*sın) Must you be at school in the morning? Balıklar kızarmış mı ol-ma.lı? (Is it necessary?) (ba*lık*lar / kı*zar*mış / mı / ol*ma*lı) Must the fish be fried? Sabırlı mı ol-ma.lı-/y/ız? (Is it necessary?) (sa*bır*lı / mı / ol*ma*lı*yız) Must we be patient? Kuşkulu ol-ma.lı mı-sın.ız? (Is it necessary?) (kuş*ku*lu / ol*ma*lı / mı*sı*nız) Must you be doubtful? Uçak-ta ol-ma.lı-lar mı? (Is it necessary?) (u*çak*ta / ol*ma*lı*lar / mı) Must they be on the plane?

Interrogative Words Used with Linking Verbs: Question words can be put in the beginning of all interrogative sentences using linking verbs in Turkish and English. Additionally, the modal verbs change their places and they are put before the subjects in English. In Turkish, the rest of the sentences are either in positive or negative form as they are in the example sentences below: Ne zaman hazır ol-ma.lı-/y/ız? (ne / za*man / ha*zır / ol*ma*lı*yız) When must we be ready? Nere-de ol-ma.lı-lar? (ne*re*de / ol*ma*lı*lar) Where must they be?

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH ol-a.ma(z) = can’t be (Impossibility) When the personal allomorphs attach to the “ol-a.ma(z)” modal verbs, they change as follows: (ben) ol-a.ma-am (o*la*mam), (sen) ol-a.maz-sın (o*la*maz*sın), (o) ola.maz (o*la*maz), (biz) ol-a.ma-/y/ız (o*la*ma*yız), (siz) ol-a.maz-sın.ız (o*la*maz*sı*nız), (onlar) ol-a.maz-lar (o*la*maz*lar). (Ben) sen-siz ol-a.ma-am. (sen*siz / o*la*mam) I can’t be without you. Ciddi ol-a.maz-sın; şaka yap-ı.yor ol-ma.lı-sın. (cid*di / o*la*maz*sın↷ / şa*ka / ya*pı*yor / ol*ma*lı*sın↷) You can’t be serious; you must be joking. Jack ders çalış-ı.yor ol-a.maz; futbol oyna-u.yor ol-ma.lı. (jack / ders / ça*li*şi*yor / o*la*maz ↷/ şa*ka / ya*pı*yor / ol*ma*lı) Jack can’t be studying; he must be playing football. Hatalı ol-a.ma-/y/ız. (ha*ta*lı / o*la*ma*yız) We can’t be wrong. Sabırlı ol-a.maz-sın.ız. (sa*bır*lı / o*la*maz*sı*nız) You can’t be patient. İsteksiz ol-a.maz-lar. (is*tek*siz / o*la*maz*lar) They can’t be unwilling.

Question: İyi bir yüzücü ol-a.maz mı-/y/ım? (i*yi / bir / yü*zü*cü / o*la*maz / mı*yım) Can’t I be a good swimmer? Yardımcı ol-a.maz mı-sın.ız? (yar*dım*cı / o*la*maz / mı*sı*nız) Can’t you be helpful?

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Söyle-dik-i doğru ol-a.maz mı? (söy*le*di*ği / doğ*ru / o*la*maz / mı) Can’t what he said be true? Başarılı ol-a.maz mı-/y/ız? (ba*şa*rı*lı / o*la*maz / mı*yız) Can’t we be successful? Büro-da ol-a.maz mı-sın.ız? (bü*ro* da / o*la*maz / mı*sı*nız) Can’t you be in the office? Sorumlu ol-a.maz-lar mı? (so*rum*lu / o*la*maz*lar / mı) Can’t they be responsible?

Perfect Modals should have been Although past modals are used with action verbs, they are not much used with linking verbs. However, perfect modals may be used with linking verbs as follows.

Positive: (Sen) daha dikkatli ol-ma.lı/y/-dı-ın. subj subj complement

verb

(da*ha / dik*kat*li / ol*ma*lıy*dın) You should have been more careful. Saat sekiz-de okul-da ol-ma.lı/y/-dı-ın. (sa*at / se*kiz*de / o*kul*da / ol*ma*lıy*dın) You should have been at scool at eight. Geç kal-a.bil-ir-di-in. (geç / ka*la*bi*lir*din) You might have been late.

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LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH Note: The colors used in this article are as follows: 1. Subjects and personal allomorphs are blue. 2. Verbs are red. 2. Objects, nouns, prepositions and coordinating conjunctions are black. 3. Adverbs, adverbials, adverbial phrases and subordinating conjunctions are green. 4. Adjectives and noun modifiers are purple. 5. Subject complements are brown.

Yüksel Göknel

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