Proto-Turkic/Genitive, accusative and dative cases
Welcome to sixth lesson of Proto-Turkic!
Genitive and Possessive cases
Genitive case (*-(n)Iŋ)[1]
We have already mentioned the genitive case in lesson one. The suffix *-nIŋ gives us the genitive case.
Possessive case
The important thing here is how you will provide the possessive case. Because there are six different forms according to the pronoun. It takes *-Xm for first person singular, *-Xŋ for second person singular, *-XmXŕ for first person plural, *-XŋXŕ for second person plural, the forms *-sI and *-I for both third person singular and third person plural. Unlike Turkish or Azerbaijani, there is no separate third person plural possessive suffix.
First person singular (*-Xm, *-m)[2]
- My father - Beniŋ atam
- My dog - Beniŋ itim
- My horse - Beniŋ atïm
- My arrow - Beniŋ okum
- My ox - Beniŋ öküŕüm
If you are confused about vowel harmony, please go back to the previous fourth lesson.
Second person singular (*-Xŋ, *-ŋ)[3]
- Your father - Seniŋ ataŋ
- Your dog - Seniŋ itiŋ
- Your horse - Seniŋ atïŋ
- Your arrow - Seniŋ okuŋ
- Your ox - Seniŋ öküŕüŋ
First person plural (*-XmXŕ, *-mXŕ)[4]
- Our father - Biŕiŋ atamïŕ
- Our dog - Biŕiŋ itimiŕ
- Our horse - Biŕiŋ atïmïŕ
- Our arrow - Biŕiŋ okumuŕ
- Our ox - Biŕiŋ öküŕümüŕ
Second person plural (*-XŋXŕ, *-ŋXŕ)
- Your father - Siŕiŋ ataŋïŕ
- Your dog - Siŕiŋ itiŋiŕ
- Your horse - Siŕiŋ atïŋïŕ
- Your arrow - Siŕiŋ okuŋuŕ
- Your ox - Siŕiŋ öküŕüŋüŕ
Third person singular and plural (*-sI, *-I)[5]
It takes the suffix *-sI after the vowel and *-I after the consonant. Twofold suffix is only available in third person possessive. In Oghur, however, final vowels are deleted before adding the suffix -ï, as opposed to the rest of Turkic (ana → ana-ï → anï, ebniŋ anï).
- Ebiŋ anasï - mother of the house
- Dabuluŋ adakï - the end of the storm
- Eligiŋ ạbučï - palm of hand
- Ẹk(k)iŕiŋ ētüki - boot(s) of twins
It is not necessary to have the genitive suffix in the third person. (e.g; eb anasï - mother of the house, dabul adakï - the end of the storm). If exists, such forms is only exist paradigmatical category.
Accusative and Dative cases
One of the complex subjects in Proto-Turkic is accusative and dative cases. Because these cases may vary if they have the possessive suffix.
Let's start with accusative.
Accusative case (*-nI)[6]
In the Oghur group, both in Volga Bulgarian and Chuvash, accusative and dative are provided with the same suffixes. This of course creates confusion for linguists. But the fact that both cases watch as close attachments brings us to a reconstruction. In early Proto-Turkic, this suffix would be *-nIg, if the last letter isn't a later mongolic appendage, in Mongolic *-nig.
- me (accusative) — bẹni
- house (accusative) — ebni
The accusative case, which comes after the third person possessive suffix in some Common-Turkic languages, is added without the i letter. But it was probably a Shaz variant. That's why we don't experience any changes when it takes a possessive suffix. In this context, accusative is not as complex as dative.
- his/her/its house — anïŋ ebini
Dative cases (-kA)[7]
Dative case is reconstructed as *-kA.
- to the wall - *tāmka
- to the sea - *teŋiŕke
The letter k falls after the first, second and third possessive suffixes, it only takes the -a suffix in many Turkic languages but Yenisei Kyrgyz inscriptions and also modern Kyrgyz language don't have this change, shows that it was developed later. There's nothing different.
- to my sword - bẹniŋ kïlï̄čïmka
- to your bow - Sẹniŋ yāyïŋka
Initial in Proto-Turkic
If suffixes that start with a consonant come in a word that ends with a monosyllable and a vowel, they take the n consonant unless the initial letter is n, and in this context *bẹ becomes *ben. In Shaz Turkic, *ben has become stereotyped and has taken the place of *bẹ.
- at me — *bente
- from you — *senten
- to me — *benke
Same situation also applies to words with third-person possessive suffixes.
- on the mountains of country — ēliŋ tāgïŕïnda
- from the border of wall — tāmïŋ kïdïgïndan
- to his/her/its house — anïŋ ebinke
It would not be correct to say that these reconstructions are correct, as there is only -ne form in the Lir group. But what we have can lead us to this reconstruction at most. The probability of it being correct is therefore quite high.
Next lesson: Suffixes used to create new words with new meanings
References
- ↑ https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Turkic/-ni%C5%8B
- ↑ https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Turkic/-im
- ↑ https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Turkic/-i%C5%8B
- ↑ https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Turkic/-imi%C5%95
- ↑ https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Turkic/-si
- ↑ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Turkic/-ni
- ↑ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Turkic/-ka