Non-Finite Verbal Constructions in Iranian Turkmen: A Contact Linguistics

Perspective

This paper aims to discuss non-finite verbal constructions in Iranian Turkmen from a contact

perspective with Persian as the official language. The non-finite verbal constructions will be analysed

from within the framework proposed by Csató (1990).

The speech of three generations of Iranian Turkmen people will be analysed in order to assess how

the syntactic and semantic behaviour of their speech is influenced by Persian with respect to their

use of non-finite verbal constructions. It will be demonstrated that, in the case of the older

generation who have minimal contact with Persian, the use of non-finite verbal constructions is still

highly employed. In the middle aged generation,depending on the type of non-finite verbal

construction, there seems to be a marked increase in the use of Persian replacement structures,

particularly among the educated speakers. Nevertheless, non-finite verbal constructions are still

actively used to a significant extent. By contrast, the young generation exhibits a high degree of

Persian influence, in particular the use of Persian finite forms to replace non-finite verbal forms. For

instance, the use of verbal nouns and non-finite possessive and non-possessive relative clauses

seems to have notably diminished, especially in urban areas.

The data include a variety of genres, including folk tales, third person narratives, life stories, customs

and conversations by elderly, middle aged and young speakers of the Yomut, Gokleng and Teke

dialects living in the province of Golestan, north-east Iran.

Based on Csató’s framework, the inventory of non-finite verbal constructions in Turkic languages,

including Turkmen, contains 6 types. Examples of these 6 types, along with a corresponding

replacement Persian-influenced example, are as follows:

1. Participle constructions that function as complements: -ýen/-en/-n; -jek; -dik constructions such as:

(i) gel-en-i-ni bil-ýe-n come-PTCP-POSS.3SG-ACC know-PRS-1SG

'I know his coming' (I know that he came).

Replaced by:

(ii) men bil–ýe–n ki gel-di I know-PRS-1SG KE.PRTCL come-DI.PST

‘I know that he came.’

2. Infinitive constructions functioning as complements:

(iii) xanvada-la heleý-ler-niň gid-mek-i-ni qabul family-PL wife-PL-GEN go-INF-POSS.3-ACC acceptance

ed-me-ýädi-le do-NEG-HAB.PST-3PL

‘The families did not accept their wives’ going.’

Replaced by:

(iv) xanvada-la qabul ed-me-ýädi-le ki xanom-lar-y family-PL acceptance do-NEG-HAB.PST-3PL KE.PRTCL wife-PL-POSS.3

gid-sin-le go-VOL-3PL

‘The families did not accept that their wives would go.’

3. Constructions based on verbal nouns with '-iş'

(v) o-nyň gülüş-ü biz-i naraxat ed-di he-GEN laughter-poss.3SG we-ACC sad do-DI.PST

'His laughing made us sad.'

Replaced by:

(vi) o-nyň xände-si biz-i naraxat ed-di he-GEN laughter-poss.3SG we-ACC sad do-DI.PST

‘His laughing made us sad.’

4. Constructions in which the head is a lexicalized verbal noun:

(vii) otaý-da olaqan wuruş bol-ybdyr There-LOC big fight become-INDIR.PST

'(It is said that) there was a big fight there.'

Replaced by:

(viii) otaý-da olaqan däva bol-ybdyr There-LOC big fight become-INDIR.PST

'(It is said that) there was a big fight there.'

5. Possessive and non-possessive relative clauses:

(ix) işlä-n adam dişlä-r işle-me-dik adam dişle-me-r Work-PTCP person bite-AOR.3SG work-NEG-PTCP person bite-NEG-AOR.3SG

'A working person will bite (have things to eat) and a not working person will not bite (have anything to eat).’

Replaced by:

(x) adam-i ke işle-ýe dişlä-r adam-i Person-I.CLTC KE.PRTCL work-PRS bite-AOR.3SG person-I.CLTC

ke işle-me-ýe dişle-me-r KE.PRTCL work-NEG-PRS bite-NEG-AOR.3SG

‘A person who works will bite (have things to eat), a person who does not work will not bite (have anything to eat).’

6. Different types of gerundial constructions:

(xi) öý-e gid-ib nahar iý-ib gel-di Home-DAT go-CONV lunch eat-CONV come-DI.PST

'Going home, eating lunch, he came.'

Replaced by:

(xii) öý-e gid-di ve nahar iý-di o Home-DAT go-DI.PST and lunch eat-DI.PST and

gel-di come-DI.PST

‘He went home and ate lunch and came.’

The ways and the extent to which these types of non-finite verbal constructions are used across the

three generations will be illustrated by examples from the speech of various individuals from each of

the generations, highlighting the specific syntactic patterns of each replacement structure. It will be

demonstrated that there is an increasing level down the generations – from old to young - of Persian

finite structures replacing the non-finite constructions (types 1, 2, 5 and 6), with clear evidence that

type 5 structures are more frequently replaced than any of the other types. It will also be shown that

types 3 and 4 generally retain their non-finite structure, with the verbal nouns being replaced by a

Persian ezafe structure and/or corresponding Persian lexical noun.

Selected References:

Clark, L. (1998) Turkmen reference grammar. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.

Csató É. Á. (1990) Non-finite Verbal Constructions in Turkish. In: Brent Brendemon (ed.), Altaisca Osloensia. Proceedings of 32nd meeting of Permanent International Altaistic Conference, Oslo, June 12-16,1989. Universitets forlaget. 75-88.

Doerfer, G. (1998) Turkic languages of Iran. In: Johanson, L. & Csató, É. Á. (eds) The Turkic languages. London & New York: Routledge. 273-282.

Goksel, A. & Kerslake, C. (2005) Turkish: A comprehensive grammar. London: Routledge.

Johanson, L. (2002) Structural factors in Turkic language contacts. Surrey: Curzon Press.

Schönig, C. (1998) Turkmen. In: Johanson, L. & Csató, É. Á. (eds) The Turkic languages. London & New York: Routledge. 261-272.