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Noun-Modifying Clause Constructions in Languages of Eurasia: Rethinking theoretical and geographical boundaries
Edited by Yoshiko Matsumoto, Bernard Comrie and Peter Sells
[Typological Studies in Language 116] 2017
► pp. 251–292

Chapter 10
Turkish and Turkic complex noun phrase constructions

| Syracuse University
| Institute of Humanities and Indigenous Peoples of the North, Yakutsk, Russia

We propose an account for two different language types, with data from two Turkic languages. One type (Sakha) allows NMCCs with loose semantic and formal connections between the noun and the clause. The other type (Turkish) does not allow such constructions. In Turkish-type Turkic, the head’s semantic features in NMCCs impose requirements on the morpho-syntax of a complement clause; in RCs, the subjecthood versus non-subjecthood of the target dictates different morphological properties onto the clause’s predicate. The Sakha type languages do not exhibit such constraints, given the clause’s status as an adjunct in both constructions. We further show that not only Turkish-type languages, but also Sakha-type languages obey syntactic island constraints, as adjuncts are more opaque for extractions than complements; hence even this type of language can be sensitive to islands.

Keywords: Turkish, Sakha, relative clauses, noun complement constructions, clausal arguments and adjuncts
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Turkish and Sakha constructions headed by a noun or noun phrase: Brief description of their basic properties
    • 2.1Turkish
      • 2.1.1Turkish N-complement clause constructions as phrasal compounds
      • 2.1.2Turkish relative clause constructions as nominal phrases with “adjectival” modifiers
      • 2.1.3Relative clauses have gaps, N-complement clause constructions do not
      • 2.1.4Additional morpho-syntactic properties of relative clauses which are different from those of noun-complement constructions in Turkish
    • 2.2Sakha: More Japanese-like, but not completely
  • 3.Brief comparison of island violations, gapless RCs, and CNPs with loose head-to-clause connections
    • 3.1Sakha
      • 3.1.1Island violations in Sakha
      • 3.1.2Gapless RCs in Sakha
      • 3.1.3CNPs with loose head-to-clause connection in Sakha
    • 3.2Turkish
      • 3.2.1Island violations in Turkish
      • 3.2.2Gapless RCs in Turkish
      • 3.2.3CNPs with loose head-to-clause connections in Turkish
  • 4.Returning to questions about syntactic islands
    • 4.1Apparent island violations
    • 4.2Apparently gapless relative clauses are gapped relative clauses targeting obliques
  • 5.Resumptive pronouns: To what extent are they optional or obligatory, and in what contexts?
    • 5.1Resumptive pronouns in Sakha
    • 5.2Resumptive pronouns in Turkish
  • 6.Islands in Sakha and Turkish: More on resumption, and effects of the islands’ placement in the matrix
    • 6.1Sakha
      • 6.1.1A well-formed instance of resumption as a saving device
      • 6.1.2Ill-formed instances of resumption in Sakha island violations
    • 6.2Turkish
    • 6.3Comparisons
  • 7.Summary and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 28 February 2017
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.116.11kor
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