RELATIVE CLAUSES

• The forms of relative clauses

CONTRASTIVE • The function of relative clauses
ANALYSIS • Prepositions in relative clauses

Prepared by Dilehan Acar

• Definition: A relative clause is a clausal modifier that relates to a constituent of the sentence,
typically a noun phrase. This is the antecedent or “head” of the relative construction. What
makes the configuration special is that the subordinate clause contains a variable that is bound
by the head. Relative clauses are embedded sentences that modify phrasal categories. For
example:
relative clause
↓
 The man [ who was reading the newspaper ] answered the phone.
↑
relative pronoun
The part in italic, whom I know, is a relative clause. It starts with a relative pronoun, who.
TUR: Gazete oku-yan adam telefon-a cevap ver-di.
newspaper read-SR man phone-DAT answer give-PAST-3sg
Basic Terminology

 A woman [who I know] brought me flowers.

•Antecedent: The expression in an upper clause that is modified by the relative

clause.
In the example, the noun woman is the antecedent.
•Relativized element: The element inside the relative clause that refers to the
antecedent. If there is a relative pronoun then the relativized element corresponds to
the relative pronoun. We usually characterize the relativized element by its function
in the relative clause.
In this example, the relativized element is the direct object of the verb know.
•Relative pronoun: The wh-word who is the relative pronoun in this example. The
relative pronoun refers to the antecedent. English relative clauses need not contain a
relative pronoun, as the following variant of our example shows:
 The cup [I was holding] fell down.
• Relative phrase: The phrase that contains the relative pronoun is the relative
phrase. In this example this phrase consists only of the relative pronoun, but there
are more complicated cases. In the following examples, the relative phrase is
underlined, the relative pronoun in bold face.
 A woman [whose husband I know] brought me flowers.
 A woman [to whom I talked yesterday] brought me flowers.

The Form of Relative Clauses

English has 3 forms of relative clauses:

• Wh relatives: A wh relative contains a wh-word that functions as relative pronoun.

The other two types, that-relatives and bare relatives, are so-called non-wh relatives.
Since only wh relatives contain a relative pronoun, only those relatives contain a
relative phrase.

 I stroked the dog which was chasing the cat. (wh relative)
• Non-wh relatives:
In non-wh relatives there is no wh-relative pronoun. It is important that in
these cases there is still something 'missing' in the relative clause, i.e., there
is still a relativized element, even though this element is not expressed
overtly.
 Where's the girl that sells the tickets? (that relative)

• That relatives: The relative clause starts with that. It is not fully clear
whether that is a relative pronoun or a complementizer in these cases.

• Bare relatives: The relative contains neither a relative phrase nor does it
start with that.

 Paris is a city I’ve always wanted to visit.

The Function of Relative Clauses
English has 4 main functions of relative clauses.

• Integrated relative: The relative provides information that helps identify the referent
of the antecedent further.
Some relative clauses identify or classify nouns: they tell us which person or thing, or
which kind of person or thing, is meant. These are called 'identifying', 'defining' or
'restrictive' relative clauses.

 I heard that the students saw me on the island.

TUR: [öğrenci -ler-in ben-i ada -da gör-dük -lerin]-i duy -du -m
student -PL-GEN I -ACC island -LOC see -FN -3.PL -ACC hear -PAST-
1.SG

• Supplementary relative: Adds information on the antecedent that is not required to

identify it.
Other relative clauses do not identify or classify; they simply tell us more about a
person or thing that is already identified. These are called 'non-identifying', 'non-
defining' or 'non-restrictive' relative clauses.

 My mother, [whom you met at my wedding], made an apple pie.

• Cleft relative: Only occurs in the special cleft construction.

 It was my father [who took me to school].

• Fused relative (Nominal, Free): In such relatives there is no explicit antecedent.

Instead the relative phrase is at the same time the antecedent.

 [What he did to me] was wrong.

DEFINING CLAUSES (also identifying or restrictive)
A restrictive relative clause provides essential information about the noun to which it
refers. It cannot be left out of the sentence without affecting the meaning. If it was left
out, the sentence would not make sense.
A defining relative clause is not separated from the rest of the sentence by commas or
parentheses.
 The guests that came were very polite.

TUR: Gel-en misafir-ler çok nazik-ler-di.

come-SR guest-PL very polite-PAST3pl

 The ones who travelled with this captain before were my cousins.

TUR: Daha önce bu kaptan-la seyahat ed-en-ler kuzen-ler-im-di.

More before this captain-COM travel –SR-PL cousin-PL-POSS1sg-PAST
NON-DEFINING CLAUSES (also non-identifying or non-restrictive)

A non-restrictive relative clause provides information that can be left out without
affecting the meaning or structure of the sentence. If it was left out, the sentence would
still make perfect sense.

The following relative pronouns are used in non-defining relative clauses. These relative
pronouns appear at the start of the non-defining relative clause and refer to a noun that
appears earlier in the sentence.

Person Thing Place

Subject who which

Object who/whom which where
Possessive whose
Examples:

 The coat, which Dan bought yesterday, was made of pure wool.

 I've just come back from London, where John lives.

 Yesterday I met a woman named Susan, whose husband works in London.

 John's mother, who lives in Scotland, has 6 grandchildren.

INTRODUCTORY EXPRESSIONS IN NON-DEFINING CLAUSES
Non-defining clauses can be introduced by expressions like all of or many of
followed by the relative pronoun.

Person Thing

all of, any of, some of, a few whom which

of, both of, each of, either of,
half of, many of, most of,
much of, none of, one of,
two of, etc.

 There were a lot of people at the party, many of whom I had known for years.
 There are 14 girls in my class, a few of whom are my friends.
 He was carrying his belongings, many of which were broken.
 He had thousands of books, most of which he had read.
 He picked up a handful of stones, one of which was sharp.
USING "WHICH" TO REFER TO ANOTHER CLAUSE
The relative pronoun which at the beginning of a non-defining relative clause can
refer to all the information contained in the previous part of the sentence, rather
than to just one word.

EXAMPLES

Chris did really well in his exams, which is quite a surprise.

My friends were all hiding in my apartment, which isn't what I'd expected.
She's studying to become a doctor, which is difficult.
RELATIVE CLAUSES WITH PREPOSITIONS
There are often prepositions in relative clauses, and a relative pronoun is the object of
that preposition. In everyday English, the preposition is normally placed at the end of
the relative clause and the pronoun may be included or omitted.
In formal English, the preposition is placed before the relative pronoun, and in this case
the pronoun cannot be omitted.

In the examples below, the pronouns in parentheses can be omitted.

Everyday English Formal English
Is that the man (who) she arrived with? Is that the man with whom she
arrived?
Does he know the girl (that) John is talking to? Does he know the girl to whom
John is talking?
It was the river (that) the children preferred to swim in. It was the river in which the
children preferred to swim.
RELATIVE CLAUSES IN TURKISH
Turkish relative clause (RC) has generally been treated in a gapping and movement
context (Kornfilt,1997, p. 57). In this view, relative clauses are constructed by
transforming a finite clause and changing its semantic content to one of an adjective
phrase. This view results in a range of complex and distinct rules to explain its
construction for different cases of relativization targets. Moreover, these rules stand in
contrast to the rest of the Turkish grammar, which has a rather regular
morphosyntactic structure. Two of the earliest attempts to analyze the syntax of
relativization in Turkish were (Underhill, 1972) and (Hankamer and Knecht,
1976) which gave exhaustive lists of ways in which RCs are constructed.

These early accounts do not provide a unified view of the different relativization
and participle selection processes.
Solak (2018) explains the relativization in Turkish by viewing participle morphemes as
derivations acting on stemmed verb phrases where the finite verb is stripped of its
tense and person morphemes. He claims that the apparent asymmetry of
relativizations with respect to subject and object corresponds to two different
strategies of deriving noun phrases. According to Solak;
There are no relative clauses in Turkish. All relative clauses can be treated as noun
phrases.
 There are no participles in Turkish. All participles should be treated as suffixes
deriving noun phrases out of stemmed verb phrases.
A relative clause (hereafter, RC) is a type of subordinate clause. All subordinate clauses
are semantically bound to a main clause without being grammatically autonomous
(Aydın, 2004).
The most typical type of relative clause is non-finite, and contains one of the participle
suffixes -(y)An, -DIK, or -(y)AcAK, corresponding to the relative pronouns ‘who’, ‘which’,
‘that’, ‘whom’, ‘whose’, ‘where’, etc. in English. Finite relative clauses, incorporating the
subordinator ki ,(also occur, but the range of this type is quite limited.
With the exception of ki clauses, all relative clauses precede the noun phrase they
modify, in the same way that adjectives precede the noun they modify:
Examples:

(1) küçük kız

‘the little girl’
(2) oyuncak-lar-ın-ı kır-an (küçük) kız
toy-PL-3SG.POSS-ACC break-PART little girl
‘the (little) girl who breaks/has broken her toys’
(3) her gün okul-da gör-düğ-üm kız
every day school-LOC see-PART-1SG.POSS girl
‘the girl whom I see at school every day’
(4) anne-si-yle tanış-acağ-ım kız
mother-3SG.POSS-COM meet-PART-1SG.POSS girl
‘the girl whose mother I’m going to meet’
(5) baş-ın-da şapka ol-an kız
head-3SG.POSS-LOC hat be-PART-girl
‘the girl who has a hat on her head’
The noun of the noun phrase that a relative clause modifies, i.e. the head noun, can have
one of several different relationships with the relative clause.
For example, in (2) the relationship of the target of relativization, the head noun kız ‘girl’,
to the relative clause is that of subject of the verb kır- ‘break’ (cf. kız oyuncaklarını kırdı
‘the girl broke her toys’), whereas in (3) it is the direct object of the verb gör- ‘see’ (cf. her
gün kızı okulda görüyorum ‘I see the girl at school every day’). In (4), on the other hand,
kız is the possessor of anne-si ‘her mother’ (cf. the genitive-possessive construction kız-ın
anne-si ‘the girl’s mother’). These processes are referred to as ‘relativizing the subject’,
‘relativizing the direct object’, ‘relativizing the possessor’, etc.
When relativizing a constituent of a nominal sentence the suppletive form ol- of the
copula is used as the bearer of the participle suffixes:
 [ağır yaralı ol-an] hastalar
seriously injured be-PART patients
‘the patients [who are seriously injured]’
 [çocukların evde olacağı] bir gün
‘a day [when the children will be at home]’
The construction in the first example corresponds to the nominal sentence Hastalar
ağır yaralı ‘The patients are seriously injured’.
The verb bulun-‘be (found)’ can also be used when relativizing one of the constituents
of a nominal sentence, especially where location is involved:
 iç-in-de üç top bulun-an/ol-an kutu (cf. Kutunun içinde üç top var.)
inside-3SG.POSS-LOC three ball be-PART box
‘the box [which has/had three balls inside it]’
MARKERS OF NON-FINITE RELATIVE CLAUSES: THE
PARTICIPLE SUFFIXES
-(y)An
A non-finite verb form which contains -(y)An does not get inflected for case or person,
except in headless relative clauses. This participle occurs in the following circumstances:

(i) In clauses where the relativized constituent is the subject of the verb in the relative
clause:

 [burada sat-ıl-an] kitap-lar (cf. Kitaplar burada satılıyor.)

here sell-PASS-PART book-PL
‘the books [(which are) sold here]’

 [öğretmen ol-an] Haydar (cf. Haydar öğretmen.)

teacher be-PART Haydar
‘Haydar, [who is a teacher]’
(ii) In clauses where the relativized constituent is the possessor of some constituent of
the relative clause:
(a) Where this possessor is part of the subject of the verb in the relative clause,
the relative clause begins with a non-case-marked noun phrase marked with a 3rd
person possessive suffix. For example, in (1) below komşumuz ‘our neighbour’,
which is the relativized constituent, is the possessor of araba-sı ‘his/her car’, and
would thus be the modifier in the corresponding genitive-possessive construction
komşumuz-un araba-sı ‘our neighbour’s car’, which is understood to be the
subject of çalın- ‘be stolen’ (cf. Komşumuzun arabası çalındı ‘Our neighbour’s
car has been stolen’).
(1) [araba-sı çal-ın-an] komşu-muz
car-3SG.POSS steal-PASS-PART neighbour-1PL.POSS
‘our neighbour [whose car was stolen]’
(2) [rolü büyük olmayan] oyuncu (cf. Oyuncunun rolü büyük değil.)
‘the actor [whose part isn’t big]’/‘the actor [who does not have a big part]’
Note that in the pattern represented in (2), where the verb in the relative clause is ol-
(corresponding to an expression with ‘have’ in English), it is unusual for the possessive
marked constituent to be preceded by any modifiers. Any adjectival descriptors
associated with this noun, such as büyük ‘big’, are preferably given a predicative role
within the relative clause, which thus corresponds in form to a linking sentence rather
than to an existential one.
(b) Where this possessor is part of some constituent of the relative clause other
than its subject, the relative clause must have a non-definite (i.e. categorial or
indefinite) subject. (Otherwise, if the subject is definite, a -DIK/-(y)AcAK
construction is used. The possessor can be part of any non subject constituent, such as:

A direct object:
(1) [koyun-ların-ı kurt kap-an] köylü-ler (cf. Köylülerin koyunlarını kurt kaptı.)
sheep-PL.3PL.POSS-ACC wolf catch-PART villager-PL
‘the villagers [whose sheep were caught by wolves]’ (lit. ‘whose sheep wolves
caught’)
An adverbial:
(2) [çatı-sın-dan birkaç küçük kiremit düş-en] ev roof- 3SG.POSS-ABL a.few
small tile fall-PART house
‘the house [from the roof of which a few small tiles fell]’

A possessive-marked postposition:
(3) [arka-sın-da adam ol-an] çocuk (cf. Çocuğun arkasında adam var.)
back-3POSS.SG-LOC man be-PART child
‘the child [behind whom there is a man]’

In (1) the relativized constituent köylüler ‘villagers’ is the possessor of koyun ‘sheep’,
and would thus be the modifier in the corresponding genitive-possessive construction
köylülerin koyunları, which itself functions as the direct object of kap- ‘seize and devour’
(cf. Köylülerin koyunlarını kurt kaptı ‘Wolves devoured the villagers’ sheep’. The
nondefinite subject may be modified (e.g. by a determiner and/or adjective, such as birkaç
‘a few’ and küçük ‘small’ in (2)).
(iii) In clauses where the relativized constituent is a possessed item (a noun phrase
with possessive marking):
-(y)An is used only in cases where the possessed item is part of the subject of the verb
in the relative clause. Otherwise -DIK/-(y)AcAK are used. For example,
in (a) below, the relativized constituent arabası ‘car-3SG.POSS’ is the possessed item
in the genitive-possessive construction komşumuz-un araba-sı ‘our neighbour’s car’,
which is itself the subject of çalın- ‘be stolen’ (cf. Komşumuzun arabası çalındı ‘Our
neighbour’s car was stolen’).

(a) [komşu-muz-un çal-ın-an] araba-sı

neighbour-1PL.POSS-GEN steal-PASS-PART car-3SG.POSS
‘our neighbour’s car, [which was stolen]’/‘our neighbour’s stolen car’
(b) [oyuncunun büyük olmayan] rolü (cf. Oyuncunun rolü büyük değil.)
‘the actor’s part, [which isn’t/wasn’t big]’
(iv) In clauses where the relativized constituent is a noun phrase expressing the location
of the activity expressed by the relative clause:
In these constructions the relative clause itself contains a subject with categorial status,
and the verb has passive marking:

 [kitap imzala-n-an] yer (cf. O yerde kitap imzalanıyor.)

book sign-PASS-PART place
‘the place [where books are signed]’

 [içki iç-il-ebil-ecek (ol-an)] lokantalar (cf. O lokantalarda içki içilebiliyor.)

alcoholic.beverage drink-PASS-PSB-FUT AUX-PART restaurants
‘restaurants [where alcohol can be drunk]’
-DIK and -(y)AcAK
These participles have identical structural properties in terms of their role in relative
clauses, but they differ in terms of tense. In very general terms, -(y)AcAK refers to future
situations:

 [Fatma’nın yarın gör-eceğ-i] film

Fatma-GEN tomorrow see-PART-3SG.POSS film
‘the film [that Fatma is going to see/will be seeing tomorrow]’

-DIK, on the other hand, mainly refers to past or ongoing situations:

 [Fatma-nın doku-duğ-u] halı

Fatma-GEN weave-PART-3SG.POSS rug
‘the rug [that Fatma is/was weaving/wove/has woven]’
-DIK and -(y)AcAK are used in the following circumstances:
(i) In clauses where the relativized constituent is the direct object of the verb in the
relative clause:
 [bil-diğ-im] bir turizm şirketi (cf. Bir turizm şirketi biliyorum.)
know-PART-1SG.POSS a tourism agency
‘a tourist agency [(that) I know]’
 [gönderecekleri] temsilci (cf. Bir temsilci gönderecekler.)
‘the representative [(whom) they will send]’
(ii) In clauses where the relativized constituent is the oblique object or the adverbial
modifier of the verb in the relative clause:
 [benim korktuğum] bazı hayvanlar (cf. Bazı hayvanlardan korkuyorum.)
‘some animals [of which I am/was afraid]’
 [Turhan-ın et-i kes-eceğ-i] bıçak (cf. Turhan eti bıçakla kesecek.)
Turhan-GEN meat-ACC cut-PART-3SG.POSS knife
‘the knife [with which Turhan will/would cut the meat]’
(iii) In clauses where the relativized constituent is the possessor of some constituent of
the relative clause other than its subject, as exemplified below:

The direct object:

 [usta-nın kapı-sın-ı değiştir-eceğ-i] çamaşır makinası (cf. Usta çamaşır
makinasının kapısını değiştirecek.)
engineer-GEN door-3SG.POSS-ACC change-PART-3SG.POSS washing
machine
‘the washing machine [of which the engineer is/was going to change the door]’

An adverbial:
 [kız-ın-a piyano ders-i ver-diğ-im] hanım (cf. Bir hanımın kızına piyano
dersi veriyorum.)
daughter-3SG.POSS piano lesson-NC give-PART-1SG.POSS lady
‘the lady [to whose daughter I give/gave piano lessons]’
A possessive-marked postposition:
(a) [ön-ün-den köprü-nün geç-tiğ-i] ev-ler (cf. Köprü evlerin önünden geçiyor.)
front-3SG.POSS-ABL bridge-GEN be.situated-PART-3SG.POSS house-PL
‘the houses [in front of which the bridge is situated]’
In (b), the -(y)An construction parallel to (a), the subject köprü has the non-definite
meaning ‘a bridge/bridges’:
(b) [ön-ün-den köprü geç-en] ev-ler
front-3SG.POSS-ABL bridge be.situated-PART house-PL
‘the houses [in front of which a bridge is situated]’

As a result of this difference, a relative clause of this type which has a proper noun as
its subject (e.g. Semra below) is only grammatical with the -DIK-/(y)AcAK strategy:

 [arkasında Semra-nın oturduğu] çocuk

‘the child [behind whom Semra is/was sitting]’
While a relative clause with a categorial subject has to be expressed with -(y)An (as in
(31), also (13) and (15)), in the case of an indefinite subject either kind of participle is
possible:
(33)
(a) [içine birkaç çiçek konmuş olan] bir vazo
(b) [içine birkaç çiçeğin konmuş olduğu] bir vazo
‘a vase [into which a few flowers have/had been put]’
(iv) In clauses where the relativized constituent is a possessed item (a noun phrase with
possessive marking):
-DIK/-(y)AcAK are used only in cases where the possessed item is not part of the
subject of the verb in the relative clause.
 [ev sahib-in-in kork-tuğ-um] köpeğ-i (cf. Ev sahibinin köpeğinden
korkuyorum.)
landlord-NC-GEN fear-PART-1SG.POSS dog-3SG.POSS
‘the landlord’s dog, [which I’m afraid of]’
(v) Special usages of -DIK/-(y)AcAK:
Where the relativized constituent is the non-definite (i.e. categorial or indefinite)
object of the verb in the relative clause, -(y)AcAK can also appear without any person
marking:
(37) [çayla yiyecek] bir şeyler (cf. Çayla insan bir şeyler yer/yiyebilir.)
‘things [to eat with tea]’

RELATIVE CLAUSES WITH EMBEDDED NOUN CLAUSES

 [[İstanbul-da otur-duğ-u] san-ıl-an] kız

Istanbul-LOC live-VN-3.SG.POSS think-PASS-PART girl
‘the girl [who is/was thought [to be living in Istanbul]]’

In this example, the relativized constituent kız belongs to the noun clause (kızın)
İstanbul’da oturduğu ‘that (the girl) lives/lived in İstanbul’. The noun clause itself is the
subject of the passive verb sanıl- ‘be thought’. Therefore -(y)An is selected.
In the following example, on the other hand, the noun clause (kızın) İstanbul’da
oturduğun-u ‘that she lives/lived in Istanbul-ACC’ is not the subject of the verb san-
‘think’, but its direct object. Therefore -DIK/-(y)AcAK are selected:

 [(ben-im) [İstanbul-da otur-duğ-un]-u san-dığ-ım] kız

I-GEN Istanbul-LOC live-VN-3SG.POSS-ACC think-PART-1SG.POSS girl
‘the girl [who [I think/thought lives/lived in Istanbul]]’

RESTRICTIVE AND NON-RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES

Restrictive relative clauses express a limitation on the reference of the noun they modify,
and thus have an identifying function.
For example, the relative clause in yaprakları dökülen ağaçlar ‘trees that lose their leaves’
limits the reference of ‘trees’ to those that lose their leaves.
Non-restrictive relative clauses, on the other hand, add new information
about referents that are in no need of identification, and thus have a merely descriptive
function.
For example, the relative clause in damadıyla hiçbir zaman iyi geçinmemiş olan
Hayriye Hanım ‘Hayriye Hanım, who had never got on well with her son-in-law’,
provides additional information about Hayriye Hanım, a person whom the hearer is
assumed to be able to identify.
In Turkish the typical usage of a relative clause with a participle suffix is restrictive.
Thus the example below is more likely to be interpreted as ‘the trees (that) I like’ rather
than ‘the trees, which I like so much’.

 sev-diğ-im ağaç-lar
like-PART-1SG.POSS tree-PL
If a proper noun does occur in conversation as the head of a relative clause,
this is again usually with a restrictive meaning. In the usage of bu ‘this’ in the
subsequent mention of the name makes the identifying function explicit:

 [Kenan’ın evleneceği] Ayşe, işte bu Ayşe.

‘This is the Ayşe [that Kenan is going to marry].’

However, the non-restrictive usage of relative clauses is quite common in the written
language, where it can be used as a stylistic device to avoid a monotonous succession of
finite clauses:

 [Bugün yurda dönen] Cumhurbaşkanı, saat 16’da bir basın toplantısı

düzenleyecek.
‘The president, [who is returning to the country today], will hold a press
conference at 4 p.m.’
HEADLESS RELATIVE CLAUSES

These are constructions where the head noun that a relative clause modifies is omitted
from the sentence, because the referent of the relative clause is either clear from
previous mention, or is essentially self-identifying. Such clauses correspond to
expressions such as ‘the one(s) that’, ‘the person who’, ‘those who’, ‘what’, ‘anything
that’, etc. In these clauses the number and case markers that would otherwise be
attached to the noun appear on the participle itself, as illustrated in the (b) examples
below:

 (a) [opera-yı sev-me-yen]-ler-e (şaşıyorum).

opera-ACC like-NEG-PART-PL-DAT
‘(I am surprised) at those [who don’t like opera].’
 (b) [operayı sevmeyen] kişi-ler-e…
person-PL-DAT
‘…at people [who don’t like opera]’
There is also a highly productive use of headless relative clauses as the subject of an
existential sentence.
 Öğleden sonra ara-yan ol-ma-dı. (cf.…arayan birisi olmadı.)
call-PART be-NEG-PF
‘No one called in the afternoon.’ (lit. ‘There was no one who…’.)
 Bu konuda bil-diğ-im yok. (cf.…bildiğim bir şey yok.)
know-PART-1SG.POSS non-existent
‘I don’t know anything about this matter.’ (lit. ‘There is nothing I know.’)

THE USE OF AUXILIARY ol- IN RELATIVE CLAUSES

The attachment of the participle suffixes to the auxiliary ol- makes it possible to
express the following tenses and aspects in a relative clause:
PERFECTIVE/PAST: -mIş
FUTURE: -(y)AcAK
PROGRESSIVE/HABITUAL: -mAktA and -(I)yor
HABITUAL: -(A/I)r/-mAz
1
(a) [Oku-duğ-u] kitabı kaybetti.
read-PART-3SG.POSS
‘S/he lost the book [(that) s/he was reading/read/had read].’

(b) [Oku-muş ol-duğ-u] kitabı kaybetti.

read-PF AUX-PART-3SG.POSS
‘S/he lost the book [(that) s/he had read].’

2
(a) [yarın bitireceğim] kitap
‘the book [that I’m going to finish tomorrow]’

(b) [yarın bitirmiş olacağım] kitap

the book [that I will have finished tomorrow]’
 [Yarın çık-acak ol-an] gazete-de önemli bir yazı bulun-acak.
tomorrow come.out-FUT AUX-PART paper-LOC important an article be-FUT
‘There will be an important article in the paper [that’s going to come out
tomorrow].’
 [Dün gösterilecek olan] filmde sakıncalı sahneler bulunmuş.
‘It seems that improper scenes were found in the film [that was going to be shown
yesterday].’
Relative clauses with -(y)AcAk olduK- occur rather infrequently. They are identical in
meaning to their counterparts with the participle suffix -(y)AcAK:

(a) [arkadaş-lar-ın al-acak-ları] televizyon

friend-PL-GEN buy-PART-3PL.POSS television
(b) [arkadaş-lar-ın al-acak ol-duk-ları] televizyon
friend-PL-GEN buy-FUT AUX-PART-3PL.POSS television
‘the television [that [our] friends are/were going to buy]’
In relative clauses -mAkta is more typically used with olan and olduK-, while -(I)yor is
used with olacaK.

 [Oku-makta ol-duğ-u] kitabı kaybetti. (cf. (64a) above)

read-IMPF AUX-PART-3SG.POSS
‘S/he lost the book [(that) s/he was reading].’

The use of a -mAktA ol- form of participle resolves the ambiguity of -(y)An and -DIK
with regard to perfectivity in favour of the imperfective (progressive) meaning.

ki IN NON-RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES

The head noun in these constructions almost always functions as the subject of the main
clause. It is also usually 3rd person singular or plural:

 Ayşe, [ki şu anda mutfakta yemek pişiriyor,] birazdan ortaya çıkacak.

‘Ayşe, [who is cooking in the kitchen at the moment,] will appear soon.’
 Komşu-muz, [ki oldukça tanınmış bir piyanist-miş,]
neighbour-1PL.POSS RP quite well.known a pianist-EV.COP
evinde sık sık oda müziği konserleri düzenliyor.
‘Our neighbour, [who is apparently quite a well-known pianist,] often
organizes chamber music concerts at his home.’

Finite relative clauses with ki are also used for emphatic purposes. In these
constructions the main clause can contain a reiterated subject, identical to the head
and followed by bile ‘even’. These constructions may also have 1st or 2nd person
pronouns as their head:

 Sen [ki herkesin doğum gününü hatırlarsın], sen bile

Semra’nınkini unuttun.
‘Even you, [who remember everyone’s birthday], forgot about Semra’s.’
 Komşumuz, [ki kendisi oldukça tanınmış bir piyanist-miş]…
‘Our neighbour, [who is apparently quite a well-known pianist]…’
ki IN RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES
ki also has a certain limited usage in forming restrictive relative clauses. In such
constructions (which have a rather literary flavour), the head is usually the subject of
the relative clause, and the verb of this clause is negative and has optative marking.
The main clause is also usually negative:
 Bizim okulda hiçbir öğrenci yok [ki Bilge Hanım’dan azar işitmemiş olsun].
‘There is no student in our school [who has not been reprimanded by Bilge
Hanım].’
If the head is not the subject of the main clause a resumptive pronoun has to be used,
such as ona in :
 Bir ahçı [ki baklava yap-may-ı bil-me-sin,] ben on-a ahçı de-me-m.
a cook RP baklava make-VN-ACC know-NEG-3SG.OPT I s/he-DAT cook call-
[AOR.]NEG-1SG
‘A cook [who can’t make baklava]! I don’t call that a cook.’
COMMENT USAGE OF ki

ki clauses can also be used, in a way somewhat similar to a certain use of ‘which’ in
English, to introduce a comment on, or expansion of, something that has just been
said.
The clause introduced by ki usually contains some kind of demonstrative, such as the
pronoun bu ‘this’, or the adverbial öyle ‘like that’, which refers to the
entire situation expressed in the previous clause:

 Mehmet beni görmek istemiyormuş, [ki bunu daha önce söylemişti].

‘Apparently Mehmet doesn’t want to see me, which he said before.’
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Asli Göksel, & Kerslake, C. (2010). Turkish : a comprehensive grammar. London ; New York:
Routledge.

Altan, A. (2016). RELATIVE CLAUSES IN L2 TURKISH. 13(1), 1–37.

Ercan Solak (n.d.)

https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/linguistics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acref
ore-9780199384655-e-56

http://www.ello.uos.de/field.php/Syntax/TGRelC

https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/relative-clauses/