Arapça-Farsça-Türkçe Üçgeninde Bir Bağlaç: Eski Anadolu ve Osmanlı Türkçesi Devrelerinde Belki ~ Belkim Bağlacının Semantik ve Sentaktik Hususiyetlerine Dair
Öznur DurgunBu çalışmada, Eski Anadolu ve Osmanlı Türkçesi metinlerinde temel semantik fonksiyonu ıdrâb olan yani kendinden önceki hükmü iptal ederek yahut olduğu gibi bırakarak daha mühim bir hükme intikal bildiren belki ~ belkim bağlacı, semantik ve sentaktik bir incelemeye tabi tutulmaktadır. Türkçe-Farsça münasebetlerinin çok uzun yüzyıllara dayanmasının bir neticesi olarak Farsçanın, gerek yapısal açıdan Türkçeye tesirine gerek Arapça unsurların bile Türkçeye alıntılanmasında aracı bir dil vazifesinde oluşuna numûne-i imtisâl teşkil eden bu bağlacın Arapça-Farsça-Türkçe üçgenindeki seyri hayli ilginçtir. Nitekim, bu alıntılama hadisesinin çıkış noktası olan Arapça bel edatı ile Osmanlı Türkçesinden alıntılanan belki, berki, belkit vb. zarfların Arapçanın bazı diyalektlerinde bir arada bulunması, bir gramer biriminin asırlar süren yolculuğunda geldiği noktayı göstermektedir. Çalışmamızda öncelikle, menşe dil Arapçadaki bel ile aracı dil Farsçadaki bel/belkė unsurlarının semantik ve sentaktik görevlerine değinilecek, akabinde Farsçadan Türkçeye alıntılanıp belki ve belkim şekillerinde görülen bağlacın, Eski Anadolu ve Osmanlı Türkçesinin muhtelif yüzyıllarda telif/tercüme edilmiş mensur metinlerindeki kullanımı üzerinde durulacaktır. Bu çalışmayla ama, fakat, lakin vb. zıtlık bağlaçlarından farklı olarak ‘bilakis, aksine; hatta, üstelik, oysa ki vb.’ semantik fikirleri barındıran belki ~ belkim bağlacının, Türkiye Türkçesindeki ihtimal ve şüphe bildiren belki zarfıyla karıştırılarak Eski Anadolu ve Osmanlı Türkçesi metin neşirlerinde nasıl anakronik yorumlamalara maruz kaldığı da gösterilecektir.
A Conjunction in the Arabic–Persian–Turkish Triangle: On the Semantic and Syntactic Characteristics of the Conjunction Belki ~ Belkim in Old Anatolian and Ottoman Turkish
Öznur DurgunIn this study, the conjunction belki ~ belkim, whose main semantic function in Old Anatolian and Ottoman Turkish texts is idrāb, i.e., that cancels the preceding statement or leaves it as it is and indicates the transition to a more important statement, will be analyzed semantically and syntactically. Given the long centuries of Turkish–Persian relations, the course of this conjunction in the Arabic–Persian–Turkish triangle is very interesting, illustrating both the structural influence of Persian on Turkish and its function as a mediating language in incorporating even some Arabic elements into Turkish. Indeed, the coexistence in Arabic preposition bel, which is the starting point of this borrowing, and adverbs such as belki, berki, and belkit borrowed from Ottoman Turkish in some Arabic dialects, shows the point reached in the centuries-old journey of a grammatical unit. First, this study discusses the semantic and syntactic functions of bel in Arabic and bel/belkė in Persian as a mediating language. The study then highlights the use of this conjunction, borrowed from Persian into Turkish and appearing in the forms belki and belkim, in Old Anatolian and Ottoman Turkish prose composed and translated in different centuries. Finally, the study shows how the conjunction belki ~ belkim, which has meanings such as “on the contrary, rather; even, even moreover, even though, etc.’, unlike the adversative conjunctions such as ama, fakat, and lakin, is subjected to anachronistic interpretations in Old Anatolian and Ottoman Turkish texts by confusing with the adverb belki, which expresses possibility and doubt in Turkish.
This study analyzes in detail the conjunction belki ~ belkim, which establishes various semantic relations between sentences in Old Anatolian and Ottoman Turkish, such as “on the contrary, rather, even, moreover” rather than opposition, considering its syntactic and semantic aspects. In this sense, this study with particular analysis of the conjunction belki ~ belkim aims at drawing attention to the profound influence of Persian on Turkish to the extent that it mediates the borrowing of even some Arabic elements into Turkish. Indeed, the conjunction belki ~ belkim provides an excellent example of how materials borrowed from Arabic undergo some restrictions and change within the framework of the structure and possibilities of Persian and, having passed through the filter of Persian, borrowed into Turkish. The preposition bel (لب), whose main semantic function in Arabic is idrāb, i.e., linking sentences to proceed to a more important judgment by cancelling the previous judgment or leaving it as it is, has been borrowed into Persian with the same semantic function. Conversely, it is used alternatively with belkė (هکلب), which was formed by the inclusion of the multifunctional conjunction kė in Persian. Belkė is also used as an adverb to express possibility, doubt, etc., in Persian and has been borrowed into Turkish with both functions and meanings. It existed in Turkish as belki ~ belkim (مکلب ~ میکلب;یکلب ~ هکلب) since the first texts written in the Islamic period. That is to say:
Ar. bel Far. bel/belkė (Ar. bel + Far. kė) EATü., OTü. belki ~ belkim
This study explores the misinterpretations of Old Anatolian and Ottoman Turkish texts caused by the confusion between belki ~ belkim, a conjunction that was no longer used in the 20th-century Turkish, and belki, an adverb in Modern Turkish that denotes probability and doubt. Accordingly, this study first mentions the syntactic and semantic functions of the Arabic bel and Persian bel/belkė elements and then analyzes the use of this conjunction in Old Anatolian and Ottoman Turkish texts with reference to basic dictionaries and grammar books.
The semantic relations established by belki ~ belkim between the sentences from the above-mentioned periods will be analyzed in the following three groups based on examples taken from various prose texts between the 14th and 19th centuries:
(1) With the meaning of 'on the contrary, unlike, etc.' in the sense of rejecting the previous judgment and then introducing a judgment contrary to it.
(2) With the meaning of 'even, and (even) more than that, etc.,' not to reject a judgment but to introduce another judgment that goes even further.
(3) With the meaning of 'whereas, already, in fact, etc.,' to indicate a transition from one sentence to another.
Arguably, sentences linked by the conjunction belki ~ belkim are hierarchically equal, just as in Persian, i.e., it is a coordinative conjunction. This syntactic feature is explained by comparison with megerkim, a subordinative conjunction of Persian origin in Old Anatolian and Ottoman Turkish. Finally, the last part of the study is shortly devoted to the adverbial function of belki ~ belkim.
This adverb, which was borrowed from Persian into Turkish and whose use in Turkish to express possibility and doubt is incomparably more intense than that in Persian, being transferred via Ottoman Turkish into some Arabic dialects as belki, belkit, berki, etc., is a sign of the point reached in the centuries-long journey of a language unit. Consequently, the evaluation of the conjunction belki ~ belkim as an adverb in Old Anatolian and Ottoman Turkish (and in Chagatai) based on its current syntactic and semantic features presents as a major challenge to correctly understand sentences and leads inevitably to grave mistakes.