Biçim birimler, dilde anlam ayırıcı özelliğe sahip en küçük dilsel birimdir. Biçim birimler, dilde yalnız başına görülüp görülememelerine göre bağımlı ve bağımsız biçim birimler olmak üzere ikiye ayrılır. Tekçil biçim birimler ise dilde kullanımları bir ya da birkaç kereye mahsus olan biçim birimlerdir. Tekçil biçim birimler, çeşitli araştırmacılar tarafından farklı terimlerle karşılanmıştır. Türkçede tekçil biçim birimler ek şeklinde görülebileceği gibi tek başına görünemeyen kökler şeklinde de karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bugüne kadar yapılan çalışmalarda genellikle standart Türkiye Türkçesinde tek başına görünemeyen kökler üzerine yoğunlaşılmıştır. Bu çalışmada ise 11. yüzyılda Kaşgarlı Mahmud tarafından kaleme alınan Divânu Lûgâti’t-Türk adlı eserdeki eklerde görülen tekçil biçim birimler incelenmiştir. Bu amaçla Divânu Lûgâti’t-Türk’ün Dankoff-Kelly (1982-1985), Atalay (1985-1986), Ercilasun-Akkoyunlu (2015) ve Kaçalin (2019) tarafından yapılan yayımları karşılaştırmalı olarak incelenmiştir. Yine Divânu Lûgâti’t-Türk üzerine biçimbilimsel çalışmalar yürütmüş olan Bilgen (1989), Nalbant (2008) ve Herkmen (2009) tarafından ortaya konan çalışmalar da taranmıştır. Eserde tespit edilen tekçil türetim ekleri ad ve eylem tabanlarına gelenler olmak üzere kategorize edilmiştir. Taranan etimolojik sözlükler, dilbilgisi kitapları ve makaleler sonucunda bu ekler hakkında elde edilen araştırmacı görüşlerine ve -varsa- bu ekler ve eklendikleri sözcüklerin etimolojik yapısı hakkındaki tartışmalara da yer verilmiştir. Eklerin eklendikleri ad ve eylem tabanlarında ne gibi anlamsal ve yapısal değişikliklere sebep oldukları üzerinde durulmuştur. Çalışmanın sonuç bölümünde ise eserde tespit edilen on dört tekçil türetim eki hakkında değerlendirmeler yapılmıştır
Morphemes are the smallest linguistic units in a language that posses meaning-separating characteristic. They are classified as bound or free morphemes based on their ability to stand alone. Unique morphemes are those whose use in a language is limited to one or few instances. Various researchers have referred to unique morphemes using different terminologies. In Turkish, these morphemes can appear as affixes or as roots that cannot occur independetly. Previous studies have primarily focused on roots that do not stand alone in strandard Turkish. These study examines the unique morphemes found in the suffixes of Divânü-Lugâti’t-Türk, written by Kashgarlı Mahmud in the 11th century. To achieve this, the editions of Divânu Lûgâti’t-Türk by Dankoff-Kelly (1982-1985), Atalay (1985-1986), Ercilasun-Akkoyunlu (2015), and Kaçalin (2019) were comparatively analysed. Additionally, the works of Bilgen (1989), Nalbant (2008), and Herkmen (2009), who conducted morphological studies on Divânu Lûgâti’t-Türk, were also reviewed. The study categorises the unique derivational suffixes identified based on their occurrence with noun and verb bases. It also incorporates researchers’ opinions from etymological dictionaries, grammar books, and articles, discussing their etymological structures and the words they modify. The semantic and structural changes these suffixes induce in the noun and verb bases are highlighted. In the concluding section, fourteen unique derivational suffixes identified in the work are evaluated.
The smallest meaningful unit in a language is termed a morpheme. Morphemes that cannot stand alone are called affixes or bound morphemes, while those that can function independetly are free morphemes. Unique morphemes, in contrast, occur only once or in a few instances within a language. For instance, the Turkish word yağmur is formed by adding the suffix -mur to the verb yağ-; however, the suffix -mur does not appear in other words. Similarly, belli is derived using the suffix +li, but there is no independent word bel in Turkish that establishes a semantic connection. Thus, unique morphemes in Turkish can exist as both suffixes and roots that cannot appear independently.
Uzun et al. identified 22 monosyllabic morphemes that occur only once in their study on unique derivational suffixes of Turkish. Çolak analysed the words that have largely fallen out of use in standard Turkish and persist only in stereotyped phrases, listing a total of 212 words. Bacanlı and Tokuç proposed that cranberry morphemes may also be found in words derived with meaningful suffixes and suggested eight criteria for identifying them. Yıkılmaz examined clinging words and suffixes, also discussing their retention mechanisms. Yenice identified fossilised noun and verb bases in 31 derived Turkish words.
Previous studies have generally focused on roots that cannot stand alone in standard Turkish or on words that once had independent usage but are now confined to fixed expressions.
This study examines unique derivational suffixes in Divânu Lûgâti't-Türk, analysing their semantic and structural effects on noun and verb bases. The editions of Divânu Lûgâti't-Türk by Dankoff-Kelly, Atalay, Ercilasun-Akkoyunlu and Kaçalin were comparatively analysed, alongside the morphological studies of Bilgen, Nalbant, and Herkmen. Researchers' opinions regarding these suffixes, as obtained from the etymological dictionaries, grammar books, and articles, are included, along with discussions on their etymological structures and the words they modify. The semantic and structural changes that these suffixes cause in the noun and verb bases to which they are added are also emphasised.
The data obtained in this study were categorised and analysed as follows:
1. Unique derivational suffixes for the noun bases: +gut, +ŋku, +nti, +zan, +pi
2. Unique derivational suffixes for the verb bases: -am, -at, -dak, -es, -gas, -kuy, -sin, -la-, and -sir-.
Written in the 11th century by Kashgarlı Mahmud, Divânu Lûgâti't-Türk is the first known dictionary of Turkic languages. It is a significant historical work of Turkic languages, containing vital information about Turkic communities and languages at the time of its composition. It serves as an important resource for morphological studies of the Turkish language. Not all suffixes in Turkish exhibit the same frequency of use; some are limited to only one or a few occurences. This study identifies and analyses such suffixes in Divânu Lûgâti't-Türk.
A total of fourteen unique derivational suffixes were identified in the work. These suffixes are +gut, +ŋku, +nti, +zan, +pi -am, -at, -dak, -es, -gas, -kuy, -sin, -la-, and -sir-.