Attribution in Turkish With Dependency Tree Analyses

Abstract

In the general system of the natural tongues, attribution, which undertakes the function of cluster restriction and cluster equipment, can be categorized in two main groups, namely, noun phrases and subordinate clauses. The process of cluster restriction is realized by way of the reduction of the number of elements in the cluster, to which a concept has been attributed, based on a certain characteristic. In the function of cluster equipment, the dimensions of a given concept remain unchanged. However, this concept can be enriched through a number additional attribution to be equipped. Noun phrases are determinative phrases, which report no judgement and which are constructed from more than one word aggregated around a head noun. In the general sequence of Turkish language, the simplest attributive phrase is the adjective phrase made up of adjective and noun. An adjective ascribes some property, quality or status to the entity denoted by a noun. When adjectives attribute nouns, they become attributive adjectives, and when they attribute the action they become adverbs of manner. Relative clauses with adjectival function are complicated structures which attribute noun phrases, and they are generally constructed by taking participle suffixes like -(y)An, - DIK (-DIǧI), mIş, or -(y)AcAK (-EcEǧİ). Relative clauses precede the noun phrase they modify, in the same way that adjectives precede the noun they modify. In this study an argument has been made about how the attributive functions of noun phrases and subordinating clauses are realized, and the structural characteristics of attribution in Turkish in the context of dependency model (dependency tree) developed by Tesnière's Dependency Grammar Theory have been investigated.