An Evaluation on the 25-26th Lines of the Tuńukuk Inscription in the Context of Past Tense Morpheme -(X)p

Abstract

The suffix -(X)p, which is generally widespread as a gerundium suffix in the Turkic language, appears with different functions in Old Turkic texts. This suffix has another function- altough this function is not very common in this period-, that it transformed the verbs to which it was added into words that qualify the noun that comes after it. Likewise, the suffix -(X)p has become an element of predicative verbs by marking the past tense in all literary areas of Old Turkic. Based on 25-26th lines of the Tuńukuk inscription, where there are some difficulties in interpretation, conclusions were drawn about the functions of the suffix -(X)p. One of these conclusions is that -(X)p suffix shows functions different from its predominant function in the Turkic language, and similar functions are also represented in other circles of Old Turkic. The other is that it is the source of the past tense function that became widespread in the texts of the Turkic language after the 13th century. These results have been evaluated by taking into account the usage and meanings of the suffix. In this context, it is determined that the suffix -(X)p has also been used as a past tense suffix since the early texts of the Turkic language, it is inflected according to the person by taking personal pronouns on it. The -(X)p turur structure, which is seen after the 13th century, emerged after Old Turkic. These findings were interpreted with the help of witnesses obtained from the texts.

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This research received no external funding.