Syntactic Valency of Semantically Fused and Idiomatised Compound Verbs Formed with the Verb tut- in Türkçe Sözlük

Abstract

Semantically fused and idiomatised compound verbs have a valency structure within themselves. This analysis aims to reveal the syntactic features based on the valency of semantically fused and idiomatised compound verbs formed with the verb tut-. The verb tut- is one of the polysemous verbs with a high frequency of use in Turkish. According to Türkçe Sözlük (2011), the verb has 47 different meanings. Valency, that is the verb’s complements, is considered as one of the important factors in the polysemy of verbs. Polysemy contributes significantly to the development of vocabulary. One of the factors that are effective in the polysemy of verbs is the structure of syntactic valency. Changes in a verb’s complements can lead to changes in its meaning, the new meanings that the verb gains may also cause a change in its valency structure. The study sample consisted of semantically fused and idiomatised compound verbsformed with the verb tut- in Türkçe Sözlük. Various views on compound verbs are discussed; an inventory of the semantically fused and idiomatised compound verbs, which are formed with the verb tut-, together with their definitions in Türkçe Sözlük is given; the compounds are examined in terms of their syntactic valency structures. The effect of incorporation on the constitution and valency of semantically fused and idiomatised compound verbs is emphasised; it is also discussed whether Turkish syntax permits the use of a second object in the sentence due to some compounds such as dost tut-.