Suffixes are those little words which are attached to the end of words to either change their meaning or modify the meaning in a sentence. There are two main types of suffix:
(1) Inflexional Suffixes - A suffix which changes the meaning of a word in a sentence. Example: drink, drinking [adding -ing suffix changes meaning of a verb]
(2) Constructional Suffixes - A suffix which alters the meaning of a noun. Example: a drink, a drinker [adding -er suffix changes meaning of a noun]
An inflectional suffix added to a word changes its meaning within a sentence, these extended words are called Simple Structured words.
(A) Plural Suffixes: -ler, -lar
evler - houses
arabalar - cars
B) Condition of Noun suffixes: -i, -e, -de, -den
evi - the house [obj.]
eve - to/toward the house
evde - in/on/at the house
evden - from/by the house
(C) Personal Suffixes: -im, in, -i, -imiz, -iniz, -leri
evim - my house
evin - your house
evi - his/her/its house
evimiz - our house
eviniz - your house
evleri - their house(s)
(D) Noun Completion Suffixes: -(n)ın, -ı
arabanın kapısı - the door of the car
evin bacası - the house's chimney
sokağın tozu - the dust of the street
(E) Tense Suffixes: -di, -miş, -ecek, -ar, -ıyor
yazdı - he/she/it wrote
yazmış - apparently he/she/it wrote
yazacak - he will write
yazar - he writes (habitually)
yazıyor - he is writing (now)
All of the suffixes in (A) to (E) above must conform to Vowel Harmony and Consonant Mutation Rules.
Structural suffixes are those which change the meaning of a noun within a sentence. Such nouns suffixed with a structural suffix are called Derived Words. An non-suffixed noun is called a root. A root (noun) which has taken an inflexional suffix is called a Simple Word. Sometimes roots are call Simple Structured Words.
Suffixes of Structure and their Derived Nouns:
(A) -ci -çi, -cı -çı, -cu -çu , -cü -çü - This suffix signifies Profession, Occupation, like "-er" in English - worker.
çilekçi - strawberry grower/seller
madenci - miner/mineral worker
halıcı - carpet maker/seller
işçi - worker
bulaşıkçı - dish-washer
yolcu - traveller
gözcü - watchman
(B) -li, -lı, - lu, -lü - This suffix signifies - containing. furnished with.
şekerli - sugared, sugary, sweetened
tuzlu - salty, salted
bahçeli - containing a garden [bahçeli ev - a house with a garden]
selli - flooded
sütlü - milky, containing milk
gamlı - sad, worried
(C) -siz, -sız, - suz, -süz - This suffix signifies - without
This suffix has the opposite meaning to the -li suffix above, thus producing - un- ("unsugared"), -less ("sugarless"), without [not containing] ("without sugar")
şekersiz - unsugared, sugarless, without sugar, unsweetened
tuzsuz - without salt, unsalted, not salty
arabasız - without a car
sütsüz - without milk
dişsiz - toothless
(D) -lik, -lık, - luk, -lük - This suffix forms abstract nouns.
This suffix produces nouns and derivations from other nouns and adjectives. It stands for -ness as in "goodness". It also forms nouns of place - çimen - grass produces çimenlik- lawn, meadow, grassy place
şekerlik - sugar-shaker, sugar producing place
tuzluk - salt-cellar, salt bed, salt producing place
gözlük - spectacles
sözlük - dictionary
yolluk - travel
sazlık - reed bed, place of reeds
bozukluk - spoiled, rottenness
(E) -gi -ki, -gı -kı, -gu -ku, -gü -kü - This suffix forms nouns of action or result of action, mainly from verbs.
sevgi (sevmek) - affection
saygı (saymak) - esteem
içki (içmek) - an (alcoholic) drink
bilgi (bilmek) - knowledge, data
sergi (sermek) - exhibition, show
sorgu (sormak) - interrogation
etki (etmek) - effect, influence
(F) -gin -kin, -gın -kın, -gun -kun, -gün -kün - This suffix forms nouns and adjectives of resulted action.
bilgin - scholar, learned
saygın - respected, esteemed
üzgün - sad, anxious
vurgun -stricken, smitten
(G) -daş -taş (sometimes has abraded to -deş) - This suffix signifies a "fellow relationship " - a relationship of co-operation.
yurttaş - fellow-countryman
meslektaş- colleague
sırdaş - confidant
vatandaş -patriot, comrade
kardeş -sibling, brother, sister
(H) -sal, -sel.
This suffix makes adjectives of association often end on -ic in English ("history - historic, historical").
kumsal - strand (of sand)
kırsal - rural - [kir - countryside]
belgesel - documentary
bilimsel - scientific
sanatsal - artistic
kimyasal - chemical
In order to establish if a word is a Derived word or a Root, we must inspect as follows:
If we remove any syllables that may be considered as suffixes from a word, and a meaning remains, then it is Derived Word, always providing that there is a modified meaning on re-application of the removed suffixes.
Let us consider the word - perde - curtain. Now let us remove the syllable -de. The word - per - remains, but there is no such word in Turkish. So in this case -de is not a Structural Suffix, therefore - perde - is a root. The answer is a Simple Structure Word.
Now let us examine the word - perdelik - curtaining. Let us remove the syllable -lik. The remaining word - perde - has a meaning in Turkish therefore it must be a root. Moreover when replacing the suffix there is still a connection in meaning between - perde - and - perdelik.
Perde - curtain [Cloth that is hung to cover a window]
Perdelik - curtaining [The materials from which curtains are produced]
Here we can see that there is a connection in the meaning between both words. From this we can deduce that - perdelik - is a Derived Word and that the syllable -lik is Structural Suffix.
Now let us consider the word balta - axe. Let us remove the syllable -ta. The word remaining is bal - honey. If we now replace the syllable -ta we find the is no connection between the two meanings, therefore in this case -ta is not a suffix and so the root is - balta - axe - itself.
Balta - axe [a tool for chopping]
Bal - honey.
From this we can see - balta - is not suffixed it is a root word. The syllable -ta is not a Structural Suffix, it is a syllable that is part of the root word.
Two or more word without taking suffixes or buffer letters can produce a new meaning. These are called Compound Nouns. As each part on the compounded noun is a separate word originally, then vowel harmony rules are not applied to the compound.
Güzel + yurt = Güzelyurt - a town in Anatolia - (beautiful + village)
Afyon + kara + hisar = Afyonkarahisar - a town in Anatolia - (Afyon + black + fort)
Yeşil + ırmak = Yeşilırmak - a town in Anatolia - (green + river)
Sivri + sinek = sivrisinek - mosquito - (sharp + fly)
Kara + sinek = karasinek - housefly - (black + fly)