Clitics:
a) dA (additive, enumerating, adversative, and continuative)
b) bile
c) ki
Prepared by Cendel Karaman
A Deep Approach to Turkish Teaching and Learning
Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Clitics—Advanced 16
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Introduction
Here, we will study linguistic units (often
appearing as a separate word) that do not
fully convey meaning on their own.
 In the Oxford Concise Dictionary of
Linguistics defines clitics as “any
grammatical unit that is not
straightforwardly either an affix or a word
on its own” (Matthews, 2007, p. 59)
 Some commonly used clitics in Turkish are
dahi, bile, ki, mI, ya, and ise.

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Introduction
dA is commonly used in the sense of “too”
and “also”
For example:
 Ben de öğretmenim. [I am also a teacher]

Araba da aldık [We also bought a car]
This does not mean “we bought a car as you
did” but it means “in addition to other things
we bought a car”

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dA
The clitic “dA” can function as additive,
enumerating, adversative, and continuative.
(Göksel and Kerslake, 2005, p. 110).
Now lets explore each use in sample
sentences.
a) additive
Ben hiç konuşmadım. Dinlemedim de.
[I did not speak at all. Moreover, I did not
listen.]
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dA
Now lets explore other uses in sample
sentences.
b) enumerating
Ali de Sinem de başkan adayı...
[Both Ali and Sinem are presidential
candidates]
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dA
c) adversative
Ben oraya gitmedim de arkadaşım gitmiş.
[I did not go there but my friend has been
there.]
d) Continuative/topic shifting
Getirdiğim yemeği de bu sabah yaptım.
“As for the dish I brought, I made that this
morning”
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bile
This clitic functions as an additive
Ali bile spor yapıyor. [Even Ali does sports]
Ali spor bile yapıyor [Ali even does sports]
Ali çıktı bile [Ali already left]
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ki
Borrowed from Persian, this clitic primarily functions as
a clause connector. Here are some examples:
a) Görüyorum ki çok iyi hazırlanmışsın. [ I see that you
have prepared very well]
b) Onu çağırdım ki bize yardımcı olsun.
[I called him so that he would help us]
c) Ben bir şey anlamadım ki
[I just couldn’t understand anything]
d) Eğer gelirse ki geleceğini sanmıyorum onunla
tartışma.
[If he comes, which I don’t think he will, do not argue
with him]
For more examples, see (Göksel and Kerslake,2005, pp. 111-112)
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References
Göksel, A. & Kerslake, C. (2005). Turkish: A
comprehensive grammar. New York, NY:
Routledge.
Matthews, P. H. (2007). Oxford concise
dictionary of linguistics. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
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