Noun compounds: ev kapısı and the izafet

The idea

In a noun compound the first noun stays bare and the second takes the marker: -ı/-i/-u/-ü after a consonant, -sı/-si/-su/-sü after a vowel. So ev + kapı becomes ev kapısı (house door) and okul + müdür becomes okul müdürü. The vowel follows vowel harmony, and a final k or p of the second noun softens: bardak gives bardağı, kitap gives kitabı.

Examples

• Annem okul kapısında bekliyor.My mother is waiting at the school gate.Kapısı ends in a vowel, so a buffer n comes before the case ending: kapısında, not kapısıda.
• Şehir merkezi bugün çok kalabalık.The city centre is very crowded today.
• Araba anahtarını mutfakta unuttum.I forgot the car key in the kitchen.
• Doğum günü pastası çok güzel.The birthday cake is very nice.Doğum günü is itself a compound, and it becomes the first part of a larger one: pasta takes its own marker, pastası.
• Türkçe öğretmenimiz çok sabırlı.Our Turkish teacher is very patient.Türkçe öğretmeni becomes Türkçe öğretmenimiz: the ending for our replaces the compound marker instead of following it.
• Kırmızı kapı okul kapısı değil.The red door is not the school door.Kırmızı is an adjective and takes no ending; okul kapısı names a kind of door, so the second noun carries the marker.
• Okul kapıları sabah açılır.The school doors open in the morning.The plural -lar sits on the second noun, before the marker: kapı + lar + ı. The first noun stays singular: okul.
• Ders kitabını unutma!Do not forget the textbook!The final p of kitap softens to b before the vowel of the marker: kitabı. The accusative then adds -nı: kitabını.

Watch out

Learners often join the nouns bare, as English and German do, and write ev kapı or çay bardak. Turkish needs the marker on the second noun, and only there: the first noun never changes, and a plural goes on the second noun (okul kapıları). An adjective is not part of this: kırmızı kapı has no marker.

Try it yourself

1. Make one compound noun: school door.

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   okul kapısı

   okul kapısı: kapı ends in a vowel, so the marker is -sı, matching the back vowel ı; okul stays bare.

2. Make one compound noun: tea glass (cup for tea).

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   çay bardağı

   çay bardağı: the final k of bardak softens to ğ before the marker, and after a consonant the marker is just -ı, which follows the vowel a.

3. Make one compound noun: children's room.

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   çocuk odası

   çocuk odası: oda ends in a vowel, so the marker needs the extra s: -sı. çocuk takes nothing.

4. Make one compound noun: car key.

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   araba anahtarı

   araba anahtarı: only anahtar gets the marker, -ı after the consonant r. araba ends in a vowel, but it is the first noun and stays bare.

Use it today

Write five compounds from things in your room, such as masa lambası, and underline the marker on each second noun. Then check every final consonant for softening.