TOPIC, COMMENT AND WORD ORDER IN TURKISH Feride ERKÜ İDB 318

Introduction Discourse pragmatic factors Linguistic phenomena Grammatical relationsDiscourse pragmatic functions

1. Ahmet kitab-ı oku-du SOV 2. Kitab-ı Ahmet oku-du OSV Ahmet oku-du kitab-ı SVO kitab-ı okudu Ahmet OVS They basically mean the same thing BUT; examining them in a context-based way will lead us to different discourse appropriateness conditions operating.  Let us focus on the first two: Sentence (1) is appropriate only when the speaker is making a remark about Ahmet and the identity of this individual is known both to the speaker and the listener.

Sentence (1) can be an answer to this question: - Ahmet ne okudu?  Sentence (2) is used only in the contexts where the speaker is saying something about a book known both to the speaker and the addressee.  Sentence (2) can be a reply to: - kitabı kim okudu? So, we have topic-comment structures in (1) and (2).

Based on the analyses of Gundel (1978) and Reinhart (1982), Erkü defines topic and comment as follows: TOPIC It is part of the shared information between the speaker and the addressee. It represents the starting point of the sentence. COMMENT It refers to what is asserted, questioned, denied, promised, etc. It represents new information: not necessarily brand new, but new in relation to topic.

Erkü states that in Turkish; For NP’s to introduce topics, they should have certain properties: definiteness, animacy and specificeness. Definite NP’s can readily be topics, as in (1) and (2). Indefinite NP’s can be topics too, as long as they are specific and animate.  Bir misafir sigara-sı-nı yanık unut-muş [this sentence has not topic] Indefinite, not the topic

BUT, the whole sentence can serve as comment in a given context. For example: A: Ne olmuş? B: Bir misafir sigarasını yanık unutmuş. Bir misafir can have a topic function as in: Context: the day after a party given by the speaker at which the listener was also present dün gece onbeş kişi var-dı ya, bir misafir sigara-sı-nı yan-ık unut-muş

dün gece onbeş kişi var-dı ya, bir misafir sigara-sı-nı yan-ık unut-muş So, in this sentence above, the speaker selects an individual from an identifiable set and makes a remark about this individual. Erkü claims that in Turkish, accusative ending YI, realized as ı and i, is used as a definite marker to single definiteness: bir adam gör-dü-m adam-ı gör-dü-m

If the object is the topic noun phrase bir misafir, it takes the direct object ending YI: dün gece onbeş kişi var-dı ya, bir misafir-i annem gör-me-miş Above, we have seemingly a contradictory combination of indefinite article bir and the definite ending YI. It is resolved pragmatically in contexts, where bir misafir used as a member of a set identifiable by the speaker and the listener acquires specificness and can have the YI ending.

Besides specificness, animacy of the NP is also a crucial factor: for indefinite specific NP’s to have the topic status, they must be animate: Ev-de onbeş köpek var ya, bir köpek havlı-yor Masa-da onbeş kitap var ya, bir kitap tam masa- nın kenar-ın-da [grammatical in isolation but inappropriate in a given context] Erkü states that topics precedes their comments, however, they do not always occupy the initial position in the sentence: - Galiba Ahmet kitab-ı oku-du.

Erkü says that we also need to distinguish between two kinds of topics to account for sentences like (3) and (4),previously given. 3. Ahmet oku-du kitab-ı SVO 4. kitab-ı okudu Ahmet OVS ‘activated topics’ can follow the verb in Turkish. [the topics which the speaker assumes to be in the addressee’s consciousness at the time of utterance, that is, they are on the stage at that point in the conversation] : (Speaker H is telling speaker F about his day at work.) H: Oh, Ted bugün iş-e gel-me-di. F: Ne ol-muş Ted-e?

H: Oh, Ted bugün iş-e gel-me-di. F: Ne ol-muş Ted-e? In this context, in H’s sentence Ted is the topic; it is unactivated. There is absolutely no basis for assuming that the speaker F is thinking about Ted at the time of the utterance. In F’s sentence, Ted is the activated topic, and may be placed in the position following the verb.

Additionally, NPs can be activated by non-linguistic means as well, on the basis of contexts, situations, etc. (Gundel 1978): Speaker sees the addressee staring at her hair and says: Henüz tara-ma-dım saç-ım-ı Activated vs. unactivated distinction in specifying the appropriateness conditions for structures like the one below: saç-ım-a gel-in-ce, henüz tara-ma-dı-m o-nu [it would be very inappropriate as the first sentence of the discourse]

Conclusion  The preceding discussion clearly suggests that discourse pragmatic considerations interact with word order variation in Turkish.  Word order in Turkish serves to code certain pragmatic distinctions: activated topic, unactivated topic and comment.

(: 1. İçin 2. Teşekkür 3. Dinlediğiniz 4. Ederim 