EXPRESSİONS INDİCATİNG PLURALİTY AND UNİTY İN KAZAN TATAR TURKİSH

6 Vol. 5, No. 11 – Special Issue (EJAR) ISSN: 2181-2020 LPTIENP International Scientific-Practice Conference on “Linguistics and Pedagogical Technologies: International Experience and National Practice” Denau, November 20, 2025 in-academy.uz/index.php/ejar EXPRESSİONS INDİCATİNG PLURALİTY AND UNİTY İN KAZAN TATAR TURKİSH Süleyman Kaan YALÇIN Prof. Dr. Firat University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Department of Contemporary Turkic Dialects and Literatures [email protected] Aleyna ALEVSAÇAN Firat University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Department of Contemporary Turkic Dialects and Literatures [email protected] https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17622160 ABSTRACT: Language is one of the most important indicators reflecting the way humans think, and the concept of plurality holds a fundamental position among these indicators. The concept of plurality is one of the special categories established in languages through different structures such as suffixes, words, and word groups. As in Turkish languages in general, plurality in Tatar Turkish expresses not only numerical excess but also an indefinite, abstract plurality. In this respect, the category of plurality encompasses not only quantitative excess but also conceptual plurality. Although literature reviews generally reveal intensive studies on plural suffixes, research on words indicating plurality and unity appears to be limited. This study aims to identify structures indicating plurality and unity in Tatar Turkish, which belongs to the Northwestern/Kipchak group of Turkic dialects, and to evaluate the semantic functions of these structures. Keywords: Tatar Turkish, plurality, unity, Kipchak group INTRODUCTION Language is the most fundamental means of communication that shapes how humans perceive the world and interpret social reality. The concept of plurality is a special category established in languages through different structures such as suffixes, words, and word groups. In Turkic languages, plurality carries a morphological function that expresses more than one entity or phenomenon, while the concept of unity encompasses the meanings of togetherness, partnership, and reciprocity. Tatar Turkish, while belonging to the Kipchak group of Turkic dialects, stands out as an important written language that continues the fundamental characteristics of historical Turkish in a contemporary form. In this dialect, plurality is mostly expressed with the suffix -lar/-lär, but in some cases it is also expressed through the semantic expansion of words. Scientific studies have focused more on plural suffixes. Important local and foreign linguists such as Munkasci, Budenz, Räsänen, Fucs, Bang, Poppe; Serebrennikov, Gabain, Gadjieva, Grönbech, Alkaya, and Gülsevin have conducted studies on the plural suffix +lAr (Alkaya, 2010: 3133). Poppe (2008: 93-110) discusses the diversity of plural suffixes in Altaic languages; Janhunen (2018: 485-895) mentions the existence of the *-s plural suffix; and Ata (2009: 89-99) points to a primary +lA plural suffix. Hazar (2003: 131-141) mentions the plural suffix +(I)z; Başdaş (2007: 291-296), Ulutaş (2007: 1-6), and Dinler (2020: 179-196) mention that the -şreciprocal suffix takes on the task of indicating plurality of persons. Yalçın (2021: 1-12) points to the +gil suffix; Alkaya and Yalçın (2022) point to the *l plural suffix. İlhan (2009 and 2017); Başdaş (2011); Alyılmaz (2017) comprehensively address the plural suffixes found in the Turkish language. In the literature review, while intensive studies on plural suffixes are generally found, studies on Turkish words indicating plurality and unity are seen to be negligible. In our study, the Tatar Turkish Dictionary was used as a basis, and expressions indicating plurality and unity in this dictionary were attempted to be identified. KAZAN-TATAR TURKISH DICTIONARY 7 Vol. 5, No. 11 – Special Issue (EJAR) ISSN: 2181-2020 LPTIENP International Scientific-Practice Conference on “Linguistics and Pedagogical Technologies: International Experience and National Practice” Denau, November 20, 2025 in-academy.uz/index.php/ejar artıḳ KNTTS:28 "Çok (many)" aruv KNTTS:28 "Oldukça (quite)" azmı KNTTS:32 "Bir Çok (many), pek Çok (many)" barça KNTTS:34 "Hepsi (all / entire / completely),tamamı (complete),tamamen (complete) barı KNTTS:34 "Hepsi (all / entire / completely),bütün, tamamı (complete) barı da KNTTS:34 "Hepsi (all / entire / completely)" barlık KNTTS:35 "Bütün, Hepsi (all / entire / completely)" başlıca KNTTS:36 "çoğu (most) zaman (most of the time)" bay KNTTS:37 "Çok (many), fazla (too much)" baytaḳ KNTTS:37 "Çok (many)ça, pek Çok (many)" běr KNTTS:40 "Hepsi (all / entire / completely)" běr avızdan KNTTS:40 "Hep birlikte (collectively)" berdem KNTTS:40 "Hep beraber (collectively)" běrěk KNTTS:40 "toplanmak (to gather)" běrge běrge KNTTS:40 "topluca (all togethe)" běryulı KNTTS:41 "Hepsi (all / entire / completely)" bětmes KNTTS:41 "Çok (many)" bigayet KNTTS:42 "Sınırsız, pek Çok (many)" bigük KNTTS:42 "Pek Çok (many), pek fazla (too much)" biter KNTTS:43 "Çok (many) fazla (too much)" bol (abundant) KNTTS:44 "fazla (too much)" boz KNTTS:46 "dolu(full)" böten KNTTS:47 "tam (complete), Hepsi (all / entire / completely)" cemeġatçělěk KNTTS:52 "toplum (society)" cemġı KNTTS:52 "Hepsi (all / entire / completely), tamamı (complete) bütünü" cıynav KNTTS:54 "Hep beraber, topluca (all togethe) (collectively)" citerlěk KNTTS:58 "bol (abundant)" cömle KNTTS:58 "Hepsi (all / entire / completely, bütün, topluluk" cöp KNTTS:58 "çift (double)" çaġıştırġısız KNTTS:60 "Epeyce, Çok (many)" çoḳ KNTTS:60 "tam (complete)" çaḳlı KNTTS:60 "tamamen (complete), Hepsi (all / entire / completely)" çamasız KNTTS:61 "Sınırsız miktarda Çok (many)" çěm KNTTS:64 "Pek fazla (too much),Çok (many)" çiksěz KNTTS:67 "Pek Çok (many)" derya KNTTS:72 "bol (abundant),Çok (many)" diñgěz KNTTS:74 "bol (abundant)luk" döm KNTTS:74 "tam (complete)amen" firḳa KNTTS:91 "bölük (team), takım"" ġalem KNTTS:98 "Topluluk,grup,fazla (too much)" hemme KNTTS:101 "Hepsi (all / entire / completely)" her KNTTS:101 "Hepsi, tamamı (complete), (all / entire / completely),bütünü" 8 Vol. 5, No. 11 – Special Issue (EJAR) ISSN: 2181-2020 LPTIENP International Scientific-Practice Conference on “Linguistics and Pedagogical Technologies: International Experience and National Practice” Denau, November 20, 2025 in-academy.uz/index.php/ejar ḫisapsız KNTTS:109 " Çok (many)" ifrat KNTTS:116 "Çok (many),aşırı,fazla (too much)" ille KNTTS:118 "Pek Çok (many), fazla (too much)sıyla" kette KNTTS:130 "Büyük,Çok (many),fazla (too much)" kiñ KNTTS:134 "Çok (many),dolu(full)" kiñlek KNTTS:135 "dolu(full)luk, tam (complete)lık" köşěl KNTTS:142 "Bir Çok (many), bir sürü" kübev KNTTS:144 "Çok (many)" küme (cluster) KNTTS:146 "küme (cluster)" küp KNTTS:147 "Çok (many),fazla (too much),sayısı veya miktarı yüksek" küběrek KNTTS:147 "Daha Çok (many)" küběsě KNTTS:147 "çoğu (most)" küplep KNTTS:147 "Çok miktarda (many),Çok (many) Çok (many)" küp son KNTTS:147 "Çok sayıda(many) " küpçělěk KNTTS:147 "çoğunluk (most) (majority)" küplep KNTTS:147 "Çokluk(many)" küpměděr KNTTS:147 "Çok (many),pek Çok (many) küpsěn KNTTS:147 "Bir şeyin tahminen Çok (many) olduğunu söylemek" ḳalın KNTTS:155 "dolu(full)" ḳocak KNTTS:171 "Pek Çok (many)" ḳotaçḳıç KNTTS:175 "fazla (too much),artık" měñlep KNTTS:192 "Çok (many)" mir KNTTS:195 "insan topluluğu (group of people)" mul KNTTS:197 "bol (abundant), pek Çok (many)" nıbarı KNTTS:202 "Hepsi, (all / entire / completely), tamamı (complete), toplam" nihayet KNTTS:202 "Pek fazla (too much)" nikader KNTTS:203 "Pek Çok (many)" öçev KNTTS:211 "üçü birlikte (all three)" ör KNTTS:212 "Pek Çok (many)" rota KNTTS:224 "bölük (team)" tap KNTTS:264 "tam (complete)" tögel KNTTS:288 "tam (complete)" tömen(I) KNTTS:289 "Çok (many),fazla (too much)" tuk KNTTS:294 "dolu(full)" tulayım KNTTS:295 "Bütünüyle,Hepsi (all / entire / completely)" tulı KNTTS:295 "dolu(full),tam (complete)" uḳ KNTTS:302 "Pek,Çok (many)" uñġa KNTTS:304 "Pek Çok (many)" zapas KNTTS:356 "fazlalık (too much)" zěre KNTTS:357 "Çok (many),fazla (too much)" zur KNTTS:358 "fazla (too much),Çok (many)" CONCLUSİON 9 Vol. 5, No. 11 – Special Issue (EJAR) ISSN: 2181-2020 LPTIENP International Scientific-Practice Conference on “Linguistics and Pedagogical Technologies: International Experience and National Practice” Denau, November 20, 2025 in-academy.uz/index.php/ejar In our study, which focuses on words indicating plurality and unity in Kazan Tatar Turkish, 83 entries indicating plurality and unity were identified by scanning the Kazan Tatar Dictionary prepared by Mustafa Öner and published by the Turkish Language Association in 2015. References: 1. Alkaya, E. (2010). Türkiye Türkçesinde ve Türk Lehçelerinde İyelik Ekinden Sonra Kullanılan +lar Çokluk Eki Üzerine [On the Plural Suffix +lar Used After the Possessive Suffix in Turkish and Other Turkic Dialects]. Müjgân Cunbur Armağanı. Ankara: Turkish Cultural Research Institute Publications. 2. Alkaya, E. & Yalçın, S. K. (2022). Türk Dilinde -l Çokluk Eki [The -l Plural Suffix in Turkish Language]. Journal of Language Research (Dil Araştırmaları), 31: 17–24. 3. Başdaş, C. (2007). Türk Lehçelerinde İşteşlik Eki -şve Çokluk [The Reciprocal Suffix -şand Plurality in Turkic Dialects]. In Proceedings of the 1st International Turkish World Culture Congress (April 9–15, 2006, Çeşme/İzmir), Vol. I, Ankara, 291–296. 4. Dinler, N. (2020). Türk Dilindeki Eş, Koş, Tuş Sözcükleri Örneğinde -ş Çokluk Eki [The Plural Suffix -ş in the Words Eş, Koş, Tuş in Turkish]. In Prof. Dr. Vahit Türk Armağanı, İstanbul: Kesit Publications. 5. Öner, M. (2015). Kazan Tatar Türkçesi Sözlüğü [Dictionary of Kazan Tatar Turkish]. Ankara: Turkish Language Association (TDK) Publications. 6. Poppe, N. (2008). Altay Dillerinde Çokluk Ekleri [Plural Suffixes in Altaic Languages]. (Trans. Caner Kerimoğlu). Journal of Linguistic Studies (Dil Araştırmaları Dergisi), 2: 93–110. 7. Yalçın, S. K. (2021). +gil Eki Üzerine Etimolojik Bir Değerlendirme [An Etymological Evaluation on the Suffix +gil]. Türklad Journal of Turkish Studies, 5(1): 1–12.