Development of Vocalism in Certain Ottoman Suffixes

Abstract

This paper offers a survey of the development of vocalism in certain Ottoman suffixes in historical perspective in the one hand, and comparatively, on the level of the whole Ottoman language on the other. In his very introduction, the author states that conditions for such a research have been far from ideal although he has made maximum use of an that has been done so far concerning this problem and is available, adding his own well-based conclusions.

On the whole, the author has considered only two suffixes (lik and miş) and their four phonetic variants and in this connection their complete vocal harmony. This phenomenon has not been studied from the phonetic angle on the level of the modern language. Since these suffixes went through various stages in the historical development of the Ottoman language, the author has adopted a scientific approach to the study of these phonetic suffix changes in certain phases of their origin and development. At the same time, influences which certainly were responsible for certain changes have not been neglected.

Works in the literary Ottoman language as well as folk dialects have been used as sources for the study of this phenomenon in the paper.