-DIK and -(y)AcAK with verbal predicates

In this chapter we study the Turkish equivalents of the following sentences:

1. I know that Spain will win in the World Cup.

2. I heard that the meeting was cancelled.

Turkish does not have a ‘that’ word. So the structures that correspond to the sentences above have -DIK or -(y)AcAK suffixes on the embedded verb. These suffixes nominalize the sentences and are followed by a possessive marker that marks the person of the embedded subject on the verb. The structure, when it appears in an object position, takes the case markers assiged by the verb of the matrix clause.

In the example below, the embedded verb kazan- ‘win’ is marked with -(y)AcAK and the third person possessive marker. Spain is the subject of the verb kazan- so it is third person singular. Spain, the embedded subject, bears the genitive case marker, so that a genitive-possessive compound is formed. With all these markers, you can distinguish the embedded subject and the matrix subject, as well as the embedded verb and the matrix verb. Literally, the sentence means ‘I know Spain’s winning in the World Cup.’