Grammar

2 Grammar - The Noun Phrase

2.1 Plurals

These are marked by the suffixes -lar, -ler e.g. kitaplar – books. See also The Verb Phrase, Verb paradigms.

2.2 Noun Declension

[pronunciation]	Hammer	Duck	Bird	Linguist	Case Marker	Following a vowel
Nominative	çekiç	ördek [ö:rdök]	guş [guş]	dilçi
Accusative	çekiji	ördegi [ö:rdögü]	guşy [guşy]	dilçini	-y/-i	-ny/-ni
Genitive	çekijiň	ördegiň [ö:rdögün]	guşuň [guşuň]	dilçiniň	-yň/-iň -uň/-üň	-nyň/-niň -nuň/-nüň
Dative	çekije	ördege [ö:rdögö]	guşa [guşo]	dilçä	-a/-e	-a/-ä (after i) -na/-ne (
Locative/Time	çekiçde [çekişde]	ördekde [ö:rdökdö]	guşda [guşdo]	dilçide	-da/-de	-da/-de -nda/-nde[4]
Ablative (separation fr.)	çekiçden [çekişden]	ördekden [ö:rdökdön]	guşdan [guşdon]	dilçiden	-dan/-den	-dan/-den -ndan/-nden[5]

Note: the accusative suffix after a noun suffix in a vowel is –ny/-ni rather than –y/-i

e.g. dilçi + i => dilçini

Men bedreni goýdum - I put down the bucket

although it is permissable to leave the object unmarked if the object would not normally take the definite article in English e.g:

Sen mesge aldyňmy?

Have you bought some butter?

2.3 Question Words

	“who”	“what”	“how much”	“which”	“where”
Nominative	kim – who	näme	näçe	haýsy	nire
Accusative	kimi – who	nämäni	näçeni	haýsyny	nireni
Genitive	kimiň – whose	nämeniň	näçeniň	haýsynyň	niräniň
Dative	kime – to whom	nämä	näçä	haýsyna	nirä
Locative/Time	kimde – who (has)	nämede	näçede	haýsynda	nirede
Ablative	kimden – from whom	nämeden	näçeden	haýsyndan	nireden

Other question words: haçan (when). NB none of these words can be used as complementizers (see 4.18 Participles and Gerunds), they are used only as question words.

Kimiň telpegi geýýärsiň? – Whose hat are you wearing?

Nirä barýarsyň? – Where are you heading?

Sen nämeni aldyňmy? - Did you buy that thing (what was it?).

Sen nirede? – Where are you?

Kimde çörek bar? – Who has some bread?

Gawunuň kilesi näçeden? – How much per kilo are melons? Lit: Melon’s kilo is from what [price]?

Sen haçan geljek? – When will you be here?

For the question particle –my/mi see 4.2 below.

2.4 The Personal Pronouns

	1s	2s	3s	1pl	2pl	3pl
NOM	men	sen	ol	biz	siz	olar
ACC	meni	seni	ony	bizi	sizi	olary
GEN	meniň	seniň	onuň	biziň	siziň	olaryň
DAT	maňa	saňa	oňa	bize	size	olara
LOC/TIM	mende	sende	onda	bizde	sizde	olarda
ABL	menden	senden	ondan	bizden	sizden	olardan

NB In speech when d follows n it assimilates to n e.g. mende [menne] i.e. [men:e].

Note the lack of gender marking in the personal pronouns. Neither is there any noun agreement showing gender. The Turkmen language marks gender in other ways.

2.5 Possession

One of the hardest things to master is the agreement on nouns when possessed. Compare the following tables:

maşyn - car	s	pl
1	(meniň) maşynym	(biziň) maşynymyz
2	(seniň) maşynyň	(siziň) maşynyňyz
3	(onuň) maşyny	olaryň maşyny

eje - mother	s	pl
1	(meniň) ejäm	(biziň) ejämiz
2	(seniň) ejäň	(siziň) ejäňiz
3	(onuň) ejesi	olaryň ejesi

söz - word	s	pl
1	(meniň) sözüm	(biziň) sözümiz
2	(seniň) sözüň	(siziň) sözüňiz
3	(onuň) sözi	olaryň sözi

Maşynyň barmy? - Have you got a car?

The locative and ablative cases take the forms –nda/-nde, -ndan/-nden following the 3^rd person possessive:

Ejesinde täze köýnek bar – His mother has a new dress.

Men Hudaýberdi köçesinde ýaşaýaryn – I live in Hudayberdi street.

Ejesinden aldym – I got it from his mother.

The genitive personal pronouns meniň, seniň, etc. (with the exception of olaryň) are redundant and therefore optional. When used they emphasise personal possession e.g. Meniň maşynym uly! – My car is large! [Wheras yours is small…]

Predicative Possession [-ky/ki]

e.g. Şu kitap meniňki - This book is mine.

Bu kimiňki, seniňkimi? Howa, meniňki.

Whose is this, yours? Yes, it’s mine.

The possessive pronoun is used in a predicative sense, rather than attributive as in the table above. In English we always have the verb “to be” between the subject and predicate (e.g. “The book is mine”), whereas the attribute acts like an adjective (“red book”can be substituted for “my book”).

2.6 Going to see someone

Beware of putting a person’s name in the dative case when referring to visiting a person; it means something rather different!

Contrast: Meniň ýanyma gelip biljekmi? Can you come and see me?

With: Sen maňa geljekmi? Will you marry me? (Literally: Will you come to me?)

ýan side stem on its own

ýany his/her/its side with possessive suffix

ýanyna to his/her/its side possessive suffix + dative case

to s.o.’s side	s	pl
1	meniň ýanyma	biziň ýanymyza
2	seniň ýanyňa	siziň ýanyňyza
3	onuň ýanyna	olaryň ýanyna

e.g. Men Baýramyň ýanyna gitjek - I'm going to see Bayram

Notice too that Turkmen rarely go and see one person, even if that person is alone in the house:

Men Orazlara gitjek - I’m going to Oraz’s (including family, friends).

Men häzir Dawudlarda otyryn - I’m at David’s at the moment

Myratdagy häzir geler – Murad and his family will arrive soon

You can also use the predicative possessive suffix:

Men dostymyňkyda boldym, şonuň üçin giç geldim - I was at a friend’s [place], that’s why I arrived late.

2.7 The Reflexive mood

Reflexive pronouns	s	pl
1	(meniň) özüm	(biziň) özümiz
2	(seniň) özüň	(siziň) özüňiz
3	(onuň) özi	(olaryň) özleri

Declension of reflexive pronouns (3 are shown as an example):

	1s	3s	1pl
NOM	özüm	özi	özümiz
ACC	özümi	özüni	özümizi
GEN	özümiň	özüniň	özümiziň
DAT	özüme	özüne	özümize
LOC/TIM	özümde	özünde	özümizde
ABL	özümden	özünden	özümizden

For the 3^rd person (s. and pl.) note that ACC, LOC and ABL become –ni –nde and –nden respectively i.e. following a possessive marker ending in a vowel an n is inserted before the noun declension marker. NB the rounding vowel harmony causes the 3 person possessive i to become a ü so we have –üni –ünde and –ünden.

e.g:

Özüň nähili? – How are you? (When you have already been asked how you are and replied)

Ol özi aýtdy – He said so himself.

Men özüme işleýärin – I work for myself.

Öz maşynyň sürýärsiňmi? – Are you driving your own car? (Or someone else’s)

Ol öz maşyn süreýär – He drives his car.

2.8 Demonstrative Pronouns

There are two forms for each English word “this” and “that”:

“This”

NOM	bu	şu
ACC	muny	şuny
GEN	munuň	şunuň
DAT	muňa	şuňa
LOC/TIM	munda	şunda
ABL	mundan	şundan

“That”

NOM	ol	şol
ACC	ony	şony
GEN	onuň	şonuň
DAT	oňa	şoňa
LOC/TIM	onda	şonda
ABL	ondan	şondan

Bu gowy komputermi? – Is this a good computer?

Seniň jaýyň muňa berjekmi? – Do you want to give your house to this person?

Muny aljakmy? – Do want to buy this one?

Şonda men öýe gaýtdym – Then [when that happened] I returned home.

Onda men gitjek däl – Then [for that reason] I won’t go.

Şonuň üçin – therefore.

3 Grammar - The Verb Phrase

3.1 The infinitive

The infinitive is formed with verb stem followed by the suffix -mak/-mek:

almak (to buy/take)	gelmek (to come)
almazlyk (not to buy)	gelmezlik (not to come)

The verb stem is the second person singular form of the imperative (see “Imperative Mood”).

The infinitive, however, declines as follows:

NOM	almak (to buy/take)
ACC	almagy
GEN	almagyň
DAT	almaga (in order to buy/take)
LOC/TIM	almagda
ABL	almagdan

Apart from the nominative and dative cases it is almost impossible to translate these without a context, as English simply doesn't have anything remotely like this. The following examples will help a little:

Un almak kyn boldy - it was difficult to get flour

[U:n almak ky:n boldy]

Un almagyň kyndygyny sen bileňokmy? - don't you know how hard it is to buy flour?

Men un almaga geldim - I came (in order) to buy flour [purpose: to by flour]

Şu gün un almagy ýatdan çykarma - don't forget to buy flour today!

Un almakda kynçylyk bar - [in general] it is difficult to buy flour

Un almakdan başga işler hem bar - (I've) got better things to do than buying flour!

The infinitive acts in the same way as an English participle: the last example would be “flour buying-(apart) from other work also exists”.

The infinitive can also be possessed as follows:

my studying etc.	s	pl
1	meniň okamagym	biziň okamagymyz
2	seniň okamagyň	siziň okamagyňyz
3	onuň okamagy	olaryň okamaklary

(notice the k in the 3rd person plural)

It seems that whereas in the English language participles can be possessed, in Turkmen only infinitives can, so again the gloss of a Turkmen infinitive is an English participle.

Kartoçka	(boýunça)	berilýän	zatlary	şu	gün	seniň	almagyň	gerek
ration-card	(by)	being-given	things	this	day	your	buying	is-necessary

you need to buy the food we get on ration cards today

Seniň okamazlygyň saňa zyýan etdi, sen ekzamenden ikilik aldyň

- your lack of study was your downfall, you got two [out of five] in the exam

Uniwersitetde studentleriň okamaklary üçin şertler döredildi

- The University created conditions under which students could study

3.2 Question particle –my/mi

This forms part of the conjugated verb or predicate in order to turn a statement into a question:

Bazara gitjekmi?	Do you want to go to the market?
Süýji-püýji ýokmy?	Aren’t there any sweets?
Ony tapmadyňmy?	Didn’t you find him/her/it?
Dükanda doňdurma barmyka?	I wonder if there is any ice cream in the shop?
Ejeňe hat yazypmysyň?	Did you write a letter to your mother?

3.3 The Imperative and Optative Moods (commands and requests)

The imperative, which is used for commands and requests, is simply the root of the verb (or the infinitive minus –mak/mek), with the addition of the plural marker –yň/iň if addressing more than one person. Here is the paradigm for the verb garaşmak – to wait:

person – mood	s	pl
2 – imperative “wait!”	garaş	garaşyň
3 – optative “let him/them wait”	garaşsyn	garaşsynlar

Note that the plural form suffix in -yň is used for addressing people of importance such as ýaşuly or başlyk, whereas for simple polite requests the suffix –aý/-äý can be inserted to all these forms.

e.g. Çörek beräý(iň) - please pass the bread (iň = plural form also used in formal speech to show respect for those older than oneself)

Alaý! – Help yourself! [Lit: Please take!]

Another commonly used polite form is -sene/seňizläň (2nd person singular/plural) for polite commands

e.g. Gazly suwdan bir çüýşe bersene – Would you (please) give me a bottle of carbonated water

Çaý içseňizläň! - go on, please, have a cup of tea! (Extremely formal, rarely used form)

Occasionally you may here the use of the jussive the emphatic particle –da/dä on the verb:

Ol çaý içsin-dä - go on, let him have a cup of tea (before he goes)!

[ol çaý iç'sindä:]

3.4 The Voluntative-hortative Mood (let me, shall I)?

The Turkmen language also includes a way of stating that you would like to do something, or asking whether you might be able to do something (asking for permission) i.e. a 1^st person equivalent of the imperative:

“let me/us wait!”	s	pl
1	garaşaýyn	garaşaly(ň)

The suffix -ň is added to the plural form when there are three or more people involved

Garaşaýynmy? - Shall I wait?

[garaşaý'ynmy?]

Häzir, jaň edaýyn - Just a minute, let me make a telephone call!

Biz gaýdalyň! – Please let us go home now!

Gidelimi? - Shall we (two) go?

Ýör, öýde çaý içäýeli-dä - come on, let’s (the two of us) go home and have a cup of tea!

Ýörüň, çaýhanada çaý içäýeliň-(le) - come, let’s (all) go to the cafe for a cup of tea!

3.5 To have

Uses bar bolmak – “to exist”, but the bolmak usually drops out. Lack of existence is denoted by ýok.

e.g. Mende çörek bar - I've got some bread (to me bread exists).

Çaga entek ýok – (We) haven’t yet got any children (children still don’t exist).

Meniň bir gyzym bar - I've got one daughter (my one daughter-POSS exists).

Armaň! – Don’t get tired! (Greeting in workplace)

Bar bol! – We’re fine! (Appropriate reply)

Un barmy? – Is there any flour? (i.e. in the shop/house)

Süýji-püýji ýokmy? – Aren’t there any sweets?

3.6 Verb Paradigms

The most useful tenses when first learning to speak Turkmen are the following:

with negative stem

Definite Past

I did, I came, I took…

Present (Literary form)

I do, I come, I take…

Shortened Present (spoken form)[6]

etmek 2

(to do) 3

negative

etdim

etdiň

etdi

etme-

etdik

etdiňiz

etdi(ler)

edýärin

edýärsiň

edýär

etme-

edýäris

edýärsiňiz

edýär(ler)

edýä:n

edýä:ň

edýä:

edýä:s

edýä:ňiz

edýä:ler

sürmek 2

(to drive) 3

sürdüm

sürdüň

sürdi

sürme-

sürdük

sürdüňiz

sürdi(ler)

sürýärin

sürýärsiň

sürýär

sürme-

sürýäris

sürýärsiňiz

sürýär(ler)

sürýä:n

sürýä:ň

sürýä:

sürýä:s

sürýä:ňiz

sürýä:ler

almak 2

(to take) 3

aldym

aldyň

aldy

alma-

aldymyz

aldyňyz

aldy(lar)

alýaryn

alýarsyň

alyar

alma-

alýarys

alýarsyňyz

alýar(lar)

alýa:n

alýa:ň

alýa:

alýa:s

alýa:ňyz

alýa:(lar)

bolmak 2

(to be) 3

boldum

bolduň

boldy

bolma-

bolduk

bolduňyz

boldy

bolýaryn

bolýarsyň

bolýar

bolma-

bolýarys

bolýarsyňyz

bolýar(lar)

bolýa:n

bolýa:ň

bolýa:

bolýa:s

bolýa:ňyz

bolýa:lar

(negative)

Present Perfect negative[7] (spoken form)

I haven’t done…

Indefinite Future

NB see note below

Definite Future

(does not decline)

etmek 2

(to do) 3

neg. 1

edemo:k

edeňo:k

edeno:k

edemzo:k

edeňzo:k

edeno:klar

ederin

edersiň

eder

etmerin

etmersiň

etmez

ederis

edersiňiz

eder(ler)

etmersiň

etmersiňiz

etmez

etjek

etjek däl

sürmek 2

(drive) 3

neg. 1

süremo:k

süreňo:k

süreno:k

süremzo:k

süreňzo:k

süreno:klar

sürerin

sürersiň

sürer

sürmerin…

süreris

sürersiňiz

sürer(ler)

sürjek [sür'jök]

sürjek däl

almak 2

(take) 3

neg. 1

alamo:k

alaňo:k

alano:k

alamzo:k

alaňzo:k

alano:klar

alaryn

alarsyň

alar

almaryn

almarsyň

almaz

alarys

alarsyňyz

alar(lar)

almarys

almarsyňyz

almaz

aljak

aljak däl

bolmak

(to be)

bolamo:k

bolaňo:k

bolano:k[8]

bolamzo:k

bolaňzo:k

bolano:klar

bolaryn

bolarsyň

bolar

bolmaryn…

bolarys

bolarsyňyz

bolar(lar)

boljak [bol'jok]

boljak däl

Personal markers for past tense (you have seen some of these before – they are similar to the possessive markers):

-m	-k
-ň	-ňiz
-	-ler

Personal markers for present & future tenses, literary form:

-in	-is
-siň	-siňiz
-	-ler[9]

Indefinite future declension following a vowel e.g. for aýlamak:

aýlaryn	aýlarys
aýlarsyň	aýlarsyňyz
aýlar	aýlar

The third person future (negative) suffix is not simply a combination of the negative marker

-ma/me and the future declension –ar/er, but has the form –maz/mez

e.g. ol gitmez - he won't be going (see large table above)

3.7 Tenses, Aspects and Moods

Turkmen exhibits a type of aspect known as evidentuality – a measure of how definitely something has taken place. It is used frequently in both oral and literary forms of Turkmen. There are four levels:

Direct experience – ‘he fixed the car (and I was there when he did it)’
Subjective i.e. using second-hand information – ‘I was told that he fixed the car’
Rumoured – ‘I’ve heard that cars sometimes get fixed’

Objective i.e. apparent – ‘it seems that the car is fixed’

ol… (men) *Evidentuality[10]:* 3^rd singular (1^st singular) *Tenses and moods:*	Direct (experienced) I was there when…	Subjective (“definite” unwitnessed) probably, definitely, depend on me that... Rumoured (indefinite)	rumoured that, it is said that, I heard that, etc.	Objective (apparent) it seems that, it turns out that (3rd person s.)
Simple Past took	aldy(m)
Completed Past have/had taken (Past Perfect)	alypdy(m) had taken – past in the past (pluperfect)	alypdyr(yn) he took (unwitnessed) alandyr(yn) he probably took	alypmyş(ym) people say he took) alanmyş(ym) people say he took	alan eken has taken it seems
Incomplete - pres. take (Imperfect) - past used to take	alýar(yn) alýardy(m)	alýandyr(yn) he is probably buying, (you know that I am buying)	alýarmyş(ym) it is said that he is taking	alýar eken he is apparently taking
In principle - future will take - past would take, would have taken	alar(yn) alardy(m)		alarmyş it is said that he used to take (3rd person - stories)	alar eken used to take (every day) - story use
Volitional - future will definitely take, want to take - past was going to take	aljak aljakdy(m)	aljakdyr(yn) he’ll probably buy, (let me assure you that I'll buy)	aljakmyş it is said that he’ll buy	aljak eken apparently going to take (getting ready to take)
*Moods:*
Desire - present intends to t. - past intended to take	almakçy almakçydy(m)	almakçydyr(yn) he probably intends to buy (let me assure that I intend to buy)	almakçymyş- (ym) it is rumoured that he intends to take	almakçy eken intends to take it seems
Obligation - present have to, should - “past” should have.	almaly he should/ought to take, he needs to take almalydy(m) he ought to have taken...	almalydyr must definitely take	almalymyş(ym) rumour has it that he has to take	almaly eken(im) should take it seems, he should have taken almalydy(m) eken turns out that he should have taken

NB The -dyr/dir- suffix drops out in the second person forms of column 3

sen bilýäňsiň (bilýärsiň-dir-siň) - you probably know

Türkmen dilini öwrenipsiň – you’ve (already) learnt the Turkmen language

(See below for paradigm)

Hint: when language learning learn the first column, then the second, then the fourth, then the third (which is rarely used). Note especially column two row two -ypdyr is frequently used.

3.8 Subjective past perfect

Since this aspect is used so frequently, declines so differently, yet seems not to correlate with aspects in European languages, it seemed good to have a separate section on it.

	s		pl
1	alypdyryn	I must have taken (smth.)	alypdyrys	We must have taken (smth.)
2	alypsyň	You have taken (smth.)	alypsyňyz	You have taken (smth.)
3	alypdyr	He took (smth.)	alypdyr(lar)	They took (smth.)

e.g. Men uklapdyryn! I must have fallen asleep!

Men ters geýinipdirin! I put my clothes on back-to-front!

Biz onuň öýüne aýlandyk. Ol işe gidipdir. We went round to his house but it turned out that he had gone to work.

When is this aspect used? Whenever the action was unwitnessed by the speaker. For instance if someone is sick, and you haven’t yet visited them, you can say ol kesellepdir, but you cannot say ol keselledi. Certain bodily functions are almost always referred to using this aspect e.g. ol gaýtarypdyr – s/he has vomitted. There are some things that it is too polite to mention using the witnessed aspect!

Another case where this aspect is used is when a process has reached some stage of completion e.g. learning a language:

Sen Türkmen dilini öwrenipsiň! You have learnt Turkmen!

Perhaps only the Turkmen language student’s teacher would be qualified to say, “Sen Türkmen dilini öwrendiň”, and even then, they might not use it, as they were not there when the student did all his/her homework. The process of language acquisition was mainly unwitnessed, yet it has somehow or other reached a stage of completion.

The negative declines as follows:

	s		pl
1	almandyryn	It looks as if I didn’t take	almandyrys	It looks as if we didn’t take
2	almandyrsyň	You haven’t taken	almandyrsyňyz	You haven’t taken
3	almandyr	He didn’t take	almandyr(lar)	They didn’t take

e.g. Ol meni işe almandyr – He didn’t give me a job.

Siz Türkmen dilini entek öwrenmändirsiňiz – You haven’t yet learnt Turkmen properly it seems[11].

Nahar örän süýji bolupdyr! – The meal was delicious! (Literally: The food became very sweet)

Questions have another form (notice positioning of the negative particle for 2^nd person):

	s		pl
1	alypdyrynmy?	Did it turn out that I took?	alypdyrysmy?	Did it turn out that we took?
2	alypmysyň?	Did you take (in the end)?	alypmysyňyz?	Did you take (in the end)?
3	alypdyrmy?	Did he take (in the end)?	alypdyr(lar)my?	Did they take (in the end)?

e.g. Otyrmysyňyz? Are you having a meal? (Literally: Are you sitting?)

Sag-gurgun otyrmysyňyz? Are you all well? (Literally: Are you sitting well and healthy?)

Negative questions:

	s		pl
1	almandyrynmy?	Didn’t I take (in the end)?	almandyrysmy?	Didn’t we take (in the end)?
2	almanmysyň?	Didn’t you take (in the end)?	almanmysyňyz?	Didn’t you take (in the end)?
3	almandyrmy?	Didn’t he take (in the end)?	almandyr(lar)my?	Didn’t they take (in the end)?

e.g. Yanyňda çörek almanmysyň? Didn’t you bring bread after all?

3.9 Past in the past (pluperfect)

This is formed by taking the gerund form –yp/ip and adding the simple past tense suffix –dy/di. It is used when referring to something that happened previous to the time frame being talked about e.g. alypdym in:

Men onuň ýanyna aýlandym. Men maşyn alypdym, şonuň üçin men ol ýere çalt baryp ýetdim.

I went to see him. I had bought a car, so I got there quite quickly.

The negative is formed by taking the negative past participle –man/män and adding the simple past tense suffix –dy/di e.g.

Men entek maşyn almandym, şol sebäpli men giç galdym.

I hadn’t yet bought a car, so I was late.

3.10 Modal and Auxiliary Verbs

Some of these decline, some do not. Notice that not all take the infinitive of the main verb.

“is necessary, need”:

Maňa ýaşamaga jaý gerek - I need somewhere to live.

(the verb gerek does not decline since it is a modal verb)

“like” type 1:

Men arak içmegi halamok, men suw içmegi halaýa(ry)n - I don't like do drink alcohol, I like to drink water.

Men ol gyz halaýaryn – I’m in love with that girl.

“like” type 2:

Men şu köýnegi gowy göreyärin - I like this dress.

“want to, would like to”

Men şu kitap aljak - I want to buy this book.

Men şol kitap almak isleýärin - I really want to buy that book.

Men kitap aljak bolýaryn - I'm going to buy a book, I want to buy a book.

“very much want, desire”

Format: Verb-as/es/äs-possessive + gelmek (3s past, present or future)

	s	pl
1	göresim	göresimiz
2	göresiň	göresiňiz
3	göresi	göresleri

NB the 3rd plural suffix is not quite the sames as normal possessives (it retains [ler])

(Meniň) Türkmenistany göresim geldi - I wanted to see Turkmenistan

(Meniň) turkmen dilini öwrenesim gelýär - I want to learn Turkmen

(Seniň) çaý içesiň gelýärmi? - do you want to drink tea?

(Meniň) Çülä gidesim geler - I shall want to go to Chulee.

There is another form which has: verb + -sa/se (possessive) -dy/di (past):

Türkmen dilini tiz öwrensemdim (öwren-sem-dim) - I would like to learn Turkmen quickly

And it is also possible to say something like this in an impersonal way:

Aftobus wagtynda geläýedi - oh please let the bus come now!

“am able to, can”

Men çörek alyp bilýärin

Men	çörek	al	-yp	bil	-ýärin
I	bread	buy	-Ger	know	-1sPst

I am able to buy bread, I can buy bread, I know how to...

“may I, is it possible to?”

(Sizi) surat almak mümkinmi? - Is it possible to take (your)/a photo?

(the suffix -my/-mi changes a statement to a question)

“prepare oneself to, just about to”

Ol suwa bökjek bolyar - she's just about to jump in the water

“it turns out that, it seems...”

Ol her guýn süýt alýa:n eken - it turns out that she buys milk each day

Sen bilýä:ň eken! - you know it after all! (to a student who has been tested)

NB eken is also used with the present and past participles in the context of stories. Here it simply adds a mythical flavour to the narrative (eg. Bir bar eken, bir ýo:k eken, gurwaga bar eken - Once upon a time there was a frog.). The present participle with eken denotes a repeated action, the past participle a completed action. The future indefinite participle (eg. geler) is also used in stories in this sense (eg. “ ...” diýip gezer eken - saying as he walked). See above table for other uses.

“I suppose”

Use verb + öýtmek

Ol ma:mladyr öýdýän - he’s right, I suppose

Siz uniwersitetde öýlän bolmazsyňyz öýtdym - You won’t be at the University this afternoon I suppose

“Might be...”

Onuň geläýmegi mümkin - he might come

3.11 Mood

3.11.1 The Conditional Mood –sa/-se

This is used with eger (if), and for some events that are hoped for like the birth of a baby.

-sa	s	pl
1	alsam	alsak
2	alsaň	alsaňyz
3	alsa	alsalar

e.g. Eger sen gitseň, men hem gidärin - If you go, I will go too.

Men maşyn alaryn, nesip bolsa - I'm going to buy a car, God willing (if destined)

Compare the two following examples:

Ol häzir geler. Gelse biz bazara gideli. – He will arrive soon. When he gets here let’s go to the market.

Ol gelse biz belki bazara gideris. – If he comes we might go to the market.

Notice that the word gelse can be translated as ‘when he comes’ or ‘if he comes’ depending on the context.

Negative: almasa(m).

3.11.2 The Subjunctive Mood

This is formed by the use of the future indefinite tense, and the past tense combined.

e.g.

Sen gideň bolsa gowy bolardy! – It would have been good if you had come too!

Men maşyn alardym, ýöne pulum ýetmedi. – I would have bought a car, but I didn’t have enough money.

3.11.3 Some Continous Moods

Adding -ber- after the verb stem and before any suffixes gives the sense of “go on doing”

e.g. Oturberäý - please go on sitting!

also the verbs ýörmek, otyrmak, durmak, and ýatmak are used to add a continous sense. Use them with perfect participles:

e.g. Olar gezip ýörler - they're going for a walk.

Ol ukläp ýatyr – He is sleeping.

Myrat dynç alyp ýatyr – Murad is resting.

Ýagyş ýagyp dur – It is raining.

Biz garaşyp otyrys – We are waiting.

Ol heniz hem okap ýör – He is still studying.

The verbs decline like so:

	s	pl
1	ýörün	ýörüs
2	ýörsüň	ýörsüňiz
3	ýör	ýörler

contrast ‘işläp ýör’, ‘garaşyp otyr’, ‘garaşyp dur’ and ‘dyňç alyp ýatyr’

3.12 Voice

Voice is usually part of the verb formation.

3.12.1 Verb formation - Passive

Passive is formed by the addition of the suffix –yl/-il/-ul/-ül following a consonant and –l following a vowel e.g.

aýtmak aýdylmak (to be said)

okamak okalmak (to be read)

3.12.2 Verb formation - Middle/Reflexive

The middle voice is formed by the addition of –an/-en/-un/-ün following a consonant and –n following a vowel e.g.

geýmek geýinmek (to get dressed)

görmek görünmek (to appear)

Semantically this form can give passive, middle or reflexive senses, though true reflexives would use the reflexive pronoun öz e.g. ol özi geýinip bilýär – he can get dressed himself

3.12.3 Verb formation - Causative

The causative is formed by the addition of suffixes –dyr/dir, –t, –yr/ir, or –yz/iz to the verb stem.

e.g.

okamak – to study

okatmak – to teach

okatdyrmak – to arrange tuition (for)

turmak	to stand	turuzmak	to get someone up
gorkmak	to be afraid	gorkuzmak	to frighten someone
ýatmak	to lie down	ýatyrmak	to put someone down to sleep
düşünmek	to understand	düşündürmek	to explain
öwrenmek	to learn	öwretmek	to teach

3.12.4 Verb formation - Reciprocal/Cooperative

This is formed by the addition of –yş/iş to the stem. It denotes some kind of reciprocal action, or something that takes time.

e.g.

ýetmek	to be enough, sufficient	ýetişmek	to be on time; to succeed
öwrenmek	to learn	öwrenişmek	to get used to
gelmek	to come	gelişmek	to suit someone
almak	to buy	alyşmak	to barter

3.12.5 Verb formation - Gradual increase (Reciprocal-Causative)

The combination of the reciprocal and the causative suffixes give rise to a new form denoting either a gradual increase in something, a prolonged action, or getting someone to do something with you:

iýmek	to eat	iýişdirmek	to taste (all or a quantity of)
gelmek	to come	gelişdirmek	to attribute beauty to someone
satmak	to sell	satyşdyrmak	to have a sale
-		planlaşdyrmak	to plan, draw up a plan

3.12.6 Verb formation - Causative-Passive

Formed by addition of first causative then passive suffixes which combine to form –dyryl/-diril or similar (see 4.12.3 and 4.12.1 respectively) e.g. atlandyrylmak – to be named; sadalaşdyrylmak – to be simplified.

3.12.7 Benefactive

This takes the form –yp/ip –aý/äý e.g.

Maňa ýazyp beräý-da! - Please write it down for me!

See below for a description of the Gerund form –yp/ip.

3.13 Participles and Gerunds

3.13.1 Participles

	Present	“Past”	“Future”
Type 1 (negative)	alýa:n taking (almaýan)	alan took, having taken (almadyk)	alar taking (contemp. & story use) (almaz)
Type 2		(aldyk that taking.../my taking)	aljak will be taking (almajak)

Note: the participle aljak is used more frequently in contemporary Turkmen. The aldyk type of participle is only found in old literary Turkmen, wheras alan occurs regularly in both spoken and written Turkmen. The negative suffix -madyk is, however, regularly used in spoken Turkmen.

Adjectival Participle (Gerund) suffixes yp, -a

e.g. Alyp taking (negative – alman [alma:n], almazdan)

Biz Oraz bilen eleşip görüşdik - Oraz and I greeted each other

Men şu kitabi bir gi:jede okap çykdym - I read the whole book in one night

Men dura dura ýadadym - I'm tired of waiting

3.13.2 Gerunds

Gerunds[12] are often used for the first verbs in a sequence of actions:

Ol bazara gidip, goýun satyn alypdyr – He went to the market and bought a sheep.

Häli aldym-da, şindi aldym bolyp barýarkalar, gapdallaryndan bir towşanjyk çykyp: “Tilki aga, nebeýle gaty gidýärsiň, örän ylgasyň gelipdir öýdýän?" - Well they are chasing after him and just on the point of catching him up, when near them a bunny rabbit pops out: “Mr. Fox, what’s the hurry? I suppose you really fancied a run,” he says.

In the second example bolup barmak is a compound verb, whereas çykyp is a sequential gerund.

Predicative suffix -dik (to translate this, you need to insert the verb “to be”, and usually a relative conjunction like “that” in the sentence). This takes the place of a complementizer in the Turkmen language:

eg.	Sen	onuň	nirede	işleýändigini	bilýäňmi?
	you	his	where	working -PRED-POSS-ACC	know -Q?

Do you know where he is working?Do you know where he works?

	Meniň	mugallymdigimi	bileňokmy?
	my	teacher -PRED-POSS-ACC	don’t-you-know- Q?

Don't you know that I am a teacher?

Note: -digimi and -digini are made up of -dik-im-i or -dik-i-ni (predicator, possessive suffix, accusative (after a vowel in case of -ni)).

the k in -dik becomes g before a vowel

NB see appendix A for a drill on the -digini suffix

Use of üçin with nouns made from verb stems:

üçin often needs a noun preceding it, so a participle is used with -lik/-lyk added to turn it into a noun, then the possesive suffix after that (eg. ýaşa-ýan-lyk-ym):

in order to live	s.	pl.
1	ýaşaýanlygym üçin	ýaşaýanlygymyz üçin
2	ýaşaýanlygyň üçin	ýaşaýanlygyňyz üçin
3	ýaşaýanlygy üçin	ýaşaýanlygygy üçin

Men häzir şu jaýde ýaşaýanlygym üçin pul töleýarin (I’m paying money for my living in this flat/apartment at the moment i.e. I’m renting this flat/apartment)

but sometimes üçin is used with an infinitive as in this example:

Men pul töläp ýaşamak üçin jaý gözleýärin (I’m looking for a house to rent)

4 Other word classes

4.1 Postpositions

4.1.1 Introduction

Postpositions are just like prepositions in English, except that they occur after the noun they are related to rather than before it.

e.g. using the postposition bäri we have:

şäheriň bärisinde – this side of the city

Notice that the noun is in the genitive case, whereas the postposition is both possessed and in the locative case. This same postposition can, however, be used with the nominative case as well:

Ol ýedi aý bäri Türkmenistanda ýaşaýar eken – He has been living in Turkmenistan for 7 months.

The postposition çenli, on the other hand, takes the dative case on the preceding noun:

sagat sekizä çenli – by six o'clock

Aşgabada çenli – as far as Ashgabat

4.1.2 Common Postpositions

The following table shows some of the more common postpositions used in Turkmen, and which cases they usually take on the preceding noun:

Postposition	Case on preceding noun	Associated meaning
barada	Nominative	about
bilen		with
sebäpli		because
üçin		for, to, in order to
hökmünde		as
ýaly		like, as if; so that
garşy	Dative	opposed to, against
görä		according to, reason
derek		instead of, in its place
laýyk		similar to, in conformity with
meňzeş		like
çenli		up to, until; by (+ time clause)
ýakyn		close to
aňryk	Ablative	beyond
başga		other than, different
bäri		since, for
daşary		outside of
soň		after

4.1.3 Nominal Postpositions

Some postpositions are actually nouns/adjectives in their root form e.g. yz which means track or ýüz which means face. In fact most of the postpositions with the suffix –ynda/-inde/-unda/-ünde and take the genitive are in this category. These nominal prepositions, which are nouns/adjectives in their root form, have been noted in the table below.

Postposition in locative case	Case on preceding noun	Associated meaning as postposition	From noun/adjective	Meaning of root noun/adjective
aňyrsynda	Genitive	behind	aňyr	other
arkasynda		behind	arka	back
başynda		at the start of	baş	head
boýunda		on, along	boýun	neck; shore
gapdalynda		next to, by	gapdal	side
garşysynda		opposite	garşy	against, opposed
içinde		inside	iç	inside
ýüzünde		all over	ýüz	face
ortasynda		in the middle	orta	centre, middle
öňünde		in front of	öň	front
tarapynda		along the side of	tarap	side
ugurynda		along	ugur	side, verge
üstünde		on top of	üst	surface
yzynda		behind	yz	track
ýanynda		beside	ýan	side

4.2 Adjectives

Adjectives precede the noun they are desribing e.g.

adyl sud – a just judge

gök önümler – greens

uly baýramçylyk – an important festival

In order to use the adjective as a predicate (in place of a verb), the –dyr/dir suffix is often used:

Aşgabat ulydyr! – Ashgabat is large!

Biziň Hudaýymyz beýikdir! – Our God is great!

Note that there is no equivalent for the verb ‘to be’ in Turkmen. The verb bolmak is sometimes translated as a rough equivalent of ‘to be’, but never in the present tense.

Many nouns can be used as adjectives in Turkmen e.g. jellat which means ‘hangman’ or ‘merciless’ according to the context.

4.3 Adverbs

Many Turkmen adjectives can be used as adverbs e.g. ömürboýy ‘everlasting, eternal’ which can be used with to describe a verb, in which case it means ‘eternally’. There are other adverbs which can only be used adverbally such as entek, häli, köplenç, käwagt e.g.

ol entek gelenok – she hasn’t come yet

olar köplenç ir gelýär(ler) – they usually come early

4.4 Numerals

4.4.1 Cardinal Numbers

One to ten:

1 bir

2 iki

3 üç

4 dört

5 bäş [bä:ş]

6 alty

7 ýedi

8 sekiz

9 dokuz

10 on [o:n]

Eleven onwards:

11 on bir [o:n'bir]

12 on iki

etc.

Twenty, thirty… ninety

20 ýigrimi 21 ýigrimi bir 22 ýigrimi iki etc.

30 otuz

40 kyrk

50 elli

60 altmyş

70 ýetmiş

80 segsen

90 togsan

One hundred – nine hundred

100 ýüz

200 iki ýüz

300 üç ýüz

etc.

One thousand – a million

1000 müň

2000 iki müň

3000 üç müň

etc.

1000000 bir million

One thousand million (US billion) – milliard

E.g. 1,352,647 bir million üç ýüz elli iki müň alty ýüz kyrk ýedi – one million three hundred and fifty-two thousand six hundred and forty seven.

4.4.2 Ordinal Numbers

These are formed by use of the suffix –ynjy/inji following a consonant and –njy/nji following a vowel e.g.

sekizinji Mart – the eighth of March

ol ikinji gatda ýaşaýar – he lives on the first [US: second] floor

4.4.3 Count Nouns

When asking for a number of items the indeclinable word sany is usually used:

Gazly suwdan iki sany çüýşe bersene – Please give me two bottles of fizzy water.

5 Sentence-level analysis, syntax

5.1 Word order

The usual word order is:

	subject	(indirect object)	object	verb phrase (e.g. gerund + main verb.)
e.g.	sen	çagalara	derman	aldyňmy?

- have you bought medicine for the children?

5.2 Simultaneous and sequential actions (“when, after, while”)

5.2.1 Sequential present/future actions (before, until) –ça/çä

The suffixes are added to the present participles like so:

“before I come back”	s	pl
1	men gelýänçäm	biz gelýänçäk
2	sen gelýänçäň	siz gelýänçäňiz
3	ol gelýänçe	olar gelýänçe(ler)

e.g. Sen şuny ýazýançaň, men daşary çykyp geleýin - while you're writing this down, let me pop outside briefly. (Literally “until you write this, let me go out and come back”).

Men daşary çykyp gelýä(ri)nçäm, sen şuny ýaz - while I'm outside, you write this down! (lit: I’m going to pop outside, you write this down before I get back!)

Men öýlän bazara gidip gelýänçäm, siz öýde maňa garaşyp oturarsyňyz - This afternoon you wait at home until I get back from the bazaar.

Ol Moskvadan gelýänçe sen maşyny bejermeli - You’ve got to repair the car before he gets back from Moscow.

5.2.2 Simultaneous Past actions of long duration (while, during, when) –ka/kä

Formed by adding -kä/-ka to the verb stem, followed by personal suffixes (-m, -ň etc.). It is used when the action occurs over an extended time period i.e. during a continuous event.

e.g. Men işden öýe gelýärkäm, Çynar magazinine sowuldym – when (lit: while) I was coming home from work, I stopped off at Chinar magazine.

I wonder if... –myka/-mikä

Use the suffixes -myka -mikä -muka -mükä

eg. Ol işleýärmikä - I wonder if he’s working?

Magazinde çörek ýokmuka? – I wonder if there might not be some bread in the shop?

5.2.3 Simultaneous Past actions - punctiliar (when) –da/-de

Formed by adding the possessive and locative (in time) suffixes to the past participle (gelen-imiz-de for example). It denotes an action of short or definite duration occuring in some kind of context (e.g. winter), whereas -ka is a longer action. See table below:

(spoken form in brackets)	s	pl
1	gelenimde (gelemde)	gelenimizde (gelemizde)
2	geleniňde (geleňde)	geleniňizde (geleňizde)
3	geleninde (gelende)	geleninde (gelende)

e.g. Men Türkmenistana gelenimde, gyş aýydy - when I came to Turkmenistan, it was winter

5.2.4 Sequential actions (after, when, before) –dan/-den

Formed by adding -dan, -den to the verb stem, followed by soň (soň means “after” – see section 5. Postpositions):

e.g. Sapak gutarandan soň, men bazara gitjek - when the lesson's finished, I'm going to the bazaar

For posteriority simply use öň instead of soň. e.g. Sapakdan öň - before the lesson

Contrast (but...) bolsa, -da/-de

There are many different types of contrast that would be translated “but” in English:

eg.

Sende	gara	ruçka	bar,	mende	bolsa	gök
to you	black	pen	exist,	to me	if it is (rather)	blue

- you’ve got a black pen, but I’ve got a blue one

5.3 Sub-clauses and reported speech

Reported speech has the following construction:

NPSU NPDO diýip aytdy/sorady etc.

Where NPSU is the subject, NPDO is the reported speech, and diýip means “said that” (literally “saying”)

e.g. Men Myrada “men gitjek däl” diýip aýtym - I told Murad that I wouldn’t be going.

or Ol “men gitjek” diýdi. - He said “I'm going.”

Sen Marala aýdäý, Gözel “oňa ýaglyk aldym” diýdi – tell Maral that Gozel said that she had bought her a head scarf

For oral story-telling and longer discourses:

Ol şeýle gürrüň berdi: “ men... ” - he told this tale, “I... ”

Plan-purpose clauses also have the same construction:

NPSU NPDO diýip VP

Where in this case the NPDO is a subclause, VP is the verb phrase, and diýip is equivalent to “in order to” in English:

Men seni göreýin diýip geldim - I came in order to see you

Indirect speech uses the -dik suffix (predicative suffix):

Ol	özüniň	gitjekdigini	aýtdy	- she said that she was going to leave
she	her -own	going-to-go-PRED-POSS-ACC	said

Or simply has a comma (pause) and uses the 3rd person singular:

Sen Marala aýdäý, Gözel oňa ýaglyk alypdyr – tell Maral that Gozel has bought her a head scarf).

In literary Turkmen the following construction is often found:

Ol şeýle diýdi: “ ” - he said, “ ”

Some more examples of indirect speech:

Ol Angliýa gitjekdigi barada aýtdy - he talked about his going to England

Ol Angliýa gitjegini aýtdy - he said that he's going to England

Ol meniň Angliýa gitjegimi aýtdy - he said that I am going to England

Ol saňa meniň Angliýa gitjekdigimi barada aýtdymy? - has he told you that I am going to England?

Ol saňa meniň Angliýa gitjegimi aýtdymy? - has he told you that I’m going to England?

5.4 Conjunctions and Subordinators

Often sentences that would contain the word “because” in English would be two separate sentences without any conjunction in Turkmen:

Men gitjek däl. Men ýadadym.

I’m not going because I’m too tired.

There are however several words which are used as conjunctions or subordinators:

çünki	because	Ol gyşgynç. Çünki ol garrapdyr.	He’s miserly. It’s because he’s grown old.
-da/-de	and, but
emma	but
hem	also, and
(sebäp	reason)	sebäbi	because, for this reason
soň	later
şoňa görä	seeing that
şeýlelikde	in this way
şonuň üçin	therefore
we	and
welin	however
ýöne	but

6 Word Formation

6.1 Verbs to Nouns

Formed by adding the suffixes –ýyş/-ýiş, -lyk/-lik or -ma/-me to the verb stem:

Infinitive of Verb	Derived Noun
okamak	okaýyş
ýaşamak	ýaşaýyş
geplemek	gepleýiş

These nouns are often possessed as follows:

e.g. Şu mesele seniň garaýşyň meni gyzyklandyrýar - your opinion on this matter interests me

Notice that the y drops out when the possessive suffix is added i.e. -ýyş becomes -ýş when followed by -y.

6.2 Adjectives to Nouns and vica versa

Many nouns can simply be used as adjectives, and many adjectives as adverbs, without any changes at all. The suffix –ly/-li sometimes changes a noun to an adjective, and suffix –lyk/-lik sometimes changes an adjective to a noun:

Original word	Gloss	Generated word	Gloss
(azgyn	prostitute	azgyn	immoral)
(batgalyk	bog	batgalyk	boggy)
akyl	intellect è	akylly	wise
güýç	strength, power	güýçli	strong, powerful
akylly	wise	akyllylyk	wisdom
abat	whole	abatlyk	wholeness

7 Bibliography

Frank and Tachmouradova, Turkmen-English Dictionary, Dunwoody Press, 1999

8 Appendices

8.1 Appendix A - A drill to help master the “-digini” suffix

The model sentence uses the verb bişirmek – to cook, bake:

Maral	Gözel	-iň	çörek	bişir	-en	-dik	-i	-ni	bil	-ýär
Maral	Gözel	GEN	bread	bake	PPTC	EMB	POSS	ACC	know	PRES
Maral knows that Gozel has baked bread.

Substitution Item		Participle + suffix
(Model sentence)	Maral Gözeliň çörek	bişirendigini	bilýär
alan (having bought/taken)	"	alandygyny	"
iýen (having eaten)	"	etc.	"
satan (having sold)	"		"
beren (having given)	"		"
getiren (having brought)	"		"
soran (having asked)	"		"

How to drill:

Tape your language resource person going across each row, including the substitution item in the first column.
Then tape him/her just saying each sentence, with a pause afterwards long enough for you to mimic the sentence.

The best thing to do is to whisper each sentence after him/her while you are recording. Then you can listen to the first recording until it is familiar, and practice repeating the sentence with the second. If you do the repetition drill with your language resource person, instead of the tape recording, s/he should repeat the sentence after you only if you make a mistake.

8.2 Key

ABL	Ablative
ACC	Accusative
DAT	Dative
EMB	Embedded
GEN	Genitive
LOC	Locative
NOM	Nominative
p	Plural
POSS	Possessive
PPTC	Past Participle
PRES	Present tense (unmarked = 3^rd person)
s	Singular

8.3 The Case System

English has mostly lost its case system, so we struggle to understand languages with highly-developed systems, as Turkmen has. Here is a brief explanation of each case, with some rough equivalents in English:

Case	Explanation	Rough Equivalent
Nominative	Usually the case the subject is in	-
Accusative	Usually the case the object is in	-
Genitive	Used when two nouns need connecting together	of, 's
Dative	Usually shows motion towards some kind of goal	to
Locative	It shows where something is at in either space or time	in, on, at
Ablative	Usually shows motion away from a source, but occasionally shows the reason for something, why something is true	from, of

Example in English: I kicked the ball

I is the subject, ball is the object.

[1] Only used when a Russian load-word is pronounced with a Russian accent.

[2] Most dialects do not use these sounds unless for a Russian loan word pronounced with a Russian accent. The inhabitants of Chärjew, however, use them in place of the inter-dental fricatives T, D.

[3] For futher information see Clark:98:79f who describes how this works out in practice for the largest tribe, the Teke.

[4] See the section on Possession

[5] See the section on Possession

[6] This is mainly used by the Teke tribe, the two halves of which live in Ahal welayat and the Mary area. Some dialects only use the long form, or a variant of it (such as the Ärsary edýörin, bolýoryn etc.)

[7] This is actually a shortened form of e.g. edenim ýok but is used very frequently in place of the present negative e.g. men bilamok – I don’t know

[8] In Ärsary these are sürem ýok, bolam ýok etc.

[9] Since plurality can be marked in many other ways using, for example, noun declension (see above), the plural marker is often omitted as being redundant e.g. olar hemmesi gitdi or hemmesi gitdi – they’ve all left.

[10] Evidentuality is a kind of aspect. There is no equivalent in European languages. See 4.8

[11] Notice the overlap with the Objective (apparent) aspect. Turkmen sometimes use these aspects almost interchangeably.

[12] Verbs used as nouns.