Directional Motion Forms

1. Motion Toward (Dative −(y)A)

The dative expresses movement toward a goal or endpoint.

Examples:
• Eve gittik. — We went to the house.
• Okula koşuyor. — He/She is running to school.
• Şehre döndüler. — They returned to the city.
• Masaya oturdu. — He/She sat down at the table.

2. Motion Away From (Ablative −DAn)

The ablative marks departure from a source, point of origin, or route away from a place.

Examples:
• Evden çıktım. — I left the house.
• Ormandan geçtiler. — They passed through the forest.
• Masadan kalktı. — He/She stood up from the table.
• Yoldan geldim. — I came by way of the road.

3. Motion Within a Location (Locative −DA)

The locative expresses movement occurring inside, on, or within the boundaries of a place. It indicates location, not directional “throughness.”

Examples:
• Parkta yürüdük. — We walked in the park.
• Sokakta koştular. — They ran in the street.
• Denizde yüzüyorlar. — They are swimming in the sea.
• Evde dolaşıyor. — He/She is walking around inside the house.

Note: The locative does not inherently encode “through” or “via.” It describes the setting of the motion, not a path traversed.

4. Directional Adverbs (inherent directional meaning)

Adverbs such as içeri, dışarı, yukarı, aşağı encode motion toward a direction even in bare form, without case markers. Their lexical meaning already contains a directional component equivalent to a dative interpretation (“to inward/outward/upward/downward”).

Examples (Bare Form = Direction Toward):

• İçeri girdi. — He/She went in.
• Dışarı çıktı. — He/She went out.
• Yukarı koştu. — He/She ran up.
• Aşağı indi. — He/She went down.

These bare forms may optionally take −(y)A for explicit marking, producing surface equivalents:

• İçeriye girdi.
• Dışarıya çıktı.
• Yukarıya koştu.
• Aşağıya indi.

Both forms are attested; the bare form is highly frequent.

5. Directional Compounds + Case

Directional adverbs combine with case suffixes to encode explicit motion paths.

5.1. Toward (Dative −(y)A)

• içeriye girdi — He/She went inside.
• dışarıya çıktı — He/She went outside.
• yukarıya çıktı — He/She climbed upward.
• aşağıya indi — He/She went downward.

5.2. Away From (Ablative −DAn)

• içeriden geldi — He/She came from inside.
• dışarıdan ses geliyor — A sound is coming from outside.
• yukarıdan baktı — He/She looked from above.
• aşağıdan bağırdı — He/She shouted from below.

5.3. Location (Locative −DA)

• içeride bekliyor — He/She is waiting inside.
• dışarıda kaldık — We stayed outside.
• yukarıda buluştuk — We met upstairs.
• aşağıda oturuyor — He/She lives downstairs.

6. Path Expressions (Ablative vs. Locative)

6.1. Path Through / Via (Ablative −DAn)

Ablative expresses motion through, along, or by way of a place.

Examples:
• Ormandan geçtik. — We passed through the forest.
• Tünelden geçiyorlar. — They are going through the tunnel.
• Yoldan gidiyoruz. — We are taking the road (as a route).
• Sahneden çıkıyor. — He/She exits by way of the stage.

6.2. Motion in a Location (Locative −DA)

Locative expresses motion occurring within a place, not a path from one end to the other.

Examples:
• Parkta dolaştık. — We walked around in the park.
• Sokakta gezindi. — He/She strolled in the street.

This distinction aligns with standard syntactic analyses:
−DAn = path; −DA = location of activity.

7. Summary of Directional Encoding

• Toward: Dative −(y)A or directional adverbs
• Away from: Ablative −DAn
• Through/via: Ablative −DAn
• Within a location: Locative −DA
• Directional adverbs (içeri, dışarı, yukarı, aşağı) inherently encode motion toward even in bare form