Possessive Suffixes

Possessive suffixes mark person and number on nouns to express possession. The suffix attaches directly to the noun and follows vowel harmony, consonant softening rules, and buffer consonant requirements where applicable.

1. Function / Meaning

Possessive suffixes encode the possessor through bound morphology on the noun.
They indicate who owns, possesses, or is associated with the noun, without requiring an independent pronoun.

2. Forms

Singular Possessor

1st singular → -(I)m
2nd singular → -(I)n
3rd singular → -(s)I

Plural Possessor

1st plural → -(I)mIz
2nd plural → -(I)nIz
3rd plural → -lArI

The vowel I adapts through four-way vowel harmony (ı, i, u, ü).

The s in -(s)I appears only after vowel-final stems.

3. Vowel Harmony (Four-Way)

The harmonic vowel I appears as:

a / ı → ı
e / i → i
o / u → u
ö / ü → ü

Examples:
ev → evim
kitap → kitabın
göl → gölü
yüz → yüzüm

4. Consonant Softening

Nouns ending in p, ç, t, k undergo softening before vowel-initial possessive suffixes:

p → b
ç → c
t → d
k → ğ

Examples:

kitap → kitabım
ağaç → ağacın
kanat → kanadı
çocuk → çocuğu

No softening occurs before consonant-initial suffixes (e.g., -m, -n).

5. Buffer Consonants

• -(s)I uses s only after vowel-final nouns (araba → arabası).
• No buffer appears with -(I)m, -(I)n, -(I)mIz, -(I)nIz.
• The 3rd plural suffix -lArI attaches directly (ev → evleri).

6. Third Person Singular vs. Plural

3rd singular: -(s)I
3rd plural: -lArI

The plural marker -lAr is inherent to the suffix.
The noun itself generally remains singular:

öğretmen → öğretmeni (his/her teacher)
öğretmen → öğretmenleri (their teacher)

Plural of the noun + possessive is also possible where contextually required:

öğretmenler → öğretmenleri (their teachers)

The distinction is resolved by context rather than form.