The plot thickens: root suffixes

So, you thought that if you could just memorize all those tenses in the last post you'd be all set? Ha. Let me introduce the suffixes which are added to the verb stem in order to create reciprocal, causative, repetitive, reflexive, and passive verb stems, onto which the tense and personal endings seen below are then added. Now we're talking agglutination.

1. Reflexive -(I)n-*

giymek- to wear --> giyinmek- to dress oneself
yıkamak- to wash --> yıkanmak- to wash oneself
taşımak- to carry --> taşınmak- to carry oneself (to move house)

The reflexive suffix indicates an action that is done to oneself or for oneself. The meaning is not always obvious, however; as Lewis* points out, sevinmek means 'to rejoice', not 'to love oneself'. In fact, with all these stem suffixes the meaning can not necessarily be deduced , so keep that in mind.

2. Reciprocal -(I)ş-

sevmek- to love --> sevinmek- to make love
bulmak- to find --> buluşmak- to meet
anlamak- to understand --> anlaşmak- to understand each other

The reciprocal stem shows that the action is performed by more than one subject, often towards each other.

3. Causative -dIr-, -Ir-, -t-, -It-, -Er-

inanmak- to believe --> inandırmak- to persuade (to cause to believe)
kaçmak-to escape --> kaçırmak- to let escape, to lose
anlamak- to understand --> anlatmak- to explain (to make understand)
korkmak- to fear --> korkutmak- to frighten

There can be two levels of causation, the classic example being:

ölmek- to die --> öldürmek- to kill (to cause to die) --> öldürtmek to have someone killed (to cause someone to cause someone to die)

4. Passive -Il-, -n-, -(I)n-

çalmak- to steal --> çalınmak- to be stolen
yemek- to eat --> yenmek- to be eaten
açmak- to open --> açılmak- to be opened

Confusingly, the passive and the reflexive forms look the same when the root ends in 'L' or a vowel; 'söylenmek' is both the passive and the reflexive from of 'to say' and means respectively 'to be spoken' and 'to grumble' (to say to oneself).

Now, if your head isn't spinning by now, just wait: now we have to put them all together. The order in which they are added is the order they are listed above (reflexive, reciprocal, causative, passive). Usually reflexive and reciprocal stems aren't found together, so you really only have to worry about three at once.

tanımak- to know -->
tanışmak- to know one another (reciprocal) -->
tanıştırmak- to introduce (causative) -->
tanıştırılmak- to be introduced (passive)

Have fun!

*When I use a capital 'I' it is a symbol for four-fold vowel harmony (i,ı,ü,u) and 'E' refers to two-fold vowel harmony (e,a)
*I frequently use Geoffrey Lewis' Turkish Grammar as a reference when writing posts.