Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar (Comprehensive Grammars)
by Celia Kerslake
![Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar (Comprehensive Grammars)]()
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List Price: $150.00
Our Price: $127.98
Your Save: $ 22.02 ( 15% )
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Manufacturer: Routledge
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 494.355
EAN: 9780415217613
ISBN: 041521761X
Label: Routledge
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 580
Publication Date: 2005-08-12
Publisher: Routledge
Studio: Routledge
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Quality and Service ---
Comment: The product I received was well packaged, shipped promptly, and in excellent condition! I was totally satisfied with both quality and service!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent, but not for everyone
Comment: This just-published reference grammar of Turkish is excellent, but it is not for everyone. It will be most useful to advanced students of Turkish who are comfortable with modern linguistic concepts and terminology.
This is the newest and most comprehensive grammar of Turkish available in English, or for that matter in any language, and contains a wealth of insights into the language for foreign learners. It is a rather dry read, though, and will probably not be of much use to those who are still struggling to assimilate basic Turkish grammar.
For beginners, the old "Teach Yourself Turkish" book by Geoffrey Lewis, first published in 1953, is a gem of clear exposition and will likely be the best reference grammar for people first starting out in the language, even though it is arranged as a series of lessons rather than a reference grammar per se. (Later editions of "Teach Yourself Turkish" by other authors will not do the trick; you should search used book sources for the original. It won't bring you to fluency, and some of the vocabulary is a bit outdated, but it will explain the basic grammar more clearly than anything else at the elementary level.) For intermediate learners of Turkish, Lewis' larger "Turkish Grammar" is a marvel of clear exposition that's a joy to read; while probably a bit too demanding for beginners, this is a book that everyone student of Turkish should get if they are even half-serious about attaining reasonable ability in the language. A (traditional) reference grammar rather than a textbook, it explains almost everything in the grammar with great clarity, using many example sentences. This has been the "standard" Turkish grammar used by foreigners studying Turkish for many years, and it retains its value as the best and clearest exposition of the way the language works.
For truly advanced learners of Turkish, "Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar" is a goldmine of insights, but it is quite heavy going. The explanations are very explicit, the examples are very up-to-date, and the two co-authors have addressed a good many aspects that are simply not given much coverage in most books. The section on tense-aspect-modality of verbs, in particular, is an outstanding treatment of a very confusing topic. But much of the book will be "above the heads" of readers who do not already have a fair grasp of Turkish, or who are not prepared to wade through some pretty abstruse verbiage to comprehend the points made. This is not a weakness of the book, but rather a reflection of the authors' approach, which is grounded in modern linguistics.
Two examples:
(from page 169, on the noun phrase): "A noun phrase that is unmarked for number, i.e., whose head does not carry the plural suffix and which does not have a numerical or other quantifying determiner among its modifiers, may be either singular or transnumeral (number-neutral) in meaning. If it has definite status it will have singular meaning, but if it has generic or categorial status it will have transnumeral meaning."
(from page 444, on syntax): "The crucial difference between this strategy for relativizing a non-subject possessor and the one with -(y)An described above in 25.1.1.1 (ii)b is that while the latter permits only non-definite subjects, the use of -DIK/-(y)AcAk allows definite subjects, such as usta `the engineer' in (28), "I" in (29) (expressed by possessive markings on the verb), and kopru "the bridge" in (30)."
Language of this type fills the book, and while it very appropriately describes the phenomena under discussion, it will likely prove very heavy going indeed to people who have not studied linguistics. The Lewis books cited above, however, do not read this way, and thus most learners of Turkish should probably have recourse to them before tackling "Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar".
That said, however, I have to say that this is an excellent book, with many insights into details not covered in other grammars, for readers with the background to benefit from it.
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Editorial Reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: Quality and Service ---
Comment: The product I received was well packaged, shipped promptly, and in excellent condition! I was totally satisfied with both quality and service!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent, but not for everyone
Comment: This just-published reference grammar of Turkish is excellent, but it is not for everyone. It will be most useful to advanced students of Turkish who are comfortable with modern linguistic concepts and terminology.
This is the newest and most comprehensive grammar of Turkish available in English, or for that matter in any language, and contains a wealth of insights into the language for foreign learners. It is a rather dry read, though, and will probably not be of much use to those who are still struggling to assimilate basic Turkish grammar.
For beginners, the old "Teach Yourself Turkish" book by Geoffrey Lewis, first published in 1953, is a gem of clear exposition and will likely be the best reference grammar for people first starting out in the language, even though it is arranged as a series of lessons rather than a reference grammar per se. (Later editions of "Teach Yourself Turkish" by other authors will not do the trick; you should search used book sources for the original. It won't bring you to fluency, and some of the vocabulary is a bit outdated, but it will explain the basic grammar more clearly than anything else at the elementary level.) For intermediate learners of Turkish, Lewis' larger "Turkish Grammar" is a marvel of clear exposition that's a joy to read; while probably a bit too demanding for beginners, this is a book that everyone student of Turkish should get if they are even half-serious about attaining reasonable ability in the language. A (traditional) reference grammar rather than a textbook, it explains almost everything in the grammar with great clarity, using many example sentences. This has been the "standard" Turkish grammar used by foreigners studying Turkish for many years, and it retains its value as the best and clearest exposition of the way the language works.
For truly advanced learners of Turkish, "Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar" is a goldmine of insights, but it is quite heavy going. The explanations are very explicit, the examples are very up-to-date, and the two co-authors have addressed a good many aspects that are simply not given much coverage in most books. The section on tense-aspect-modality of verbs, in particular, is an outstanding treatment of a very confusing topic. But much of the book will be "above the heads" of readers who do not already have a fair grasp of Turkish, or who are not prepared to wade through some pretty abstruse verbiage to comprehend the points made. This is not a weakness of the book, but rather a reflection of the authors' approach, which is grounded in modern linguistics.
Two examples:
(from page 169, on the noun phrase): "A noun phrase that is unmarked for number, i.e., whose head does not carry the plural suffix and which does not have a numerical or other quantifying determiner among its modifiers, may be either singular or transnumeral (number-neutral) in meaning. If it has definite status it will have singular meaning, but if it has generic or categorial status it will have transnumeral meaning."
(from page 444, on syntax): "The crucial difference between this strategy for relativizing a non-subject possessor and the one with -(y)An described above in 25.1.1.1 (ii)b is that while the latter permits only non-definite subjects, the use of -DIK/-(y)AcAk allows definite subjects, such as usta `the engineer' in (28), "I" in (29) (expressed by possessive markings on the verb), and kopru "the bridge" in (30)."
Language of this type fills the book, and while it very appropriately describes the phenomena under discussion, it will likely prove very heavy going indeed to people who have not studied linguistics. The Lewis books cited above, however, do not read this way, and thus most learners of Turkish should probably have recourse to them before tackling "Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar".
That said, however, I have to say that this is an excellent book, with many insights into details not covered in other grammars, for readers with the background to benefit from it.
Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar is a complete reference guide to modern Turkish grammar. Concentrating on the real patterns of use in modern Turkish, it presents a detailed and systematic description of the structure of language at every level - sounds, words and sentences - and will remain the standard reference work for years to come. Drawing upon a rapidly growing body of scholarly research on Turkish, this well-presented Grammar is a stimulating and up-to-date analysis of the complexities of the language, with full and clear explanations and examples throughout. A detailed index and extensive cross-referencing between numbered subsections also provides readers with easy access to the information they require. Features include: - detailed treatment of common grammatical structures and parts of speech
- extensive use of examples, all with English translations
- particular attention to areas of confusion and difficulty
- comprehensive glossary of all grammatical terms.
The Grammar is an essential reference source for intermediate and advanced learners and users of Turkish. It is ideal for use in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types.
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