Karaçay-Balkarcada Çokluk ve İyelik Çekimi

Abstract

This study investigates two core categories of nominal inflectional morphology in Karachay-Balkar: Plurality and possessive constructions. The theoretical framework of the research is based on morphological and functional linguistic approaches, and the data is drawn from the short story Aç Eşikni Menme by Hasan Şavayev. The plural category in Karachay-Balkar is primarily marked by the morpheme {+lA}, which phonologically diverges from the common Turkic plural suffix {+lAr}. The study analyzes the syntactic placement of the plural marker and its morphological interactions with possessive suffixes. Possessive structures are examined with respect to person and number agreement, and classified according to their specificity, including definite, indefinite, and pronominal possessive types based on textual examples. The findings reveal that plural and possessive inflections in KarachayBalkar reflect not only formal variation but also functional patterns that are shaped by both universal Turkic paradigms and language-internal developments. The research contributes to the understanding of Karachay-Balkar morphology as a system that aligns with broader Turkic typology while developing different structural features due to language contact.