ON THE SELECTION OF MODAL VERBS OF ABILITY AS HEADWORD IN TDK TURKISH DICTIONARY
TDK TÜRKÇE SÖZLÜK’TE YETERLİK FİİLLERİNİN MADDE BAŞI OLARAK SEÇİLMESİ ÜZERİNE

Author : Fatma ÖZKAN KURT
Number of pages : 616-624

Abstract

The dictionaries are most basic reference sources that preserve the vocabulary of a language. These resources, i.e. dictionaries, which are the means of conveying the vocabulary of the language to the future, have a deeply rooted history in the Turkish language as in most languages. Turkish lexicography, which appeared in a traditional format, started with Dîvânü Lûgati't-Türk (1072 -1074) written by Kaşgarlı Mahmud and preserved its existence to this day. One of the dictionaries that continues this tradition today is the Turkish Dictionary prepared by the Turkish Language Association. Turkish Dictionary included 25,574 headwords in its first edition published in 1945; 63,818 headwords in its 10th edition (2005) and 77,005 headwords in its last edition (11th edition). Modal verbs of ability are considered as one of the categories of lexical units that make up these headwords. The modal verbs of ability in the Turkish language constitute a subgroup of descriptive verbs, which are a type of compound verbs. In terms of morphology, modal verbs of ability, which are established in the form of “main verb+ adverbial suffix + ability marker (bil-)” semantically express the likelihood or possibility of doing something in general, being able to do something. In this study, the selection of the modal verbs of ability as headword in TDK Turkish Dictionary (2011), which were identified with a screening method, was evaluated by making use of theoretical and applied lexicography studies. As a result of this evaluation, two proposals were made with regard to the placement of these modal verbs in the dictionary. While one of these proposals is to place the modal verbs of ability as sub-entries or secondary headwords, the other proposal is to make semantic improvements in these entries if they are to stay as such. Semantic improvements in this respect are provided in detail in the conclusion of the study.

Keywords

dictionaries, lexicography, headword, modal verbs of ability

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