A Conjunction in the Arabic-Persian-Turkish Triangle: On the Semantic and Syntactic Characteristics of the Conjunction Belki ? Belkim in Old Anatolian and Ottoman Turkish

Abstract

In this study, the conjunction belki similar to belkim, whose main semantic function in Old Anatolian and Ottoman Turkish texts is idrab, i.e., that cancels the preceding statement or leaves it as it is and indicates the transition to a more important statement, will be analyzed semantically and syntactically. Given the long centuries of Turkish-Persian relations, the course of this conjunction in the Arabic-Persian-Turkish triangle is very interesting, illustrating both the structural influence of Persian on Turkish and its function as a mediating language in incorporating even some Arabic elements into Turkish. Indeed, the coexistence in Arabic preposition bel, which is the starting point of this borrowing, and adverbs such as belki, berki, and belkit borrowed from Ottoman Turkish in some Arabic dialects, shows the point reached in the centuries-old journey of a grammatical unit. First, this study discusses the semantic and syntactic functions of bel in Arabic and bel/belke in Persian as a mediating language. The study then highlights the use of this conjunction, borrowed from Persian into Turkish and appearing in the forms belki and belkim, in Old Anatolian and Ottoman Turkish prose composed and translated in different centuries. Finally, the study shows how the conjunction belki similar to belkim, which has meanings such as on the contrary, rather; even, even moreover, even though, etc.', unlike the adversative conjunctions such as ama, fakat, and lakin, is subjected to anachronistic interpretations in Old Anatolian and Ottoman Turkish texts by confusing with the adverb belki, which expresses possibility and doubt in Turkish.