Questions & Answers about Kedi masanın altından çıktı.
What does each part of the sentence do morphologically?
- Kedi = cat (subject)
- masa + -(n)ın → masanın = of the table (genitive; buffer n because masa ends in a vowel)
- alt + -ı → altı = its underside/under-part (3rd person possessive)
- altı + -n- + -dan → altından = from its underside (buffer n + ablative “from”)
- çık- + -DI → çıktı = came/went out (past; D becomes T after a voiceless consonant)
Why is it masanın, not just masa?
Turkish uses a relational noun for spatial relations. To say “under the table,” you literally say “the table’s under-part”: masanın altı. That’s why the “owner” (masa) takes genitive (-ın), and the location noun (alt) takes a possessive (-ı).
What is the purpose of the -n- in altından?
It’s a buffer consonant used when a case suffix follows a 3rd‑person possessive:
- altı + n + dan → altından (from its underside)
- evi + n + den → evinden (from his/her house)
Why is it çıktı and not çıkdı?