ON THE ORIGIN OF THE DIRECTIVE CASE IN TURKIC
ON THE ORIGIN OF THE DIRECTIVE CASE IN TURKIC

Summary/Abstract: This paper investigates the origin of suffixes in Turkic languages with forms similar to -yaru ~ -gärü and -ra —rä, -ru —rü, -ri — ri, referred to in grammars as markers of a “directive case”. There has been considerable uncertainty about the historical development of these suffixes as case markers, leading to a number of attempts to reconstruct their original form and function in both Proto-Turkic and Proto-Altaic, all of which have proven inconclusive. This study examines the problem from a new perspective. It begins with a reassessment of attempts at reconstruction, considering the various benefits and shortcomings of each approach. Then, based on morphological and syntactic data from Old Turkic, it offers a reconstruction of the original form and function of the directive case in pre-Old Turkic.

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