THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONEL PRONOUNS IN THE TURKİC LANGUAGE AND ITS USİNG İN THE MODERN DIALECTS

Pronouns are words or phrases in order to avoid using a particular noun more than once in a sentence. They are classified into five groups as personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, relative pronouns, indefinite pronouns and interrogative pronouns. This study focuses on personal pronouns that are used for people’s names. Namely, I and we are used for the speaker/s, you (singular, plural) for the audience and s/he and they for the person/ people about whom the speaker is talking. In traditional grammar books, these pronouns are classified into two groups: singular personal pronouns (i.e. ben (I), sen (you), o (he, she and it) and plural personal pronouns (i.e. biz (we), siz (you) and onlar (they). In addition to their grammatical functions, these pronouns play an important role in discriminating between/ among Turkic languages and dialects. It is widely known that Turkish originates from core Altaic language in the field of Turcology. Phonemic balances have taken an important part in Turkic languages. Turkish pronouns are considered to have originated from singular personal pronouns in the core Altaic language (i.e. bi, si and in) and their plural counterparts (i.e. bir, sir and ir) and transmitted to Turkish as a consequence of some phonemic changes (i.e. ben, sen, o; biz, siz and onlar). Our study presents researchers’ overall views about pronouns, definitions of personal pronouns and Altaic origins of these pronouns. Subsequently, personal pronouns inflected with noun cases and how they are used in verb inflections are discussed. Pronouns in verb inflections are used as personal components in some languages and dialects while in other languages and dialects. Phonemic changes root of the pronouns experience while inflected with noun cases are also covered in this study. By doing so, it is assumed to reveal how these pronouns have transformed from the era of core Altaic language to the present day and how they have existed in modern Turkic dialects.