The topic of word types in the Turkic language is a complex one, and researchers, in particular, lack consensus on the types of certain words. While word types are determined by the word’s use in a sentence, researchers disagree on some words. Some words are treated as prepositions, others as conjunctions, and grammar textbooks use them in different ways. The word “değil” is one such example. The common consensus among researchers regarding the word “değil” which is often used as a preposition or conjunction, is the negative connotation it adds to the word. The word “değil” functions as the verb-derivative suffix -mA- or the noun-derivative suffix +sXz. In the indicative conjugation, it is used after modal suffixes and participle-verb suffixes. Some researchers argue that it only occurs after nouns, while others argue that it also occurs after verbs. There are examples in Karaim Turkic where a new word is created by adding a negative/opposite meaning to the word to which it is added. The words tiwil, tüwül, tüvül “not” are added to the word’s antonyms and the word that can be expressed with a single word is expressed as noun + tiwil/tüwül/tüvül or verb + fiye + tiwil/tüwül/ tüvül “… + not” Thus, although the word seems to have a prepositional function, its noun function is predominant and sometimes it is used as an adjective. Sometimes +sXz serves as a noun-derivative suffix. This study will address this unusual use of the word “değil”.

Değil, preposition, compound noun, historical and modern dialects, Karaim.