On the Structure of -sA bol- in Qutadgu Bilig

Abstract

The verbs u- ‘to be able, to have the power, to be capable’, bol- ‘to be’ / boltuk- and bil- ‘to know’ are known to be used with an adverbial-verb suffix (-I/-U, -gAlI) preceding them when indicating ability/probability as a descriptive verb in Old Turkic (Orh., OUyg.): artat-ı u- ‘to be able to disrupt, destroy’, bol-galı u- ‘to be able to be’, ėtin-ü u-ma- ‘to be unable to pull oneself together, to be unable to organize’; ör-ü bol-ma- ‘to be unable to stand up’, bil-geli bol-ma- ‘to be unable to know’, tüpker-geli bol-ma- ‘to be unable to be investigated, grounded’; kör-ü bil- ‘to be able to see (to obey)’. Among these descriptive verbs, in the 11th century, it fused with the preceding -U adverbial-verb suffix and acquired -U- and -UmA- (negative) forms: ögret-üme- ‘unable to teach’ < *ögret-ü u-ma-, teg-üme- ‘unable to touch, contact’ < *teg-ü u-ma-, bul-uma- ‘unable to find, unable to achieve’ < *bul-u u-ma-, bil-üme- ‘unable to know, unable to recognize’, ėt(i)n-üme- ‘unable to organize, unable to put in order’, yė-y-üme- ‘unable to eat’; tapnuġaymen < *tap(ı)n-u u-ġaymen, baruġay < *bar-u u-ġay, ėtügey < *ėt-ü u-ġay, etc. The verb bil-, on the other hand, was less frequently used in Old Turkic, but in the 11th century it became more common in both positive and negative constructions: aç-a bil- ‘to be able to understand, to comprehend’, aḏ(ı)r-a bil- ‘to be able to separate’, kör-ü bil- ‘to be able to experience, to live’, ögren-ü bil- ‘to be able to learn’, seç-e bil- ‘to be able to choose, to separate’, sözle-y-ü bil- ‘to be able to say’, tut-a bil- ‘to hold’, etc. The -U bol- and -gAlI bol- structures in Old Turkic were replaced by -sA bol- in the 11th century. These examples of this structure in Qutadgu Bilig have been tried to be described: al-sa bol- ‘to be able to take, conquer’, bėr-se bol- ‘to be able to give’, bil-se bol- ‘to be able to know’, büt-se bol- ‘to be satisfied, to rely on’, ėlet-se bol- ‘to be able to take’, ėt-se bol- ‘to be able to organize’, ıḏ-sa bol- ‘to be able to send, to be able to assign’, inan-sa bol- ‘to be able to believe, to be able to trust’, iş ḳıl-sa bol- ‘to be able to do a job’, kizle-se bol- ‘to be able to conceal’, sa-sa bol- ‘to be able to count’, sür-se bol- ‘to be able to hold, to rule’, teg-se bol- ‘to be able to reach’, tė-se bol- ‘to be able to be called’, tut-sa bol- ‘to be able to hold, to be able to catch’, yaḳın tut-sa bol- ‘to be able to hold close’, yanut ḳıl-sa bol- ‘to be able to reciprocate, repay’, yet-se bol- ‘to be able to sustain’.