The last few days I have been thinking about the structure of a language that makes them understandable. I have always wanted to create my own language, but of course it is not that easy. But I will talk about that another time. Today I want to focus on something else.
If you think about it, there are different kinds of languages that serve different purposes in the world. Some are poetic, some are melodic, some are practical and some are useful. In my case, a useful one might make sense to work on to create an individual language. Anyway, I want to concentrate on my language, which is an agglutinative language.
An agglutinative language is a linguistic marvel characterised by a distinctive way of forming words. Unlike English, where complex meanings are often conveyed through word order and auxiliary words, agglutinative languages build words by adding morphemes — meaningful units such as prefixes(disqualify), suffixes(helpless) or infixes(mother-in-law) — to a root or base.
In agglutinative languages, each morpheme has a specific meaning, making the structure of words modular and transparent. For example, in Turkish, a widely spoken agglutinative language, the root word ‘göz’ (eye) can be transformed into ‘gözcü’ (observer) by adding the agglutinative suffix ‘-cü’.
Then you can keep adding to create more, whether to make a whole new word or to add a different meaning to the same word. If you add ‘-lük’, it becomes ‘gözcülük’ (observation) and becomes a new and related word. However, if you add ‘-ler’ instead, it becomes ‘gözcüler’ (observers) and keeps the meaning around the same word. In the end, all this is done within the same root by adding suffixes.
Photo by Xavi Cabrera on Unsplash
The process is like putting together building blocks. In fact, I think this is the best way to explain it. You play with them as if they are Legos. Whether you add some other pieces behind or in front of the main piece, it creates something else.
Each affix or morpheme contributes a different piece of information, allowing speakers to express complex ideas without relying heavily on word order or auxiliary words. This modular structure facilitates precision and clarity in communication.
Unlike agglutinative languages, English has a more analytical structure. It conveys meaning through word order, auxiliary verbs and prepositions rather than through morphemic changes.
You may be confused, so let me give you more and, I think, clearer examples. This time, instead of words, let’s see how the sentences would work with agglutinative morphemes.
Example:
Root Word: “Gel” (Come)
“Gelir” — He/She/It comes
“Gelmez” — He/She/It doesn’t come
“Gelirse” — If he/she/it comes
“Gelmedi” — He/She/It didn’t come
“Gelmiyordu” — He/She/It was not coming
Another example:
Root Word: “Konuş” (Speak/Talk)
“Konuşuyor” — He/She/It is speaking
“Konuştur” — Make him/her speak
“Konuşturabilirim” — I can make him/her speak
“Konuşmayan” — Someone who doesn’t speak
An Extreme Example: Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine
The agglutinative structure can be advantageous in terms of efficiency and clarity. In those languages (apart from Turkish, Hungarian, Finnish, Japanese, Korean and Indonesian, there are few other agglutinative languages) the addition of morphemes conveys specific meanings, making it easier to distinguish the roles of different elements in a sentence. This can lead to concise and unambiguous communication.
However, the perceived ‘superiority’ of a language structure is subjective and contextual. The analytical nature of English allows for flexibility in word order, which can be advantageous for nuanced expression. English speakers may appreciate the flexibility of rearranging words to emphasise different elements of a sentence, a feature less pronounced in agglutinative languages.
That’s why I can’t say whether agglutinative languages are more efficient than others, because they all have their practical side that you can use. And of course, if you want to speak fast, they are not for you (but on contrary Japanese, is the fastest spoken language in the world — you can find the main source there too)
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