𐰞-
al-
Meaning:
to take
al- is a highly polysemous inherited verb whose semantic centre is bringing something into one’s possession or control. Depending on the context, it means “take, seize, capture, receive, accept, collect, remove” and, of a man, “take a wife”. The meaning “buy” was originally expressed especially by satgın al- “take as sold, buy”, after which the qualifier could be omitted.
As an auxiliary after a converb, al- can indicate that an action is performed for the subject or the subject’s own party. This self-benefactive use is already attested in Old Turkic. Frequent sequences such as alıp bar- “take away” and alıp käl- “bring” could later fuse into new verbal stems.
The later construction in which a vowel converb followed by al- expresses ability (as in modern Kazakh, Kyrgyz, etc.) is not securely attested in the Old Turkic corpus.
Expressions:
Antonyms:
Examples
Translations
German:
nehmen
Russian:
брать
Turkish (Azerbaijan):
almaq
Turkish (Türkiye):
almak
Bibliography 1
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Gerard Clauson (1972) An etimological dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish124-125124-125
al- ‘to take’, with all the shades of meaning of the English word, ‘to seize, collect (a debt), receive, accept’, and some others as well, such as ‘to take off’ (a cap, saddle, etc.), ‘to marry’ and (as an abbreviation of satğın al-) ‘to buy’. S.i.a.m.l.g. The word is used in many idioms and compounds in which it is sometimes the second element. When it is the first in expressions like alıp bar- and alıp két- ‘to take away’, and alıp kel- ‘to fetch’, the two words are often fused and assume forms like appar-, ekkit-, akkel-. Jarring 18-19 lists about 30 phr. beginning with a’ıp (alıp) in SE Türki. In compounds in which al- is the second element the meaning largely depends on the form of the first verb. In modern NE and NC languages a Ger. in -p is followed alternatively by al- or bér-, e.g. satıp al- ‘to buy’, satıp bér- ‘to sell’. In such cases Pal. says that al- in NE Tuv. connotes action taken in one’s own interest or for oneself. But, if the first element is a Ger. in -a:/-e:, al- has the same meaning as u:- ‘to be able’. In such expressions al-, like u:-, is usually, but not always, in the Neg. f.; phr. like kele almadı ‘he could not come’ are common, but phr. like kele aldı ‘he was able to come’ occur also. The date when this idiom evolved is uncertain. The earliest languages in which it is traceable are Kom. and Çağ., but no examples have been noted in Xwar., Kıp., or any earlier language or in the SW languages. It has often been suggested, e.g. in R I 348, that the SW Impossible f. barama- ‘to be unable to go’ is a contraction of bara al- but this is an error, the second element is u:-, q.v. In the basic meaning ‘to take’ the object is in the Acc., the source from which it is taken in the Abl., and the third-party beneficiary, if mentioned, in the Dat. Türkü viii al- is common, usually ‘to capture (by military action)’, e.g. (I killed their xağan and) élin anta: altım ‘thereupon took his realm’ II E 27; but ol savığ alıp ‘accepting that statement (as true)’ I S 7, II N 6; Tür[geş xağan] kızı:n ertigü: uluğ törün oğlıma: alı: bértim ‘I took the daughter of the Türgeş xağan (in marriage) for my son with great honour’ II N 10; a.o. I E 8, II E 8 (1 é:l): viii ff. ögü:m öti:n alayım ‘I will accept my mother’s advice’ IrkB 58; kaltı: yürü:ŋ ta:şığ alsar ‘if a man takes a white stone’ Toy. 15 (ETY II 58): Man. anıŋ savın alıp Chuas. 137; a.o. 198: Yen. altı: yegi:rmi: yaşıma: almış kunçuyım ‘my wife whom I married at the age of sixteen’ Mal. 48, 7: Uyğ. viii al- ‘to capture’ occurs four times in Şu.: viii ff. Man.-A sizlerde almış ağu ‘the poison received from you’ M I 19, 15: Man. alıŋ amtı ‘now accept’ (the worship of all men) TT III 3-4: Bud. al- (in TT VIII usually a:l-) ‘to take’ is common, e.g. tavarın altımız yuŋladımız erser ‘if we have taken and used their property’ TT IV 6, 44; maytri burxanta burxan kutıŋa alkış alıp ‘receiving from Maitreya Buddha praise for the blessed state of Buddhahood’ TT IV 12, 51-2: Civ. al- is common for ‘to receive’ in contracts, e.g. Turı Baxşıdın yarım kap bor aldım ‘I have received half a skin of wine from Turı Baxşı’ USp. 1, 3-4; and for ‘to take’ (e.g. a drug in compounding a remedy) in H I and II: Xak. xi ol alımın aldı: qabaḍa daynahu ‘he collected the debt due to him’; and one says beg é:l aldı: axaḏa’l-amīru’l-wilāya ‘the beg captured the province’ Kaş. I 168 (alır, alma:k) and over 30 o.o. with various shades of meaning: KB al- ‘to take, receive’, etc. is very common: xiii(?) At. ditto; Tef. ditto 48: xiv Muh. axaḏa al- Mel. 22, 2; Rif. 102 and several o.o.: Çağ. al- (-ğum, etc.) al-; almay almaz, almazın; but in many passages it is also used with (another) word (bir lafẓla) e.g. kıla almay eyleyümezin, eyleyümedin, eyleyümez ‘without being able to do, is unable to do’ Vel. 28-9 (quotn.); al- giriftan ‘to take’ (quotn.); it is also a word which in conjunction with some words expresses a meaning not inherent in it(?) (lafẓī ki bā ba‘ḍī kalimāt ifāda-i ma‘nā ğayr mawḍū‘ lahu mī-kunad), e.g. ara (?ala) almak tawān giriftan ‘to be able to take’; bara almak tawān raftan ‘to be able to go’; köŋül almak dil-cū’ī kardan ‘to be satisfied’; satğun almak xarīdan ‘to buy’ San. 45v. 27 (quotns.): Xwar. xiii al- ‘to take’, etc. ‘Ali 26: xiii(?) ditto, common Oğ.: xiv ditto Qutb 7; MN 284, etc.; Nahc. 47, 8 etc.: Kom. xiv al- (-ır CCI; -ur CCG) ‘to take, to receive’ CCI, CCG; ‘to marry’; (in Neg. f.) ‘to be unable to’ CCG; Gr. 33 (many quotns.): Kıp. xiii axaḏa al- Hou. 39, 18: xiv ditto İd. 19; Bul. 20v.: xv ditto Kav. 5, 1; 8, 16; 77, 12 (al- ‘with back vowel’); al-, not translated, is used to illustrate conjugation in Tuh. 40b. 2 ff.: Osm. xiv ff. al- in its ordinary meanings is not listed in TTS but phr. and unusual meanings are quoted in I 22; II 29; III 17; IV 15.
