Double Clause Conjunction in Fifteenth and Sixteenth-Century Ottoman Documents: The Case of -Ub ve

The Ottoman gerund in - Ub functions as a conjunctor and designates a unidirectional ‘and’ relation. Sometimes, a second conjunctor like ve , ammâ , lâkin is added after -Ub . Erich Prokosch ( Studien , 1980, pp. 145–46) thought this double clause conjunction to happen only when the subjects (first actants) and/or diatheses are different from one another in the two clauses, i.e. in the basis segment and the gerundial segment. However, in this article, we try to show that in documents (and other Ottoman prose texts), one may also witness a shift of perspective, scene, plot, group of people, or even a total change of topic.

However, <B> gerunds in general, and the Ottoman gerund in -Ub in particular, are predominantly characterized by their coordinative function as conjunctors.2 They are non-modifying ("'E(vent)1 occurs, E2 occurs' rather than 'E1 occurring E2 occurs'"),3 plot-advancing and designate a unidirectional 'and' relation.4 This is shown by an example from modern Turkish: Example 1: Kalkıp çıktı. "He got up and went out".
A typical feature of Turkic languages in general is the frequent stylistic use of periodic chain sentences. Periodic chain sentences are "units of information that can be used as a stylistic alternative of coordinated predications with finite predicators".5 In Ottoman texts of the so-called inşā style or dīvān nesri, as it has come to be called more recently, periodic chain sentences were extremely abundant. Periodic chain sentences often only contain <B> gerunds.6 The typical structure of a periodic chain sentence has been shown by Lars Johanson, who used the following abbreviations: ChBS = Chain basis segment, bs = Basis segment, gs = Gerundial segment, in the sketch below starting at the bottom line and going up to the top line.7 Thus, the first gerundial segment is coordinated or subordinated to a basis segment, which in its turn functions as the gerundial segment for the next basis segment, which itself functions as 2 Johanson, Lars, "On the renewal and reinterpretation of 'instrumental' gerunds in Turkic", Oriens, 31 (1988)

GS -ChBS GS -BS GS -BS
Johanson encourages further research on the periodic chain sentence in order to determine the rules of its composition from the perspective of a "discourse-oriented study of narrative techniques". What especially interests us here is the following statement: "… the combinatory properties necessary for construing and subdividing text portions, in particular the role of serialization by means of converbial junctors in periodic chain sentences".8 -Ub gerunds 'duplicate' the function of the bs. The gs is only formally subordinated to the bs, but it is "used on the same level of the sentence as the bs".9 Thus, the relationship between the propositions in the modern Turkish sentence given in example 2 should be classified as a paratactic one. This is in line with the definition of <B> gerunds as conveying the 'and' relation.
Example 4: Äfändimiz ikisine bile amān vermäyüb qatl olundular. "Our master pardoned none of the two, and they were killed".14 "Since <B> conveys no additional semantic idea (temporality, causality, instrumentality, conditionality, etc.) in a systematic way, it is often considered a conjunctor with rather 'vague' functions".15 In addition to first actant shift -Ub can step in for practically any finite form.16 In some instances, however, the connection semantics can be stressed by adding a second conjunctor like ve, ammâ, lâkin, etc.17 Erich Prokosch puts forward that this double conjunction occurs when the first actants and/or the diatheses of the two clauses, i.e. the basis segment and the gerundial segment, are different from one another,18 as is exemplified below: Example 5: Vä äfändimize gälüb buluşub vä dedilär ki… "And they came to our master, met him and said…"19 The aim of this article is to examine this type of double clause conjunction in Ottoman documents (with a few examples from other prose texts) and to see if it is just a matter of stressing the connection and expressing a change of first actant or diathesis, or if one can determine other functions as well, like a change of perspective, scene, plot, group of people, etc.
Ottoman documents share a number of features with normal prose texts. Depending on its author, its addressee, and its purpose as well as the category of documents to which it belongs, the prose may be more simple or intricate. Similarly, the ability of any given author of a prose text and the text genre they produce determine its stylistic refinement or simplicity.20 Double clause conjunction of -Ub ve and -Ub with similar conjunctors occurs not only in Ottoman documents, but also in other kinds of prose texts of the sixteenth century and beyond.
In the introduction to Muṣṭafā ʿĀlī's Künhü l-Aḫbār, for instance, there is only one occurrence.
Example 6: lākin selāṭīn-i āl-i ʿOsmāna ʿarż-i ʿubūdiyyet ėdüb ve ḳirā'at-i ḫuṭbe-i rāfiʿatü r-rütbede kendüler mülūk-i ʿosmānīden ṣoñra zikr olunub "that they have presented their respectful service to the sultans of the House of ʿOsmān and [thus]21 are mentioned after the Ottoman kings in the recitation of the sermon of sublime degree".22 The scarcity of -Ub ve in this relatively short text of Muṣṭafā ʿĀlī may have to do with the author's highly refined Dīvān nesri.23 Taʿlīḳīzāde, who was both criticized and praised for his style by Muṣṭafā ʿĀlī,24 has some occurrences. The following example contains a complex parallel construction, where each element of the first sentence matches one element of the second. Additionally, it features a word play on the colours, which is made up of a seciʿ with words of Turkish origin. The double clause conjunction seems to be motivated by the wish to express two different sensations, which result in two different colour changes-the eyes become black and the complexion turns yellow, each as a consequence of the intensity of a different feeling. Example 7: ḥarāret-i sevdāsından gözi ḳararub ve merāret-i ṣafrāsından beñzi ṣararub "Through the intensity of his passion his eyesight failed and through the bitterness of his bile his complexion turned yellow".25 As an example posterior to the period focused on in the present article, we might mention Mollā Muṣṭafā Başeski, a Bosnian eighteenth-century writer.26 The register of his mecmūʿa is quite different. Başeski's text contains a total of 28 -Ub ve sentences, many of which show first actant shift, e.g.: Example 8: baʿż-ı kimesne andan fetvā alup ve fetvāda üstād idi "Some people got fatwas from him. And he was a master of [composing] fatwas".27 Here, the second sentence is a comment on the author of the fatwas. However, it seems28 that -Ub ve with a total shift of topic can be observed on a more regular basis in Ottoman documents than in other Ottoman prose texts.
As early occurrences in Ottoman documents (one ḥüccet of 1491 and a firman of 1492) we may cite three instances to be found in one of Zachariadou's publications: Example 9: işbu iki but Desbina Ḫatun bint Desbot getürüb manāstırumuzda emānet ḳoyub tā cānı içün ṭapu ėdeler "Lady Despina, daughter of the Despot, brought these idols and left them at our monastery as a trust as long as they <the monks> pray for her life".29 Interestingly, the subordinate clause beginning with the Persian conjunction tā is attached to the -Ub main clause. Though formally being in the adverb position itself, emānet ḳoyub functions as a main clause for the subsequent adverbial clause. Thereby, the main characteristic of -Ub as a conjunctor of two events of equal level that happen one after the other, is not valid anymore.30 Example 10: irs-i şerʿle Ḳrālicsa Ḫatun bint Despot Lāzārīye müntaḳil olub oldaḫı alub ḳabūl ḳıldı "They were transferred to the legal heiress Lady Kralicsa, daughter of the Despot Lazari, and she took and accepted them".31 Here, daḫı, which often comes directly after -Ub in order to mark the double clause conjunction, is attached to the subject/first actant of the second main clause.
Example 11: ber mūceb-i şerʿ teftīş u tefaḥḥuṣ ėdüb ve elinde olan ḥüccete naẓar ėdesiz "you are to investigate and enquire according to the şeriʿ; you are to examine the ḥüccet in his hands".32 Here two different steps of the same procedure are ordered to be carried out.
However, let us again turn to the sixteenth century. In the following example, we witness, besides first actant shift, a total change of the topic addressed.
Example 12: eyle olsa bu ne aṣl ‛ahd u amāndur ki bu maqūle fesād ve işler ola böyle olmaq bizüm dīnümüze hīç bir vech-ile müvāfiq olmayub ve sizüñ daḫı bundan aqdem yüce āsitānede olub gönderilen ėlçiñüze se‛ādetlü pādişāh ḥażretleri üç ay va‛de vėrüb maṣlaḥat ne ise tedārük oluna "Now then, what sort of peace is this when there is this kind of evildoing going on? It is not at all compatible with our religion. His majesty the glorious Padishah has granted your ambassador, who was previously at the Porte and who was sent back, a period of three months to take measures concerning all matters".33 30 I wonder if the meaning of the subordinate clause could not perhaps be "in order for them <the monks> to worship them for her soul". We must bear in mind that the subdivisions of periodic chain sentences may either be closer (<B>) or form a hiatus (<A>)34 and that they represent minor (-Ub) or major incisions (-dUKdA, -IncA, etc.) respectively.35 Here, however, a major incision occurs precisely after the gerund in -Ub, an incision which is stressed by adding the conjunction ve, thus marking the 'and' relation twice. The switching of the topic can be stressed by even more than one indicator, especially by adding andan gayrı, 'moreover': Example 13: bi-l-cümle memleket ve re'āyānuñ tefrīḳasına bā'is olan ḫuṣūṣlara mübāşeretde olub ve andan ġayrı ol cānibe mektūb ile varan ādemleri ḥabs olınub "They [i.e. the wrongdoers] showed some activity concerning the country and the process that caused the subjects' dispersion, and moreover, his [i.e. the plaintiff's] men who were going there with a letter were imprisoned".36 Here, two completely different kinds of criminal action are being addressed and as a consequence, first actant shift occurs. In example 14 we see that the switch concerns not so much the topic, which is the same, i.e. the sending of ambassadors, but rather the time sequence: only after permission had been given, envoys were sent and thus could fulfil their mission: Example 14: ėlçisi gelmege icāzet ṭaleb eyleyüb ve gelen ādemleri [i]blāġ-ı risālet ėtdükden ṣoñra "He asked for the permission for an envoy of his to come. And when his men who (eventually) came had fulfilled their embassy…"37 34 Johanson, "Turkic converb clauses", pp. "Aspectotemporal connectivity",where  First actant shift is frequent, but not vital to constructions with -Ub ve. There are also numerous examples without first actant shift, expressing a string of events subsequent to each other. In example 15, the different time levels are more emphatically expressed by the use of daḫı instead of ve: Example 15: voyvoda ḳulumuñ maṣlaḥati itmāma ėrişince bir ḳaç gün tevaḳḳuf ėdüb daḫı āsitāne-i sa'ādetüme gelüb ḫidmetüñde olasın "When the affair of my servant the voyvoda will be finished you shall wait a few days and then come to my threshold of felicity and resume your service".38 In the following example, two events are told, the second being direct speech during an investigation. Both inside and outside the direct speech, the connective element is -Ub ve. Within the direct speech, another two independent questions are asked: Example 16: muḥkem ḥaqqlarından gelinüb ve Kėköyden dutılan iki kimesneye niçün epsem oturmayub ve kimüñ ma‛rifetiyle geldiñüz dėyü ṣorılduqda "They were severely punished. And when the two persons arrested in Keköy were asked, 'Why did you not sit still and with whose knowledge did you come?' …"39 -Ub ve can indicate an emphatic conclusion of an idea expressed before: Example 17: barışıqlıġı qullar bozmaġa qādir degüldür eger sizden ve eger bizden rencber ṭāyifesi kār u kesb içün varub gelmek üzre olub ve hem barışıqlıqdan daḫı ġaraż budur ki fuqarā rencīde olunmaya "Servants are not able to destroy the truce. Peasants from your [side] as well as from ours come and go in order to work and gain [money]. And the idea of the truce is [precisely] that the poor should not be molested".40 One of the impressive characteristics of -Ub ve and -Ub with similar connectors is that, as we have seen in example 12, we witness a complete change of 38 Ibid.,Osmanische Beamtenschreiben,document no. 29. 40 Ibid.,document no. 30. römer Turkish Historical Review 11 (2020) [188][189][190][191][192][193][194][195][196][197][198] perspective, like when in a film the camera switches to the other side or to another person, place, time, etc.
Example 18: ʿaskerini serḥadda qışlatmaq içün baʿżını mezbūr Rimāṣonbot nām vāroşa ve baʿżını daḫı eṭrāfında olan qılāʿuñ altlarında palānqalar yapdurub balānqalara sepişdürüb ve gendü begleriyle Požīne varub "For the winter, he distributed some of the troops into the castle of Rimāṣonbot (Rimavská Sobota, Slovakia) and for some he had palankas made at the foot of the surrounding fortresses, and he himself went to Požīn (Bratislava, Slovakia) together with his begs".41 In the following example, three different events are enumerated, proceeding from the more general to the very special one of the sultan's return journey. Each time, the 'camera' switches: Example 19: gereklü olmayanlar yıqdurılub ve Tebrīz şehrinüñ ḫalḳı sürgün qılınub daḫı ṣāḥib-qırān-i rūy-i zemīn ḥażretleri se‛ādet (u) iqbāl ile muẓaffer u manṣūr maqarr-i salṭanetleri cānibine ‛avdet-i hümāyūn ėdüb "Those [castles of the Kızılbaş] that were not needed were destroyed, and then the population of the city of Tebrīz was deported, and ultimately His majesty the Lord of the happy conjunction of the world returned as a victor and with glory and fortune to the seat of his sultanate".42 To sum up, we can say that double clause conjunction with the help of -Ub ve and -Ub with other conjunctors is a frequent feature of Middle Ottoman prose texts, especially of documents. These often contain a string of events in their narration parts, sometimes also in their dispositions. In such cases, -Ub ve and its variants can be understood as 'moreover' , 'and then' , 'subsequently' , 'thus' , 'however' and similar expressions. Thereby the first actant can change or not. The second distinct function is a total shift of topic, like a turning away (the camera) from one place, time, side, event and looking at a different one. 41 Ibid., document no. 11. For the topicalization expressed by the insertion of qılāʿuñ altlarında palānqalar yapdurub, see Römer, "Topicalization". Literally the sentence means, "and some, having palankas built at the foot of the fortresses, into [these] palankas". In such cases, the -Ub gerund functions more like a subordinating <A> gerund. 42 Procházka-Eisl and Römer, Osmanische Beamtenschreiben, document no. 2. double clause conjunction Turkish Historical Review 11 (2020) 188-198