Arguments

Seller, goods, buyer, price · Turkish marking · working claim, revisable

The seller is the subject. The noun, when a line spells one, wears no case suffix. The passive example spells the goods as that subject: Bu kitap. The active sale example spells no seller noun. sattı is the third person. English Wiktionary’s conjugation names ben, sen, and o beside sattım, sattın, and sattı, and prints no clause with those pronouns. Redhouse labels satmak v.a. These subjects take no case ending. There is no ergative on these clauses.

satmak. English Wiktionary: IPA /satˈmak/, hyphenation sat‧mak, third-person aorist satar, transitive, “to sell, to market.” The antonyms listed there are almak and satın almak. The sale example is Bu masayı satacağım, “I will sell this table.” Redhouse’s Turkish–English entry, aorist satar, v.a., glosses the verb “to sell, vend” and then the prate senses. The English–Turkish side glosses Sell as satmak. TDK’s Güncel Türkçe Sözlük, sense 1, tagged -i: Bir malı bir bedel karşılığında alıcıya vermek. The example is Tarık Buğra, Geniş arazisini parselleyip sattı. Turkish Wiktionary’s commerce sense is bir değer karşılığında bir malı alıcıya vermek, with the same Buğra line.

The goods are the direct object, and the lines that print one put it in the accusative. TDK’s tag on the sale sense is -i. The definition’s malı is mal plus -ı. Buğra’s arazisini is the possessed land plus -i, with n between the possessive and that vowel. Wiktionary’s masayı is masa plus y plus ı. Bu makes that table specific. Wiktionary’s accusative suffix -i is illustrated with Kitabı bana ver, glossed “Give me the book.” The goods of the sale lines opened here are specific in that same way: bir malı in the definition, the possessed arazisini, and bu masayı. A bare indefinite goods noun, with no accusative vowel, is unprinted as the object of satmak. Cambridge’s English “The farmer sells milk and eggs” and “do you sell newspapers?” are bare objects. The English–Turkish gloss of those senses is the verb satmak alone. It prints no Turkish object.

The buyer, in the definition, is dative. alıcıya is alıcı plus -ya. Wiktionary’s suffix -e is the dative, with the forms -a, -e, and y before a vowel-final noun. alıcıya is that -ya. TDK’s finite example prints no buyer. Wiktionary’s Bu masayı satacağım prints no buyer. Redhouse prints no buyer. No finite clause of satmak opened here puts a person in the dative. The dative size in the argot line Yanımdakini satamazsam size gelemeyeceğim belongs to gelemeyeceğim. It is not a buyer of satmak.

The price, in the TDK definition, is bir bedel karşılığında. bedel wears no -a and no -e. karşılığında is not the dative suffix Wiktionary glosses as -e. The noun satış, sense 2, repeats that shape: bunun karşılığında bir fiyat, bir değer alınması. bir fiyat is bare. The passive example prints the price-like phrase as altınla and kendi ağırlığında. Wiktionary’s -le is the short form of ile, glossed “with” and “by,” with the forms -la, -le, and y. altınla is that -la. It is not -(y)A. ağırlığında is not -(y)A either. TDK tags satılmak -e and nesnesiz. The example fills neither an -e nor an -a. Cambridge English prints the price as for and as at/for: “I sold my car to him for $600,” “at/for £50 each.” The English–Turkish gloss of sell for/at sth is satılmak; …fiyata gitmek. fiyata is dative -a on fiyat, and the verb of that gloss is gitmek, not satmak. No line opened here prints a sum in -(y)A as the object of satmak or of satılmak. No line prints a buyer dative and a price dative in one clause. beş liraya sattı is unprinted.

satılmak is the passive. English Wiktionary: “passive of satmak: to be sold,” aorist satılır, and the past third person satıldı in the conjugation table. The table prints no clause. TDK, tagged -e, nesnesiz: Satma işi yapılmak; gitmek. Ahmet Kabaklı: Bu kitap, kendi ağırlığında altınla dahi satılsa satan yine zararlı çıkar. Bu kitap is the subject of satılsa. The goods are promoted. satan is the seller, and it is the subject of çıkar, not an agent of the passive. Redhouse’s English–Turkish side glosses saleable as satılır, unsaleable as satılamaz, and disposed of as satılmış. None of those is a clause with an agent. Cambridge English–Turkish glosses one “to be sold” sense as satmak, beside “His book sold well,” and glosses sell for/at as satılmak. TDK’s postposition tarafından is glossed …-ınca, and the example is Dostları tarafından çok sevilmiş bir zattı. English Wiktionary glosses the same postposition “by,” with the same sentence, and gives the government as a genitive pronoun or a nominative noun. No satılmak line opened here prints tarafından. The English page’s Wasn’t Chris sold a lawnmower makes the buyer the subject. No passive line opened here does that.

Where this frame diverges from English sell X to Y for Z. Cambridge prints “[ + two objects ] I sold him my car/I sold my car to him for $600,” and “We’ll be selling the tickets at/for £50 each.” The English page prints Pat sold Chris a lawnmower, Pat sold a lawnmower to Chris, and Wasn’t Chris sold a lawnmower for twenty dollars. The goods are an object. The buyer is a bare first object, or to plus a noun. The price is for, or at/for. The passive can make the buyer the subject. satmak puts the printed goods in the accusative, as English puts them in an object, and the tag writes one object, -i. A bare buyer beside the goods is unprinted. English sold him my car has no pair in these entries. The buyer is alıcıya, dative -(y)A, inside the definition, not a second object and not English to. The price in that definition is karşılığında, and on the passive line it is altınla. A price in the same dative as the buyer would put two -(y)A phrases in one clause. No source opened here prints that clause, and none prints beş liraya sattı. satılmak makes the goods the subject. The agent in tarafından is the postposition entry, on sevilmiş, not on satılmak.

Places · who wears which marking

The subject is the seller, with no case suffix, or, under satılmak, the goods. The object of the sale, where a line prints one, is accusative. The buyer in the definition is dative alıcıya. The price in that definition is bedel karşılığında. The passive line prints altınla.

satmak · goods accusative · buyer dative in the definition

✓ Bir malı bir bedel karşılığında alıcıya vermek. TDK · satmak · sense 1 · tagged -i · malı accusative · alıcıya dative · bedel has no -(y)A

✓ Geniş arazisini parselleyip sattı. TDK · Tarık Buğra · accusative arazisini · no buyer · no price · no spelled seller

✓ Bu masayı satacağım. English Wiktionary · masayı accusative · bu specific · no buyer · no price

✓ bir değer karşılığında bir malı alıcıya vermek. Turkish Wiktionary · commerce sense · same two case shapes · the Buğra line is repeated there

to give a good to the buyer in return for a price · he parcelled his wide land and sold it · I will sell this table

satılmak · the goods are the subject · altınla

✓ Bu kitap, kendi ağırlığında altınla dahi satılsa satan yine zararlı çıkar. TDK · Ahmet Kabaklı · subject Bu kitap · altınla · ağırlığında · no -(y)A · no tarafından · satan is the subject of çıkar

✓ Satma işi yapılmak; gitmek. TDK · tagged -e, nesnesiz · the example does not fill -e

✓ Dostları tarafından çok sevilmiş bir zattı. TDK · English Wiktionary · tarafından · “by” · the verb is sevilmiş · not satılmak

even if this book were sold for its weight in gold, the seller would still lose · the passive’s dative tag is unfilled · “he was a person much loved by his friends”

Places of Turkish selling: marking, what the sources print, and the English marking
PlaceIntroduced by (working)Turkish markingStatus in the sourcesEnglish
Sellersubjectnominative · no case suffixsattı with no spelled noun · Wiktionary ben / sen / o beside the person forms, no clause · Redhouse v.a. · no ergativesubject of sell
Goodsdirect objectaccusative -(y)I on the printed objectstag -i · malı · arazisini · masayı · Wiktionary Kitabı “the book” · a bare indefinite object of satmak is unprintedobject of sell X · second object of sell Y X
Buyerthe person the thing is sold todative -(y)Aalıcıya in the TDK definition and in Turkish Wiktionary · Wiktionary -e is dative, forms -a / -e / y · no finite satmak clause prints a buyer · size belongs to gelemeyeceğimto Y · or the bare first object of sold him my car
Pricethe sum or the returnkarşılığında in the definition · -la on the passive linebir bedel karşılığında · bir fiyat bare in the satış definition · altınla · ağırlığında · tag -e on satılmak unfilled · Cambridge for / at/for · fiyata gitmek is the English–Turkish gloss, verb gitmek · two datives unprinted · beş liraya sattı unprintedfor plus the sum · at/for
satılmakthe goods as subjectnominative subject · price-like altınla · agent tarafından unprinted on this verbWiktionary “passive of satmak” · Bu kitap … satılsa · tarafından is on sevilmiş · Redhouse satılır / satılamaz / satılmış with no agentChris was sold a lawnmower makes the buyer the subject

Marking map. Read the sense, then the marker.

EN ⇄ TR valency strip

Each row lines up one English slot with a Turkish slot. The alignment type says what happens to the slot: = (same object status), or shift (a bare buyer or to against the dative, and for against karşılığında or -la). Printed lines come first. A constructed line reuses a printed marking. It is labelled constructed.

English–Turkish valency alignment for sell, one row per argument
SlotEN formTR formAlignEN exampleTR example
Sellersubject of sellnominative subject= of the subject rolePat sold a lawnmower to Chris. English pagesattı TDK · Buğra · no spelled noun
Goodsobject of sell Xaccusative, where printed= of the objectmy car Cambridgemasayı Wiktionary · arazisini TDK
Goods · barebare mass or pluralunprintedshift · the printed Turkish goods are accusativesells milk and eggs Cambridge English–Turkisha bare goods noun unprinted
Buyer · bare objectfirst object of sold him my carunprintedshift · the Turkish buyer in the definition is dativeI sold him my car Cambridgea bare buyer unprinted
Buyer · toto + the buyerdative -(y)Ashift of the marker · the buyer stays obliquesold my car to him Cambridgealıcıya TDK definition
Pricefor / at/for + the sumkarşılığında · -lashift of the marker · a dative price is unprintedfor $600 Cambridgebedel karşılığında TDK · altınla TDK
satılmakbuyer subject of was soldgoods subject of satılmakshift of which role is the subjectWasn’t Chris sold a lawnmower English pageBu kitap … satılsa TDK

The strip below is a set of small multiples. Each card holds one frame, with English on top and Turkish under it. The subject chip is the party the clause actually makes the subject.

TR · satmak · accusative

masayı

I will sell this table

Bu masayı satacağım.

English Wiktionary · goods accusative · no buyer · no price · the subject is the first person of the verb

RolesHide roles SellerGoods
Seller first person of satacağım · no case suffix Goods masayı · accusative · specific

Move English sell X to Y for Z can add the buyer and the price. This line prints the goods only.

TR · definition · dative buyer

alıcıya

to give a good to the buyer in return for a price

Bir malı bir bedel karşılığında alıcıya vermek.

TDK · the paraphrase verb is vermek · malı accusative · alıcıya dative · bedel is not dative

RolesHide roles BuyerGoodsPrice
Buyer alıcıya · -(y)A · not a bare object Goods malı · accusative Price bedel karşılığında · not -(y)A

Move English for is this karşılığında. The buyer is dative. A second dative, on a sum, is not in the line.

TR · passive · altınla

kitap

even if this book were sold for its weight in gold

Bu kitap, kendi ağırlığında altınla dahi satılsa satan yine zararlı çıkar.

TDK · Kabaklı · the subject of satılsa is the goods · altınla is Wiktionary’s “with” / “by” shape · satan is the subject of çıkar · no agent

RolesHide roles GoodsPrice
Goods Bu kitap · subject · they are not the buyer Price altınla · -la · not -(y)A

Move English for is this altınla. English Chris was sold a lawnmower makes the buyer the subject. satılmak makes the book the subject.

TR · two datives · unprinted

-(y)A + -(y)A

a buyer dative and a price dative in one clause

No line opened here.

unprinted · beş liraya sattı is not in TDK, Redhouse, Wiktionary, or Cambridge · fiyata belongs to gitmek in the English–Turkish gloss

RolesHide roles BuyerPrice
Buyer alıcıya · printed in the definition · not beside a sum Price dative sum · unprinted on satmak

Move A price in -(y)A would be a second dative beside alıcıya. These sources do not print the two together.

Examples

Argument difference. English sell X to Y for Z uses a bare object or to for the buyer and for for the price. satmak uses the accusative for the printed goods and, in the definition, the dative for the buyer. The printed price is karşılığında or altınla. satılmak makes the goods the subject.

Printed dictionary lines come first. A constructed line reuses a printed marking. It is labelled constructed, with Turkish, gloss, and translation.

Real · TDK · Wiktionary · Redhouse · Cambridge

✓ Geniş arazisini parselleyip sattı. TDK · Buğra

✓ Bu masayı satacağım. English Wiktionary

✓ Bir malı bir bedel karşılığında alıcıya vermek. TDK · definition

✓ Bu kitap, kendi ağırlığında altınla dahi satılsa satan yine zararlı çıkar. TDK · Kabaklı · satılmak

✓ I sold my car to him for $600. Cambridge · [ + two objects ] · to · for

Constructed · the working frames

✓ Arazisini alıcıya sattı. constructed

Arazisini alıcıya sattı. · land.3SG.POSS.ACC buyer.DAT sell.PST · he sold his land to the buyer · arazisini and sattı are the Buğra line · alıcıya is the definition · the two are not one citation · no price is in the clause · a bare buyer is unprinted

✓ Bu kitap dostları tarafından satıldı. constructed

Bu kitap dostları tarafından satıldı. · this book friend.3SG.POSS.PL by be.sold.PST · this book was sold by his friends · Bu kitap is the subject of Kabaklı’s satılsa · dostları tarafından is the postposition entry, whose verb is sevilmiş · satıldı is the Wiktionary past third person · the three are not one citation

Derivations · working sketches, revisable

Each sketch is a working drawing. The drawing gives the printed goods to the accusative, the definition’s buyer to the dative, and the printed price to karşılığında or to -la. It does not draw a dative price. Open one sketch at a time. Which theta role is the object is the revisable note Causative templates and argument selection. This page does not edit that note.

Goods · accusative · buyer · dative, in the definition

One object · working, revisable

[ —
  [ √satmak
     [ masayı ] ] ]            ← accusative
                                    ← no buyer
                                    ← no price
                                    ← Wiktionary

[ —
  [ √vermek
     [ malı ]
     [ alıcıya ]
     [ bedel karşılığında ] ] ]  ← accusative
                                    ← dative buyer
                                    ← not a second dative
                                    ← TDK definition of satmak

Bu masayı satacağım is a finite satmak clause. The definition’s verb is vermek. The two trees do not merge the definition into the finite clause.

✓ Bu masayı satacağım. English Wiktionary

✓ Bir malı bir bedel karşılığında alıcıya vermek. TDK

Price · karşılığında · altınla

The return, and the gold · working, revisable

[ —
  [ √vermek
     [ bedel karşılığında ] ] ]  ← definition
                                    ← bedel has no -(y)A
                                    ← TDK

[ —
  [ √satılmak
     [ Bu kitap ]
     [ altınla ] ] ]             ← subject is the goods
                                    ← -la, not -(y)A
                                    ← TDK

Neither tree puts the price in the dative. The tag -e on satılmak stays off the tree because the example does not fill it.

✓ bir bedel karşılığında TDK

✓ altınla dahi satılsa TDK

satılmak · the goods as subject

The passive · working, revisable

[ —
  [ √satılmak
     [ Bu kitap ]
     [ altınla ] ] ]             ← subject is the goods
                                    ← no buyer
                                    ← no tarafından
                                    ← TDK

The Kabaklı line names the book and the gold. satan is outside this passive. No line opened here puts the buyer in the subject, and none puts tarafından on satılmak.

✓ Bu kitap … satılsa TDK

Notes

Working paper · October 2026 · Turkish micro-entry

satmak sells the goods as an accusative object where a line prints one. The definition’s buyer is dative alıcıya. The definition’s price is bedel karşılığında. satılmak makes the goods the subject. A price in that same dative is unprinted.

TR micro-entry live Beyond Index 2 goods accusative · buyer -(y)A · price karşılığında EN sell live

Sense × language: sell · Turkish (satmak, satılmak, satış yapmak). The seller is the nominative subject. The printed goods are accusative. The buyer in the definition is dative -(y)A. The printed price is karşılığında or altınla. A second dative on a sum is unprinted. satılmak makes the goods the subject. satın almak is a pointer, not a second frame. Twins: English · Spanish · French · Italian · Japanese · Mandarin · German · Dutch · Hungarian · Polish · Norwegian · Bulgarian · Russian · Portuguese · Arabic · Hebrew · Korean. Sister: exchange · Turkish. Pointer: payBILL · Turkish.

Open items

  • The seller is the subject. Buğra’s sattı spells no seller noun. Wiktionary names ben, sen, and o beside sattım, sattın, and sattı, and prints no clause. Redhouse labels the verb v.a. The printed subject nouns wear no case suffix. There is no ergative. Arazisini alıcıya sattı is constructed.
  • The printed goods are accusative. The sale sense is tagged -i. malı, arazisini, and masayı are that object. Wiktionary’s accusative suffix is illustrated by definite Kitabı, “the book.” A bare indefinite object of satmak is unprinted. Cambridge’s bare “milk and eggs” and “newspapers” are English, and the Turkish gloss is the verb alone.
  • The buyer in the definition is dative -(y)A. alıcıya. Wiktionary calls -e the dative and lists -a, -e, and y. No finite satmak clause prints a buyer. A bare buyer is unprinted. size gelemeyeceğim is not that buyer.
  • The printed price is not a second dative. bir bedel karşılığında. karşılığında bir fiyat. altınla, and Wiktionary’s -le is “with” / “by.” ağırlığında is not -(y)A. The -e tag on satılmak is unfilled. Cambridge prints for $600 and at/for £50. The English–Turkish gloss …fiyata gitmek puts -a on fiyat and the verb is gitmek. Two datives in one satmak clause are unprinted. beş liraya sattı is unprinted.
  • satılmak makes the goods the subject. Wiktionary calls it the passive of satmak. Bu kitap … satılsa. satan is the seller of çıkar. tarafından is printed with sevilmiş, not with satılmak. Bu kitap dostları tarafından satıldı is constructed. No line makes the buyer the subject. English Chris was sold a lawnmower has no pair here. Redhouse prints satılır, satılamaz, and satılmış with no agent.
  • satın almak and satış yapmak. satın almak is tagged -i, glossed with nesneyi, fiyatını, and kendine, and with no example. Wiktionary glosses it “to buy.” Redhouse glosses it “to buy, acquire by purchase.” This page does not open a buy frame. satış yapmak is glossed satmak, with no example. sattırmak is tagged -e, -i, with no example. yapsat and çoksatar were not opened. 501 Turkish Verbs was not opened.

Corpus filenames and sources checked

Dictionary frames: Türk Dil Kurumu, Güncel Türkçe Sözlük, for satmak, satılmak, satın almak, satış, satış yapmak, satılık, sattırmak, alsat, and tarafından. The entries were read from sozluk.gov.tr. English Wiktionary for satmak, satılmak, satın almak, satış, the accusative -i, the dative -e, -le, and tarafından. Turkish Wiktionary for the commerce sense of satmak. Sir James W. Redhouse, Redhouse’s Turkish Dictionary, in two parts, English and Turkish, and Turkish and English, London, Quaritch, 1880, for satmak “to sell, vend” and the prate senses, satın almak “to buy, acquire by purchase,” satılık “for sale, on sale,” and the English–Turkish glosses Sell, Sale, saleable, unsaleable, Purchase, and disposed of. That book prints no case frame and no price. Cambridge English for the two-object frame, to, for, and at/for. Cambridge English–Turkish for the glosses satmak, satılmak, and …fiyata gitmek. 501 Turkish Verbs was not opened. yapsat and çoksatar were not opened. The English to-frame, the bare buyer, for plus the sum, and Chris was sold are the live page sell · English. Constructed clauses reuse a printed marking. alıcıya beside arazisini, and tarafından beside satıldı, are not single citations.

Records satmak with the printed goods in the accusative, the definition’s buyer in the dative, and the printed price in karşılığında or -la. Records satılmak with the goods as subject. Records satın almak as the buy converse, without a buy frame. Records satış yapmak as the gloss satmak. Records no dative price beside the buyer.