The Comparative Analysis of Derivational Morphology in Turkish and Esperanto Languages

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative analysis of derivational morphology in Turkish, a natural agglutinative language, and Esperanto, a constructed one, through the theoretical lens of René de Saussure's principles of necessity and sufficiency. The study employs a qualitative, review-based research design grounded in comparative-typological methodology. Data were sourced from a purposive sample of scholarly literature, including theoretical linguistics works, studies on constructed languages, and pedagogical research. Data collection was conducted through a systematic literature review, using selection criteria focused on relevance to derivational morphology, Turkish, and Esperanto, with a priority for recent peer-reviewed publications (2013–2023). The analysis systematically contrasts morphemic structure, affixal productivity, and compositional logic. The findings reveal that while both systems rely heavily on productive affixation, they diverge fundamentally. Esperanto adheres strictly to its designed principles, maintaining perfect semantic regularity where each morpheme carries a fixed, unambiguous meaning. Turkish, though highly productive and regular, exhibits inherent natural language features such as polysemy and context-dependence, leading to occasional deviations from ideal compositionality. The study concludes that de Saussure's framework, originally designed for Esperanto, offers a powerful tool for analyzing agglutinative systems broadly. These findings contribute to morphological theory and typology by illuminating the value of constructed languages as clarifying mirrors for understanding the complexities of natural language.