A comparison of Turkish and Hungarian languages derivational affixes

The relationship of origin between Turkish and Hungarian languages has been a matter of debate for more than a century. Although there are many words in Hungarian borrowed from Turkish, the question of whether the relationship between these two languages is only based on word exchange is yet to be clarified. In different periods of history Hungarians have had close relationship with different Turkish communities such as Khazars, European Hun Empire, Pechenegs and Ottomans, Turks and these relationship has naturally been reflected on their language. Even though Turkish and Hungarian were taken to be members of the same family when theory of then Ural-Altaic family was first proposed, later this view has been abandoned. Thus, Turkish and Hungarian have been taken to be members of distinct language families. Are the similarities between Turkish and Hungarian languages due to borrowings as a consequence of historical affinities or do these two languages come from the same origin? A comprehensive answer to this question requires extensive evidence. Comparative studies are requirement for such an endeavour. The fact that both languages are agglutinative shows that it is quite important to compare affixes. With the purpose, in this thesis, the similarities and differences between derivational affixes in Turkish and Hungarian will be discussed in terms of structure and function. Key Words: Turkish, Hungarian, derivational affixes, language families, Ural-Altai