Relative clauses in Rumelian Turkish dialects

The Turkish language, which has been widely used in the Balkans since the 14th century, has been under the influence of the Indo-European languages spoken by the people in the region, especially the Slavic languages, and thus, a new dialect area was formed in this region, different from Anatolian dialects. These variants, which are called Rumeli or Balkan dialects, have changed in phonetic, morphological and syntactic aspects because of various socio-linguistic reasons. Relative clauses which are the main theme of our thesis and about syntax, also have took on a different appearance as a result of the mentioned effects. In this study, through analysed texts, relative clauses which are used in Turkish variants in Balkan area, will be discussed in terms of their function, structural and syntactic properties which have changed as a result of language contact. Relative caluses used in Rumelian dialect, will be compared with similar structures in Modern Turkish. Their similar and different properties will be emphasized and some types of clauses that can be used in place of relative clauses in functional terms will be evaluated in this sense. Key Words Rumelian dialects, relative clauses, subordinate clauses, syntax.