ampul|un = stem + gen (modifying the next word, renk)

reng|i|n|i = stem + poss sg 3rd + -n- + acc

değiş|tir|me|si = stem + caus + inf + poss sg 3rd

What is the pink part doing there? Does it refer to

1. the preceding parts of the compound (ampulun rengini) or

2. a person, someone, anyone, who cares who?

Another example of ergativity:

Ampul değişti = The bulb changed. (Somebody has changed the bulb)

I had earlier provided some other examples: here

 It refers the action that is performed by "ampul" , [Ampul´s changing, its changing]

Literally ;

Ampul´s colour´s it´s changing ....

Ampul´un rengini  değiştirmesi.........

I have noticed marks of ergativity in Turkish but I didn´t understand them well enough even to ask. It seems that this innocent topic brings us to the heart of it. I will see the examples. Thanks, tunci. Thanks, si++.

I heard this dialog when I was watching something on TV.

- Ne yapmayı planlıyorsun.

- Öncelikle okulu bitirmeyi düşünüyorum.

- Evet okul bitmeli

Well, the red one is another example of ergativity.

Okul bitmeli = school must finish

What is meant is:

Okul bitirilmeli = school must be finished (or you must finish the school)

Wow... very interesting, and a lot of different examples, that´s excellent. Thanks for all the translations  

Never knew it would be that difficult to change a bulb in Turkey  

I always had trouble in understanding the concept of ergativity and I was glad I didn’t really have to deal with it. It seems that everything I thought I have once abandoned I find in front of me while studying Turkish.

Ok, here we go.

I have noticed two types of verb stems in Turkish what comes to the role of subject and object:

Some non-derived stems are transitive (bulmak) and some are intransitive (bitmek) by nature. Usually if we want to change the status of the object of the transitive verb we need to undress the verb from its transitivity by adding passive or reflexive. Ergative use is an exception of this principle.

Maybe I misunderstand something but I thought ergative use needs a transitive stem (the second type). If the object of bulmak was risen to the position of subject without deriving the basic verb any further -  I don’t know if it ever could  -  it would be ergative use, right?

Ergative use according to its narrowest definition is like the use of the verb translate in the English sentence

The sentence translates…

Thus, from the mentioned examples

Makarna pişiyor

İstemez (in the meaning ‘I don’t want it’ )

represent ergative use of transitive verbs at its purest.

There are a lot of intransitive stems but I have understood ergativity can happen with only certain types of transitive verbs (introduced by tunci under the above link) and it is more usual in English than Turkish.

Correct me.

Hmm!

I refer to the definition in this page.

An ergative verb is a verb that can be either transitive or intransitive, and whose subject when intransitive corresponds to its direct object when transitive.

Okulu bitirmelisin = you must finish the school (bitirmek is tr. obj is school)

Okul bitmeli = school must finish (bitmek is intr. and conforms to the ergative verb definition; i.e. a verb suggesting a change of state. The object is in the subject position which was the object of tr. verb)

So you think bitmek and bitirmek are the same verb. Basically they are, of course, but wouldn´t it be clearer to talk about underived stems when we discuss ergativity? I mean, playing with passive, reflexive and causative we can turn the NP roles upside down in the sentence anyway.

Sort of.

Take this one for example:

Arabayı durdurmalısın = You must stop the car

Araba durmalı = The car must stop (i.e. Arabayı durdurmalısın = you must stop the car)

durdurmak = to stop

durmak = to stop

But if there are two verbs (ok, with the same stem) and their action in the sentence is different, I think they are two and not one. I think your last example tells something about English ergativity rather than Turkish. In English there is stop and stop but in the Turkish variants syntactic governance is carefully marked in the verbs.