In Turkish morphology, what does the suffix -ler signify in evler?

• A. Plural marker for subject
• B. Diminutive marker
• C. Past tense marker
• D. Plural marker inflectional

Answer: (D)

Turkish marks plurals on nouns with a suffix, and there are two allomorphs of this plural suffix: -lar and -ler. In evler, the last vowel of the stem is front (e), so the front variant -ler is used. This suffix shows number, and it can combine with other endings (like possessive or case endings) without changing the word’s basic category. It’s not a subject marker, nor does it express past tense or diminutive meaning (those would be different suffixes). So this suffix is the plural inflectional marker.