Abstract:

The law of least effort is that language prefers the easy, simple, few and the essence. In Turkish language of Turkey, the functioning of the law of least effort has not yet been clarified in all aspect. Studies on the subject have mostly mentioned about the aspects of the law to manage phonetic procedures with sound harmonies and provide ease of pronunciation. However, in all areas of the language, there is the law of least effort. This study examined the functioning of the law of least effort in the fields of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, spelling and punctuation. The principle of economics in language has a different functioning in each area of the language. According to the subfields of the language, the layers in which the law of least effort is clearly visible are as follows: phonology: disappearance, anaptyxis, phonetic change, sound harmonies; morphology: representation function of affixes, grammaticalisation, word compounding, affixes carrying multiple tasks and functions, practical use of pronouns; syntax: determinative group and establishment of word groups, abbreviation groups, words of acceptance, rejection, affirmation with syntactic value, elliptical sentence, element, mode, common subject in sequential sentences; semantic: economics principle in naming, connotative and figurative meaning in words, idioms and proverbs, stereotyped expressions, abbreviations, meaning procedure and rhetoric; spelling and punctuation: separate and contiguous spelling in language areas, punctuation. Although the economy in the language generally manifests in the form of abrasion and reduction, it may also occur in the form of phonetic or morphological increases due to the priorities of meaning. In the law of least effort, the easy, concise and effective is preferred, the hard and excessive one is not preferred.

Keywords: