Kriterlerini

Kriterlerini is a Turkish linguistic form that means their criteria when used as the direct object in a sentence. It is derived from kriter, the Turkish word for criterion or standard, which itself comes from the international term criterion/critère and related roots in Latin and Greek.

In Turkish, the noun kriter takes the plural suffix -ler to form kriterler (criteria). The third-person plural possessive suffix -leri indicates ownership by “them,” yielding kriterleri (their criteria). When the noun phrase is marked as the direct object, the accusative suffix -i is added, producing kriterlerini. The result is a form that simultaneously conveys plurality, possession by a third party, and a definite object relation.

Use of kriterlerini appears in contexts such as evaluation, selection, or negotiation, where one speaks of meeting, considering, or disputing someone else’s criteria. For example: Kriterlerini karşılamak zor. (It is hard to meet their criteria.) Another example: Kriterlerini incelemek için toplantı yaptılar. (They held a meeting to review their criteria.) These examples illustrate how the form functions in clauses that position the criteria as what is being acted upon by the verb.

Etymology traces kriter to the international term criterion, adopted into Turkish vocabulary and adapted with Turkish plural and possessive suffixes. The combined form kriterlerini is a common demonstrative of Turkish morphology, showing how noun phrases can encode number, ownership, and case in a single word.

See also: kriter (criterion), Turkish grammar, noun suffixes.