Lesson 1. Turkish alphabet: letters, sounds, and greetings

Turkish alphabet: 29 letters

Letter	English equivalent	Pronun- ciation	Brief description of the sound
A a	A	[A]	More open and broad, like the ‘a’ in father, but shorter.
B b	B	[Be]	Slightly less voiced than the standard English ‘b’.
C c	*	[Je]	Sound equivalent to the English ‘j’ as in jam.
Ç ç	Ch	[Che]	Like ‘ch’ in chair.
D d	D	[De]
E e	E	[E]	Depending on the word, ‘e’ can sound like: — the English /æ/ (like in cat) before l, m, n, r — a short /e/ (like in bed) - in the final position — a standard /e/ - in all other cases
F f	F	[Fe]
G g	G	[Ge]	Always hard, like ‘g’ in go.
Ğ ğ	*		This letter is called ‘soft g’. It is not pronounced as a distinct consonant; instead, it lengthens the preceding vowel and gives it a slight guttural quality.
H h	H	[He]	Like the English ‘h’ in hat, sometimes softer.
I ı	*	[Uh/Ih]	A back, unrounded vowel. Similar to the ‘e’ in open or the ‘u’ in cousin (the schwa sound), but produced further back in the throat, as if you were hit in the stomach...
İ i	I, EE	[I]	Like ‘ee’ in see, but shorter, or ‘i’ in machine.
J j	*	[Zhe]	Like the ‘s’ in measure or the French ‘j’. Found in loanwords.
K k	K	[Ke]	At the end of a syllable or word, it often softens slightly.
L l	L	[Le]
M m	M	[Me]
N n	N	[Ne]
O o	O	[O]	Like ‘o’ in more (but short).
Ö ö	*		To produce this sound, shape your lips to say ‘O’, but pronounce the letter ‘E’ (as in pet). Equivalent to the German ö.
P p	P	[Pe]	Characterized by a slight aspiration (a puff of air) at the beginning of words.
R r	R	[Re]	Flipped or tapped ‘r’. At the end of words, it is often devoiced and takes on a slight ‘sh’ (or rarely ‘zh’) sound
S s	S	[Se]	Always soft, like ‘s’ in sun.
Ş ş	Sh	[She]	Like ‘sh’ in shoe.
T t	T	[Te]	Characterized by a slight aspiration (a puff of air) at the beginning of words.
U u	U	[U]	Like ‘oo’ in boot.
Ü ü	*		To produce this sound, shape your lips to say ‘U’ (oo), but pronounce ‘I’ (ee). Equivalent to the German ü.
V v	V	[Ve]	Sometimes sounds between an English ‘v’ and ‘w’.
Y y	Y	[Ye]	Like ‘y’ in yes.
Z z	Z	[Ze]

The * sign indicates that this sound has no direct equivalent in English.

The Turkish alphabet consists of 29 letters.
Vowels are: a, ı, o, u, e, i, ö, ü
Consonants are: b, c, ç, d, f, g, ğ, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, ş, t, v, y, z

Combining the letter ‘y’ with vowels and consonants

In the Turkish language, when the letter ‘y’ is combined with vowels, it forms diphthongs:

1. y + vowel

2. vowel + y

3. Combining consonants with the letter ‘y’

The pronunciation of certain consonants softens when placed before ‘y’:

İspanya - [Ispanya]
Estonya - [Estonya]

Word stress in Turkish

In Turkish, the stress falls on the last syllable of the word in most cases. Exceptions include some adverbs, loanwords, and geographical names.

Additional diacritical marks used in Turkish writing

Sometimes in Turkish texts you might encounter two additional marks:

1. ˆ — the circumflex (hat). It is a sign of softening and lengthening. It lengthens the vowels a, u standing after the consonants g, k, l:

Kâbus (nightmare), rüzgâr (wind), selâm (greeting/hello)

In some words, this mark plays a role in distinguishing meaning. Compare:

Âlem - world
Alem - crescent on a mosque
Dâhi - genius
Dahi - even, also

2. ` - apostrophe. Used to separate case suffixes in proper nouns:

İstanbul`da - in Istanbul
Ahmet`in arabası - Ahmet’s car

Lesson vocabulary

Exercise 1.1. Read the following words aloud:

Sözlük, köpek, köşe, köy, öğrenci, dört, göz, ödev, gök
Dünya, gün, düğme, büyük, güzel, üç, bütün, müdür, ülke, güneş, gün
Cetvel, pencere, ceket, gece, cam, öğrenci
Çiçek, çanta, kaç, çok, çocuk, uçak, çam
Oğul, değil, öğretmen, ağabey, öğle, dağ, buğday, yağmur, ağaç
Arkadaş, hoş, yaş, kuş, şimdi, şaka, meşe, akşam
Arı, sıra, silgi, balık, kız, iş, ılık, ışık, deniz, yıldız, sınır
Yıl, yalan, ay, yoğurt, terbiye

Exercise 1.2. Read the following words aloud:

Baba, anne, adı, araba, sözlük, cetvel, sıra, mektup, pencere, kedi, köpek, tahta, insan, an, kuzu, ders, aile, abla, defter, dünya, masa, ev, kapı, söz, çiçek, arkadaş, oğul, şehir, dolap, sokak, oda, kalem, kitap, yıldız, deniz.

Exercise 1.3. Translate the following words into Turkish:

Book, door, table, mom, dad, older sister, teacher, cupboard, window, dog, lesson, house, bag, ruler, family, student, son, flower, cat, street, city, pen, car, older brother, friend.

Demonstrative pronouns bu, şu, o

To indicate objects and phenomena in Turkish, the demonstrative pronouns bu, şu, o are used.

Bu araba. - This is a car. (close by)
Şu çanta. - That is a bag. (a bit further away)
О pencere. - That is a window. (far away)

A unique feature of these demonstrative pronouns is that, when indicating objects (animate and inanimate) and phenomena, they point to the degree of distance of the object from the speaker. The pronoun bu denotes an object in the immediate, visible vicinity of the speaker (lit. this). The pronoun şu points to what is a little further from the speaker’s eyes (lit. that). The pronoun o points to objects located in the distant field of vision from the speaker (lit. that over there). The pronoun o is also the 3rd person singular personal pronoun - he, she, it (Note: there is no gender category in the Turkish language).

Greetings and farewells in Turkish

Dialogues

Commentary. The word Merhaba is used as a greeting between people who know each other well. In colloquial speech, you can very often hear the contracted form Meraba.

Nasılsın - lit. How are you?, is used in conversation between friends or people close in age. A more respectful, polite "formal form" is the question Nasılsınız? (How are you? / formal).

The speaker who is the first to ask ‘How are you?’ should use Nasılsın? / Nasılsınız?. The response question is Sen nasılsın? (How are you? / informal) / Siz nasılsınız? (How are you? / formal).

Let’s look at other greetings actively used in colloquial Turkish.

Günaydın! - Good morning! Used as a greeting in the first half of the day.

İyi günler! - Good afternoon! Used both as a greeting and as a farewell (lit. Have a good day!) in the second half of the day.

İyi akşamlar! - Good evening! Like the previous form, it serves for both greeting and farewell.

İyi geceler! - Good night! It is used as a greeting, when parting, and also in its direct meaning — when wishing the interlocutor a good night’s sleep.

Hoşça kal(ın)! - Goodbye! (Stay well!) - Used when parting at any time of the day. Here the polite ‘formal form’ (kalın) is presented; in communication between friends of the same age, it is perfectly acceptable to use Hoşça kal! This phrase is said first by the person who is leaving. The one who stays should reply with Güle güle! - Goodbye! (Go with a smile!).

Words and expressions of the lesson

Merhaba! - Hello!
Nasılsın? - How are you?
Teşekkür ederim - Thank you
Günaydın! - Good morning!
İyi günler! - Good afternoon! / Have a good day!
İyi akşamlar! - Good evening!
İyi geceler! - Good night!
Hoşça kal(ın)! - Goodbye! (said by the person leaving)
Güle güle! - Goodbye! (said by the person staying)