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Alphabet & Pronunciation

Special letters; phonetic spelling

A Latin alphabet with special letters

ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş, ü; no q, w, x.

📊 Special letters
Letter Sound Example
ç 'ch' çay (tea)
ş 'sh' şey (thing)
ı 'uh' (undotted) kız (girl)
ö like German ö göl (lake)
ü like German ü gül (rose)
ğ silent, lengthens vowel dağ (mountain)
💬 Examples
çiçek
chee-CHEK
flower
📝 ç = 'ch'
şehir
sheh-HEER
city
📝 ş = 'sh'
ı and i are different letters

Undotted ı vs dotted i.

💬 Examples
kız
kuhz
girl
📝 ı = back unrounded vowel (no dot)
bir
beer
one / a
📝 i = front vowel (dotted)
Spelling is phonetic; ğ lengthens

One letter, one sound.

💬 Examples
dağ
daa
mountain
📝 ğ silent, lengthens the vowel
öğretmen
ö-ret-men
teacher
📝 ğ between vowels = a slight glide / length