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Vowel Harmony

The central feature

Suffix vowels harmonize with the word

Turkish's central feature.

📊 Vowel harmony
Type Last vowel of root Suffix vowel
2-way (e/a) e i ö ü e
2-way (e/a) a ı o u a
4-way e i i
4-way a ı ı
4-way o u u
4-way ö ü ü
💬 Examples
evler / kızlar
houses / girls
📝 -ler after front vowels, -lar after back
günler / yollar
days / roads
📝 Harmony: gün→-ler, yol→-lar
Two-way harmony (e / a)

For the plural, dative, and many suffixes.

💬 Examples
eve
to the house
📝 ev + -e (front)
okula
to school
📝 okul + -a (back)
Four-way harmony (i / ı / u / ü)

Matches both frontness AND rounding.

💬 Examples
evin / kızın
of the house / of the girl
📝 genitive -in / -ın
günün / yolun
of the day / of the road
📝 -ün (front rounded) / -un (back rounded)