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Turkish Alphabet & Pronunciation
The Latin-based Turkish alphabet, special letters, vowel sounds, and pronunciation rules
A, B, C, Ç, D, E, F, G, Ğ, H
first ten letters of the Turkish alphabet
ah, beh, jeh, cheh, deh, eh, feh, geh, yoo-moo-shak-geh, heh
Turkish uses a modified Latin script; 29 letters total
I, İ, J, K, L, M, N, O, Ö, P
letters 11-20 including dotted and dotless i
uh, ee, zheh, keh, leh, meh, neh, oh, ur, peh
Turkish has two i letters: dotless ı (back) and dotted İ (front)
R, S, Ş, T, U, Ü, V, Y, Z
remaining Turkish letters
reh, seh, sheh, teh, oo, ew, veh, yeh, zeh
Ş = sh sound; Ü = French u sound; Ö = French eu sound
Ğ (yumuşak ge)
soft g -- lengthens preceding vowel
yoo-moo-shak geh
Ğ is never pronounced as g; it silently lengthens the vowel before it
Vowel harmony: back vowels a, ı, o, u
back vowels of Turkish
ah, uh, oh, oo
Suffixes must harmonize with the last vowel of the root word
Vowel harmony: front vowels e, i, ö, ü
front vowels of Turkish
eh, ee, ur, ew
Front vowels require front vowel suffixes: -de not -da
Merhaba.
Hello.
mehr-hah-bah
Standard greeting; Selam is more informal
Teşekkür ederim.
Thank you.
teh-shek-kewr eh-deh-reem
Literally: I do thanks; Sağ ol is informal equivalent
Evet. / Hayır.
Yes. / No.
eh-vet / hah-yuhr
Hayır has a back dotless ı; do not confuse with haya
Günaydın. / İyi geceler.
Good morning. / Good night.
gew-nay-duhn / ee-yee geh-jeh-lehr
Günaydin = good day (dawn); İyi geceler = good evenings