|
Pronouncing the Turkish Alphabet
|
| Letter |
Türkçe Telaffuz
(Turkish Pronunciation) |
"Real" English Pronunciation
|
| A a |
a |
as the a in the French avoir --
somewhere between the u of sun and the a
of father. Not as long as the a in Pa... |
| B b |
be |
as the b's in Buttered
bread is best... |
| C c |
ce |
as the j sound in jam, and That
jockey is a joker! |
| Ç ç |
çe |
as the ch in church. |
| D d |
de |
as the d in Deadly and dangerous... |
| E e |
e |
as the short e sound in Ready, get set... |
| F f |
fe |
as the f 's in Fowl
feathered friends... or should that be foul
feathered friends? |
| G g |
ge |
as the g in Go get gaiters... |
g g |
Yumusak G (soft g) |
This letter is soundless. It's purpose is to elongate
the nearest preceding vowel. As a capital letter, it is only seen in words
that have been written in all capital letters -- such as company names.
And when written in upper or lower case it never starts a word. |
| H h |
he |
as the h in Hang on -- help is on the way... |
| I I |
I |
as e in glasses, or the a
in serial. Try spreading the lips to say easy
then say cushion -- this gives the Turkish word kIsIn;
in the season of winter... |
| i i |
i |
as the short i sound in hit, kit, bit, sit... |
| J j |
je |
as the s in treasure, and measure
for measure... |
| K k |
ke, ka |
as the c and the k in a couple of
kittens... |
| L l |
le |
as the l 's in lot's of
lovin' |
| M m |
me |
as the m 's in Mary Martin |
| N n |
ne |
as the n 's in Not nice,
Nellie, not the ng
sound of pink... |
| O o |
o |
as the Oh in the French Oh la la! --
like the short English o in You're a hotshot,
Scott! |
| Ö ö |
ö |
as the 'oe' sound in Goethe, or the ir
in bird -- the English word dirt is very
close to the Turkish word for four -- dört |
| P p |
pe |
as the p 's in Pretty in
pink... |
| R r |
re |
as the r 's in Red Rooster... |
| S s |
se |
as the s in So long, Sam... |
| S s |
s |
as the sh 's in Short
Sweet Sherry... |
| T t |
te |
as the English t in tongue, but with the
tip of the tongue behind the front teeth rather than at the top of the
mouth. |
| U u |
u |
as the u in put or the oo
in foot, not like the u
in butter... |
| Ü ü |
ü |
like the ü in Führer, or the French u
in tu. Say itch with rounded lips (really
rounded as if to say 'oo') and you have the Turkish word
for three - üç. |
| V v |
ve |
as the v 's in very vexed
virgin -- except that it is sometimes much softer than the
English v, especially between vowels...so that tavuk;
chicken is almost pronounced tawuk. |
| Y y |
ye |
as the y 's in Yes, it's
yellow... |
| Z z |
ze |
as the z in zip |