1At a glance
| Letter | How it sounds | Example |
|---|---|---|
| C c | the “j” of “jam” | camimosque |
| Ç ç | “ch”, as in “church” | çokvery, a lot |
| E e | the “e” of “bed”, and never silent: müze ends in it | ekmekbread |
| G g | always the “g” of “go”, never of “gem” | gençyoung |
| Ğ ğ | barely a sound of its own; it stretches the vowel in front of it | öğretmenteacher; the ö is held long |
| I ı | no dot: the “oo” of “food” said with your lips spread, not rounded | kızgirl, daughter |
| İ i | with a dot: “ee”. Its capital keeps the dot | İzmirIzmir |
| J j | the “s” of “pleasure”; a rare letter | plajbeach |
| Ö ö | the “e” of “bed” said with your lips rounded as for “o” | göllake |
| Ş ş | “sh” | şimdinow |
| Ü ü | “ee” said with your lips rounded as for “oo” | üçthree |
| Y y | always the “y” of “yes”, never a vowel as in “my” | yeninew |
2The key points
- It’s said the way it’s written: each letter has one sound, wherever it stands. The only quiet one is ğ, and even it has a job: it stretches the vowel in front of it.
- A vowel never fades to “uh”, stressed or not: araba is three clear “ah”s, not “uh-RAH-buh”.
- There are 29 letters, all Latin, but no q, w or x. So a taxi is a taksi.
- Tails and dots aren’t decoration, they make another letter: c is “j”, ç is “ch”; s is “s”, ş is “sh”. Leave one off and it’s another word: kır is the countryside, kir is dirt.
- ı and i each have their own capital: I with no dot, İ with one. That’s why İstanbul has a dot and Isparta doesn’t.
3How it works
Try the table on words you already know: you’ll see them all over the street. Read them aloud, then check.
otobüs— bus
şoför— driver
müze— museum
kuaför— hairdresser’s
eczane— chemist’s: “edj-zah-neh”
istasyon— station
4In real life
— Günaydın! — Günaydın, nasılsın?— Good morning! — Morning! How are you?
Merhaba, benim adım Can.Hi, my name’s Can (say “Jahn”).
— Ayşe, çay hazır! — Teşekkür ederim!— Ayşe, the tea’s ready! — Thank you!
— Hoş geldiniz! — Hoş bulduk!— Welcome! — Glad to be here!
İyi akşamlar, görüşürüz!Have a good evening, see you!
5Where it’s easy to slip
| Not like this | Like this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| cay | çay | Without its tail, c is a “j”: you’d get “jai”. |
| Istanbul | İstanbul | A capital i keeps its dot. |
| Gunaydın | Günaydın | u and ü are different sounds: keep the dots. |
| ögretmen | öğretmen | Without its curve, g is a hard “g”: you’d hear one in the middle. |
- Can isn’t the English “can”: it’s “Jahn”. And Ayşe is “Eye-sheh”. Names follow the letters like every other word.
6Check yourself
Four questions, each about several letters at once. Read the options letter by letter: the difference can be a single dot.
1In “good morning” the first vowel is “ee” said with rounded lips, and the last is “oo” said with spread lips. Which is the spelling?
2Two city names in capitals: Istanbul, which starts with “ee”, and a town in the far east whose two vowels are both the undotted ı. Which is right?
3How do you say ağaç, “tree”?
4You introduce yourself and a friend: “Hi, I’m Jahn, and this is Eye-sheh.” How is it written?