Lesson One - A-I

The alphabet in Turkish is based on the Latin alphabet. However, the pronunciations of the letters are a little different from English, and there are also some perhaps unfamiliar letters included, too. So, let's start learning the Turkish alphabet!

1 A
2 B
3 C
4 Ç
5 D
6 E
7 F
8 G
9 Ğ
10 H
11 I
Edit

A

Pronounced like the a in arm, but shorter.

For example:

• akvaryum - aquarium
• akşam - evening
• aile - family

Edit

B

Pronounced like the b in big.

For example:

• büyük - big
• baba - father
• bardak - cup

Edit

C

Now things have started to go different, here! Be careful, in Turkish, c is pronounced sort of like the j in jelly.

For example:

• can - life
• cami - mosque
• cep - pocket

Edit

Ç

This is pronounced like the ch in chocolate

For example:

• çene - chin
• çay - tea
• çocuk - child

Edit

D

This is pronounced like the d in delight.

For example:

• dergi - magazine
• dün - yesterday
• deniz - sea

Edit

E

Pronounced like the e in bread

For example:

• ev - house
• ekmek - bread
• elma - apple

Edit

F

This is pronounced like the f in forget.

For example:

• fare - mouse
• fakir - poor
• fikir - idea

Edit

G

This is pronounced like the g in go.

For example:

• gazete - newspaper
• gece - night
• göz - eye

Edit

Ğ

In Turkish, this is referred to as yumuşak "g" (soft "g"), because technically that's what it is! It can never be used at the beginning of a word, but simply lengthens the previous vowel. Think of it as the Turkish equivalent of the gh in through.

For example:

• dağ - mountain
• ağaç - tree
• doğum - birth

Edit

H

This is pronounced like the h in heaven.

For example:

• hafta - week
• hayır - no
• hata - mistake

Edit

I

This is another one to watch out for! It's not pronounced like an i! As a matter of fact, the lowercase version of this is a dotless i (ı). It has no exact English equivalent, but is pronounced like the e in legend.

For example:

• ılık - warm

Try and learn those off by heart, particularly c, ç, ğ and ı!

next>>