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Vowel Harmony

The Turkish vowel system can be considered as being two-dimensional, where vowels are characterised by two features: front/back and rounded/unrounded. Vowel harmony is the principle by which a native Turkish word incorporates either exclusively back vowels (a, ı, o, and u) or exclusively front vowels (e, i, ö, and ü).

Grammatical affixes obey one of the following patterns of vowel harmony.

1- Major ( Palatal Harmony ) : Back vowels must be followed by back vowels and front vowels must be followed by front vowels.

For Example :

The plural marker suffix in Turkish is either -ler or -lar. It depends on the feature of the vowel of the final syllable in the word's stem.

The Turkish word "kadın" means "woman" in english. The vowel in the last syllable is "ı" which is classified as a back vowel. So the plural marker suffix for this word must be the one featured by a back vowel, which is "-lar". It becomes into "kadınlar" ( Women )

The Turkish word "çiçek" means "flower" in english. The vowel in the last syllable is "e" which is classified as a front vowel. So the plural marker suffix for this word must be the one featured by a front vowel, which is "-ler". It becomes into "çiçekler" ( Flowers )

Another Example :

The locative suffix in Turkish is either -de or -da. It depends on the feature of vowel in the final syllable of the word's stem. The Turkish word "okul" means "school" in english. The vowel in the final syllable is "u" which is classified as a back vowel. So the locative suffix for this word must be the one featured by a back vowel which is -da. It becomes into "okulda" ( In the school )

The Turkish word "bahçe" means "garden" in english. The vowel in the final syllable is "e" which is classified as a front vowel. So the locative suffix for this word must be the one featured by a back vowel which is -de. It becomes into "bahçede" ( In the garden )

2- Minor ( Labial Harmony ) : Rounded vowels must be followed by rounded vowels and unrounded vowels must be followed by unrounded vowels.

For Example :

The genitive suffix used in Turkish, is either -in, -ın, -un, -ün. It depends on the feature of the vowel of the final syllable in the word's stem.

The Turkish word "adam" means "man" in english. The vowel in the last syllable is "a" which is classified as a back vowel and also an unrounded vowel. So the genitive suffix for this word must be the one featured by a back and unrounded vowel, which is "-ın". It becomes into "adamın" ( Of man )

The Turkish word "öküz" means "ox" in english. The vowel in the last syllable is "ü" which is classified as a front vowel and also a rounded vowel. So the genitive suffix for this word must be the one featured by a front and rounded vowel, which is "-ün". It becomes into "öküzün" ( Of ox )

The Turkish word "kedi" means "cat" in english. The vowel in the last syllable is "i" which is classified as a front vowel and also an unrounded vowel. So the genitive suffix for this word must be the one featured by a front and unrounded vowel, which is "-in". It becomes into "kedinin" ( Of cat )

The Turkish word "okul" means "school" in english. The vowel in the last syllable is "u" which is classified as a back vowel and also a rounded vowel. So the genitive suffix for this word must be the one featured by a back and rounded vowel, which is "-un". It becomes into "okulun" ( Of school )

CAUTION!

In Turkish words, two vowels do not follow each other. When a word that ends with a vowel is followed by a suffix beginning with a vowel, the intervocalic euphonic consonants " n, s , ş , y " are employed between vowels.

Example :

The Turkish word "kedi" means "cat" in english. The vowel in the last syllable is "i" which is classified as a front vowel and also an unrounded vowel. So the genitive suffix for this word must be the one featured by a front and unrounded vowel, which is "-in". However the word ends with a vowel as well. So we must use an intervocalic euphonic consonant between the vowels. The intervocalic euphonic consonant used for genitive cases is "n". It becomes " kedi + n + in". Kedinin ( Of cat )

KEEP IN MIND!

You'll see all the suffixes given in Turkish, either in twofold or fourfold.

The locative case suffix in Turkish : -de or -da. This is called as twofold.

The genitive case suffix in Turkish : -ın, in , un, ün. This is called as fourfold.

If you have a twofold suffix to apply to the word, then you should consider the Major ( Palatal ) Harmony only.

If you have a fourfold suffix to apply to the word, then you should consider the Minor ( Labial ) Harmony.