Language/Turkish/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation
Hello Polyglots,
In today's lesson, you will learn how to write the different letters of the Turkish alphabet, how to pronounce these letters whether it is through the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), or through a video with the pronunciation of the letters by a native speaker.
You will also find at the end of this lesson a virtual keyboard to be able to type each special character of this language.
Turkish Alphabet and IPA Pronunciation
Alphabet and IPA Pronunciation
| Letter | Sound | pronunciation example |
|---|---|---|
| A a | /a/ | a' as in father |
| B b | /b/ | b' as in bike |
| C c | /dʒ/ | j' as in job |
| Ç ç | /tʃ/ | ch' as in church |
| D d | /d/ | d' as in date |
| E e | /e/, /ɛ/ | e'
as in red or 'a' as in car |
| F f | /f/ | f' as in find |
| G g | /ɡ/, /ɟ/ | g' as in go |
| Ğ ğ | /ɣ/1 | No equivalent: listen to the video below |
| H h | /h/ | h' as in high |
| I ı | /ɯ/ | e' as in open |
| İ i | /i/ | i' as in machine |
| J j | /ʒ/ | s' as
in pleasure |
| K k | /k/, /c/ | k' as in kilo |
| L l | /l/, /ɫ/ | l' as in love |
| M m | /m/ | m' as in make |
| N n | /n/ | n' as in new |
| O o | /o/ | o' as in more |
| Ö ö | /ø/ | u' as in burn |
| P p | /p/ | p' as in paint |
| R r | /ɾ/ | the 'r' as in far |
| S s | /s/ | s' as in sit |
| Ş ş | /ʃ/ | sh' as in shine |
| T t | /t/ | t' as in start |
| U u | /u/ | u' as
in ultimate |
| Ü ü | /y/ | u' as in cube |
| V v | /v/ | v' as in victory |
| Y y | /j/ | y' as in you |
| Z z | /z/ | z' as in zoo |
Turkish Alphabet and Approximants in Other Languages
| LETTER
IN TURKISH |
PRONUNCIATION
IN ENGLISH |
PRONUNCIATION
PORTUGUESE |
|---|---|---|
| A a | as a in car | como a em amor |
| Â â | as ya in yap | como iá em papiá |
| B b | as b in ball | como b em bola |
| C c | as j in jungle | como j in jazz |
| Ç ç | as ch in church | como t in Tiago |
| D d | as d in day | como d em dente |
| E e | as e in red | como e em elefante |
| F f | as f in fork | como f em faca |
| G g | as g in get | como g em gato |
| Ğ ğ | it extends the vowel before | extende a vogal anterior |
| H h | as h in house | como h em house (Inglês) |
| I ı | as io in nation | como â em âncora |
| İ i | as i in bit | como i em igreja |
| J j | as j in jambon | como j em jazz |
| K k | as k in kitchen | como c em casa |
| L l | as l in lion | como l em leão |
| M m | as m in mother | como m em mato |
| N n | as n in nation | como n em navio |
| O o | as o in Otawa | como o em olho |
| Ö ö | as eu in peu ¨French word¨
as ö in öffnen ¨German word¨ |
como eu em peu ¨palavra francesa¨
como ö em öffnen ¨palavra alem㨠|
| P p | as p in Paris | como p em Paris |
| R r | as r in rent (double r) | como r em parlo (palavra italiana) |
| S s | as s in soap | como s em sopa |
| Ş ş | as sh in shop | como ch em chá |
| T t | as t in tall | como t em talco |
| U u | as u in put | como u em união |
| Ü ü | as u in super
as u in cube as ü in über ¨German word¨ |
como u em (tu) ¨palavra francesa¨
como ü em über ¨palavra alem㨠|
| V v | as v in vacation | como v em vaca |
| Y y | as y in yes | como i em igreja |
| Z z | as z in zebra | como z em zebra |
Important note:
In Turkish, every letter is equal to one sound. So this is one thing that makes pronunciation easier. If you know sounds of words you can read everything loudly.
For an example, T ü r k i y e word.
Let's look wich letter equals to which sound:
- T as in start,
- Ü as in cube,
- R as in far,
- K as in kilo,
- İ as in machine,
- Y as in you,
- E as in red.
If you get them together you can read the word. And remember that "Türkiye" word is written by 7 letter so you're going to use 7 sounds to read it.
And also an important thing, you can't create new sounds by combinating letters. For an example "sch" from German or "oux" from French.
Video - Turkish Alphabet Pronunciation by a Native Speaker
Nothing is better than listening to a real Turkish pronunce the different letters. Just Watch the videos below :
Turkish Online Virtual Keyboard