Language/Turkmen/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

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Turkmen Alphabet and Pronunciation

Hello Turkmen learners! 😀

Welcome to our lesson on Turkmen Pronunciation, where we will explore the Alphabet and Pronunciation of the beautiful Turkmen language. The Turkmen alphabet is a variant of the Latin alphabet used for official purposes in Turkmenistan. At the start of the 20th century, when Turkmen started to be written, it used the Arabic script, but in 1928, the Latin script was adopted. In 1940, the Russian influence in Soviet Turkmenistan prompted a switch to a Cyrillic alphabet and a Turkmen Cyrillic alphabet was created. When Turkmenistan became independent in 1991, President Saparmurat Niyazov immediately instigated a return to the Latin script.

In today's lesson, you will learn how to write the different letters of the Turkmen 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.

Note: Once you have mastered the alphabet and pronunciation, you can further enhance your Turkmen language skills by exploring our lessons on Turkmen Grammar - Pronouns and Verbs - Basic Verb Conjugation and understanding the rules of Stress in Turkmen pronunciation.

Turkmen Alphabet and IPA Pronunciation[edit | edit source]

The Turkmen alphabet is based on the Latin script, with a total of 29 letters. While some letters are similar to those in the English alphabet, there are additional letters with diacritical marks and unique characters.

Turkmen Latin Alphabet[edit | edit source]

Latin letter A a B b Ç ç D d E e Ä ä F f G g H h I i J j Ž ž K k L l M m N n Ň ň O o Ö ö P p R r S s Ş ş T t U u Ü ü W w Y y Ý ý Z z

Turkmen Cyrillic Alphabet[edit | edit source]

Cyrillic letter А а Б б Ч ч Д д Е е Ә ә Ф ф Г г Х х И и Җ җ Ж ж К к Л л М м Н н Ң ң О о Ө ө П п Р р С с Ш ш Т т У у Ү ү В в Ы ы Й й З з

Turkmen Arabic Alphabet[edit | edit source]

Arabic letter ا ب چ د اِ– ە أ ف غ - گ - ق ح - خ - هـ ای ج ژ ق - ك ل م ن نگ اوْ اؤ پ ر ث - س - ص ش ت - ط اوُ اۆ و ای ی ز - ذ - ض - ظ
IPA [a, aː] [b] [t͡ʃ] [d] [je], [e] [æ, æː] [ɸ] [ɡ~ʁ] [h~x] [i, iː] [d͡ʒ] [ʒ] [k~q] [l] [m] [n] [ŋ] [o, oː] [ø, øː] [p] [r] [θ, s] [ʃ] [t] [u, uː] [y, yː] [β] [ɯ, ɯː] [j] [ð, z]

Turkmen Pronunciation Rules[edit | edit source]

Now that you are familiar with the Turkmen alphabet, let's explore some key pronunciation rules that will help you improve your spoken Turkmen.

  1. Vowel harmony: One of the fundamental rules in Turkmen pronunciation is vowel harmony. This principle states that vowels within a word should belong to the same class, either front or back. Front vowels include e, ö, ü, and i, while back vowels are a, o, u, and ı. When adding suffixes to words, vowel harmony should be maintained. For example, when forming the plural of "kitap" (book), the suffix "-lar" is added, resulting in "kitaplar" because both "a" and "ı" are back vowels.
  2. Consonant devoicing: Some consonants in Turkmen become devoiced in certain environments. For instance, 'b,' 'g,' and 'd' become 'p,' 'k,' and 't,' respectively, when they appear at the end of a word. As a result, the word "kitab" (book) is pronounced as "kitap."
  3. Stress: In Turkmen, the primary stress is usually on the final syllable of a word. However, there are exceptions, particularly with loanwords and compound words. For example, in the word "telefon" (telephone), the stress falls on the first syllable.
  4. Gemination: Consonant gemination, or the doubling of consonants, is another feature of Turkmen pronunciation. When a suffix is added to a word, the initial consonant of the suffix is sometimes doubled. This happens when the last syllable of the base word ends in a vowel and has a heavy stress. For instance, in the word "jaý" (house), when the possessive suffix "-iň" is added, the word becomes "jaýyň" (your house), with the consonant "ň" doubled.
  5. The letter "ğ": In Turkmen, the letter "ğ" represents a voiced velar fricative, which has no direct equivalent in English. The sound is similar to the French "r" in "Paris" or the Spanish "j" in "jalapeño." To pronounce this sound, place the back of your tongue against your soft palate and produce a slight vibration as you exhale.

Turkmen Latin Alphabet: pronunciation equivalent in English[edit | edit source]

Vowels[edit | edit source]

The 9 vowels of Turkmen are represented by the following letters:

  • a When short, pronounced as the English a in the word ―father. In words with a long a, it is pronounced as a drawn-out English aa, as in ―bah (humbug).
  • ä When short, pronounced as the English a in ―ant. In words with a long a, it is pronounced as a drawn-out a as in ―man or ―lamp.
  • e When short, pronounced as the English e in ―pet. There is no long e in Turkmen.
  • y When short, pronounced similar to the English -possible. In words with a long y, it is pronounced approximately as a drawn out hee in ―wheel, but deep in the throat.
  • i When short, pronounced as the English i in ―middle. In words with a long i, it is pronounced approximately like ea in ―easy.
  • o When short, pronounced as the English a in ―all. In words with a long o, it is pronounced approximately as a drawn-out English o in ―board.
  • u When short, pronounced as English u in ―truth. In words with a long u, this sound is pronounced approximately as a drawn-out English ou in ―through.
  • ö Pronounced short, is close to ir in ―girl but with rounding the lips. In words with
  • a long o, it is pronounced with a longer duration than short o, as in the word learn.
  • ü Similar to u as English ―prune, but with more tightly rounded lips.

Consonants[edit | edit source]

The 21 Turkmen consonants are represented by the following letters:

  • p Pronounced as English p in ―pen.
  • t Pronounced as English t in ―ten.
  • k Pronounced as English k in ―keep when in words with the vowels ä, e, i, ö, ü but as English c in ―call when in words with the vowels a, y, o, u.
  • b Pronounced as English b in ―boy at the beginning of a word and similar to b in the Spanish word Cuba. After a P, it is pronounced P as in Spelling.
  • d Pronounced as English d in ―deep. After P or T, t in steep.
  • g Pronounced as English g in ―geese when in words with the vowels ä, e, i, ö, ü, but as a sound like the soft English G in Good in words with a, y, o, u. At the end of a word, between vowels, or before or after a consonant like g in Spanish word amigo.
  • m Pronounced as English m in ―meat.
  • n Pronounced as English n in the word nice.
  • ň Pronounced as English ng in ―sing.
  • l Pronounced as English l in ―look.
  • r Pronounced the same way as English r in ―rice, but with a trill.
  • s Pronounced as a hard English th in ―thing in Turkmen (including Arabic and Persian) words, but as English s in ―sun in words coming from Russian.
  • z Pronounced as a soft English th in ―the in Turkmen (including Arabic and Persian) words, but as English z in ―zoo in words coming from Russian.
  • ş Pronounced as English sh in ―share.
  • ç Pronounced as English ch in ―check.
  • ž Pronounced as English s in ―treasure in words from Russian.
  • j Pronounced as English j in ―juice.
  • h Pronounced as English h in ―hall in some words, but as a gutteral ch in English German―Bach in other Turkmen words.
  • f Pronounced as English f in ―four.
  • w Pronounced as English w in ―wagon in Turkmen (including Arabic and Persian) words, but as English v in ―very in words from Russian.
  • ý Pronounced as English y in ―yes.


Tips for Improving Your Turkmen Pronunciation[edit | edit source]

  1. Listen to native speakers: One of the best ways to improve your pronunciation is by listening to native speakers. Look for videos, podcasts, or radio stations that feature native Turkmen speakers, and pay a close attention to their pronunciation. Try to mimic their sounds, focusing on the rhythm, stress, and intonation of the language.
  2. Practice with minimal pairs: Minimal pairs are pairs of words that differ by only one sound. Practicing with minimal pairs can help you train your ear to differentiate between similar sounds in Turkmen. Examples of minimal pairs include "tap" (find) and "dap" (answer), "el" (hand) and "öl" (die), or "kül" (laugh) and "gül" (flower).
  3. Record yourself: Recording yourself speaking Turkmen can help you identify areas for improvement. Listen to the recording and compare your pronunciation to that of native speakers. This will allow you to identify any discrepancies and work on correcting them.
  4. Focus on challenging sounds: Some Turkmen sounds may be more difficult for you to pronounce, depending on your native language. Focus on mastering these challenging sounds, and practice them regularly. For example, if you struggle with the voiced velar fricative "ğ," try practicing words containing this sound, such as "ğalyň" (wide) or "ğarşy" (opposite).
  5. Learn tongue twisters: Tongue twisters are fun and effective ways to practice pronunciation. Try learning some Turkmen tongue twisters and reciting them regularly to improve your fluency and pronunciation. Here's an example of a Turkmen tongue twister: "Bir şäherde şatly şatyr saklaýar, şol şatly şatyrda şatly şatyr saklaýar" (In a city, a happy tent is being hidden, that happy tent hides a happy tent).
  6. Practice regularly: As with any language, regular practice is essential for improving your pronunciation. Dedicate time each day to practicing Turkmen, focusing on the areas you find most challenging. Consistency is key to making progress and achieving fluency.

Video - Turkmen Alphabet Pronunciation by a Native Speaker[edit | edit source]

TURKMEN ALPHABET | TÄZE NESIL[edit | edit source]

Turkmen Latin Alphabet[edit | edit source]

Turkmen Online Virtual Keyboard[edit | edit source]




Sources[edit | edit source]

Other Lessons[edit | edit source]

Contributors

136.57.7.180, Vincent, 68.249.183.167 and Maintenance script


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