Turkish Alphabet & Sounds
The Turkish alphabet is a Latin-based script consisting of 29 letters, adopted in 1928. The alphabet is designed to represent the phonemes of the Turkish language accurately, making Turkish a highly phonetic language where words are typically pronounced as they are spelled.
Vowels (8 letters)
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A: Pronounced /a/ as in "father"
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E: Pronounced /e/ as in "bed"
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I: Pronounced /ɯ/ as in "ill" but unrounded and closer to "u" in "cut"
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Ä°: Pronounced /i/ as in "machine"
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O: Pronounced /o/ as in "more"
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Ö: Pronounced /ø/ as in "her" (rounded, similar to German "ö")
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U: Pronounced /u/ as in "moon"
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Ü: Pronounced /y/ as in "feud" (rounded, similar to German "ü")
a
e
ı
i
o
ö
u
ü
Consonants (21 letters)
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B: Pronounced /b/ as in "baby"
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C: Pronounced /dÊ’/ as in "jump"
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Ç: Pronounced /tʃ/ as in "chop"
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D: Pronounced /d/ as in "dad"
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F: Pronounced /f/ as in "fun"
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G: Pronounced /É¡/ as in "go"
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Äž: Pronounced as a lengthening of the preceding vowel, silent
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H: Pronounced /h/ as in "he"
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J: Pronounced /Ê’/ as in "measure"
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K: Pronounced /k/ as in "king"
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L: Pronounced /l/ as in "lamp"
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M: Pronounced /m/ as in "man"
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N: Pronounced /n/ as in "net"
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P: Pronounced /p/ as in "pen"
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R: Pronounced /r/ as in "rain"
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S: Pronounced /s/ as in "sit"
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Ş: Pronounced /ʃ/ as in "she"
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T: Pronounced /t/ as in "tea"
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V: Pronounced /v/ as in "very"
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Y: Pronounced /j/ as in "yellow"
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Z: Pronounced /z/ as in "zoo"
b
c
ç
d
f
g
ÄŸ
h
j
k
l
m
n
p
r
s
ÅŸ
t
v
y
z
Things to remember
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The letter "ÄŸ" (soft g): Only appears in the middle or the end of the word.
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The letter "e": Can have different variations depending on the consonant that follows it.
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The letter "r": Can have a tiny "whistle" sound when it appears at the end of a word. And most Turkish native speakers are not aware of it.
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The letter "h": Is sometimes omitted in particular words such as "Merhaba."
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Some vowels in Turkish can be omitted in spoken language, such as:
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"orada" > "orda"
"nerede" > "nerde"
"gazete" > "gaste"
"dakika" > "dakka"
​
-
The letter "c": Pronounced like the English "j" in "jam."
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The letter "j": Glides unlike the letter "c". They are different.
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The letter "ç": Pronounced like the English "ch" in "chocolate."
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The letter "ÅŸ": Pronounced like the English "sh" in "shoe."
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The letter "ö" and "ü": Similar to the German "ö" and "ü," requiring rounded lips.
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‘ü’ can be produced by preparing to make an ‘i’ sound (a shorter form of the vowel sound in the English word beat) and then rounding the lips.
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‘ö’ can be produced by preparing to make an ‘e’ sound (the vowel sound in the English word den) and then rounding the lips.
Here is a link that will help you see the mouth shapes while we pronounce the vowels in Turkish.
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