Ch. 2 : Vowel Harmony The Eight Vowels of Turkish There are eight vowels in Turkish which are divided into two groups as follows: The A‑UnDotted Vowels A I O U The E‑Dotted Vowels E İ Ö Ü The vowels A and E Forming the Plural Either the Plural Suffix ‑ler or ‑lar is chosen to mirror the final vowel of its noun. All other suffixes will follow these Vowel Harmony rules. To form the plural we have a choice to add either ‑lar or ‑ler to the word: Plural of the A‑UnDotted Vowel Group Add ‑lar to words whose final vowel is any of the A‑UnDotted Vowels balta final vowel ‑a axe baltalar [balta‑lar] axes kapı final vowel ‑ı door kapılar [kapı‑lar] doors palto final vowel ‑o overcoat paltolar [palto‑lar] overcoats boncuk final vowel ‑u bead boncuklar [boncuk‑lar] beads The vowels in these Turkish words are all of the A‑UnDotted Group so the added Plural suffix ‑lar must also contain an A‑UnDotted Vowel. Plural of the E‑Dotted Vowel Group Add ‑ler to words whose final vowel is one of the E‑Dotted Vowels ev final vowel ‑e house evler [ev‑ler] houses kedi final vowel ‑i cat kediler [kedi‑ler] cats göz final vowel ‑ö eye gözler [göz‑ler] eyes ödül final vowel ‑ü present (gift) ödüller [ödül‑ler] presents The vowels in these Turkish words are all of the E‑Dotted Group so the added Plural suffix ‑ler must also contain an E‑Dotted Vowel. This echoing of the final vowel by the suffix is called Vowel Harmony. Some Exceptions In Formation of Words There are a very few exceptions to this rule where the suffix does not vowel harmonize: saat hour, clock saatler hours, clocks harf letter (of alphabet) harfler letters To form the word rol rôle in Turkish the suffix ‑ler is added to form its plural roller rôles. This is contrary to the general rule. Normally ‑lar would be added to rol, as it contains the UnDotted Vowel O. Words like rol also constitute exceptions when other suffixes are attached : Bu rolü almak istiyorum [rol‑ü NOT rol‑u] I want to take (on) the this rôle. Bu rolden çok bıktım [rol‑den NOT rol‑dan] I am really fed up with this rôle. ["‑den bıkmak" "to get fed up with"] Bu rolde bir sürü aksaklık var [rol‑de NOT rol‑da] There is something wrong in this rôle. Bu role hiç alışamadım [rol‑e NOT rol‑a] I could not get used to this rôle at all. ["‑e alışmak" "to get used to"] Some Other Exceptions Vaat Promise Vaatler Promises Vaadi Promise (obj.) Vaadin of the promise Vaade to the promise Vaatten from the promise Kalp Heart Kalpler Hearts Kalbi Heart (obj.) Kalbin of the heart Kalbe to the heart Kalpten from the heart Harf Letter (alpha.) Harfler Letters Harfi Letter (obj.) Harfin of the letter Harfe to the letter Harften from the letter There are imports from Arabic and other foreign languages which exhibit this irregularity. Vowel Harmony of Suffixes Words with their last vowel in the A‑UnDotted Group take ‑lar as their plural. This rule applies for all suffixes which contain ‑a‑ Those words with an E‑Dotted Group Vowel take ‑ler as their plural. This rule applies for all suffixes which contain ‑e‑ The common and important words in constant use in, on, at, from, to, with, etc. are suffixes in Turkish and are affixed to the word they modify. The Principle of Vowel Harmony must be taken into account. The Static Position (Locative) Suffix ‑da/‑de or ‑ta/‑te ‑in, on, at For words ending in an Unvoiced Consonant [p ç t k f h s ş], when adding a suffix beginning with a consonant then the suffix consonant "‑d" changes to its Unvoiced Form "‑t". See Ch. 3 Consonant Mutation This suffix shows concrete place (static location): Odadayım. [oda‑da‑yım] I am in the room. Ali bey, evdeymiş. [ev‑de‑ymiş] Ali bey is at home. kedide [kedi‑de] on the cat kedilerde [kedi‑ler‑de] on the cats girişte [giriş‑te] in/at the entrance girişlerde [giriş‑ler‑de] in/at the entrances evde [ev‑de] at the house, at home evlerde [ev‑ler‑de] at the houses köprüde [köprü‑de] on the bridge köprülerde [köprü‑ler‑de] on the bridges adamda [adam‑da] on the man adamlarda [adam‑lar‑da] on the men kapıda [kapı‑da] at the door kapılarda [kapı‑lar‑da] at/by the doors çıkışta [çıkış‑ta] in/at the exit çıkışlarda [çıkış‑lar‑da] in/at the exits odada [oda‑da] in the room odalarda [oda‑lar‑da] in the rooms Two suffixes have been used; ‑ler and ‑de or ‑lar and ‑da. They are tagged together to make a single word in Turkish. The suffix ‑dan/‑den or ‑tan/‑ten from, by, via, through For words ending in an Unvoiced Consonant [p ç t k f h s ş], when adding a suffix beginning with a consonant then the suffix consonant "‑d" changes to its Unvoiced Form "‑t". See Ch. 3 Consonant Mutation This is the Motion Away suffix: kediden [kedi‑den] from the cat kedilerden [kediler‑den] from the cats girişten [giriş‑ten] from/via the entrance girişlerden [giriş‑ler‑den] from/via the entrances evden [ev‑den] from home evlerden [evler‑den] from the houses köprüden [köprü‑den] from the bridge köprülerden [köprüler‑den] from the bridges adamdan [adam‑dan] from the man adamlardan [adamlar‑dan] from the men kapıdan [kapı‑dan] from the door kapılardan [kapılar‑dan] from the doors odadan [oda‑dan] from the room odalardan [odalar‑dan] from the rooms çıkıştan [çıkış‑tan] from/via the exit çıkışlardan [çıkış‑lar‑dan] from/via the exits Two suffixes ‑ler and ‑den or ‑lar and ‑dan have been used and tagged together to make a single word in Turkish. The suffix ‑(ya)/‑(y)e to, towards If the root word ends in a vowel then the buffer letter ‑y‑ is used to separate the suffix ‑e or ‑a This is the Motion Towards suffix: adama [adam‑a] to the man adamlara [adamlar‑a] to the men kediye [kedi‑ye] to the cat kedi cat ends in a vowel so "kedi‑y‑e" is used [kedi‑e] would be incorrect. kedilere [kediler‑e] to the cats eve [ev‑e] to home evlere [evler‑e] to the houses kapıya [kapı‑ya] to the door kapı door ends in a vowel so "kapı‑y‑a" is used [kapı‑a] would be incorrect kapılara [kapılar‑a] to the doors Examples which show the buffer ‑y‑ inserted köprüye [köprü‑ye] to the bridge köprülere [köprü‑ler‑e] to the bridges odaya [oda‑ya] to the room odalara [oda‑lar‑a] to the rooms The Buffer Letter ‑y‑ is used when the word ends in a vowel. Turkish does not like two vowels to be together. The Vowels I, İ and U, Ü The Front Produced (Dotted) Vowels are formed at the the front of the mouth similar to the French Language. The Back Produced (UnDotted) Vowels are produced nearer the throat as in English. The Four Forms of the Suffix ‑I‑ There are two different forms of I (İ) and two different forms of U (Ü) in Turkish.

1. The UnDotted Forms of I or U must follow the A‑UnDotted group A I O U
2. The Dotted Forms of İ or Ü must follow the E‑Dotted group E İ Ö Ü

The Principle of Vowel Harmony states that a suffix containing the letter a can have two forms either a or e. The the suffix ‑den from which is used with the E‑Dotted vowels and ‑dan, which is used with the A‑UnDotted vowels. Suffixes which contain a (generic) letter ‑i can have four forms. These are ‑i ‑ı ‑u ‑ü. For example the suffix ‑im my. Its own vowel, basically the ‑i‑ changes to any of ‑i ‑ı ‑u ‑ü to mirror the last vowel of the word to which it is suffixed. Similarly all other suffixes with an internal ‑i‑ vowel will follow these Vowel Harmony Rules ev house evim [ev‑im] my house evlerim [ev‑ler‑im] my houses raf shelf rafın [raf‑ın] your shelf rafların [raf‑lar‑ın] your shelves çit hedge çiti [çit‑i] his hedge çitleri

• çit‑ler‑i] his hedges

kız girl/daughter kızım [kız‑ım] my girl kızlarım [kız‑lar‑ım] my girls göz eye gözüm [göz‑üm] my eye gözlerim [göz‑ler‑im] my eyes yol road yolunuz [yol‑unuz] your road yollarınız [yol‑lar‑ınız] y our roads gün day günümüz [gün‑ümüz ] our day günlerimiz [gün‑ler‑imiz] our days okul school okulları [okul‑ları] their school(s) okulları [okul‑lar‑ı] his schools Choosing the correct vowel i ı u ü The suffix form ‑im my follows words whose last vowel is ‑e or ‑i: Harmonizing with final E‑Dotted Group Vowel ‑e in the root word: bilet ticket biletim [bilet‑im] my ticket Harmonising with final Dotted ‑i in the root word: diş tooth dişim [diş‑im] my tooth dişlerim [dişler‑im] my teeth The suffix ‑im must contain a dotted ‑i‑ as it follows a vowel from the E‑Dotted Group. This is also true of the plural form ‑ler The suffix ‑ım my follows words whose last vowel is ‑a or ‑ı Harmonizing with final A‑UnDotted Group Vowel ‑a in the root word: at horse atım [at‑ım] my horse atlarım [atlar‑ım] my horses Harmonizing with final UnDotted ‑ı in the root word: kız girl kızım [kız‑ım] my girl kızlarım [kızlar‑ım] my girls The suffix ‑ım must contain an UnDotted ‑ı‑ as it follows a vowel from the A‑dotted Group. This is also true of the plural form ‑lar The suffix ‑üm my follows words whose last vowel is ‑ö or ‑ü Harmonizing with final Dotted ‑ö in the root word: göz eye gözüm [göz‑üm] my eye gözlerim [gözler‑im] my eyes Harmonizing with final Dotted ‑ü in the root word: gül rose gülümv[gül‑üm] my rose güllerim [güller‑im] my roses The plurals gözlerim and güllerim take the ‑im suffix (not the ‑üm suffix as in the singular) as they immediately follow the final vowel ‑e of the plural ‑ler The suffix‑um my follows words whose last vowel is ‑o or ‑u Harmonizing with final UnDotted ‑o in the root word: jeton token, jeton jetonum [jeton‑um] my token, my jeton jetonlarım [jetonlar‑ım] my tokens, my jetons Harmonizing with final UnDotted ‑u in the root word: oyun game oyunum [oyun‑um] my game oyunlarım [oyunlar‑ım] my games The plurals jetonlarım and oyunlarım take the ‑ım suffix (not the ‑um suffix as in the singular) as they immediately follow the final vowel ‑a of the plural ‑lar The Complete Rules of Vowel Harmony Final Vowel is followed by Suffix Vowel UnDotted A I O U are followed by A Dotted E İ Ö Ü are followed by E UnDotted A or I are followed by I Dotted E or İ are followed by İ UnDotted O or U are followed by U Dotted Ö or Ü are followed by Ü   Ch. 3 : Consonant Mutation Consonant Mutation Changes in Spelling to reflect Changes in Pronunciation In Turkish the spelling of the words is changed when the pronunciation changes. Generally this does not happen in English. When the pronunciation changes the spelling does not usually change. English spelling is often changed when the pronunciation is the same so that we can recognize the correct meaning. A number of words show this: "meet vs meat, feet vs feat, right vs write, main vs mane, sea vs see", and many more. If English were written phonetically, the word "does" would be spelt "duz". Turkish however, being a phonetically written language will make changes in spelling due to pronunciation changes. This is for ease of speaking and is concerned with consonants which have voiced and unvoiced equivalents. About Voicing of Consonants A voiced consonant is one where the voice is used to produce the sound "(as Letter D)" and an unvoiced consonant is where the voice is silent and only air is expelled to produce the sound "(as Letter T)". In Turkish when a word ends in a consonant it is usually the Un‑Voiced Form. The word for letter is mektup, but my letter is mektubum. The terminal ‑p has changed to ‑b‑ when it appears between two vowels. This is because it is easier to pronounce in its Voiced form "b." In Turkish the spelling must reflect this change for the rules of phonetics to operate. Unvoiced and Voiced Equivalents Unvoiced p equivalent to Voiced b Unvoiced ç equivalent to Voiced c Unvoiced t equivalent to Voiced d Unvoiced k equivalent to Voiced ğ Unvoiced f no equivalent Unvoiced s no equivalent Unvoiced ş no equivalent Unvoiced h no equivalent The letters f s ş h do not have a voiced form, but they do affect the added suffix as they are considered as unvoiced consonants: raf shelf raftan [not "rafdan"] from the shelf nefis delicious nefistir [not "nefisdir"] it is (certainly) delicious sabah morning sabahtan [not "sabahdan"] from morning güneş sun güneşten [not "güneşden"] from the sun Words ending in an unvoiced consonant change to the voiced equivalent when a vowel is added: bilek wrist bileği [bileğ‑i] his wrist kitap book kitaba [kitab‑a] to the book kağıt paper kağıdın [kağıd‑ın] your paper Examples of Changes Words ending in unvoiced ‑K change to voiced ‑Ğ‑ when a suffixed vowel is added: köpek dog köpeğim [köpek + im] my dog bacak leg bacağın [bacak + ım] your leg topuk ankle topuğu [topuk + u] his ankle bilek wrist bileğimiz [bilek + imiz] our wrists gözlük spectacles gözlüğünüz [gözlük + ünüz] your spectacles durak bus stop durağa [durak + a] to the bus stop görecek will see göreceğim [görecek + im] I shall see yaptık we did yaptığımız [yaptık + ımız] that which we did bardak glass (tumbler) bardağı [bardak + ı] his glass The consonant change from unvoiced ‑k to voiced ‑ğ‑ when adding suffixes is the most widespread mainly because so many Turkish words end in a terminal ‑k A Special Case Exception (terminal ‑nk) Examples where terminal ‑nk changes to ‑ng when adding a vowel. If the word ends in ‑nk, the terminal ‑k changes directly to a unvoiced ‑g as it is totally impossible to utter the letter cluster ‑nğ plus an added vowel. denk bale, equation dengim [deng‑im] my bale ahenk harmony, accord ahengi [aheng‑i] its harmony kepenk shutter (on a shop front) kepenginiz [kepeng‑iniz] your shutter renk color rengimiz [reng‑imiz] our colour Other Consonant Changes Some of the other unvoiced consonants which change to their voiced form in similar fashion are as follows: ‑p changes to ‑b in front of suffixed vowels. ‑ç changes to ‑c in front of suffixed vowels. ‑t changes to ‑d in front of suffixed vowels, mainly in verb and tense suffixes. kitap book kitabın [kitab‑ın] your book öğüt advice öğüdüm [öğüd‑üm] my advice tat taste tadı [tad‑ı] its taste ilaç medicine ilacı [ilac‑ı] his medicine ağaç tree ağacın [ağac‑ın] the tree's Consonants Single Syllable Word Roots Single syllable words do not change their final unvoiced consonants in line with the general rule. Unvoiced Roots Single Syllable Words ak egg white akı the egg white/his egg white at horse atı the horse/his horse ek addition eki the addition/its addition et meat eti the meat/his, her, its meat göç migration göçü the migration ip rope ipi the rope kaç? how many? kaçıncı? which one? kök root kökü the root/its root ok arrow oku the arrow/his arrow ot grass otu the grass/its grass saç hair saçı the hair/his, her hair sap handle sapı the handle/its handle suç fault suçu the fault/his,her, its fault süt milk sütü the milk/his, her its milk üç three üçü the three/trio Voiced Roots (the exceptions) Single Syllable Words There are some exceptions to this rule where a single syllable word does take on its voiced form when adding a vowel suffix: but thigh budu the thigh/his,her,its thigh dip bottom/base dibi the bottom/the inside base/its bottom çok a lot/much/very çoğu the lot/his, her, its lot gök sky göğü the sky/its sky kap vessel (utensil) kabı the vessel/his vessel kurt worm/wolf kurdu the worm, the wolf/his wolf uç point/tip/end ucu he point/his, her, its point yok none yoğu nıl yurt tent, village yurdu the tent, the village Terminal Consonant Rules Words cannot end with the voiced consonants b c d g. Words must end in the equivalent unvoiced forms p ç t k in order to finish the pronunciation without continuity thus helping the listener to determine word breaks in conversation