Pronunciation

Once you learn a few basic rules, you'll find Turkish pronunciation quite simple to master.

Despite oddities such as the soft 'g' (g) and the undotted 'i' (I), it's a phonetically consistent language - there's

generally a clear one-letter/one-sound relationship.

It's important to remember that each letter is pronounced; vowels don't combine to form diphthongs and

constants don't combine to form other sounds (such as 'th', 'gh' or 'sh' in English). Watch out for this.

Your eye will keep seeing familiar English double-letter sounds in Turkish - where they don't exist.

It therefore follows that h in Turkish is always pronounced as a separate letter; in English, we're used to

pronouncing it only when it occurs before a vowel, but in Turkish it can appear in the middle or at the end

of a word as well.

Always pronounce it; your Turkish friend Ahmet is ahh-met' not 'aa-meht', and the word

rehber (guide) is pronounced 'rehh-behr' not 're-behr'.

A, a

As in 'art' or 'bar'

â

A faint 'y' sound in the preceding consonant

E, e

As in 'fell' or as the first vowel in 'ever'

I, i

A short 'i'. As in 'hit' or 'sit'

I, I

A neutral vowel; as the 'a' in 'ago'

O, o

Between the 'o' in 'hot' and the 'aw' in 'awe'

Ö, ö

As the 'e' in 'her' said with purse lips

U,u

As the 'oo' in 'moo'

U, ü

An exaggerated rounded-lip 'yoo'

C, c

As the 'j' in 'jet'

Ç, ç

As the 'ch' in 'church'

G, g

Always hard as in 'get' (not as in 'gentle')

H, h

Always pronounced; a weak 'h' as in 'half'

J, j

As the 'z' in azure

S, s

Always as in stress (not as in 'ease')

S, s

As the 'sh' in 'show'

V, v

Soft, almost like a 'w'

W, w

Same as Turkish 'v' (only found in foreign words)