Pronunciation
Turkish is a phonetic language: you pronounce every letter you see in a word. There are a few unique characters in the language, however, and its important to learn these before you attempt to sound out a word.
- ҫ – pronounced with a “ch” sound.
- c – pronounced like the “dg” sound in edge.
- ş – pronounced with an “sh” sound.
- ö – like the German oe, as in Goethe.
- ü – like the “u” sound in über
- ı – Turkish has a dotted i (which has a long e sound) and an undotted ı which has an “uh” sound like the “e” sound in the
- ğ – the soft g is unlike anything in English. A word never starts with a ğ, it is only used to lengthen the vowel sound that precedes it. So ağaç (tree) is pronounced “ah-ach”
Also note that there is no q, w, or x in Turkish but you will still sometimes see these characters used in foreign words (as in the universal sign for restrooms, W.C.)
Useful Turkish words and phrases
- Merhaba – Hello
- Günaydın – Good morning
- Lütfen – Please
- Iyi günler – Good day (this is a good one to use when you are leaving a shop or restaurant, substitutes for goodbye)
- Iyi geceler – good night
- Güle güle – good bye
- Görüşürüz – see you soon
- Teşekkürler – thank you (note there are several ways to say thank you in Turkish – I think this is the easiest for English-speakers to pronounce)
- Evet – yes
- Hayir – no
- Yok – also means no or can mean to not have something
- Nerede? – Where? To ask where something is add nerede after what you are asking about (Aya Sofya nerede?)
- Ne kadar? – How much?
- Ne zaman? – When?
- Saat kaҫ? – What time is it?
- Imdat! – Help / emergency
- Afedersiniz – excuse me. Pardon also conveys the same thing.
Food Words
Personally, I think the names of foods are the most important words to learn in any language! Below are a few essentials:
- Su – Water
- Ekmek – Bread
- Et – Meat
- Tavuk – Chicken (Piliҫ also means chicken)
- Balık – Fish
- Pilav – Rice
- Meze – Appetizer
- Salata – Salad
- Peynir – Cheese
- Tuz – Salt
- Biber – Pepper
- Kahve – Coffee
- Çay – Tea
- Şeker – Sugar
- Süt – Milk
- Bira – Beer
- Şarap – Wine (kırmızı = red; beyaz=white)
Numbers
Numbers scale in a very straightforward manner in Turkish. Eleven is “ten-one” (on-bir), fifteen is “ten-five” (on-beş) and so on. 1254 is “bin-iki-yuz-eli-dört.”
- 1: Bir
- 2: Iki
- 3: Üҫ
- 4: Dört
- 5: Beş
- 6: Altı
- 7: Yedi
- 8: Sekiz
- 9: Dokuz
- 10: On
- 20: Yirmi
- 30: Otuz
- 40: Kirk
- 50: Eli
- 60: Altmiş
- 70: Yetmiş
- 80: Seksen
- 90: Doksan
- 100: Yuz
- 1000: Bin