Turkish phrasebook

Table of Contents:
Grammar / Pronunciation guide / Vowels / Consonants / Common diphthongs / Phrase list / Basics / Problems / Numbers / Time / Clock time / Duration / Days .28G.C3.BCnler.29 / Months / Writing time and date / Colors / Transportation / Bus and train / Directions / Taxi / Lodging / Money / Eating / Turkish phrasebook nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs. / Shopping / Driving / Authority / Learning more

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Turkish (Türkçe) is the most widely-spoken of the Turkic languages and is the official language of the Republic of Turkey - as well as being the most useful language in Turkish-ruled northern Cyprus. Outside of Turkey itself, knowledge of Turkish is helpful in several neighbouring countries including Azerbaijan. While the Central Asian "stans" speak Turkic languages, the similarities between Kazakh and Turkish (for example) are only very rudimentary. Turkish is a fairly difficult language to learn and speak, due to its complicated, mathematical vowel-harmonied grammar.

Grammar

Unlike many languages, Turkish forms words by a process known as "agglutination", where prefixes and suffixes are attached to words to mark different parts of speech and so on. Thus, an English phrase such as "I am an Australian" is rendered in Turkish with the one word "Avustralya'lıyım - Avustralya-lı-y-ım".

Pronunciation guide

Turkish pronunciation looks daunting to non-native speakers, as many of the words are very long and look like tongue-twisters. With a bit of practice, however, it becomes much easier.

Vowels

The Turkish vowels are

A - a short sound, as in the English car
E - a short sound, as in the English pet
İ - the sound in the English hit and at the beginning of İstanbul
I - a "neutral" sound with no real equivalent in English. The closest sound is the "uh" which replaces the "e" in the second syllable of open
O - as in the English order
Ö - pronounced as in German, a blend of "o" and "e"
U - short as in the English put
Ü - pronounced as in German, a blend of "u" and "e"

Remember that, in lower case, the two letters İ and I look different as well. The lower case form of İ is i, while the lower case form of I is ı.

Consonants

B - as in bed
C - pronounced as the initial letter in the English jump
Ç - the "ch" sound in the English chapel
D - as in drum
F - as in far
G - as in girl
Ğ - a silent letter, which serves to lengthen the previous vowel
H - as in hello
J - pronounced as in the French name Jean
K - as in king
L - as in love
M - as in man
N - as in new
P - as in print
R - as in run
S - as in snake
Ş - the "sh" sound in the English shake
T - as in take
V - roughly the mid-point between the "v" in very and the "w" in was
Y - as in yet
Z - as in zoo'

Common diphthongs

Phrase list

Basics

Problems

Numbers

Time

Clock time

Duration

Days (Günler)

Months

Writing time and date

Colors

Transportation

Bus and train

Directions

Taxi

Lodging

Money

Eating