Intro to the Turkish Alphabet Leave a Comment / Language, Pronunciation / By Turkish Textbook Mark as completed Log in or register to save completed lessons. Overview: Turkish Letters The Turkish alphabet has 29 letters, including many that sound familiar to English speakers. Here’s how each one sounds. Example Explanation A a https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_araba.mp3 Araba (car) Usually* sounds like the “a” in “calm” B b https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_baba.mp3 Baba (father) Sounds like the “b” in “bat” C c https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_can.mp3 Can (soul) Sounds like the “j” in “John” Ç ç https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_cok.mp3 Çok (very / a lot) Sounds like the “ch” in “chat” D d https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_dede.mp3 Dede (grandpa) Sounds like the “d” in “dad” E e https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_ekmek.mp3 Ekmek (bread) Sounds like the “e” in “net” or the “ay” in “may” F f https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_fil.mp3 Fil (elephant) Sounds like the “f” in “far” G g https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_gaga.mp3 Gaga (beak) Sounds like the “g” in “go” or the “gy” sound in “argue” Ğ ğ https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_yag.mp3 Yağ (oil) Usually* makes a vowel longer H h https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_horoz.mp3 Horoz (rooster) Sounds like the “h” in “he” or “hot” I ı https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_isik.mp3 Işık (light) This sound is not in English, but it is close to the “oo” in “wood” İ i https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_iliski.mp3 İlişki (relationship) Sounds like the “ee” in “meet” or the “i” in “sit” J j https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_jet.mp3 Jet (jet) Sounds like the “s” in “measure” K k https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_kek.mp3 Kek (cake) Sounds like the “k” in “make” or the “ky” sound in “cute” L l https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_lavabo.mp3 Lavabo (sink) Usually* sounds like the “l” in “lake” M m https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_mama.mp3 Mama (baby food) Sounds like the “m” in “man” N n https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_nene.mp3 Nene (grandma) Sounds like the “e” in “net” or the “ay” in “may” O o https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_on.mp3 On (ten) Sounds like the “o” in “cone” Ö ö https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_on-1.mp3 Ön (front) There is no sound like this in English., but it is similar to the German ö. P p https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_patates.mp3 Patates (potato) Sounds like the “p” in “pop” R r https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_renk.mp3 Renk (color) Usually* sounds like the “t” sound that some English speakers make in “water” S s https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_sen.mp3 Sen (you) Sounds like the “s” in “sand” Ş ş https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_sise.mp3 Şişe (bottle) Sounds like the “sh” in “she” T t https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_tat.mp3 Tat (taste) Sounds like the “t” in “ton” U u https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_un.mp3 Un (flour) Sounds like the “oo” in “boot” Ü ü https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_urun.mp3 Ürün (product) There is no sound like this in English, but it is close to the “ue” in “cue.” V v https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_var.mp3 Var (there is/are) Usually* makes a sound between the “v” and “w” in English Y y https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_yaya.mp3 Yaya (pedestrian) Sounds like the “y” in “yes” Z z https://www.turkishtextbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/pronunciation_tr_zor.mp3 Zor (difficult) Usually* sounds like the “z” in “zoo” *The Turkish alphabet is phonetic, meaning the letters usually make only one sound each. But there are a lot of exceptions to this general rule. Audio recordings courtesy of Forvo.com This lesson is a prerequisite for:Vowel harmony-larI-type vowel harmonyE-type vowel harmonyExceptionsThe 1000+ most common words in TurkishThe most common words for language learnersPDF and Excel downloadsPronounsben, sen, o, biz, siz, onlarbu, şu, oComprehensive Pronunciation GuidePronunciation guidePronunciation exceptionsAdding word endings Agglutination Mark as completed