Help:IPA/Turkish

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Turkish on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Turkish in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.

For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Turkish language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

For a more in-depth coverage of the sounds of Turkish, see Turkish phonology.

Consonants
IPA	Example	English approximation
b	bebek^ⓘ	about
β	vücut^ⓘ^[1]	like vase, but with both lips
c	şekil^ⓘ^[2]	skew
d	madde^ⓘ	ado
dʒ	ocak^ⓘ	jump
f	far^ⓘ	food
ɡ	gam^ⓘ^[2]	ago
ɟ	gerçek^ⓘ^[2]	argue
h	anahtar^ⓘ	home
j	hayat^ⓘ	yes
k	kabak^ⓘ^[2]	core
l	bilinç^ⓘ^[3]	late
ɫ	kulak^ⓘ^[2]	tail
m	cuma^ⓘ	much
n	nesne^ⓘ	not
ɲ	engin^ⓘ^[4]	canyon
ŋ	yangın^ⓘ^[5]	wing
p	pazar^ⓘ	pan
ɾ	anahtarlar^ⓘ	AmE atom
s	sinek^ⓘ	send
ʃ	kişi^ⓘ	shoe
t	Türkçe^ⓘ	table
tʃ	çivi^ⓘ	change
v	çivi^ⓘ^[1]	vase
z	pazar^ⓘ	zone
ʒ	jilet^ⓘ	leisure

Vowels
IPA	Example	English approximation
a	kabak^ⓘ	father
æ	erkek^ⓘ^[6]	cat
e	erkek^ⓘ	bed
i	çivi^ⓘ	creek
o	tokmak^ⓘ	story
œ	özgürlük^ⓘ	somewhat like bird
u	ruh^ⓘ	cool
ɯ	kış^ⓘ	somewhat like ribbon
y	Türkçe^ⓘ	somewhat like cue

Suprasegmentals
IPA	Examples
ˈ	torbalı [toɾbaˈɫɯ] 'with bag' Torbalı [ˈtoɾbaɫɯ] (a place name)^[7]
ː	â, î, û,^[8] ğ^[9]	oğlan [oːˈɫan]^ⓘ 'boy'

Notes

^ ^a ^b /v/ surfaces as [β] when either preceded or followed by a rounded vowel (but not when intervocalic).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e [c~k], [ɟ~ɡ], and [l~ɫ] contrast only in loanwords before ⟨â, û⟩ vs. ⟨a, u⟩. In native words, [c, ɟ, l] occur before front vowels ([æ, e, i, œ, y]) and [k, ɡ, ɫ] occur before back vowels ([a, o, u, ɯ]); word-finally or preconsonantally, [c, ɟ, l] occur after front vowels and [k, ɡ, ɫ] occur after back vowels.
^ [l] is more accurately described as palatalized postalveolar [ʎ̟], but it is conventionally transcribed with ⟨l⟩.
^ [ɲ] appears as an allophone of /n/ before the consonants [ɟ] and [c].
^ [ŋ] appears as an allophone of /n/ before the consonants [ɡ] and [k].
^ Allophone of /e/ before sonorants [l, m, n, ɾ] in the same syllable, and in the suffix -mez.
^ Native Turkish proper nouns are typically stressed on one of the last three syllables, and other words (excepting some words, certain unstressed suffixes and stressed verb tenses) are stressed on the last syllable (see Turkish phonology § Word-accent).
^ Düzeltme işareti (Turkish for "correction mark") ⟨ˆ⟩ is a sign which indicates both the vowel length and indicates if the letter ⟨k⟩ represents [c], the letter ⟨g⟩ represents [ɟ] or the letter ⟨l⟩ represents [l] before back vowels [a] and [u].
Yet the düzeltme işareti is used primarily to indicate palatalization, instead of length. For example, the word katil means "murder" when it is pronounced as [kaˈtil], but it means "killer" when it is pronounced as [kaːˈtil]. The letter ⟨a⟩ is left unmarked even if it is long because the sound /k/ does not become /c/ in this case.
⟨î⟩ is an exception, as it indicates only the vowel length.
^
In Turkish, the letter ⟨ğ⟩ (also called yumuşak g, 'soft g') indicates a number of different sounds, depending on context:
- in syllable-initial positions, is silent and indicates a syllable break, for example: ağır ('heavy') [aˈɯɾ], ağa ('Agha') [aˈa].
- in other positions, indicates the lengthening of the preceding vowel, for example: dağ ('mountain') [daː], doğru ('true') [doːɾu].
  - if the lengthened vowel is /e/, it sounds like [j], for example: eğlence ('fun') [ejlænˈdʒe]
- in proper names where it may appear following a consonant, it is treated as a ⟨g⟩, for example: Olğun [oɫˈɡun]

[v-1] /v/ surfaces as [β] when either preceded or followed by a rounded vowel (but not when intervocalic).

[velar-2] [c~k], [ɟ~ɡ], and [l~ɫ] contrast only in loanwords before ⟨â, û⟩ vs. ⟨a, u⟩. In native words, [c, ɟ, l] occur before front vowels ([æ, e, i, œ, y]) and [k, ɡ, ɫ] occur before back vowels ([a, o, u, ɯ]); word-finally or preconsonantally, [c, ɟ, l] occur after front vowels and [k, ɡ, ɫ] occur after back vowels.

[3] [l] is more accurately described as palatalized postalveolar [ʎ̟], but it is conventionally transcribed with ⟨l⟩.

[ny-4] [ɲ] appears as an allophone of /n/ before the consonants [ɟ] and [c].

[ng-5] [ŋ] appears as an allophone of /n/ before the consonants [ɡ] and [k].

[6] Allophone of /e/ before sonorants [l, m, n, ɾ] in the same syllable, and in the suffix -mez.

[7] Native Turkish proper nouns are typically stressed on one of the last three syllables, and other words (excepting some words, certain unstressed suffixes and stressed verb tenses) are stressed on the last syllable (see Turkish phonology § Word-accent).

[sapka-8] Düzeltme işareti (Turkish for "correction mark") ⟨ˆ⟩ is a sign which indicates both the vowel length and indicates if the letter ⟨k⟩ represents [c], the letter ⟨g⟩ represents [ɟ] or the letter ⟨l⟩ represents [l] before back vowels [a] and [u].
Yet the düzeltme işareti is used primarily to indicate palatalization, instead of length. For example, the word katil means "murder" when it is pronounced as [kaˈtil], but it means "killer" when it is pronounced as [kaːˈtil]. The letter ⟨a⟩ is left unmarked even if it is long because the sound /k/ does not become /c/ in this case.
⟨î⟩ is an exception, as it indicates only the vowel length.

[soft_g-9] In Turkish, the letter ⟨ğ⟩ (also called yumuşak g, 'soft g') indicates a number of different sounds, depending on context:
in syllable-initial positions, is silent and indicates a syllable break, for example: ağır ('heavy') [aˈɯɾ], ağa ('Agha') [aˈa].

in other positions, indicates the lengthening of the preceding vowel, for example: dağ ('mountain') [daː], doğru ('true') [doːɾu].
if the lengthened vowel is /e/, it sounds like [j], for example: eğlence ('fun') [ejlænˈdʒe]

in proper names where it may appear following a consonant, it is treated as a ⟨g⟩, for example: Olğun [oɫˈɡun]

[10] syllable-initial positions, is silent and indicates a syllable break, for example: ağır ('heavy') [aˈɯɾ], ağa ('Agha') [aˈa].

[11] ther positions, indicates the lengthening of the preceding vowel, for example: dağ ('mountain') [daː], doğru ('true') [doːɾu].
if the lengthened vowel is /e/, it sounds like [j], for example: eğlence ('fun') [ejlænˈdʒe]

[12] the lengthened vowel is /e/, it sounds like [j], for example: eğlence ('fun') [ejlænˈdʒe]

[13] roper names where it may appear following a consonant, it is treated as a ⟨g⟩, for example: Olğun [oɫˈɡun]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

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Comparisons	IPA conventions for English English dialects Wikipedia pronunciation respelling Other English pronunciation respellings
Introductory guides	Symbols For English speakers Manual of Style: Pronunciation

See also

Notes