Turkish alphabet pronunciation: every letter, with its sound and an example

All 29 letters, with pronunciation

Letters are listed in dictionary order. Note that ı (dotless) comes before i (dotted), and ğ comes right after g. Each capital is shown first: the capital of i is İ and the capital of ı is I.

The last column respells each example the way an English reader would sound it out: ur stands for ö without the r sound, and ew for ü. The play buttons appear only if your browser has a Turkish voice installed on your device; nothing is sent to a server.

The letters that trip learners

Why do Turks pronounce C as J? They do not mix anything up: in Turkish the letter c is simply the spelling of the sound English writes with j, as in “jam”. cam is read “jahm”. The Turkish letter j is a different, rarer sound, the one in the middle of “measure”, and it appears mostly in loanwords such as jüri.

c versus ç. c is /dʒ/ (“j” in “jam”); ç is /tʃ/ (“ch” in “chair”). cay and çay are different spellings, and çay (“tea”) is the one you want.

How is the Turkish ğ pronounced? ğ (“yumuşak ge”, soft g) is never a g and never starts a word. After a back vowel (a, ı, o, u) it is silent and lengthens the vowel: dağ (“mountain”) sounds like “daa”. Between front vowels (e, i, ö, ü) you often hear a light y: değil (“not”) sounds close to “deyil”.

The dotted and dotless i. Turkish has two different letters here, each with its own capital: i → İ and ı → I. They are never interchangeable: kır means “countryside” and kir means “dirt”. Keyboards and software that fold i to I corrupt Turkish words.

ö, ü and ş. ö and ü are the rounded counterparts of e and i: shape your lips for “o” or “oo” and say “e” or “ee”. ş is the “sh” of “ship”.

r, v, y and h. r is a single quick tap, never the English or French r. v is a lighter v. y is the English y in “yes”. h is always pronounced, even at the end of a word.

The eight vowels

Turkish has eight vowels, arranged on three yes-or-no choices: front or back, rounded or unrounded lips, mouth closed (high) or open (low).

These choices decide which vowel every suffix takes: ev-de (“in the house”) but okul-da (“at school”). The rule is called vowel harmony.

Where the stress falls

In most Turkish words the stress is on the last syllable, and it stays at the end when you add suffixes: kitap is “kee-TAHP”, kitaplar is “kee-tahp-LAHR”.

The regular exceptions: most place names are stressed before the last syllable (Ankara is “AN-ka-ra”, İzmir is “İZ-mir”); many loanwords keep a stress from another language (lokanta is “lo-KAN-ta”); and a few suffixes, such as the negative -mA, put the stress on the syllable just before them. The question particle mi is never stressed itself.

Reading a whole word

Every vowel makes one syllable, so you can split a word by counting its vowels: ka-lem, ki-tap-lar. Read each syllable with the sounds above, with no silent letters except ğ.

In loanwords from Arabic and Persian you may see â, î or û. The circumflex marks a long vowel or, after k, g and l, a softened consonant: hâlâ “still” has two long vowels, while in kâğıt “paper” the â softens the k. They are not separate letters, and everyday writing often leaves them out.

Suffixes on proper names are joined with an apostrophe: İstanbul’da (“in Istanbul”), Ayşe’nin (“Ayşe’s”).

Typing Turkish letters

Add the Turkish keyboard to type ç ğ ı ö ş ü İ directly: on iPhone under Settings, General, Keyboard, Keyboards; on Mac under System Settings, Keyboard, Input Sources; on Windows under Settings, Time & language, Language & region. Pick the standard “Turkish (Q)” layout.

Do not substitute plain letters in running text, because kır and kir are different words. In the Ekle app, search ignores diacritics, so typing cay still finds çay.

Turkish alphabet and pronunciation: common questions

How many letters are in the Turkish alphabet?

29 letters: 8 vowels (a e ı i o ö u ü) and 21 consonants. Compared with the English alphabet, Turkish adds six letters (ç ğ ı ö ş ü) and does not use q, w or x.

Is Turkish pronounced the way it is written?

Almost entirely. Each letter has one main sound and the only silent letter is ğ, so you can read a new word aloud from its spelling. The main exceptions are ğ, which lengthens the vowel before it, and the circumflex vowels in loanwords.

Why do Turks pronounce C as J?

In Turkish the letter c stands for the sound English spells with j (/dʒ/, as in “jam”). Turkish does not use c for the sounds of “k” or “s” as English does. The Turkish j is a different sound, like the s in “measure”.

How is the Turkish ğ pronounced?

It is never pronounced as a g. After a back vowel it is silent and lengthens the vowel (dağ sounds like “daa”); between front vowels it often sounds like a light y (değil sounds close to “deyil”). It never begins a word.

What is the difference between ı and i?

i is the “ee” sound, with a dot, and its capital is İ. ı is a different vowel, an unrounded “u” with no English equivalent, written without a dot; its capital is I. Swapping them changes the word: kır is “countryside”, kir is “dirt”.

Where is the stress in Turkish words?

Usually on the last syllable, also after suffixes. Most place names, many loanwords and words with a few suffixes such as the negative -mA are stressed earlier.

How can I hear how a Turkish word is pronounced?

On this page, press a play button if your browser has a Turkish voice; it plays on your device. For any other word, look it up in Ekle: the iPhone app speaks any entry in its dictionary, and any form you look up, with the iPhone’s Turkish voice, offline.