Lesson 10, Vowel Harmony

Vowel Harmony
Vowel harmony in Turkish can be defined as the tendency for vowels in a word to be similar to the first vowel in that word.
A vowel may be classified according to the shape and position of the organs of speech when making that particular sound. Turkish vowels are classified as follows:
Unrounded
rounded
low
     a
      ı
       o
       u
high
     e
      i
       ö
       ü
Front vowels are pronounced with the middle of the tongue raised towards the highest part of the palate.
Back vowels are pronounced with the back of the tongue raised towards the soft back part of the palate.
Rounded vowels are produced with rounded, protruded lips.
Unrounded vowels are produced with spread lips touching the front teeth.
High vowels are produced with the tongue closer to the palate, and the opening of the mouth is narrower than for low vowels
Low vowels are produced with the tongue in a lower position and the chin dropped lower than for high vowels.
Vowel harmony results from the natural tendency towards minimizing the effort required to pronounce a word. Since to change from, say, an “a” sound to an “ı” sound requires less movement  from the organs of speech than to change from “a” to “ü”, it is common for “a” to be followed by “ı” but rare for “a” to be followed by “ü”
If the first vowel in a word is high the following vowels will also be high. If it is low the rest of the vowels in the same word will also be low. That is, all the vowels in a word agree. Some borrowed words break this rule.
Suffixes are also based on vowel harmony rule. Usually  the last vowel in the word determines the vowel in the suffix. That is, if the last vowel in a word is high the vowel in the suffix will also be high. If the last vowel in a word is low the vowel in the suffix will also be low.
High vowels ( e – i – ö –ü ) harmony: if the first vowel in a word is one of these high vowels the following vowels will also be one of these high vowels as in examples below:
                E                                                                   İ
evet                   -   yes                                                                      isim                  -  name
gece                 -   night                                                                    serin                 -  serine
kedi                   -   cat                                                                       ince                  -  thin
pencere            -   window                                                              merdiven         -  ladder
ekmek              -   bread                                                                  bilgi                   -  information                                
defter                -   notebook                                                            iki                     -  two
            Ö                                                                   Ü
kötü             -  bad                                                                           ütü                 -  iron
köpek          -  dog                                                                          çünkü            -  because
köprü           -  bridge                                                                      küçük           -  small
gözlük         -  eye-glasses                                                            ülke               -  country
öğrenci        -  student                                                                    ümit              -  hope
Low vowels ( a – ı – o – u ) harmony:
if the first vowel in a word is one of these low vowels the following vowels will also be one of these low vowels as in examples below:
            A                                                                     I
masa         -  table                                                                           kırmızı            -  red 
kadın        -  woman                                                                        kısa               -  short
hava         -  weather                                                                      ıslak               -  wet
kapı          -  door                                                                             kalın              -  thick
banyo       -  bathroom / bath                                                        hafıza            -  memory
            O                                                                                  U
çorba           -  soup                                                                            uzak         -  far     
okul              -  school                                                                         dokuz       -  nine
çocuk           -  child                                                                            uçak         -  plane
oda              -  room                                                                           duvar        -  wall
oyuncak      -  toy                                                                               armut       -  pear

Lesson 9,House and furniture

English	Turkish
House --- Ev
door	kapı
room	oda
front door	ön kapı
back door	arka kapı
window	pencere
kitchen	mutfak
bedroom	yatak odası
dining room	yemek odası
living room	oturma odası
chıldren's room	çocuk odası
bathroom	banyo
toilet	tuvalet
balcony	balkon
corridor	koridor
garden	bahçe
basement	bodrum
ground floor	zemin kat
garage	garaj
terrace	teras
yard	avlu
upper floor/story	üst kat
loft	tavan arası
cellar	kiler
stairs	merdiven
step	basamak
lift, elevator	asansör
wall	duvar
roof	çatı
fireplace	şömine
Furniture --- Eşyalar
table	masa
bookcase	kitaplık
chair	sandalye
wardrobe	gardrop
shelf	raf
armchair	koltuk
sofa	koltuk - kanepe
shower	duş
trash bin	çöp kutusu
ashtray	kül tablası
bathtub	küvet
door mat	paspas
tap	musluk
heating	kalorifer
candle	mum
key	anahtar
lamp	lamba
frame	çerçeve
socket	priz
plug	fiş
mirror	ayna
door bell	kapı zili
radio	radyo
television	televizyon
computer	bilgisayar
pan	tava
glass	bardak
bottle	şişe
plate	tabak
spoon	kaşık
fork	çatal

Lesson 8, Colors

These are some basic Turkish words for colors

Black	kara
Black as can be	kapkara
White	beyaz
white as can be	bembeyaz
Red	kırmızı
red as can be	kıpkırmızı
Blue	mavi
blue as can be	masmavi
pink	pembe
pink as can be	pespembe
purple	mor
purple as can be	mosmor
green	yeşil
green as can be	yemyeşil
brown	kahverengi
grey	gri
yellow	sarı
orange	turuncu
color	renk
dark	koyu
light	açık
naked	çıplak
stark naked	çırılçıplak

The question for asking colors is constructed similar to the way it's done in English:
    Eng: What color is XXX?
    Tr: XXX ne renk? (Here, ne is what and renk is color)
The answer is also simple:
    Eng: XXX is red.
    Tr: XXX kırmızı.
However, note the difference in word ordering when you want to add a color (or any adjective) to an indefinite noun.
    Eng: A red XXX.
    Tr: Kırmızı bir XXX. (Not 'Bir kırmızı XXX')
Now, try to understand the following sentences.
    - Bu araba açık mavi.
    - Evim koyu kırmızı.
    - Gözlerin ne renk?
    - Beyaz bir gömlek aldım.

Lesson 7, Asking??

NE? / KİM? (what / who)

- BU / ŞU / O NE? (What is this hat (nearby) hat(further away)?)

- Bu bir kitap.>> This is a Book.

- Şu bisiklet. >> This is a bicycle.

- Elma. >> Apple.

- BU / ŞU / O KİM? (Who is this?)

- Bu Susan. >> This is Susan.

- Şu bir doktor. >> that is a Doctor.

- Ahmet.

AD-SIFAT MI/Mi/MU/MÜ?

- BU/ŞU/O ............... MI?

- EVET, ................. .

- HAYIR, ............... DEĞİL.

A-I: I O-U: U E-i:i Ö-Ü: Ü

* This 4 group of vowels** are one of the main harmony rule groups which we will seeing future many times. You should remember this 4 groups.

So our question ending "MI" changes up to our harmony rule above:

a-ı: MI o-u: MU e-i: Mİ ö-ü:MÜ

This means you need to check your noun´s or adjective ´s last vowel and find out which group it belongs, then choose your question ending according to this vowel.

Örnek (example):

- Bu kitAp mI?                                                         - İstanbul güzel mi?

- Evet (kitap).

- Hayır, kitap değil.

- Şu doktOr mU?                                                       - Film kötü mÜ

* BE AWARE! Question ending "mi, mı, mu, mü" always written seperately from the word!

**

Türkçe´de 8 sesli harf vardır ve 2 temel gruba ayrılırlar:

- Kalın sesli harfler: a, ı, o, u

- ince sesli harfler: e, i, ö, ü

Note for students: Turkish language is a phonetic language and therefore vowels become very important and you should remember this 8 vowels and their different classifications which we will study in due course.  Because in future lessons you will see that all the turkish ´endings´ will work together always following the vowel harmony rules.

Lesson 6, Family And Relateds

father	baba
mother	anne
brother	(erkek) kardeş
sister	(kız) kardeş
elder brother	abi
elder sister	abla
son	oğul - erkek çocuk
daughter	kız - kız çocuk
aunt (mother side)	teyze
aunt (father side)	hala
grandmother (father side)	babaanne
grandmother (mother side)	anneanne
grandmother	nine -büyükanne
grandfather	dede - büyükbaba
grandmother (father side)	babaanne
grandmother (mother side)	anneanne
grandmother	nine -büyükanne
grandfather	dede - büyükbaba
nephew, niece	yeğen
uncle (father side)	amca
uncle (mother side)	dayı
cousin	kuzen
father-in-law	kayınbaba - kayınpeder
mother-in-law	kaynana - kayınvalide
sister-in-law	baldız
sister-in-law's husband	bacanak
son-in-law	damat
daughter-in-law	gelin
sister's husband	enişte
grandson, granddaughter, grandchild	torun
twin	ikiz
twin brother, twin sister	ikiz kardeş
wife	eş, hanım, karı
husband	koca
step mother	üvey anne
step father	üvey baba