Turkish Pronunciation
Modern Turkish spelling is relatively regular, but several letters represent sounds that English speakers may not expect.
Important letters
- c is typically /dʒ/, like the sound in “jam”.
- ç is /tʃ/, like “ch” in “church”.
- ş is /ʃ/, like “sh”.
- ö and ü are front rounded vowels.
- ı (dotless i) is a high back unrounded vowel, often transcribed /ɯ/.
What does ğ do?
The letter ğ (yumuşak g) has context-dependent effects and often lengthens or links surrounding vowels rather than behaving like an English hard “g”. Listen to whole words instead of assigning it one fixed consonant sound.