Vowels
The vowels of the Turkish language are, in their alphabetical order, ⟨a⟩, ⟨e⟩, ⟨ı⟩, ⟨i⟩, ⟨o⟩, ⟨ö⟩, ⟨u⟩, ⟨ü⟩. There are no diphthongs in Turkish and when two vowels come together, which occurs in some Arabic loanwords, each vowel retains its individual sound.
| Vowel sound | Example | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | Description | IPA | Orthography | English translation | |
| /i/ | , | close front unrounded | /dil/ | dil | 'tongue' |
| /y/ | , | close front rounded | /ɟyˈneʃ/ | güneş | 'sun' |
| /ɯ/ | , | close back unrounded | /ɯˈɫɯk/ | ılık | 'lukewarm' |
| /e/ | , | mid front unrounded | /ses/ | ses | 'sound' |
| /ø/ | , | mid front rounded | /ɟøɾ/ | gör- | 'to see' |
| /a/ | , | open central unrounded | /daɫ/ | dal | 'branch' |
| /o/ | mid back rounded | /joɫ/ | yol | 'way' | |
| /u/ | , | close back rounded | /uˈtʃak/ | uçak | 'aeroplane' |
(/ø/ may also be transcribed as ⟨œ⟩ (as in the vowel chart at right), but has the same mid height as /e/ and /o/.)
Although a central vowel phonetically, /a/ is phonologically a "back" vowel based on its patterning with other back vowels in harmonic processess and the alternation of adjacent consonants (see above). The vowel /e/ plays the role as the "front" analog of /a/.
All vowels but /o a/ have lowered allophones word-finally: . In addition, for most people /e/ has an allophone before a syllable-coda /m n l r/, so that perende 'somersault' is pronounced . There are a limited number of words, such as kendi 'self' and hem 'both', which are pronounced with by some people and with by some others.
In the sequence
Read more about this topic: Turkish Phonology
Famous quotes containing the word vowels:
“These equal syllables alone require,
Though oft the ear the open vowels tire;”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“Playing “bop” is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.”
—Duke Ellington (1899–1974)
“As no one can tell what was the Roman pronunciation, each nation makes the Latin conform, for the most part, to the rules of its own language; so that with us of the vowels only A has a peculiar sound.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)