Turkish Phonology - Consonants

Consonants

In native Turkic words, the velar consonants /k, ɡ/ are palatalized to (similar to Russian) when adjacent to the front vowels /e, i, œ, y/. Similarly, the consonant /l/ is realized as a clear or light next to front vowels (including word finally), and as a velarized (dark l) next to the central and back vowels /a, ɯ, o, u/. These alternations are not indicated orthographically: the same letters ⟨k⟩, ⟨g⟩, and ⟨l⟩ are used for both pronunciations. In foreign borrowings and proper nouns, however, these distinct realizations of /k, ɡ, l/ are contrastive. In particular, and clear are sometimes found in conjunction with the vowels and . This pronunciation can be indicated by adding a circumflex accent over the vowel: e.g. gâvur "infidel", mahkûm "condemned", lâzım "necessary".

/ɾ/ is realized as a modal flap intervocalically. At the margins of words, the passage at the alveolar ridge is closed so that it becomes fricated; in addition, it undergoes final devoicing. Thus it is word-initially and word-finally.

/v/ is only pronounced after voiceless consonants, as in cetvel. It is silent before labial consonants, as in sövmek. Elsewhere it is .

Voiceless stops are aspirated in initial and medial position. /b, d, d͡ʒ, ɡ, ɟ/ are devoiced to word- and morpheme-finally, as well as before a consonant: /edmeɟ/ ('to do, to make') is pronounced . (This is reflected in the orthography, so that it is spelled ⟨etmek⟩). When a vowel is added to nouns ending with postvocalic /ɡ/, it is lenited to ⟨ğ⟩ (see below); this is also reflected in the orthography.

In addition, there is a debatable phoneme, called yumuşak g ('soft g') and written ⟨ğ⟩, which only occurs after a vowel. It is sometimes transcribed /ɰ/. Between back vowels, it may be silent or sound like a bilabial glide. Between front vowels, it is either silent or has a sound, depending on the preceding & following vowels. When not between vowels (that is, word finally and before a consonant), it is generally realized as vowel length, lengthening the preceding vowel, or as a slight if preceded by a front vowel. Historically, and perhaps still for some people or in careful pronunciation, it was a velar approximant . Before the loss of this sound, Turkish did not allow vowel sequences in native words, and today the letter ⟨ğ⟩ serves largely to indicate vowel length and vowel sequences where /ɰ/ once occurred. Karl Zimmer and Orhan Orgun transcribe it as /ɣ/.