Turkish Vowel Harmony

The Eight Vowels of Turkish

There are eight vowels in Turkish which are divided into two groups as follows:
The A-UnDotted Vowels A I O U
The UnDotted Vowels [back vowels] are produced nearer the throat as in English.
The E-Dotted Vowels E
The Dotted Vowels [front vowels] are produced at the the front of the mouth as in the French Language.
The first rule of Turkish Vowel Harmony concerns the vowels A and E

To explain Vowel Harmony we are using the Plural Suffix choosing either -ler or -lar to mirror the final
vowel of its noun all other suffixes will follow these Vowel Harmony rules:
To form the plural we have a choice to add either -lar or -ler to the word:
Plural of the Turkish A-UnDotted Vowel Group

The plural suffix -lar to words whose final vowel is any of the A-UnDotted Vowels
balta final vowel -a axe plural baltalar [balta-lar] axes
kap final vowel - door plural kaplar [kap-lar] doors
palto final vowel -o overcoat plural paltolar [palto-lar] overcoats
boncuk final vowel -u bead plural boncuklar [boncuk-lar] beads
The vowels in these Turkish words are all of the A-UnDotted Group so the added plural suffix -larmust also
contain an A-UnDotted Vowel.
Plural of the Turkish E-Dotted Vowel Group

The plural suffix -ler to words whose final vowel is one of the E-Dotted Vowels
ev final vowel -e house plural evler [ev-ler] houses
kedi final vowel -i cat plural kediler [kedi-ler] cats

gz final vowel - eye plural gzler [gz-ler] eyes

dl final vowel - award, prize plural dller [dl-ler] awards
The vowels in these Turkish words are all of the E-Dotted Group so the added plural suffix -lermust also
contain an E-Dotted Vowel. This echoing of the final vowel by the suffix is called Vowel Harmony.
Exceptions to Turkish Vowel harmony Rules

There are a very few exceptions to this rule where the suffix does not echo Vowel Harmony exactly as
examples:
saat hour, clock plural saatler hours, clocks
harf letter (of alphabet) plural harfler letter (of alphabet)

All exceptions to the rule of pluralizing nouns in Turkish also constitute exceptions when other suffixes are
attached to them. The word rol rle becomes roller roles. This contrary to the general rule.

These words like rol also constitute exceptions when case suffixes are attached, as follows:
Bu rol almak istiyorum. I want to take (on) the is rle.
Bu rolden ok bktm. I am really fed up with this rle.
Bu rolde bir sr aksaklk var. There is something wrong in this rle..
Bu role hi alamadm. I could not get used to this rle at all.

kalp heart, kalpler hearts, kalbi heart (obj.) kalbin of the heart, kalbe to the heart, kalpten from the heart
harf Letter (alpha.), harfler Letters, harfi Letter (obj.), harfin of the letter, harfe to the letter,harften from
the letter
There are other words from Arabic or foreign imported words which exhibit this irregularity.
Vowel Harmony of Turkish Suffixes

All words with their last vowel in the A-UnDotted Group take -lar as their plural.
This rule applies for all suffixes which contain a.

Those words with an E-Dotted Group Vowel take -ler as their plural.
This rule applies for all suffixes which contain e.

Let us look at some common but important words which are used all the time. These little words in, on, at,
from, to, with, etc. are suffixes in Turkish and must harmonize with final vowel of the word they modify.

The static location suffix -de/-da in, on, at

Locative suffix is -de/-da and it shows concrete place (location):
adamda [adam-da] on the man
adamlarda [adam-lar-da] on the men
kedide [kedi-de] on the cat
kedilerde [kedi-ler-de] on the cats
evde [ev-de] at home
evlerde [ev-ler-de] at the houses
kapda [kap-da] at the door
kaplarda [kap-lar-da] at/by the doors
kprde [kpr-de] on the bridge
kprlerde [kpr-ler-de] on the bridges
odada [oda-da] in the room
odalarda [oda-lar-da] in the rooms
The plural adds two suffixes -ler + -de or -lar + -da and tagged them altogether to make one word in Turkish.

Odadaym. [oda-da-ym] I am in the room.

Ali bey, evdeymi. [ev-de-ymi] Ali bey must be at home. Bahedeki ocuklar top ile oynuyorlar.The
children (who are) in the garden are playing with a ball.

With animate subjects the verb should be congruent with subject. If the subject is singular, the verb is
singular. If the subject is plural, the verb plural.
ocuklar oynuyorlar. The children are playing. [subject children animate so verb is congruent.]

For inanimate subjects, the verb should be always singular.

Yapraklar dyor. Leaves are falling. [subject leaves inanimate so verb is singular.]

The motion away suffix -den/-dan from, by, via, through

adamdan [adam-dan] from the man
adamlardan [adamlar-da] from the men
kediden [kedi-den] from the cat
kedilerden [kediler-den] from the cats
evden [ev-den] from home
evlerden [evler-den] from the houses
kapdan [kap-dan] from the door
kaplardan [kaplar-dan] from the doors
kprden [kpr-den] from the bridge
kprlerden [kprler-den] from the bridges
odadan [oda-dan] from the room
odalardan [odalar-dan] from the rooms

The motion toward suffix -(y)e/-(y)a to, towards

adama [adam-a] to the man
adamlara [adamlar-a] to the men
kediye [kedi-ye] to the cat
kedi cat ends in a vowel so kedi-y-e is used [kedie] is incorrect.
kedilere [kediler-e] to the cats

eve [ev-e] to home

evlere [evler-e] to the houses
kapya [kap-ya] to the door
kap door ends in a vowel so kap-y-a is used [kapa] is incorrect
kaplara [kaplar-a] to the doors

Words which end in vowels

kprye [kpr-ye] to the bridge
kprlere [kpr-ler-e] to the bridges
odaya [oda-ya] to the room
odalara [oda-lar-a] to the rooms
The Buffer Letter -y- is used when the word ends in a vowel. Turkish does not like two vowels to be together.
The second rule of Turkish Vowel Harmony concerns the vowels I, , U,

There are two different forms of I () and U () in Turkish.

(1) The UnDotted Forms of I or U must follow the A-UnDotted group A I O U
(2) The Dotted Forms of or must follow the E-Dotted group E

A suffix containing the letter a can have two forms either a or e. The the suffix -den from which is used with
the E-Dotted vowels and -dan which is used with the A-UnDotted vowels was shown as an example.

Suffixes which contains the generic letter -I has four forms. These are -i - -u -.
The suffix -im my will harmonize its own vowel to any of -i, -, -u, to mirror the last vowel of the word it is
suffixed to. All suffixes with an internal -i- vowel will follow this vowel harmony.

Some Examples
ev house

evim [ev-im] my house

evlerim [ev-ler-im] my houses

raf shelf
rafn [raf-n] your shelf
raflarn [raf-lar-n] your shelves

it hedge
iti [it-i] his hedge
itleri [ it-ler-i] his hedges

kz girl / daughter
kzm [kz-m] my girl
kzlarm [kz-lar-m] my girls
gz eye
gzm [gz-m] my eye
gzlerim [gz-ler-im] my eyes

yol road
yolunuz [yol-unuz] your road
yollarnz [yol-lar-nz] your roads

gn day
gnmz [gn-mz ] our day
gnlerimiz [gn-ler-imiz] our days

okul school
okullar [okul-lar] their school(s)
okullar [okul-lar-] his schools

The suffix -m follows words whose last vowel is - or -

gz eye
gzm [gz-m] my eye
gzlerim [gzler-im] my eyes
gl rose
glm [gl-m] my rose
gllerim [gller-im] my roses
The plurals gzlerim and gllerim take the -im suffix [not the -m suffix as in the singular] as they
immediately follow the final vowel -e of the plural -ler.

The suffix-um follows words whose last vowel is -o or -u.

jeton token, jeton
jetonum [jeton-um] my token, my jeton
jetonlarm [jetonlar-m] my tokens, my jetons
oyun game
oyunum [oyun-um] my game
oyunlarm [oyunlar-m] my games
The plurals jetonlarm and oyunlarm take the -m suffix [not the -um suffix as in the singular] as they
immediately follow the final vowel -a of the plural -lar.

The Rule for Words ending in a Vowel

The Vowel of the Suffix -im my is dropped to prevent two vowels occurring together. [the root word itself is
preserved.]
baba father
babam my father [ not babam]
baban your father [not baban]

kedi cat
kedim my cat [not kediim]
kedimiz our cat [kediimiz]
palto overcoat
paltom my overcoat [not paltoum]
paltonuz your (pl.) overcoat [palto-unuz])
When adding -im my or the other Possessive Adjectives)to a word which ends in a vowel, then we only add
the shortened suffix -m, -n, -miz, -niz etc. this prevents two vowels occurring together.

As the third person singular suffix is just a bare vowel -i, then it becomes -si by using buffer letter -s- in order
to keep two vowels apart and preserve the original root word:
apka hat
apkam my hat
apkas [not apka-] his/her hat

Vowel mutation in Turkish

One of the most basic concepts essential to the Turkish language is vowel harmony - that is,
changing vowels in words so that the language flows more smoothly. Vowel harmony can be
one of the most intimidating parts of Turkish for beginners but with a little practice, quickly
becomes second nature.

As you probably know by now, Turkish creates most of its meaning by adding suffixes to words.
These suffixes, though, don't have a single form; they have several different forms from which
you have to pick. How do you know which one to pick? By looking at the final vowel of the stem
and choosing the one that best matches it. If you're adding multiple suffixes, remember that
each new suffix must harmonize with the suffix immediately before it.

There are two primary types of vowel harmony. We'll call them i-type and e-type vowel
harmony, and each has its own set of rules.

e-type Vowel Harmony

In cases of e-type vowel harmony, you must choose between two forms of the suffix: the one
that uses e or the one that uses a.

The rule is as follows:

If the last vowel in the word is a, , o, or u: use the a form.
If the last vowel in the word is e, i, , or : use the e form.
One trick to remember this: a comes after the a-undotted vowels. e comes after the edotted vowels.

As an example, take -ler, the suffix that makes words plural. -ler follows e-type vowel harmony
so can take two forms: -ler and -lar. Now take the wordkadn (woman) and make it plural. Find
the last vowel in kadn and see that it is . Following e-type harmony, we know that the a
form follows , so we use -lar: kadnlar (women).

Some more examples using -ler:

kedi

kediler

cats

dakika

dakikalar

minutes

kpr

kprler

bridges

telefon

telefonlar

telephones

gz

gzler

eyes

ku

kular

birds

-ler is just one suffix that uses e-type harmony. There are many others, some of which are
included below. The important thing to remember is that if a suffix follows e-type harmony, it
has two forms: an a form and an e form.

Suffix

Meaning

e Example

a Example

-mek

Infinitive

gitmek

anlamak

-le

"with"

kpekle

arabayla

-de

"at"

otelde

odada

-ecek

Future Tense

gelecek

koacaklar

-ebil

"can"

gidebilir

alabiliyorsun

i-type Vowel Harmony

In cases of i-type vowel harmony, you must choose between four different forms of the suffix,
each containing i, , u, or respectively. The rule is as follows:
If the last vowel in the word is e or i: use the i form.
If the last vowel in the word is a or : use the form.
If the last vowel in the word is o or u: use the u form.
If the last vowel in the word is or : use the form.
As an example, take -siz, the suffix meaning "without." -siz follows i-type harmony so can take
four forms: siz, sz, suz, or sz. Now let's form the word for "without a book." The word for book
is kitap. We see that the final vowel is a, so according to the i-type rule, we use the form of the
suffix. The word is therefore kitapsz: without a book.

Some more examples using -siz:

kedi

kedisiz

without a cat

et

etsiz

without meat

tuz

tuzsuz

without salt

telefon

telefonsuz

without a telephone

sz

szsz

without a word

ac

acsz

without spice

-siz is just one suffix that follows i-type harmony. There are many others, some of which are
included below. Having four different choices for a single suffix may seem overwhelming at first,

but with a little time, the correct choices become intuitive and immediate. In the meantime, you
will be understood even if you use the wrong vowel.
Suffix

Meaning

i Example

Example

u Example

Exa

-iyor

Present Tense

gidiyorum

alyorsun

uyuyoruz

pyo

-im

"I am"

retmenim

adamm

yorgunum

nly

-i

Accusatve

kediyi

arabay

dostu

gl

-ince

"on doing"

gelince

yapnca

kounca

nc

Notice how in the last example, -ince, the final vowel changes according to e-type harmony.
Some suffixes (ince, meli, elim) have multiple vowels that must be harmonized, but they are
relatively few and easy to pick up once the above two rules of vowel harmony have been
mastered. As a final note, a few suffixes (ken, ki) do not harmonize at all. Whenever learning a
new suffix, be sure to take note of how it harmonizes.

A Technical Explanation
Turkish vowel harmony rules are based on three different variables, each affecting the way you
physically form the different vowel sounds with your tongue and mouth. These are:
Front/Back - where you place your tongue in your mouth
Open/Closed - how much space you leave between your tongue and the roof of your
month
Rounded/Unrounded - whether or not you round your lips
Each vowel sound is a unique combination of the above three factors. This table shows which
combinations produce which sounds:
Unrounded

Rounded

Open

Closed

Open

Closed

Front

Back

The vowel harmony rules are such that words in Turkish require the least amount of oral
movement as possible. That is, if a word starts in the back of the mouth, Turks like to keep it
there. If a word begins rounded, Turks like their suffixes to be rounded as well.

The e-type endings, then, harmonize to keep the entire word (with its suffixes) in the front or
back of the mouth. If the final vowel in the stem begins with a back-of-the-mouth vowel, then
the back-vowel a is used. Otherwise, the front-vowel e is used.

The i-type endings do the same, but also harmonize to keep the entire word rounded or
unrounded. If the final vowel in the stem begins with a front-rounded vowel, the suffixes take
the front-rounded-vowel , and so on

Armona Vocal
Mircoles, abril 4, 2007 at 5:54 pm Deja un comentario
El turco es una lengua aglutinante, porque las palabras se van construyendo mediante la adesin
de morfemas, en este caso, de sufijos. No existen los prefijos, salvo para algunos extranjerismos.
Para esta construccin de palabras hay que tener en cuenta las reglas de laarmona vocal.
Las vocales se dividen en dos clases:

VOCALES ANTERIORES (o altas): e, i, ,

VOCALES POSTERIORES (o bajas): a, o, u

Normalmente, las palabras originales del turco suelen tener todas sus vocales de una misma
clase: o todas frontales, o todas posteriores. A esto se le llama armona vocal.
Cuando aadimos sufijos a una palabra para modificar su significado, la ltima vocal de esta
palabra (vocal DOMINANTE) determina la clase de vocal de ese sufijo (frontal o
posterior).
Cuando se aade otro sufijo detrs de un sufijo, la vocal dominante pasar a ser la ltima
vocal del sufijo anterior. Y as sucesivamente.
Ejemplos:
Palabra

Vocal
Dominante

Significado

Ev
Evler
Araba
Arabalar
Fincan
Fil
Kpek
Kitap
Kutu
Kedi
St
Kz
Kzlar

e
e
a
a
a
i
e
a
u
i

casa
casas
coche
coches
taza
elefante
perro
libro
caja
gato, gata
leche
nia
nias

Regla 1: Armona Vocal Menor

Si la ltima vocal de la palabra es una VOCAL FRONTAL, el sufijo tomar una e.

Si la ltima vocal de la palabra es una VOCAL POSTERIOR, el sufijo tomar una a.
e , i, ,
e
a, , o, u
a
Ejemplos:
Palabra

Vocal
Dominante

Ev
Fil
Gl
Yz
Araba
Kz
Top
Kutu

e
i

o
u

Cambia a

Con sufijo

evler
filler
gller
yzler
arabalar
kzlar
toplar
kutular

Regla 2: Armona Vocal Mayor

Vocal Dominante
a,
o, u
e,i
,

Vocal del Sufijo

u
i

Ejemplos:
Palabra

Significado

Vocal
Dominante

Ev
Fil
Gl
Gn
Baba
Yl
Top
Tuz

casa
elefante
lago
da
padre
ao
pelota
sal

e
i

o
u

Cambia por

Con sufijo

Significado

evin
fili
gl
gn
babay
Yl
Topu
tuzlu

la casa de
(acusativo)
(acusativo)
(acusativo)
(acusativo)
(acusativo)
(acusativo)
salado

Leccin 1
Armona voclica
El turco es un idioma muy suave en su pronunciacin, y esto es especialmente
notable en la manera en que combina las vocales dentro de una misma palabra.
Aunque cualquier combinacin entre vocales es posible por influencias de otros
idiomas, hay algunas que son privilegiadas frente a las dems.

Este efecto, que resulta simplemente anecdtico o curioso en las races de las
palabras, cobra una importancia vital a la hora de aadir sufijos, que como sabes,
son fundamentales en el idioma turco. Por qu? Pues porque un sufijo dado
nunca tiene una forma fija, sino que sus vocales son distintas dependiendo de la
raz de la palabra a la que se adhieren. Y la manera de saber qu vocal emplear es
conocer las reglas de la armona voclica.
Hay dos reglas de armona voclica en turco, la armona voclica menor y
la armona voclica mayor. En ambos casos, lo que la regla te va a ensear es
qu vocal utilizar en el sufijo, siempre en funcin de cul es la vocal
inmediatamente anterior.
1) Armona voclica menor
La armona voclica menor se utiliza para los sufijos con vocales "e" o "a". Para
saber en cada caso cul vocal emplear, debes mirar la vocal inmediatamente
anterior.
Si la vocal anterior est en el grupo {a, , o, u}, el sufijo usar la vocal a.
Si la vocal anterior est en el grupo {e, i, , }, el sufijo usar la vocal e.
Ejemplo: El sufijo -mak se usa para formar el infinitivo de los verbos, y
podemos encontrrnoslo con "a", como en "komak" (correr), o con "e", como en
"srmek" (conducir).
2) Armona voclica mayor
La armona voclica mayor se utiliza para los sufijos con vocales "", "u", "i" o
"". Para saber en cada caso cul vocal emplear, debes mirar la vocal
inmediatamente anterior.
Si la vocal anterior est en el grupo {a, }, el sufijo usar la vocal .
Si la vocal anterior est en el grupo {o, u}, el sufijo usar la vocal u.
Si la vocal anterior est en el grupo {e, i}, el sufijo usar la vocal i.

Si la vocal anterior est en el grupo {, }, el sufijo usar la vocal .

Ejemplo: El sufijo -siz se usa para formar adjetivos a partir de nombres,
indicando "carente de". Este sufijo podemos encontrrnoslo con "", como en
"sabrsz" (impaciente, carente de paciencia); con "i", como en "sessiz"
(silencioso, carente de ruido); con "u", como en "mutsuz" (infeliz, carente de
felicidad); o con "", como en "stsz" (carente de leche).

Leccin 2
Armona de consonantes
Como ya vimos en el apartado 4 de la leccin 0, hay veces que las consonantes
de inicio de un sufijo o las consonantes del final de la palabra raz a la que se
aade el sufijo pueden cambiar para mejorar la pronunciacin. Aqu te resumo
cmo se producen esos cambios y en qu circunstancias. Bsicamente, hay dos
casos, el de Mutacin de Palabras y el de Mutacin de Sufijos.
1) Mutacin de palabras
Se produce cuando vas a aadir un sufijo que empieza por vocal a una palabra
raz acabada en una consonante del grupo {p, , k, t}. Entonces esta ltima
consonante de la palabra raz mutar de la siguiente manera:
La letra p cambiar a b.
La letra cambiar a c.
La letra k cambiar a .
La letra t cambiar a d.
Correccin: adems de lo mencionado, la palabra raz debe tener 2 o ms
slabas, pues las palabras de una sola slaba nunca ven su ltima consonante
modificada.
Observa que los cambios tienen sentido: las consonantes a las que se cambia
vienen a ser las versiones sonoras de las consonantes sordas de las que
provienen (recuerda que la "c" turca se pronuncia como nuestra "ll"). La
posicin de la boca no cambia, y el cierre de la lengua contra dientes o paladar o
el cierre de los labios slo se abre ligeramente para permitir un leve flujo de aire

acompaado de la vibracin de las cuerdas vocales, en preparacin para el sonido

voclico que les seguir.
Ejemplo: El sufijo -(i)m se usa para indicar posesin en primera persona (similar
al determinante posesivo "mi"), y al aadirlo a la palabra bardak (vaso)
provocar la mutacin de la k, dando lugar a la palabra bardam (mi vaso).
2) Mutacin de sufijos
Se produce cuando vas a aadir un sufijo que empieza por una consonante del
grupo {c, d} a una palabra raz acabada en una consonante del grupo {p, , k, t, f,
h, s, }. Entonces la consonante inicial del sufijo mutar de la siguiente manera:
La letra c cambiar a .
La letra d cambiar a t.
Observa que los cambios son justo los inversos de los que se vieron en el punto
1. Observa tambin que slo te he indicado los cambios de c y d. Qu pasa
con y b? Pues ocurre que, aunque sin duda cambiaran de igual manera, no
importa porque no hay ningn sufijo en turco que empiece por esas consonantes,
con lo cual nunca te vas a encontrar con la necesidad de cambiarlas.
Una vez ms, date cuenta de que los cambios tienen sentido: Vienes de una
consonante que se pronuncia sin vibracin de las cuerdas vocales, y tienes que
pronunciar a continuacin otra en la que s vibraran. Para pronunciar ambas
consonantes juntas, es ms fcil sustituir la segunda consonante por su versin
sorda.
Esto tambin ocurre en espaol, aunque seguramente no te habrs dado cuenta.
Por ejemplo tenemos palabras que combinan los sonidos "k" y "t" (actuar, actor,
activo...), "p" y "t" (aptitud), "f" y "t" (naftalina), o "s" y "t" (hasta), pero no
tenemos ninguna palabra que combine uno de los sonidos {p, ch, k, t, f, s} y el
sonido "d", juntos. Tampoco tenemos palabras que combinen ninguna de las
consonantes sin vibracin indicadas arriba con el sonido "ll", equivalente a la
"c" turca.
Ejemplo: El sufijo -da se usa para indicar localizacin, de forma similar a la
preposicin "en". Al aadirlo a la palabra raz tuvalet (aseo, bao) nos
quedatuvalette (en el bao).