PRONUNCIATION  GUIDE TO TURKISH

The Turkish alphabet uses Latin letters, and most words are pronounced exactly as they look, with no silent letters or variations in sounds.  There are a few exceptions, however:

 c          is spoken as the English j, so can is pronounced like “jan”

 ç          is spoken as ch, so Çay Han is pronounced like “Chay”

 ı           is spoken like a short u, like in gun, so Çakallı Han is pronounced like “Chakallu”

 ğ          this is a silent letter, but it lengthens the vowel in front of it, so Ağzikara Han is pronounced like “Aazikara”

 ş           is spoken like sh, so Şarafsa Han is pronounced like “Sharafsa”

 ö          is spoken like the French eu, so Öresun Han is pronounced like “Oeresun”

 ü          is spoken like the French u (lune), so Kesikköprü Han is pronounced like “Kesikkeuproo”

©2001-2011, Katharine Branning; All Rights Reserved.  No part of this site may be reproduced in any form without written consent from the author.