Modern Turkish has used a Latin alphabet since the alphabet reform of 1928. It has 29 letters: 8 vowels and 21 consonants. Each letter stands for one main sound, so once you know the letters you can read almost any word aloud, even one you have never seen. This guide gives every letter with its Turkish name, its sound and an example, then focuses on the seven letters English doesn’t have (ç, ğ, ı, İ, ö, ş, ü), the vowel system that drives vowel harmony, and the small set of exceptions. To hear every letter, use the interactive alphabet tool, which has audio for each sound.
The 29 letters
| Letter | Name | Sound (English approximation) | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | a | a in father (short) | anne | mother |
| B b | be | b in baby | baba | father |
| C c | ce | j in jam | cami, gece | mosque, night |
| Ç ç | çe | ch in cheese | çay, çiçek | tea, flower |
| D d | de | d in door | deniz | sea |
| E e | e | e in bed | ev, elma | house, apple |
| F f | fe | f in fork | fincan | cup |
| G g | ge | g in go | gün, güzel | day, beautiful |
| Ğ ğ | yumuşak ge | no sound of its own: lengthens the vowel before it | dağ, değil | mountain, not |
| H h | he | h in house | hava | weather, air |
| I ı | ı | a in about (unstressed) | ılık, kapı | lukewarm, door |
| İ i | i | ee in see (short) | iyi, iki | good, two |
| J j | je | s in measure | mesaj, plaj | message, beach |
| K k | ke | k in kite | kedi, kitap | cat, book |
| L l | le | l in light (darker after a, ı, o, u) | limon, lale | lemon, tulip |
| M m | me | m in mother | masa | table |
| N n | ne | n in name | ne, nasıl | what, how |
| O o | o | o in more (short, rounded) | okul, oda | school, room |
| Ö ö | ö | German ö, French eu | ördek, göz | duck, eye |
| P p | pe | p in pencil | para | money |
| R r | re | tapped r, as in Spanish pero | renk, bir | colour, one |
| S s | se | s in sun | su, sabah | water, morning |
| Ş ş | şe | sh in shoe | şeker, baş | sugar, head |
| T t | te | t in tea | tuz, tatil | salt, holiday |
| U u | u | oo in moon (short) | uçak, uzun | plane, long |
| Ü ü | ü | German ü, French u in lune | üzüm, üç | grape, three |
| V v | ve | v in very; close to w next to o, u | var, tavuk | there is, chicken |
| Y y | ye | y in yes | yol, yemek | road, food |
| Z z | ze | z in zebra | zaman, zor | time, difficult |
The letter names matter in real life: when you spell your name at a bank or a government office, you say be, ce, de, not “bee, see, dee”. There is no q, w or x: foreign words are respelled (taksi = taxi, sandviç = sandwich), and q, w, x appear only in foreign names and brands.
The eight vowels
Turkish vowels form a neat system of three yes/no features. This grid is the basis of vowel harmony, so it is worth memorising now:
| Unrounded, low | Unrounded, high | Rounded, low | Rounded, high | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Back | a | ı | o | u |
| Front | e | i | ö | ü |
- ö is e said with rounded lips; ü is i said with rounded lips.
- ı is i said with the tongue pulled back and lips spread, without rounding. Many learners find it easiest to start from the a in “about” and keep it short.
- Turkish vowels are short and “pure”: o does not glide into ou as in English “go”, and e does not glide into ei.
The seven letters to master
Ç and Ş: easy
Ç is English ch (çocuk — child) and Ş is sh (şehir — city). The only difficulty is remembering the cedilla when writing; see the Turkish keyboard tool for typing it.
C is never k or s
In English, c is k (cat) or s (city). In Turkish, c is always the j in jam: cam (glass) ≈ “jahm”, ceket (jacket) ≈ “jeh-ket”, cep (pocket) ≈ “jep”. This is the most common reading error for beginners.
Dotted İ and dotless I
These are two separate letters, each with its own capital:
| Lowercase | Capital | Sound | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| i | İ | ee (short) | iki (two), İstanbul |
| ı | I | a in “about” | ılık (lukewarm), Iğdır (a city) |
Mixing them changes words: kır (countryside) vs kir (dirt), kıl (body hair) vs kil (clay). Note that İstanbul and İzmir begin with a capital İ with a dot. There is a dedicated post on how to pronounce ı and ğ.
Ğ: the soft g
Ğ (yumuşak ge) never starts a word and has no sound of its own:
- After a, ı, o, u it lengthens the vowel: dağ ≈ “daa” (mountain), ağaç ≈ “aaç” (tree), soğuk ≈ “soouk” (cold). The thank-you phrase sağ ol ≈ “saa ol” is written as two words.
- After ö and ü it also lengthens: öğrenci ≈ “öörenci” (student), öğretmen ≈ “ööretmen” (teacher), düğün ≈ “düün” (wedding).
- After e and i, especially before another vowel, it is often heard as a light y: değil ≈ “deyil” (not), eğer ≈ “eyer” (if), iğne ≈ “iine” or “iyne” (needle).
Because it sits where a g or k used to be, ğ is common at suffix boundaries: çocuk → çocuğu (his child), ayak → ayağım (my foot). See the consonant mutation rule.
Ö and Ü
Hold your tongue for e and round your lips as for o: that is ö (göz — eye, köy — village). Hold your tongue for i and round your lips as for u: that is ü (süt — milk, gül — rose). English has no exact equivalent; German and French speakers already know them.
Other features worth knowing
R at the end of a word
Final r is often pronounced with a light breathy hiss, especially in Istanbul speech: bir (one), var (there is). It is never silent as in British “car”.
Front and back k, g, l
K, g and l sound slightly different next to front and back vowels: compare kedi (cat) with kapı (door), or lale (tulip) with ılık (lukewarm). You don’t need to learn this consciously; it happens naturally if you pronounce the vowels correctly.
The circumflex: â, î, û
In some Arabic and Persian loanwords a circumflex marks a long vowel or a soft k/g/l before it. It is not a separate letter, but it distinguishes some pairs:
- kâr (profit) vs kar (snow)
- hâlâ (still, yet) vs hala (paternal aunt)
- kâğıt (paper), dükkân (shop), rüzgâr (wind)
Usage is inconsistent in everyday writing, but the pairs above are always worth getting right.
Long vowels and dropped h in loanwords
Some loanwords have long vowels that are not marked: saat (hour) is said with two a’s, memur (civil servant) with a long e. In fast speech, h between vowels may weaken: kahve (coffee) is often heard as “kaave”. These are the main reasons why Turkish spelling is almost, not perfectly, phonetic.
Stress
Most words are stressed on the last syllable (arkadaş, arkadaşlar), but place names, many loanwords and some suffixes break the rule (İstanbul, Ankara, gelmiyorum). Syllables and stress have their own page: Turkish syllable structure and stress.
Reading practice
Read these aloud using the rules above, then check yourself with the audio in the alphabet tool.
- Merhaba, nasılsınız? — Hello, how are you?
- Çok teşekkür ederim. — Thank you very much.
- Günaydın! — Good morning!
- Sağ ol. — Thanks. (informal)
- Benim adım Jale. — My name is Jale.
- Çay ister misiniz? — Would you like some tea?
- Öğretmenim çok iyi. — My teacher is very good.
- Üzgünüm, anlamadım. — I’m sorry, I didn’t understand.
- Şu an İstanbul’dayım. — I’m in Istanbul right now.
- Kapıyı açar mısın? — Can you open the door?
- Soğuk su lütfen. — Cold water, please.
- Cuma günü geliyorum. — I’m coming on Friday.
- Ilık bir duş aldım. — I took a lukewarm shower.
- Değil, o benim değil. — No, it’s not mine.
- Ağaçta bir kuş var. — There’s a bird in the tree.
Common mistakes
- Reading c as k or s: cami is “jah-mee”, not “kah-mee”.
- Dropping the dot: writing Istanbul or Izmir with a dotless I is a spelling error.
- Pronouncing ğ as g: dağ is not “dag”, and öğrenci has no g sound.
- Writing “sağol” as one word: the standard spelling is sağ ol.
- Gliding vowels: ev is a short, pure e, not “ayv”; okul has no “ou” glide.
- Ignoring ı: kapı ends with ı, not i; “kapee” sounds foreign.
Mini-exercise
Which letter fills the gap?
- ___ay (tea): c or ç?
- ___ehir (city): s or ş?
- da___ (mountain): g or ğ?
- k___z (girl): ı or i?
- g___z (eye): o or ö?
- ___ami (mosque): c or ç?
Answers: 1. ç (çay) 2. ş (şehir) 3. ğ (dağ) 4. ı (kız) 5. ö (göz) 6. c (cami)
Next steps
Listen to every letter in the alphabet tool, practice typing ç, ğ, ı, İ, ö, ş, ü with the Turkish keyboard, then move on to vowel harmony.
