Turkish Alphabet & Audio Guide
Turkish spelling is phonetic — every letter has one sound. Tap any of the 29 letters to hear its Turkish name, see its IPA and listen to example words. Then test your ear with the minimal-pairs drill below.
Letter Ç (çe)
/tʃ/like "ch" in church
Hard Voiceless Consonant (Fıstıkçı Şahap)
Example vocabulary in Turkish:
Minimal pairs: can you hear the difference?
These word pairs differ by a single sound. Listen to both, then press Play a mystery word and pick the one you heard. Audio comes from your device's Turkish voice, so some voices blur these contrasts more than a native speaker would.
The Unique Beauty of the Turkish Alphabet
Unlike English, where "c" can sound like "s" in city or "k" in cat, or French where silent letters abound, Turkish spelling is strictly phonetic. Every letter corresponds to a single, predictable sound. For the full rules, read our Turkish alphabet & pronunciation guide, and use the Turkish keyboard to type ç, ğ, ı, İ, ö, ş and ü.
No Q, W, or X
The standard Turkish alphabet does not contain Q, W, or X. Foreign words are adapted phonetically: taxi → taksi, web → veb.
The Dotted / Undotted I
I / ı has no dot in uppercase or lowercase. İ / i has a dot in both. Mixing them changes words completely (e.g. ılık = lukewarm vs ilik = bone marrow).
Yumuşak Ge (Ğ)
Called the "soft g", it never begins a word. It lengthens preceding back vowels (dağ → daa) or glides front vowels (eğlence).
Frequently Asked Questions: Turkish Pronunciation
How many letters are in the Turkish alphabet?
The Turkish alphabet consists of 29 letters (8 vowels and 21 consonants). It is an adapted Latin script introduced in 1928, omitting Q, W, and X, and introducing Ç, Ğ, I (undotted), İ (dotted), Ö, Ş, and Ü.
How do you pronounce 'Ğ' (yumuşak ge)?
Ğ (yumuşak ge / soft g) is never pronounced as a hard 'g'. It never appears at the start of a word. After back vowels (a, ı, o, u), it lengthens the preceding vowel (e.g. 'dağ' sounds like 'daa'). After front vowels (e, i), it sounds like a smooth, subtle 'y' sound or lengthens the vowel.
What is the difference between 'I' and 'İ' in Turkish?
Turkish strictly distinguishes between undotted I/ı and dotted İ/i in both uppercase and lowercase. 'I / ı' is pronounced as a close back unrounded vowel (like the 'e' in 'open' or 'u' in 'syrup'). 'İ / i' is pronounced like 'ee' in 'see'.
What are the Turkish letter names?
Vowels are called by their sound (a, e, ı, i, o, ö, u, ü). Consonants add an 'e': be, ce, çe, de, fe, ge, he, je, ke, le, me, ne, pe, re, se, şe, te, ve, ye, ze. Ğ is called 'yumuşak ge' (soft g). Turks spell words aloud this way, e.g. 'ce-a-em' for cam.
What is the 'Fıstıkçı Şahap' rule for consonants?
Fıstıkçı Şahap is a famous Turkish mnemonic containing all 8 voiceless hard consonants: F, S, T, K, Ç, Ş, H, P. When a word ends in one of these consonants and a suffix starting with 'c' or 'd' is added, the suffix hardens to 'ç' or 't' (consonant assimilation).
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