You will read words of Arabic, Persian and French origin as Turkish words, without importing the pronunciation of another language. No recording is attached; use the written contrasts and mouth-position instructions below.
The idea
Learn a borrowed word with its Turkish sound pattern, not just its letters. Some Arabic and Persian loans retain vowel length: sustain the first vowel in sade and the middle vowel in beraber, without a pause or an extra syllable. Compare adet (a unit, a piece) with âdet (a custom): the latter begins with a long vowel. In kâr (profit), unlike kar (snow), the vowel is long and the k is articulated further forward, toward the hard palate. French loans such as proje and jilet have j: keep the tongue just behind the tooth ridge and let air flow with your voice, as a voiced ş. Turkish c begins with a brief complete closure instead.
Examples
- Bu tasarım oldukça sade.This design is quite simple.
- Bugün beraber yemek hazırlıyoruz.We are preparing food together today.
- Yeni projeyi yarın konuşalım.Let’s discuss the new project tomorrow.
- adeta unit; a piece
- âdeta custom; a habit
- karsnow
- kârprofit
- jileta razor blade
- berabertogether
Read-aloud uses a synthetic Turkish voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
No Turkish device voice is available. You can still read the text.
Watch out
Do not assume that every long vowel has a circumflex, or add one yourself: sade and beraber have none. Length means sustaining a vowel, not saying it twice or simply stressing it. A familiar French-looking word still needs Turkish vowels and the Turkish r; do not turn j into c.
Try it yourself
Which word has a long vowel in standard Turkish: sade (simple) or masa (table)? Write the word.
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sade
sade: the first vowel lasts longer in the standard pronunciation; masa has no corresponding long vowel. Keep sade in two syllables even though the first vowel is sustained.
Complete pro_e (project). Write the letter for continuous voiced friction: j or c.
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j
j: this letter in proje represents continuous voiced friction. Replacing it with c would add a closure before the friction and change the consonant.
In Bu satıştan kâr ettik. (We made a profit from this sale), choose the meaning of kâr: kazanç (gain) or kar yağışı (snowfall).
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kazanç
kazanç: the sentence concerns money gained. That selects kâr, with a fronted k and a long vowel, rather than the weather word kar.
Which syllable in beraber contains the long vowel? Write be, ra or ber.
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ra
ra: in be-ra-ber, the middle syllable contains the sustained a. The word still has three syllables; length does not add a fourth.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Which word has a long vowel in standard Turkish: sade (simple) or masa (table)? Write the word.
Complete pro_e (project). Write the letter for continuous voiced friction: j or c.
In Bu satıştan kâr ettik. (We made a profit from this sale), choose the meaning of kâr: kazanç (gain) or kar yağışı (snowfall).
Which syllable in beraber contains the long vowel? Write be, ra or ber.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Keep your progress
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Read the three sentences, then alternate adet/âdet and kar/kâr, saying each meaning. Hold the long vowels without adding syllables. Finally say proje and jilet with continuous voiced friction at j, and write one new sentence with each.