You will hear and say a e ı i o ö u ü, sort them by tongue and lips, and keep similar pairs apart. No recording is attached to this lesson, so it teaches through spelling and mouth position; the page's read-aloud button is only a bonus where your browser has a Turkish voice.
The idea
Turkish has eight vowels, a e ı i o ö u ü. Each is fixed by three choices: tongue back (a ı o u) or front (e i ö ü), lips spread or rounded (o ö u ü), mouth wide open (only a), half open (e o ö) or nearly shut (ı i u ü). Each vowel letter is always the same sound and its own syllable beat: saat is said sa-at.
| Pair | Back vowel | Front vowel |
|---|---|---|
| a / e | at | et |
| ı / i | kır | kir |
| o / ö | ol | öl |
| u / ü | kul | kül |
Examples
- Köyde bir göl var.There is a lake in the village.
- Okulda ışık yok.There is no light in the school.
- Üç kuş ağaçta.Three birds are in the tree.Üç has ü and kuş has u. Ü is i with rounded lips and u is ı with rounded lips: the lips are the same, the tongue is forward for ü and back for u.
- athorseAt (horse) and et (meat) differ only in the vowel: a has the mouth wide open and the tongue back, e has it half open and the tongue forward.
- türkind, type
- külash
- Saat üçte.It is three o'clock.Saat has two syllables, sa-at: each vowel letter is said and gets its own beat. The ü of üçte is the rounded i.
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Watch out
Do not turn ö into o or ü into u. The lips round the same way, but for ö and ü the tongue moves forward, and the word changes: ol (be) and öl (die), kul (servant) and kül (ash).
Try it yourself
Write the word for village: köy or koy (bay)?
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köy
köy: village has ö, rounded with the tongue forward. koy, with plain o, is a bay, so the vowel decides the meaning.
Write the whole word for ash. Its vowel is i with rounded lips.
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kül
kül: ash needs ü, which is i with rounded lips. kul with u means servant.
Write the vowel of kız: tongue back, lips spread, mouth nearly shut.
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ı
ı: in kız the tongue is pulled back, the lips are spread and the mouth is nearly shut. i would put the tongue forward, and u would round the lips.
How many syllables does saat have? Write the number.
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2 / iki
2 (iki): saat is sa-at. Two vowel letters side by side are two syllables, never merged into one sound.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Write the word for village: köy or koy (bay)?
Write the whole word for ash. Its vowel is i with rounded lips.
Write the vowel of kız: tongue back, lips spread, mouth nearly shut.
How many syllables does saat have? Write the number.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Say at and et, then kul and kül, then ol and öl, watching your tongue and lips. Then write one word of your own for each of the eight vowels.