-ca / -ce / -ça / -çe: language names

The idea

The language suffix has four shapes: -ca, -ça, -ce and -çe. The last vowel of the stem picks the vowel (a ı o u give a, e i ö ü give e), and the last sound picks the consonant: ç after one of ç f h k p s ş t, otherwise c. So Alman gives Almanca, Arap gives Arapça, İngiliz gives İngilizce and Türk gives Türkçe.

Examples

• Ben Almanca öğreniyorum.I am learning German.
• Annem Fransızca biliyor.My mother knows French.
• Biz derste Türkçe konuşuyoruz.We speak Turkish in class.After konuşmak the language name normally stays bare, with no case ending: Türkçe konuşuyoruz. The pronoun biz may move or be dropped.
• Almancadain GermanAlman·ca-ca / -ce / -ça / -çe: language names·da-de / -da / -te / -ta: in, at, on
• İngilizcemmy Englishİngiliz·ce-ca / -ce / -ça / -çe: language names·m-im / -ım / -um / -üm / -m: my
• Rusçadanfrom RussianRus·ça-ca / -ce / -ça / -çe: language names·dan-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of
• Fransızcayainto FrenchFransız·ca-ca / -ce / -ça / -çe: language names·yBuffer -y-: the y that joins vowels·a-e / -a / -ye / -ya: to, towards
• ÇinceChinese (the language)Çin ends in the voiced n and its last vowel i is front, so the suffix is -ce: Çince.
• LehçePolish (the language)Leh ends in h, a voiceless sound, so the suffix starts with ç: Lehçe. The language is built on Leh, not on the country name.

Watch out

Build the language from the name of the people, not of the country: Almanca, never Almanyaca. And after a voiceless sound the consonant is ç: Arapça, not Arapca.

Try it yourself

1. Add the language suffix to Alman (German people): German, the language.

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   Almanca

   Almanca: Alman ends in the voiced n, so the consonant is c, and the back vowel a gives -ca.

2. Add the language suffix to Arap (Arab people): Arabic, the language.

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   Arapça

   Arapça: p is voiceless, which turns the consonant into ç, and the back vowel a gives -ça.

3. Add the language suffix to İngiliz (English people): English, the language.

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   İngilizce

   İngilizce: z is voiced, so the consonant stays c, and the front vowel i gives -ce.

4. Add the language suffix to Türk (Turkish people): Turkish, the language.

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   Türkçe

   Türkçe: k is voiceless, so the consonant is ç, the front vowel ü gives -çe, and the k stays.

Use it today

Write the language names for five peoples you know and mark the last vowel and last sound of each stem before you add the suffix.