Turkish

1/ Introduction

Turkish is the official languge of Turkey, where it is the native language of more than 90% of the population, ie 60 million people. Modern standard Turkish represents a standardization of the Istanbul dialect of Anatolian.

The first Anatolian Turkish documents date from the 13th century. From the very beginning of its Anatolian period, Turkish was written in the Arabic script, until the Latin scrpt was adopted in the course of the writing reform of 1928.

Turkish is by far the largest language in the Turkic family. The main geographic locations of Turkic languages are:

-Turkey (Turkish);

-Former USSR and Iran (Azerbaidjani, Uzbek, Kazakh, Turkmenian, Kirghiz, Tatar, Yakut…);

-Northwester China (Uighur, Kazakh).

It is widely accepted that the Turkic family is afiliated with the Mongolian languages and the Tungusic languages, to form the Altaic phylum. Bolder hypotheses would extend the Altaic phylum to include Korean and perhaps even Japanese.





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2/ Alphabet

It is necessary to look at the alphabet and see the sounds first:

All sounds are read by adding "-e" (pron. as e in 'get') to the end of sound.



A a -as in French, Spanish papa (English bus )

B b - as in English, French

C c - as in " John "

Ç ç - as in "chair "

D d - as in English, French

E e - as in "get "

F f - as in English, French

G g - as in "game "

Ğ ğ -( pronounced as " yumuşak g " == " soft g " ) as in "yet" or mute

I ı - (called the "undotted i") as in " legend ", "nation"

İ i - (called the "dotted i") as in French "lit", Spanish "mi"

J j - as in French "jeune", English "pleasure"

K k - as in English, French

L l - as in English, French

M m - as in English, French

N n - as in English, French

O o - as in French "port" (pure open o)

Ö ö - as in French "peu", German "Köln"

P p - as in English, French

R r - as in Spanish "pero", Italian "però"

S s - as in "sand "

Ş ş - as in "shoe"

T t - as in French "tour", Spanish "torre"

U u - as in "pull"

Ü ü - as in French "voiture", German "Blümchen"

V v - as in English, French

Y y - as in "yellow "

Z z - as in English

In general stress has to be placed on the last syllable in a word.



Simple characteristics:

- All letters must be pronounced. Turkish spelling is phonetic.

- But some sounds are not said sometimes. These are not related to any rule…

yapacağım == ı will do , pronounced as " yapıcam "

gideceğim == i will go , pronouced as " gidicem "

- There's a significant numbers of vowels. They are pronounced as a simple sound.

Two kind of vowels are distinguished (and this is extremely important!):


Front vowels : e, i , ö, ü

Back vowels : a, ı, o, u





- No written accents on the letters.

- Nouns or verbs can be created by suffixes. Turkish is said to be an agglutinative language. No prefixes used.

Nouns have no gender.



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3/ Basit sözcükler - Simple words

merhaba - hi, hello

günaydın - good morning

iyi akşamlar - good evening

hoşgeldin - welcome

hoşgeldiniz - welcome ( polite )

nasılsın? - how are you?

nasılsınız? - how are you? ( polite )

güle güle - bye

teşekkür ederim - thank you

çok teşekkür ederim - thank you very much

lütfen - please

özür dilerim - sorry

şerefe - cheers

memnun oldum - glad to see you

görüşürüz - see you

sabah - morning

öğle - noon

öğleden sonra - afternoon

akşam - evening

gece - night

dün - yesterday

bugün - today

yarın - tomorrow

evet - yes

hayır - no

ve - and

veya - or

ya da - or



Sayılar - Numbers

bir , 1 -- iki , 2 -- üç , 3 -- dört , 4 -- beş , 5 -- altı , 6 -- yedi , 7 -- sekiz , 8 -- dokuz , 9 -- on , 10

onbir , 11 -- oniki , 12 -- onüç , 13

yirmi , 20 -- yirmibir , 21 -- yirmiiki , 22 -- yirmiüç , 23

otuz , 30 -- otuzbir , 31 -- otuziki , 32

kırk , 40 -- elli , 50 -- altmış , 60 -- yetmiş , 70 -- seksen , 80 -- doksan , 90 -- yüz , 100

yüzbir , 101 -- yüziki , 102 -- yüzüç , 103

yüzon , 110 -- yüzonbir , 111 -- yüzoniki , 112

yüzyirmi , 120 -- yüzotuz , 130

bin , 100

binyüz , 1100

bin dokuz yüz doksan dokuz , 1999

ikibin , 2000

!!!: Cardinal numbers are followed by singular nouns. Bir ev= one house. Iki ev=two houses.



Günler - Days

pazartesi = monday

salı = tuesday

çarşamba = wednesday

perşembe = thursday

cuma = friday

cumartesi = saturday

pazar = Sunday



Aylar - Months

ocak = January

şubat = February

mart = March

nisan = April

mayıs = May

haziran = June

temmuz = July

ağustos = August

eylül = September

ekim = October

kasım = November

aralık = December


Turkish Modes of Address
"Who are you...?"
The usual method of address when you do not know the person's name or title is as follows:

Beyefendi - Sir - Daily pronunciation is truncated to: - Beyfendi

Hanımefendi - Miss or Madam - Daily pronunciation is truncated to: - Hanfendi

These are used in formal situations and to strangers


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Personal Addressing - Formal and Informal
As stated, the above are used in formal situations. Once names are known then Bey and Hanım are used after the first name, this usage is still formal and semi-formal.

Mustafa Bey - Mr. Mustafa

Ayşe Hanım - Miss or Mrs. Ayşe

These are used in formal situations when you know the person's first name but also in informal situations to acquaintances, friends and even to you own family members.

Surnames are not usually used in Conversational Turkish, so the Mustafa Bey can mean - Mr. Mustafa and Ayşe Hanım can mean Mrs. OR Miss Ayşe (in a formal situation) or it can mean just a friendly Mustafa or Ayşe (without the title) between acquaintances.


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Addressing Letters and Envelopes
There is an increasing use of addressing people by their surname - especially used on television in interviews etc.

This method uses the word - Sayın - esteemed before the surname directly.

If the interviewee's name is Musafa Kurt, then he may be addressed as Mustafa Bey - (formal and informal) or directly by his surname as Sayın Kurt - (formal and public)

Note that Bey - Mr. and Sayın - esteemed are usually spelt with capital letters, but they can be found without capital letters.


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Addressing Envelopes - an Example
Sayın Mustafa Kurt
Çekmece Mah.
Uzunyol Sok. Nolu:24 D:6
Bağarası Köyü

02332 İZMİR - TÜRKİYE


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Letter Addressed in Turkish
Sayın Mustafa Kurt
Çekmece Mah.
Uzunyol Sok. Nolu:24 D:6
Bağarası Köyü
02332 İZMİR - TÜRKİYE
Analysis of this Address
Esteemed Mustafa Kurt
Çekmece District
Uzunyol Street No.24 Apt No. 6
Bağarası Village
Post Code. Postal County. Country


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Some Abbreviations used in addresses
Sok. (Sokak) - Street
Cad. (Cadde or Caddesi) - Road
Bul. (Bulvar or Bulvarı) - Avenue
Yol. (Yol) - Way, Route
Mah. (Mahalle or Mahallesi) - District
D. (Daire) - Apartment, Suite
Apt. (Apartman) - Apartment
K. (Kat) - Floor
No. (Numara) - Number
Nolu. (Numarala) - Numbered

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Greetings
In semi formal situations there is a four stage greeting procedure.

(1) - The Welcome:
hoş geldiniz or less formal hoş geldin - Welcome!.
This is answered by hoş bulduk - We found it well!

(2) - The Greeting:
This is an exchange of merhaba - Hello

(3) - The Asking after Health Stage:
nasılsınız? (formal) or nasılsın? (informal) - How are you?

(5) - The Response:
This is is answered by ıyiyim, teşekkür ederim - I am well, thank you.
It then followed by a question about the other's health: - siz nasılsınız? - You, how are you?


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Other Daily Greetings
günaydın - good morning, good day, good afternoon
iyi günler - good day
iyi akşamlar - good evening
iyi geceler - good night - (said on leaving company)
hoşça kal - so long - (lit: stay joyful)
görüşmek üzere - see you soon
Note that the plural is used in - "Good day, good evening, Good night" - similar to the Spanish - "Buenos Dias"


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Some Daily Informal Greetings
For an informal greeting like - "Hi!" - in English Turkish uses - Selam..! - to which the answer is the same - selam..!
Also one can use - What's up..? - Na'ber..?
Na'ber..? - is commonly used in everyday languge. It is actually - Ne haber..? - What news..?
The answer is generally - iyidir, senden..? - literally - It's good. and from you.?
ne var ne yok..? - What is happening..? - [Lit: What is there..? What isn't there?.. (going on..?]
The answer to this one is - iyilik..! - goodness..! wellness..!

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A Long - Goodbye..
There is a "Formula Speak" that is used quite lot and is very common for saying your "Goodbyes. This is often used when leaving company or on going away to somwhere..

The person(s) who are leaving will say - Allaha ısmalardık..! - goodbye..! - [a quasi religious-type formula].


The answer said by those staying behind is - güle güle..! - Cheerio..! - [Lit: Go with a smile!]

If you use this formula after visiting your Turkish friends they will be suitably impressed..


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The Muslim Peace Greeting
selâmünaleyküm - a Muslim peace greeting - answered by - aleykümselâm

This latter is mainly used between passing strangers - normally both male - during travel or on entry to a crowded room, such as a tea house, when one cannot address everybody personally.
Words

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Good morning=== Günaydın
Good evening === İyi akşamlar
Good night=== İyi geceler
hello === merhaba; selam
Welcome! ==== Hoş geldiniz!
The proper response to this phrase is Hoş bulduk (It's nice to be here)
English === İngilizce
Turkish=== Türkçe
How are you? === nasılsınız? (formal) / nasılsın? (informal)
I am fine. === iyiyim.
What is your name? === isminiz nedir?
I'm sorry = == üzgünüm
excuse me=== özur dilerim
please = == lütfen
thank you === teşekkür ederim or sağol
you're welcome === bir şey değil or rica ederim
yes === evet
no === hayır
good === iyi
bad === kötü
Kiss! = == Öptüm!
See you! === Görüşürüz!
Bye!=== Hoşça kalın![/size][/font]

Merhaba: Hello
Nasılsınız: How are you?
Lütfen: Please
İyiyim teşekkür ederim: I am fine thank you.
Teşekkür ederim: Thank you.
Evet: Yes
Hayır: No
Günaydın: Good morning.
İyi akşamlar: Good evening.
İyi geceler: Good night