The Turkish Alphabet

The Turkish alphabet has 29 letters: no q, w or x, but ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş and ü. Every letter has one sound, so Turkish is read exactly as it is written. Tap any letter to hear its name in Turkish.

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All 29 letters

Tap any letter to hear its name in Turkish.

a say “ah” a as in “father”
be say “beh” b as in “bed”
ce say “jeh” j as in “jam”
çe say “cheh” ch as in “church”
de say “deh” d as in “dog”
e say “eh” e as in “bed”
fe say “feh” f as in “fun”
ge say “geh” g as in “go”
yumuşak ge say “yoo-moo-SHAHK geh” “soft g”: no sound of its own; it makes the vowel before it longer (dağ = “daa”)
he say “heh” h as in “hat”, always pronounced, also at the end of a syllable
I ı ı say “uh” a dark i with spread (unrounded) lips, like the e in “roses” or the a in “about”
i say “ee” ee as in “see”
je say “zheh” s as in “pleasure” (rare, mostly in loanwords)
ke say “keh” k as in “kite”, with a light puff of air
le say “leh” l as in “let”
me say “meh” m as in “man”
ne say “neh” n as in “no”
o say “oh” a short, pure o (no “oh-oo” glide)
ö say “e” with rounded lips (like German ö)
pe say “peh” p as in “pin”, with a light puff of air
re say “reh” a tapped r; at the end of a word often soft, almost whispered (bir)
se say “seh” s as in “sun”
şe say “sheh” sh as in “shop”
te say “teh” t as in “top”, with a light puff of air
u say “oo” oo as in “food”
ü say “ee” with rounded lips (like German ü)
ve say “veh” v as in “van”, softer, almost w between vowels
ye say “yeh” y as in “yes”
ze say “zeh” z as in “zoo”

7 letters that sound different for English speakers

Sounds like j in “jam”: ceket = “jeh-KET” ceket · jacket
Sounds like ch in “church”: çay = “chai” çay · tea
Not a g at all: it lengthens the vowel (dağ = “daa”) dağ · mountain
No dot = a dark “uh”-like i, not “ee”: kız = “kuhz” kız · girl
Sounds like the s in “pleasure”, not j: jambon = “zham-BON” jambon · ham
Sounds like sh: şeker = “sheh-KER” şeker · sugar
Say “ee” with rounded lips, as in süt (milk) süt · milk

Easy to mix up: ı and i, ğ, c and ç, ş, ö and ü

Letters	Examples	Rule
ı · i		two different vowels: ı is a dark “uh”, i is “ee” (kız “girl”, kedi “cat”)
I ı · İ i		the dot stays on capitals: ı → I, i → İ (İstanbul); ışık starts with dotless ı
ğ		never at the start of a word; it lengthens the vowel before it, or glides softly between vowels (ağaç = “aa-ACH”)
c · ç		c = j as in “jam”; ç = ch as in “church”
s · ş		s is always a sharp s (su); ş = sh (şeker)
ö · ü		rounded vowels as in German: ö = “e” with rounded lips (göz), ü = “ee” with rounded lips (süt)

A word for every letter

Each letter below has its name and a real word from the Flashcardly course (starting with the letter where one exists), with a picture and native audio.