Letter Rules

The Vowel Groups

Generally, it is preferable that all letters within the same word have vowels within the same vowel group. These groups are divided into two categories based on breathing.

The first being:

A, I, O, U, which have a "thicker" sound and a referred to as being the "thick" vowels in Turkish. You can think of them as being deeper sounding.

This group is generally represented by the letter 'A'.

The second group is the:

E, İ, Ö, Ü, which have a "thinner" sound and a referred to as being the "thin" vowels in Turkish. You can think of them as slightly higher sounding.

This group is generally represented by the letter 'E'.

The Vowel Pairs

In many cases we prefer not only to use vowels from the same group, but also the same pair. In the same pair, the vowels not only have the same pitch but also a very similar shape of mouth, which makes pronunciation much easier. There are four pairs and each pair has a representative that we choose to use in suffixes.

If the word ends in... F-S-T-K-Ç-Ş-H-P

Then consider the consonant pairs:

If the suffix starts with a vowel

The original word's last vowel goes from the left column to the right column.

For instance, 'T' would become a 'D', and 'P' would become a 'B'.

If the suffix starts with a B, C, D, or G

The suffix's first letter goes from the right column to the left column.

Now, for instance, the 'G' would become a 'K', and 'B' would become a 'P'.