Turkish Language 🇹🇷 Primer

Based on the smattering I’ve learnt

Published in

On Arts

5 min readJun 10, 2024

⚠️Warning: I’m no authority on the Turkish language, or any other language for that matter.

Turkish is the 18th most spoken language in the world, is spoken by almost 100 million people, is an official language of Turkey and Nothern Cyprus, and is also spoken in several parts of Europe and the Middle East.

Status of Turkish Language (Wikipedia) — Official Language (Dark Blue), Recognized Minority Language (Blue), Recognized Minority Language and Co-Official in some Regions (Light Blue)

Turkish is the most spoken Turkic Language. Turkic Languages are a family of languages that originated in East Asia (parts of present day Mongolia, China and Russia), and also include Uzbek, Azerbaijani, Turkmen and Qashqai (spoken by the Qashqai ethnicity in southern Iran).

Map of the distribution of Turkic languages across Eurasia (Wikipedia)

The Alphabet

In 1928, Ataturk replaced the Ottoman Turkish Alphabet (a Perso-Arabic script) with a version of the Latin Script, as part of his reforms.

The alphabet consists of 29 letters.

q, w, and x are omitted
ç, ş, ğ, ı, ö and ü are added.

Vowels (8)

❗denotes, unexpected or different from English

a: father
e: red
ı: bird ❗
i: feet
o: more
ö: nurse (with lips rounded) ❗
u: pool
ü: tune

Consonants (21)

c: joy ❗
ç: chair
g: big
ğ: league. known as the “soft g”. Has the same sound but tends to elongate any vowel preceding it.
r: better, in American English. ❗
ş: show

The other consonants (15) sound as you might expect them to sound in English.

Random Vocabulary

Greetings

Welcome: Hoş (Pleasent) geldiniz (welcome)
Goodbye: Hoşça (Pleasent) kalın (buy) / Güle (Bye) güle (bye)
Please: Lütfen
Thank you: Teşekkürler
Yes: Evet
No: Hayır
Excuse me: Afedersiniz
Sorry: Özür dilerim

Food

Air: Hava
Water: Su
Water Bottle: Su şişesi
Bread: Ekmek
Sandwich: Sandviç
Salt: Tuz
Pepper: Biber
Olive Oil: Zeytin yağı
Olives: Zeytin
Olive Oil: Zeytin (Olive) yağı (oil)
Pomegranates: Nar
Oranges: Portakal (named after Portugal, from where the Ottomans imported their oranges)
Orange Juice: Portakal (Orange) su (water)
Apples: Elma
Tomatoes: Domates
Potatoes: Patate
Figs: İncir
Sesame: Susam
Onions: Soğan
Salad: Salata
Soup: Çorbaha
Honey: Bal
Milk: Süt
Cheese: Peynir, borrowed from Persian, like Paneer
Butter: Tereyağı
Eggs: Yumurta
Lamb: Kuzu
Beef: Biftek or Sığır (Cattle) eti (meat)
Chicken: Tavuk
Fish: Balık
Chocolate: Çikolata
Sweet: Tatlı
Rice Pudding: Sütlaç. Sütlu (Milky) + aç (soup)

Hotels

Hotel: Otel
Room: Oda
Luggage: Bagaj
Reservation: Rezervasyon
Lobby: Lobi
Key: Anahtar
Bathroom: Banyo

Cafes

Cafe: Kafe
Coffee: Kahve
Tea: Çay
Pastry: Pasta
Snack: Atıştırmalık

Restaurants

Restaurant: Restoran
Table: Masa
Chair: Sandalye
Menu: Menü
Waiter: Garson
Chef: Şef
Order: Sipariş
Bill: Hesap
Kitchen: Mutfak
Toilet: Tuvalet

Numbers

One: Bir
Two: İki
Three: Üç
Four: Dört
Five: Beş
Six: Altı
Seven: Yedi
Eight: Sekiz
Nine: Dokuz
Ten: On

100: Yüz
1000: Bin

Time

Today: Bugün
Tomorrow: Yarın
Yesterday: Dün
Day: Gün
Night: Gece
Morning: Sabah
Afternoon: Öğleden sonra
Evening: Akşam
Week: Hafta

Space

North: Kuzey
South: Güney
East: Doğu
West: Batı
Left: Sol
Right: Sağ
Straight: Düz
Back: Geri

Money

Turkish Lira: Türk Lirası
Euro: Euro (many shops denote prices in euros)
US Dollar: Amerikan Doları
Sri Lankan Rupee: Sri Lanka Rupisi
Exchange Rate: Döviz Kuru
Currency Exchange: Döviz değişimi

Shopping

Store: Mağaza (from the Arabic, “maḵāzin”, meaning storeroom. The English word “magazine” (publication) derived its meaning from the Arabic, metaphorically. As in a publication is a “storehouse” for information.)
Market: Pazar, borrowed from Persian, like Bazaar
Supermarket: Süpermarket
Buy: Satın (Buy) almak (to take)
Sell: Satmak
Price: Fiyat (not related to fiat, as in fiat currency)
How much?: Ne kadar?
Expensive: Pahalı
Cheap: Ucuz
Discount: İndirim
Sale: Satış
Cash: Nakit
Credit Card: Kredi Kartı
Receipt: Fiş
Bargain: Pazarlık yapmak

Tourism

Tourist: Turist
Map: Harita
Museum: Müze or Müzesi
Ticket: Bilet
Ticket Price: Bilet fiyatı
Entrance: Giriş
Exit: Çıkış
Open: Açık
Closed: Kapalı

Transport

Taxi: Taksi
Bus: Otobüs
Bus stop: Otobüs (Bus) durağı (stop)
Train: Tren
Station: İstasyon
Flight: Uçuş
Airport: Havalimanı
Early: Erken
Late: Geç
Delayed: Gecikmeli
Cancelled: İptal
Traffic: Trafik

Safety

Emergency: Acil Durum
Caution: Dikkat
Danger: Tehlike
Emergency Exit: Acil Çıkış
Fire: Yangın
Help: Yardım
Police: Polis
Thief: Hırsız
Stolen: Çalıntı
Lost: Kayıp
Found: Bulundu
Consulate: Konsolosluk
Embassy: Büyükelçilik

Health

Hospital: Hastane
Pharmacy: Eczane

More Places

Street: Sokagi or Sokak, e.g. Bankalar Sokagi: Street of Banks
Square: Meydan (borrowed from Arabic, as Maidan in Ukrainian)
Mosque: Camii, e.g. Yeni Camii (New Mosque)
Kulesi: Tower, eg. Galata Kulesi, Kiz (Girl) Kulesi
Palace: Sarayı
Garden: Bahçe, e.g. Dolmabahçe Sarayı (Full Garden Palace)
Bazaar: Çarşı, e.g.Kapalıçarşı (Grand Bazaar), Mısır Çarşıs (Spice Bazaar)
Church: Kilise
Bridge: Köprüsü, e.g. Galata Köprüsü
Fortess: Hisarı, e.g. Yedikule Hisarı, Anadolu (Anatolian) Hisarı
Park: Korusu, e.g. Emirgan Korusu (Emir’s Park)
Castle: Kale, e.g. Pamukkale (Cotton castle)

Geographical Features

Sea: Denizi, e.g. Karadeniz (Black Sea), Marmara Denizi (Sea of Marmara), Ege (Aegean) Denizi (Sea), Akdeniz (Mediterranean, Lit. White Sea)
Ocean: Okyanus, e.g. Hint Okyanusu (Indian Ocean)
Strait: Boğazı, e.g. Boğaziçi (Bosphorus Strait, Lit. The Strait), Çanakkale Boğazı (Dardanelles Strait)
Gulf: Körfezi, e.g. İzmir Körfezi, Antalya Körfezi
Lake: Gölü, e.g. Tuz Gölü
River: Nehri, e.g. Fırat Nehri (Euphrates River), Dicle Nehri (Tigris River)

More literal meanings of the names of places in Istanbul 🇹🇷

⚠️Some of these explanations are disputed. Also note, I’ve listed the Turkish word first.

Karaköy: Kara (Black) + köy (village). Kara might also refer to the Turkic-speaking Jewish community called the Crimean Karaites.
Kadıköy: Kadı (Judge) + köy (village), probably because Kadıköy was put under the administration of the courts of Constantinople.
Ortaköy: Orta (Middle) + köy (village)
Bakırköy: Bakır (Copper) + köy (village)
Beşiktaş: Beşik (Cradle) + taş (stone). There are at least three theories as to what Cradle Stone means.
Nişantaşı: Nişan(Target) + taşı (stone). Target (aiming) stones were erected in the Ottoman period to mark the records of Ottoman archers, including sultans
Aksaray: Ak (White) + palace (sarayi)
Fatih: Conqueror
Beyoğlu: Bey (Nobleman) + Oğlu (son). Many theories as to who this is.

As I said above, I’m no authority on the Turkish language. Please comment with suggestions for improvement.