THE VOCAL HARMONY

This rule governs the use of vowels in both stems and suffixes.

Understanding this rule will consistently help you to determine how to spell a word and which suffix to use.

This rule is known as the vocal harmony.

In Turkish, there are two sets of vowels:

Hard vowels: a, ı, o, u

Soft vowels: e, i, ö, ü (note that ö and ü are letters in turkish)

In simple terms, each vowel "prefers" to be paired only with vowels from its own group. Vowels from different groups don't mix so that the prononciation is easier.

This means that a vowel can only be followed by another vowel from the same group.

“vowels are followed only by the vowels from the same group.”

The vocal harmony has 2 rules:

  • the e-type vocal harmony

  • the i-type vocal harmony

E-TYPE VOCAL HARMONY

This rule happens when we add a suffix that can contain only 2 vowels: -a or -e

In this situation:

  • if the last vowel of the word is a hard vowel (a, ı, o, u), we will use -a

  • if the last vowel of the word is a soft vowel (e, i, ö, ü), we will use -e

Examples of suffix following this rule:

  • the plural form: -lar / -ler

  • the locative form: -da / -de

THE PLURAL FORM (e type)

How to make the plural form of a word ?

To put a word at the plural form, look at the last vowel of the noun.

  • If its a hard vowel (a, ı, o, u), the plural is -lar

  • If it’s a soft vowel (e, i, ö, ü), the plural is -ler

Iyi gün => ü is a soft vowel, the plural is günler

Examples:

  • bir tabak, tabak-lar : a plate, plates

  • bir balık, balık-lar : a fish, fishes

  • bir yol, yol-lar : a road, roads

  • bir yolculuk, yolculuk-lar : a travel, travels

  • bir kelebek, kelebek-ler : a butterfly, butterflies

  • bir fil, fil-ler : an elephant, elephants

  • bir gün, gün-ler : a day, days

The locative is used to express where someone or something is.

The suffix is

  • -da after a hard vowel (a, ı, o, u)

  • -de after a soft vowel (e, i, ö, ü)

Examples:

  • O cinema-da : he is at the cinema

    • because -a, the last vowel is a hard vowel

  • Havaalanı-dasın : you are at the airport

    • because -ı, the last vowel is a hard vowel

  • O tiyatro-da : he is at the theater

    • because -o is a hard vowel

  • Hotel-deyim : I am at the hotel

    • because -e is a soft vowel

  • Deniz-deyiz : We are at the sea

    • because -i is a soft vowel

THE LOCATIVE FORM (e-type)

This rule happens when we add a suffix that can contain -i, -ı, -u or -ü

In this situation

  • If the last vowel of the word is e or i, we will use -i

  • If the last vowel of the word is a or ı, we will use -ı

  • If the last vowel of the word is u or o, we will use -u

  • If the last vowel of the word is ö or ü, we will use -ü

Examples of forms following this rule:

  • the “profession” suffix CI : -ci / -cı / -cu / -cü

  • the form LI : -li / -lı / -lu / -lü

  • the “without” form SIZ : -siz / -sız / -suz / -süz

  • the generalisation suffix LIK : -lik / -lık / -luk / -lük

I-TYPE VOCAL HARMONY

-CI FOR PROFESSION NAMES (i-type)

  • To form a noun that describes a profession, we add -ci to another noun.

    We write:

    • -ci if last vowel is e or i

    • -cı if last vowel is a or ı

    • -cu if last vowel is u or o

    • -cü if last vowel is ö or ü

    Examples:

    • gazete-ci : journalist

    • kapı-cı : concierge, doorman, because ı is the last vowel

    • futbol-cu : footballer because o is the last vowel

    • ütü-cü : “ironman“, someone who irons clothes

  • The suffix -li means “with” => şekerli : with sugar

  • The suffix -siz means “without” => şekersiz : without sugar

    We write:

    • -li or -siz if last vowel is e or i

    • -lı or -sız if last vowel is a or ı

    • -lu or -suz if last vowel is u or o

    • -lü or -süz if last vowel is ö or ü

    Examples:

    • süt-lü : with milk - süt-süz : without milk

    • çocuk-lu : with the child but çocuklar-lı : with the children

-LI/-SIZ : WITH / WITHOUT (i-type)

-LIK : THE GENERALISATION SUFFIX (i-type)

  • This suffix modify the previous noun to give a more generalised idea:

    • “zayıf” means slim and “zayıf-lık” means “slimness”

    • “ağac“ means tree and “ağaclık“ means “wood”

  • We write:

    • -lik if last vowel is e or i

    • -lık if last vowel is a or ı

    • -luk if last vowel is u or o

    • -lük if last vowel is ö or ü

    Examples:

    • kitap: a book => kitap-lık : a library

    • çirkin: ugly => çirkin-lik : uglyness