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Turkish phrasebook Travel Guide

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Turkish (Türkçe) is the most widely-spoken of the Turkic languages and is the official language of the Republic of Turkey - as well as being the most useful language in Turkish-ruled northern Cyprus. Outside of Turkey itself, knowledge of Turkish is helpful in several neighbouring countries including Azerbaijan. While the Central Asian "stans" speak Turkic languages, the similarities between Kazakh and Turkish (for example) are only very rudimentary.

Contents

Grammar

Unlike many languages, Turkish forms words by a process known as "agglutination", where prefixes and suffixes are attached to words to mark different parts of speech and so on. Thus, an English phrase such as "I am an Australian" is rendered in Turkish with the one word "Avustralyalıyım - Avustralya-lı-y-ım".

Pronunciation guide

Turkish pronunciation looks daunting to non-native speakers, as many of the words are very long and look like tongue-twisters. With a bit of practice, however, it becomes much easier.

Vowels

The Turkish vowels are

  • A - a short sound, as in the English hat
  • E - a short sound, as in the English pet
  • İ - the sound in the English hit and at the beginning of İstanbul
  • I - a "neutral" sound with no real equivalent in English. The closest sound is the "uh" which replaces the "e" in the second syllable of open
  • O - as in the English order
  • Ö - pronounced as in German, a blend of "o" and "e"
  • U - short as in the English put
  • Ü - pronounced as in German, a blend of "u" and "e"

Remember that, in lower case, the two letters İ and I look different as well. The lower case form of İ is i, while the lower case form of I is ı.

Consonants

  • B - as in bed
  • C - pronounced as the initial letter in the English jump
  • Ç - the "ch" sound in the English chapel
  • D - as in drum
  • F - as in far
  • G - as in girl
  • Ğ - a silent letter, which serves to lengthen the previous vowel
  • H - as in hello
  • J - pronounced as in the French name Jean
  • K - as in king
  • L - as in love
  • M - as in man
  • N - as in new
  • P - as in print
  • R - as in run
  • S - as in snake
  • Ş - the "sh" sound in the English shake
  • T - as in take
  • V - roughly the mid-point between the "v" in very and the "w" in was
  • Y - as in yet
  • Z - as in zoo'

Common diphthongs

Phrase list

Basics

Hello. 
Merhaba. (mehr hah bah)
Hello. (informal
Selam. (sell um)
How are you? (polite) 
Nasılsınız (na zuhl suhn uhz)
Fine, thank you. 
İyiyim, teşekkürler. (ee yeem teh shek uer lerr)
What is your name? (polite) 
Adınız ne? (ad uhn uhz ne)
My name is ______ . 
Benim adım ______ . ( Benn im ad uhm _____ .)
Nice to meet you. 
Memnun oldum. (mem noon oll doom)
Please. 
Lütfen. (Luet fen)
Thank you. 
Teşekkür ederim. (teh shek uer eh der eem)
You're welcome. 
Bir şey değil. (Bir shey de yeel)
Yes. 
Evet. (eh vet)
No. 
Hayır (Hah yuhr)
Excuse me. (getting attention) (polite) 
Afedersiniz. (af fair dair sin niz)
Excuse me. (begging pardon
Pardon. (Par don)
I'm sorry. 
Özür dilerim. (O zoor di lay reem)
Goodbye 
Hoşça kalın. (Hosh cha kaluhn )
Goodbye (informal
Güle Güle. (gule gule)
I can't speak Turkish [well]. 
Türkçe konuşamıyorum [ ]. (Tuerck-che conusha-me-yoo-ruhm [ ])
Do you speak English? 
İnglizce konuşabilirmisiniz?
Is there someone here who speaks English? 
İnglizce konuşan birisi var mı burda ? ( Eengleez jay kow noo shun bee ree seh wurrm boor-duh ?)
Look out! 
Dikkat! (Dick kaht !)
Good morning. 
Günaydın. (Guen eye duhn )
Good evening. 
İyi akşamlar. (E yee Ak sham lar )
Good night. 
İyi geceler . (E yee Ge jay ler )
Good night (to sleep
. ( )
I don't understand. 
. Anlamadım (An la ma duhm)
Where is the toilet? 
Tuvalet nerede? (Too va let ner eh de?)

Problems

Help! 
İmdat! (Im Daht !)
Help! 
Yardım Edin! (Yard um ed in)
Accident 
kaza (ka za)
Doctor 
doktor (dok tor)

Numbers

bir (beer)
iki (icky)
üç (uech)
dört (doert)
beş (besh)
altı (altuh)
yedi (yedee)
sekiz (sekiz)
dokuz (dokuz)
10 
on (on)
11 
on bir (on beer)
12 
on iki (on icky)
13 
on üç (on uech)
14 
on dört (on doert)
15 
on beş (on besh)
16 
on altı (on altuh)
17 
on yedi (on yedee)
18 
on sekiz (on sekiz)
19 
on dokuz (on dokuz)
20 
yirmi (year mee)
21 
yirmi bir(year mee beer)
22 
yirmi iki (year mee icky)
23 
yirmi üç (year mee uech)
30 
otuz (otuz)
40 
kırk (kuhrk)
50 
elli (elly)
60 
altmış (altmuhsh)
70 
yetmiş (yet mish)
80 
seksen (seksen)
90 
doksan (doksan)
100 
yüz (yuez)
200 
iki yüz (icky yuez)
300 
üç yüz (uech yuez)
1000 
bin (bin)
2000 
iki bin (icky bin)
1,000,000 
bir milyon (beer milyon)
1,000,000,000 
bir milyar (beer milyar)
1,000,000,000,000 
bir trilyon (beer trilyon)
number _____ (train, bus, etc.
_____ numara (numara)
half 
yarım (yaruhm)
less 
az (as)
more 
çok (chock)

Time

Clock time

Duration

Days (Günler)

Sunday 
Pazar (paz ar)
Monday 
Pazartesi (paz ar tesi)
Tuesday 
Salı (saluh)
Wednesday 
Çarşamba (char sham ba)
Thursday 
Perşembe (per shem be)
Friday 
Cuma (juma)
Saturday 
Cumartesi (juma tesi)

Months

January 
Ocak (o jak)
February 
Şubat (shu bat)
March 
Mart (mart)
April 
Nisan (nee sahn)
May 
Mayıs (ma yuhs)
June 
Haziran (ha zee ran)
July 
Temmuz (taem mooz)
August 
Ağustos (aa hoos toss)
September 
Eylül (aey luehl)
October 
Ekim (ae keem)
November 
Kasim (kah suhm)
December 
Aralik (a ra luhk)

Writing time and date

Colors

Black 
siyah (see yuh)
White 
Beyaz (bei azh)
Yellow 
Sarı (saa rıh)
Blue 
Mavi (mao vee)
Green 
Yeşil (yea sheal)
Red 
Kırmızı (khır mızı)
Pink 
Pembe (pam bhe)

Transportation

Bus and train

Which bus? 
hangi otobüs (hangee auto boos)
How many kilometers? 
kaç kilometre? (kach kilo metreh)

Directions

Where? 
(place) nerede? (nar edeh)
(direction) nereye? (nar eyeh)
Left 
sol (sole)
Right 
sağ (saa)
Straight 
düz (dooz)
Here 
burada (bur ah da)

Taxi

I want to get out 
inecek var (ine jek var)

Lodging

One person 
bir kişi (beer kee shee)
One night 
bir gece (beer gay jay)
Hot water 
sıcak su (see jak suu)
Breakfast included 
kahvaltı dahil (kah val tuh da heel)

Money

Eating

Waiter! Excuse me! 
bakar mısınız! (ba kar mis in izz)
Menu / price list 
fiyat listesi (fee yot lis tesi)
Bill / check 
hesap (he sap)
Lunch 
öğle yemeği (oh lay yem ayee)

Bars

Shopping

How much (money)? 
kaç para? (koch pa rah)
Cheap 
ucuz (oo juuz)
Expensive 
pahalı (pahaluh)

Driving

Authority

Learning more

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