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Turkish phrasebook Travel Guide

From Wikitravel

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.

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

1: bir (beer)
2: iki (icky)
3: üç (uech)
4: dört (doert)
5: beş (besh)
6: altı (altuh)
7: yedi (yedee)
8: sekiz (sekiz)
9: 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

Turkish course at Wikibooks

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