In native Turkic words, the velar consonants /k, ɡ/ are palatalized to [c, ɟ] (similar to Russian) when adjacent to the front vowels /e, i, ø, y/.
kadar
k
kırk
k
kolay
k
kulak
k
kedi
c
kilit
c
köy
c
küpe
c
mahkûm
c
gam
g
gıdık
g
gocuk
g
gurur
g
genç
ɟ
git
ɟ
gök
ɟ
güle
ɟ
gâvur
ɟ
L
Similarly, the consonant /l/ is realized as a clear or light [l] next to front vowels (including word finally), and as a velarized [ɫ] next to the central and back vowels /a, ɯ, o, u/.
Final /h/ may be fronted to a voiceless velar fricative [x].[5] It may be fronted even further after front vowels, then tending towards a voiceless palatal fricative [ç].
nikâh
-x
günah
-x
ahşap
-x-
kadeh
-ç
fetih
-ç
hile
-ç
hala
h
ahır
h
hortum
h
N
"/n/ is realized as a velar nasal [ŋ] following a back vowel and preceding a velar plosive, and as a palatal nasal [ɲ] following a front vowel and preceding a palatal plosive. "
yangın
ŋ
banka
ŋ
mangal
ŋ
engin
ɲ
dingin
ɲ
renk
ɲ
Vowels
All vowels except /a/ and /o/ get lowered in word-final position.
A
[a] is a low, back and unrounded vowel. Its fronted allophone [ạ] occurs with the palatal consonants /c/, and /l/ in loan words.
kara
a
aşı
a
laf
ạ
kağıt
ạ
E
The non-high, front and unrounded vowel /e/ has three allophones. Going from the highest, i.e. mid, to the lowest, these are: the mid, front, closed vowel [e], its lowered counterpart [ε], an open-mid, front vowel, and [æ], a low front vowel. [e] sounds like a shorter form of the vowel sound in the English word late, [æ] resembles a shorter form of the vowel sound in bat, and [ε] is between the two, with a sound similar to the vowel in air in English.
sevgi
e
ekim
e
ile
-ε
büfe
-ε
ege
e-ε
kendine
e-ε
E-æ
[æ] occurs before /l/, /m/, /n/, /r/ in instances where the sequences ‘er’, ‘em’, ‘en’ and ‘el’ are not followed by a vowel, as in her ‘each, all’, gerdi ‘s/he stretched’, kent ‘town’, pergel ‘pair of compasses’.
gel
æ
ver
æ
kalem
æ
geldim
æ
evlerde
e-æ-ε
sende
æ-ε
gelir
e
evlerim
e-e
senin
e
İ
[I] is a higher-than-mid, front, unrounded vowel which occurs in word-final position. Its pronunciation resembles the vowel sound in bit in English. [i], which occurs elsewhere, is a front, high, unrounded vowel, a shorter version of the vowel sound in beat in English.
erik
i
iletişim
i
birden
i
beni
I
deri
I
kedi
I
ilgi
i-I
biri
i-I
I
[ı] is an unrounded, high, back vowel.
ılık
ı
balığı
ı
batı
-ɯ̞
tıpkı
ı-ɯ̞
kırmızı
ı-ɯ̞
O
[o] is a mid, back, rounded vowel. Its palatalized counterpart [ọ] occurs adjacent to /l/ in loan words. /o/ occurs only in the initial syllable in words of Turkic origin, but may appear in any syllable in loan words.
o
o
otur
o
lokum
ọ
rol
ọ
Ö
[ö] is a mid, front, rounded vowel. In loan words /ö/ can occur in any syllable, but like /o/ it appears only in the first syllable in native words.
göl
ö
ölçü
ö
söz
ö
U
[u] is a rounded, high, back vowel which sounds like the vowel in the English word truth. [ụ] is its palatalized allophone, which occurs adjacent to the palatal consonants /c/, and /l/ in loan words. [ ] is more lowered than [u] and occurs in word-final position. It is pronounced in a similar way to the vowel in put in English.
buluş
u
ufak
u
koşul
u
blûcin
ụ
bu
-ʊ
ordu
-ʊ
bulut
-ʊ
kutu
u-ʊ
bunu
u-ʊ
sulu
u-ʊ
Ü
[ü] is a rounded, high, front vowel. [Y] is more lowered than [ü] and occurs only in wordfinal position.
süt
ü
ömür
ü
büfe
ü
güneş
ü
örgü
-Y
kötü
-Y
ölçü
-Y
ölü
-Y
üzüntü
ü-ü-Y
ünlü
ü-Y
çünkü
ü-Y
görüntü
ü-Y
References
Pronunciation Notes
Göksel Aslı, and Celia Kerslake. Turkish: a Comprehensive Grammar. Routledge, 2010.
Recordings
Recordings collected from Forvo (forvo.com). License info here.