Vowel Harmony Rule in Turkish

 

Have you ever heard of the vowel harmony rule in the Turkish language?! This rule is very important, why? because the whole language is based on this rule if you understand this rule you have crossed a big step in understanding the Turkish language.

Turkish is a Suffix based language

Turkish creates most of its meaning by adding suffixes to words. These suffixes, have several forms from which you have to pick. How do you choose the right suffix? By looking at the last vowel of the word and choosing the one that best matches it. If you're adding multiple suffixes, remember that each new suffix must harmonize with the suffix immediately before it.

There are two primary types of vowel harmony. The i-type and e-type vowel harmony and each has its own set of rules.

e-type Vowel Harmony

In the e-type vowel harmony, you must choose between two forms of the suffix: the one that uses e or the one that uses a.

The rule says:

• If the last vowel in the word is a, ı, o, or u: use the a form.
• If the last vowel in the word is e, i, ö, or ü: use the e form.

In the below examples, look at the last vowel of the word and go back to the above rule and either choose ler or lar.

e-type Vowel Harmony
Anne	Anneler
El	Eller
Kedi	Kediler
Kadın	Kadınlar
Kuş	Kuşlar
Telefon	Telefonlar

i-type Vowel Harmony

In cases of i-type vowel harmony, you must choose between four different forms of the suffix, each containing i, ı, u, or ü respectively. The rule says:

• If the last vowel in the word is e or i: use the i form.
• If the last vowel in the word is a or ı: use the ı form.
• If the last vowel in the word is o or u: use the u form.
• If the last vowel in the word is ö or ü: use the ü form.

i-type Vowel Harmony
Öğretmen	Öğretmenim
Doktor	Doktorum
Avukat	Avukatım
Öğrenci	Öğrenciyim