Türkçe

Turkish

Turkic

FamilyTurkic Speakers~85M ScriptLatin CountriesTürkiye, Cyprus, Germany (Turkish diaspora ~3M) Official inTürkiye, Northern Cyprus Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3tur

Also known as: Turkish, Türkçe

Turkish (Türkçe) is the largest Turkic language with ~85M speakers — sole official language of Türkiye and Northern Cyprus. Significant diaspora in Germany (~3M post-1961 guest workers and descendants). Oghuz Turkic branch (sister to Azerbaijani and Turkmen). Latin alphabet since Atatürk's 1928 reform replacing Ottoman Arabic-Persian-Turkish script (Türk Dil Kurumu language reform stripped most Persian-Arabic loanwords in 1930s-40s). Agglutinative SOV with vowel harmony (back/front, rounded/unrounded), no grammatical gender, extensive case system (6 cases).

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Turkish

Water

su

/su/

Fire

ateş

/ateʃ/

Sun

güneş

/ɟyneʃ/

Moon

ay

/aj/

Mother

anne

/anːe/

Father

baba

/baba/

Eat

yemek

/jemek/

Drink

içmek

/itʃmek/

Love

aşk

/aʃk/

Heart

kalp

/kalp/

Tree

ağaç

/aːatʃ/

House

ev

/ev/

Dog

köpek

/cøpek/

Cat

kedi

/cedi/

Hand

el

/el/

Eye

göz

/ɟøz/

Hello

merhaba

/meɾhaba/

Thank you

teşekkürler

/teʃecːyɾleɾ/

One

bir

/biɾ/

Good

iyi

/iji/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Turkic languages

Meaning TurkishOttoman TurkishGagauzCrimean TatarQashqaiSouth AzerbaijaniKarakhanid
Water su /su/ سو /su/ su /su/ suv /suv/ su /su/ سو /su/ suw /suw/
Fire ateş /ateʃ/ آتش /aˈteʃ/ ateş /aˈteʃ/ ateş /ateʃ/ od /od/ اوْد /od/ ot /ot/
Sun güneş /ɟyneʃ/ كونش /ɡyˈneʃ/ güneş /ɟyˈneʃ/ küneş /kyneʃ/ gün /ɟyn/ گۆنش /ɡyneʃ/ kün /kyn/
Moon ay /aj/ آی /aj/ ay /aj/ ay /aj/ ay /aj/ آی /aj/ ay /aj/
Mother anne /anːe/ آنه /aˈne/ ana /aˈna/ ana /ana/ ana /ana/ آنا /ana/ ana /ana/
Father baba /baba/ پدر /peˈdeɾ/ boba /boˈba/ baba /baba/ ata /ata/ آتا /ata/ ata /ata/
Eat yemek /jemek/ یمك /jeˈmek/ imää /iˈmæː/ aşamaq /aʃamaq/ yemek /jeˈmæc/ یئمک /jemæk/ yi- /ji/
Drink içmek /itʃmek/ ایچمك /itʃˈmek/ içmää /itʃˈmæː/ içmek /itʃmek/ içmek /itʃˈmæc/ ایچمک /itʃmæk/ ič- /itʃ/
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Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

Turkish
Ben otelin karşısındaki dükkân -da gördüğüm takım elbiseyi denemek istiyorum
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 看到的 那套西装
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with closely-related languages

Mən otelin qarşısındakı mağaza -da gördüyüm kostyumu geyinib yoxlamaq istəyirəm
Мен қонақүйдің қарсысындағы дүкен -де көрген костюмімді киіп көргім келеді
Мен мейманкананын каршысындагы дүкөн -дө көргөн костюмду кийип көргүм келет
Turkish
Ben otelin karşısındaki dükkân -da gördüğüm takım elbiseyi denemek istiyorum
Men myhmanhananyň garşysyndaky dükan -da gören kostyumymy geýip görmek isleýärin

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