Vowel Harmony

01

Understanding Turkish Vowels

To understand vowel harmony, it is necessary to classify the eight vowels into groups.

Back and Front Vowels

Vowels are produced either in the front or the back of the mouth.

• Back vowels (kalın ünlüler): a, ı, o, u
• Front vowels (ince ünlüler): e, i, ö, ü

Unrounded and Rounded Vowels

Vowels are also classified by whether the lips are rounded or not during pronunciation.

• Unrounded vowels (düz ünlüler): a, e, ı, i
• Rounded vowels (yuvarlak ünlüler): o, ö, u, ü

These classifications determine which of the two main types of vowel harmony applies.

02

Two-Way Vowel Harmony (a/e)

This type of harmony, also known as major vowel harmony, depends only on whether the last vowel of the word is a front or a back vowel. The suffix vowel will be either a or e.

• If the last vowel in the word is a back vowel (a, ı, o, u), the suffix vowel is a.
• If the last vowel in the word is a front vowel (e, i, ö, ü), the suffix vowel is e.

This applies to common suffixes like the plural (-lar/-ler) and the locative case (-da/-de, meaning at, in, on).

• Arabalar nerede?

  Where are the cars?

• Evler çok güzel.

  The houses are very beautiful.

• Ben okuldayım.

  I am at school.

• Kedi bahçede.

  The cat is in the garden.

03

Four-Way Vowel Harmony (ı/i/u/ü)

This type, also known as minor vowel harmony, is more specific. It considers both the front/back and rounded/unrounded classifications. The suffix vowel can be ı, i, u, or ü.

The rules are as follows:

• If the last vowel is a or ı, the suffix vowel is ı.
• If the last vowel is e or i, the suffix vowel is i.
• If the last vowel is o or u, the suffix vowel is u.
• If the last vowel is ö or ü, the suffix vowel is ü.

This applies to suffixes like the definite object marker (-ı/-i/-u/-ü) and the suffix -li/-lı/-lu/-lü (meaning with or from a place).

• Kapıyı açtım.

  I opened the door.

• Evi gördün mü?

  Did you see the house?

• Okulu seviyorum.

  I love the school.

• Köyü ziyaret ettik.

  We visited the village.

04

Chaining Suffixes

When multiple suffixes are added to a word, each new suffix must harmonize with the vowel of the suffix that comes immediately before it. The original word's vowel only determines the first suffix.

Consider the word göz (eye):

1. göz + -lük (suffix for making nouns) → gözlük (glasses). The vowel ö requires ü.

2. gözlük + -çü (suffix for professions) → gözlükçü (optician). The last vowel is now ü, which requires ü.

3. gözlükçü + -lük → gözlükçülük (the profession of an optician). The last vowel is ü, which again requires ü.

• Arkadaşlarımlayım.

  I am with my friends.

(arkadaş → arkadaşlar → arkadaşlarım → arkadaşlarımla)

05

Exceptions to Vowel Harmony

While vowel harmony is a very consistent rule, there are exceptions, primarily with loanwords and a few specific suffixes.

Loanwords: Many words borrowed from other languages like Arabic, Persian, and French do not follow vowel harmony. The suffix will often harmonize with the final vowel, but sometimes it does not.

• Saatler çok yavaş geçiyor.

  The hours are passing very slowly.

(The word saat ends in a, a back vowel, but takes the front-vowel plural suffix -ler.)

• Kalpler kolay kırılır.

  Hearts break easily.

(The word kalp ends in a, but takes the front-vowel plural suffix -ler.)

Invariant Suffixes: A few suffixes do not change, regardless of the word they are attached to.

• The suffix -ken (while) is always -ken.
• The present continuous suffix -yor is always -yor.
• The suffix -ki (which creates adjectives of place or time) is always -ki.

• Ben gelirken o gidiyordu.

  While I was coming, he was going.

• Çocuklar parkta oynuyor.

  The children are playing in the park.