Vowel harmony ‘ünlü/sesli uyumu’ is a phonological rule that applies to vowels in suffixes.
When a suffix is added to a word, its vowel changes depending on the last.vowel in the word.This file explains the rules of vowel changes in suffixes.
3. Vowel harmony ‘ünlü/sesli uyumu’
is a phonological rule that applies to vowels in suffixes.
When a suffix is added to a word, its vowel changes
depending on the last.vowel in the word.
Look at these nouns in the plural suffix:
öğrenci-ler students
okul-lar schools
Vowel harmony serves to ease the pronunciations of the
words extended by suffixes.
4. The rule of vowel harmony is based
on the part of the tongue involved in producing a vowel.
Accordingly, the vowels can be divided into two groups:
Front vowels: e i ö ü
Back vowels: a ı o u
5. Look at the plural suffix in these nouns:
öğretmenler teachers okullar schools
öğrenciler students arkadaşlar friends
As can be seen, the plural suffix harmonizes with the
preceding front vowels (e and i) as -ler,
and
it harmonizes with the preceding back vowels (u and a) as -lar.
6. However,
not all suffixes harmonize in the same way as the plural
suffix.
There are two rules of vowel harmony, which we may call:
2-fold vowel harmony
and
4-fold vowel harmony.
2-fold and 4-fold indicate the variants of vowels in suffixes.
7. 2-fold vowel harmony
Front Back
Last vowel in the word e i ö ü a ı o u
The vowel of the suffix e a
As shown in the table,
the suffix takes .e. after the front vowels
and .a. after the back vowels,
just as the plural suffix does (-ler/-lar).
8. Suffixes that
follow the rule of 2-fold vowel harmony can be printed
with e or a as in -ler or -lar.
We will print them with e, and as a reminder of
the rule of 2-fold
we will put the sign 2f as in
-ler 2f and -de 2f.
9. Here are more examples of the plural suffix -ler 2f :
• 1-fold after the front vowels (e i ö ü):
ülke country → ülkeler countries
şehir city → şehirler cities
köy village → köyler villages
gün day → günler days
11. Look also at the locative case suffix -de 2f, which indicates
location in place in the following examples:
• 1-fold after the front vowels (e i ö ü):
bahçe garden/yard → bahçede in the garden/yard
şehir city, town → şehirde in the city, town
kuaför hairdresser’s → kuaförde at the hairdresser’s
öykü story (narrative) → öyküde in the story
12. •2-fold after the back vowels (a ı o u):
masa table → masada on the table
kapı door → kapıda at the door
salon living room → salonda in the living room
kutu box → kutuda in the box
13. 4-fold vowel harmony
Front Back
Last vowel in the word e i ö ü a ı o u
The vowel of the suffix i ü ı u
The front and back vowels are each divided into two groups
according to the height of the tongue and the position of the
lips, thus making four groups in total.
The suffix, accordingly, takes i, ü, ı or u; it never takes ö or o.
15. Now look at these examples:
i. Ek-fiil (English be) simple present 1st person singular
suffix -(y)im 4f, which means I am:
• 1-fold after the front vowels (e and i):
öğretmen teacher → Öğretmenim. I’m a teacher.
öğrenci student → Öğrenciyim. ... a student.
• 2-fold after the front vowels (ö and ü):
kuaför hairdresser → Kuaförüm. ... a hairdresser.
gözlükçü optician → Gözlükçüyüm.... an optician.
16. • 3-fold after the back vowels (a and ı):
manav greengrocer → Manavım. I’m a greengrocer.
şarkıcı singer → Şarkıcıyım. ... a singer.
• 4-fold after the back vowels (o and u):
doktor doctor → Doktorum. ... a doctor.
memur government → Memurum. ... a governmet
employee employee.
17. ii. The derivational suffix -li 4f, which makes adjectives
from nouns.
• 1-fold after the front vowels (e and i):
değer value → değerli valuable
eğitim education → eğitimli educated
• 2-fold after the front vowels (ö and ü):
söz word → sözlü verbal
kültür culture → kültürlü cultured
18. • 3-fold after the back vowels (a and ı):
yarar use → yararlı useful
saygı respect → saygılı respectful
• 4-fold after the back vowels (o and u):
toz dust → tozlu dusty
bulut cloud → bulutlu cloudy
19. Note that
when a word takes two or more suffixes one afterıanother,
the suffixes harmonize with each other.
See how the possessive suffix -im 4f harmonizes with
the following singular and plural nouns:
gözüm my eye kolum my arm (of the body)
gözlerim my eyes kollarım my arms
20. Exceptions to the rule of vowel harmony
As a general rule of thumb, front vowels are followed by
front vowels, and back vowels are followed by back vowels.
However,
even though some words (mostly nouns) have a back vowel
in their last syllables, their suffixes do not take a back vowel.
Instead, they take a front vowel.
The most common of such words, most of which end in
a palatal l, are as follows.
21. Examples in the plural suffix:
• saat hour; watch
saatler (NOT saatlar) hours; watches
• harf letter (sign in writing)
harfler (NOT harflar) letters
• ihtimal possibility
ihtimaller (NOT ihtimallar) possibilities
more.examples...
23. Examples in the adjective forming suffix -li 4f:
• dikkat care (n)
dikkatli (NOT dikkatlı) careful
• kontrol control (n)
konrollü (NOT kontrollu) controlled
• alkol alcohol
alkollü (NOT alkollu) alcoholic (n)
24. Examples in the 1st person singular possessive -im 4f:
• kalp heart
kalp/bim (NOT kalp/bım) my heart
• ideal ideal
idealim (NOT idealım) my ideal
• hayal dream (wish)
hayalim (NOT hayalım) my dream
more.examples...
25. • rol role; part
rolüm (NOT rolum) my role; part
And
an example in the 1st person singular personal -im 4f :
• meşgul busy (adj)
Meşgulüm. (NOT Meşgulum.) I’m busy.
26. These irregular words are shown in a proper dictionary as in:
saat, -ti
rol, -lü
sembol, -lü
meşgul, -lü
You can use Türk Dil Kurumu
(The Turkish Language Institution) online dictionary
(monolingual) at https://sozluk.gov.tr/?kelime=
Also,
27. You can download its application
from
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobilsozluk
and
https://apps.apple.com/tr/app/tdk-türkçe sözlük/id1489913749
28. Endnote
At earlier stages, you may have difficulty using the correct
vowel in the suffix.
When you are not sure about which vowel you should use,
just pick up the one that feels more natural and
rolls off the tongue.
As your ear is getting tuned to the sound of Turkish,
you will be able to do it.
You do not have to keep the rules in mind all the time.
31. INSTRUCTION
Add the suffixes to the words
according to the rules of vowel harmony.
You have 10 seconds to answer each
question.
Good luck.
32. Plural suffix -ler 2f
1 çocuk
Try also to pronounce this word with the
vowel e in the suffix (çocukler).
You have to exert yourself to pronounce it,
don't you?
33. Plural suffix -ler 2f
2 sembol
Remember that
sembol is one of those irregular words that
take a front vowel (e, i or ü)
in their suffixes.
34. Locative case suffix -de 2f
3 İstanbul
When we add grammatical suffixes
(e.g. case and personal suffixes) to proper
nouns, we put an apostrophe (') in
between.
38. First person
singular personal suffix -(y)im 4f
7 Hemşire
Since hemşire ends in a vowel, and the suffix begins
with a vowel, the buffer letter y goes in between.
Keep.in mind.that...
39. Two vowels
may immediately follow one another in
word.stems.only, as we have studied its examples in
video 2 (How the letters combine to form syllables.):
şair, kuaför, düet, dua etc.
40. Second person
singular possessive suffix -in 4f
8 saat
Saat is also one of those irregular words
that take a front vowel (e, i or ü)
in their suffixes.
41. -ler 2f + -im 4f
9 çocuk
If çocuk takes -im only, it becomes çocuğum (my kid) as
-im harmonizes with u.
And...
42. k in çocuk undergoes consonant.harmony and
changes.to.ğ.
We will study
consonant.harmony in the next video (#6).
43. -ler 2f + -imiz 4f + de 2f
10 oda
Nouns take the plural, possessive and case suffixes
in this order.
Look also at these examples:
odamızda in our room
odalarda in the rooms
