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Turkish Vowel Harmony
Vowel Harmony is easy to learn. The vowels are divided into two groups for this: The A-undotted group and the E-dotted group.
Note: Instead of memorizing the subtleties of each rule, it is more helpful to study the examples below by writing them down and repeating them with a loud voice, thus gaining a sense of the language.
The A-undotted group includes the vowels a, ı ,o, u. The vowel used in the last syllable of a word defines the way vowel harmony is constructed.
If the last vowel is a or ı, then the vowel(s) of the suffix is ı.
arkadaş >> arkadaş + ız >> Biz arkadaşız. “We are friends.”
hasta >> hasta + sınız >> Hastasınız. “You are ill.”
If the last vowel is o or u, then the vowel(s) of the suffix is u.
tok >> tok + um >> Tokum. “I am full.”
The E-dotted group consists of the vowels e, i , ö, ü.
If the last vowel is e or i, then the vowel(s) of the suffix is i.
ben >> ben + im >> Benim. “It’s me.” (lit. “I am.”)
If the last vowel is ö or ü, then the vowel(s) of the suffix is ü.
üzgün >> üzgün + sün >> Üzgünsün. “You are upset.”
mutlu - happy (ending in a vowel)
mutlu + y + um | I am happy | mutlu + y + uz | we are happy |
mutlu + sun | you are happy | mutlu + sunuz | you are happy (plural) |
mutlu | he/she/it is happy | mutlu | they are happy |
If the word ends in a vowel, y is added before suffixes for “I” and “we”.
hasta >> hasta + y + ım >> Hastayım. “I’m ill.”
evde >> evde + y + iz >> Evdeyiz. "We are at home."
It should be noted that there are words that end with a soft L. In this case, the endings take E –dotted vowels instead.
meşgūl >> meşgūl + üz >> Meşgūlüz. “We are busy.”
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