Turkish Language

Many of the Turkish people that you will come across in tourist areas will have a reasonable understanding of English, particularly in shops and restaurants, but an attempt to use Turkish is very much appreciated and considered good manners. 

Helpful phrases

  English Turkish Pronunciation

Hello

Merhaba

Mur-Ha-Bah

Good Morning

Günaydin

Guh-Ny-Dun

Good Evening

iyi akşamlar

EE-Ak-Sham-Lar

How are you?

Nasilsiniz?

Nah-suhl-suh-nuhz

Goodbye (Person leaving)

Hoşçakalin

Hosh-cha-kaluhn

Goodbye (Person staying)

Güle güle

Guele guele

Yes

Evet

Eh-vet

No

Hayir

Ha-yur

What?

Ne?

Neh

How?

Nasil?

Nah-suhl

Who?

Kim?

Keem

Please

Lütfen

Loot-fen

I'm sorry

Pardon

Par-don

Thank you

Teşekkürler

Tesh-eh-kur-Ler

You're welcome

Bir şey değil

Beer shey deh-yeel

Bill Please

Hesap lütfen

Heh-sap Loot-fen

One Beer Please

Bir Bira Lütfen

Beer Beera  Loot-fen

Tea

Çay

Chi

Apple Tea

Elma çay

Elma Chi

Orange

Portakal

Poor-ta-Kal

Lemon

Limon

Li-mon

Water

Su

Sue

Bus

Dolmus

Dol-Mush

Taxi

Taksi

Taxi

 

Turkish Alphabet and Numbers

   Vowels;

   A - 'ah'

   E - 'eh'

   İ - "ee"

   O - 'Oh' as in 'order'

   Ö - 'Ooh'

   U - short as in 'put'

   Ü - sounds like 'eeyoo' - Round your lips like you are going to say "oo", but try and say "ee" 

   Consonants;

   B - 'Buh'

   C - 'Juh'

   Ç - 'Ch'

   D - as in 'drum'

   F - as in 'farm'

   G - as in 'give'

   Ğ - a silent letter which is used to lengthen the previous vowel

   H - as in 'help'

   J  - as in the French name 'Jean'

   K - as in 'kin'

   L - as in 'lost'

   M - as in 'men'

   N - as in 'now'

   P - as in 'pet'

   R - rolled very lightly

   S - as in 'snake'

   Ş - 'Sh'

   T - as in 'team'

   V - try saying a 'V' and  a 'W' together

   Y - as in 'yes'

   Z - 'zuh' 

Number Turkish Pronunciation

1

Bir

Beer

2

Iki

Icky

3

üç

Ooch

4

dört

Dirt

5

Beş

Besh

6

Alti

Altuh

7

Yedi

Yedi

8

Sekiz

Say-keys

9

Dokuz

Dok-oos

10

On

"Own" without emphasis on W

  

When ordering food it is helpful to know what your options are on the menu! Some menus outside Kalkan may be purely in Turkish, and the following words can be very useful;

 

English Turkish Pronunciation

Chicken

Tavuk

Tahvwook

Fish

Balik

Ballick

Lamb

Kuzu

Koo-zoo

Beef steak

Biftek

Biff-teck

Minced meat balls

Kofte

Kohfter

Mixed starters

Meze

Mezzay

Turkish Pizza

Pide

Peeday

Casserole

Guvech

Goo-vetch

Sugar

Şeker

Sheck-air

Salt

Tuz

Tooz

Wine

Şarap

Sharrap

Bread

Ekmek

Eckmeck

Soup

Çorba

Chor-ber

Hot

Sicak

See-jack

Cold

Soğuk

Soo-ook

Ice cream

Dondurma

Don-door-mar

A beautiful sweet pastry dessert sold in Turkish bakeries and you will see this as a dessert option on most menus.

Baklava

Back-la-var