Turkish Language

Many of the Turkish people that you will come across in Kalkan 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