Turkish is the official language of Turkey and one of the most widely spoken languages in the Turkic language family. It is characterized by vowel harmony, agglutinative grammar, and a subject-object-verb sentence structure. Turkish holds a central role in the cultural and national identity of the Turkish people and is used extensively in government, education, media, and daily life. For professionals working with young children, understanding Turkish speech and language development is important. For example, Turkish uses suffix-based word formation and extensive use of inflection. These language patterns may carry over into the second language learning process.
Over 80 million people speak Turkish as a first language, primarily in Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant Turkish-speaking communities also exist in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, France, Austria, and the United States—particularly in cities like New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles—due to 20th-century labor migration. Within these diaspora communities, Turkish is often maintained across generations through family use, community centers, mosques, and heritage language schools. This preservation supports cultural identity and bilingual development, making Turkish an important focus for educators and speech-language pathologists working with multilingual children.
Interesting Facts About Turkish Speech and Language Development
Modern Turkish evolved from Ottoman Turkish, which was written in the Arabic script and infused with Persian and Arabic vocabulary. The script reform of 1928 replaced the Arabic script with a modified Latin alphabet, which dramatically increased Turkish literacy rates. Modern Turkish is a highly phonetic language. It is spoken as it is written.
Turkish is agglutinative, meaning words are formed by stringing together suffixes in a regular, rule-based fashion. One word can express what would be a full sentence in English:
- Turkish word: Kitapçıdaymışsınız
- Breakdown:
- Kitap = book
- -çı = someone who deals with (like a seller) → kitapçı = bookseller
- -da = in/at (location suffix) → kitapçıda = at the bookseller’s
- -ymış = apparently (evidential past tense)
- -sınız = you (plural/formal second person)
- English translation:
- “Apparently, you were at the bookseller’s.”
- Breakdown:
Vowel harmony is a defining feature—suffix vowels change to match the vowels of the root word, making Turkish sound melodic and predictable in structure.
Nouns and pronouns are gender neutral.
Turkish Speech and Language Development
Turkish Consonants in Comparison to English
| Turkish Consonants Not Shared with English | /ʈ/ /ɖ/ /ɸ/ /β/ /ɦ/ /r/ /ɽ/ |
| Consonants Shared With English | /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /p/ /t/ /k/ /tʃ/ /b/ /d/ /g/ /dʒ/ /s/ /ʃ/ /h/ /z/ /w//l/ /j/ |
| English Consonants Not Shared with Turkish | /ʒ/ /θ/ /ð/ /f/ /v/ /ɹ/ |
Turkish Vowels in Comparison to English
| Turkish Vowels Not Shared with English | /ĩ/ /ũ/ /ẽ/ /õ/ /æ̃/ /ɔ̃//ã/ |
| Vowels Shared With English | /i/ /u/ /e/ /o/ /ɛ/ /ʌ//ɔ/ /æ/ /a/ |
| English Vowels Not Shared with Turkish | /ɪ/ /ə/ /ʊ/ /ɑ/ |
Developmental Norms for Turkish Speech Development:
-75% acquired by age 2: /b/, /d/, /g/, /k/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /p/, /s/, /t/, /j/, /z/, / ʧ/, /ʤ/, /ʃ/. /ʒ/
-75% acquired by age 3: /h/, /f/, /v/
-75% acquired by age 4: /r/
(Yalcinkaya, et.al. 2009)
The Use of Phonotactic Constraints in Turkish Speakers
- Simple Syllable Structure
Turkish phonology primarily uses CV (consonant-vowel) syllables. Other common structures include CVC, VC, and V. Complex consonant clusters within a single syllable (like CCCV) are avoided.
(Göksel & Kerslake, 2005; Lewis, 2002) - No Word-Initial Consonant Clusters
Native Turkish words do not begin with consonant clusters (e.g., sp, tr). Loanwords are adapted with inserted vowels or simplified structures:- Sport → spor
- Train → tren
(Göksel & Kerslake, 2005; Johanson & Csató, 1998)
- Vowel Harmony Is Obligatory
Turkish suffix vowels must harmonize with the root vowel in terms of front vs. back and rounded vs. unroundedcharacteristics.- Ev → evler
- Okul → okullar
(Lewis, 2002; Csató, 2001)
- Final Consonant Devoicing
Voiced stops (b, c, d, g) are devoiced at the ends of words (p, ç, t, k). When a suffix is added, the original voicing may return.- Kitap → Kitabı
(Lewis, 2002)
- Kitap → Kitabı
- Limited Consonant Clusters Within Words
Turkish allows certain two-consonant clusters in the middle of words, such as st, rt, nd, lk. Clusters longer than two consonants or those not native to Turkish are typically adapted.
(Johanson & Csató, 1998) - No Word-Initial /ŋ/, /ʒ/, or /ʃ/ in Native Words
The sounds /ŋ/ (as in sing), /ʒ/ (as in measure), and /ʃ/ (as in shoe) do not appear at the beginning of native Turkish words. /ʒ/ and /ʃ/ are mostly found in loanwords.
(Yavaş, 2011) - Avoidance of Diphthongs
Turkish generally avoids diphthongs within a syllable. When two vowels appear together, they are typically pronounced in separate syllables rather than gliding into one another.
(Göksel & Kerslake, 2005)
Language Specific Differences Between English and Turkish
Turkish and English exhibit several differences due to their distinct linguistic origins. Notably, Turkish is a subject-object-verb (SOV) language, whereas English follows a subject-verb-object (SVO) structure. This structural variation impacts sentence formation and word order. Additionally, grammatical features such as gender and verb conjugation differ between the two languages.
| Language Feature | Turkish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Sentence Word Order | Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) | Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) |
| Adjectives/Noun Modifiers | Precede nouns; no agreement in gender/number | Precede nouns; no agreement in gender/number |
| Possessives | Suffix added to the noun (e.g., ‘evim’ = my house) | Possessive noun + noun (e.g., ‘my house’, ‘John’s book’) |
| Possessive Pronouns | Inflected suffixes or separate pronouns (benim, senin, onun, etc.) | my, your, his, her, our, their |
| Verb Inflection | Highly inflected for person, tense, mood, and aspect | Less inflected; uses auxiliary verbs for tense/mood/aspect |
| Pronouns | Often omitted (pro-drop language); personal suffixes on verbs | Required for clarity in most sentences |
| Pronoun Gender | No gender distinction (o = he/she/it) | Gender-specific third-person pronouns (he/she/it) |
| Subjects of Sentences | Often dropped; indicated by verb ending | Typically stated explicitly |
| Regular Past Tense | Suffix –di or –tı/–ti variants depending on vowel harmony | Add –ed to base verb |
| Irregular Past Tense | Relatively few; formed with suffix but root may change (some exceptions) | Many irregular forms (e.g., go → went, eat → ate) |
| Negatives | Formed with suffixes (e.g., –ma/–me) | Uses ‘not’ or negative auxiliaries (don’t, isn’t, etc.) |
| Double Negatives | Standard in Turkish for emphasis or structure | Considered incorrect or nonstandard in formal English |
| Question Formation | Question particle (mi/mı/mu/mü) added after verb or predicate | Subject-auxiliary inversion (e.g., ‘Are you going?’) |
| Definite Articles | None; definiteness indicated contextually or through word order | ‘The’ used before definite nouns |
| Indefinite Articles | ‘Bir’ = a/an; also means ‘one’ | ‘A’ before consonant sounds; ‘an’ before vowel sounds |
| Prepositions | Postpositions used (e.g., ‘evin içinde’ = inside the house) | Prepositions precede nouns (e.g., ‘in the house’) |
| Present Progressive Verb Form | Suffix –iyor (e.g., ‘geliyorum’ = I am coming) | ‘To be’ + verb–ing (e.g., ‘I am coming’) |
| Modal Verbs | Expressed through verb suffixes or auxiliary-like verbs (e.g., ‘-meli’) | Can, should, must, might, may, etc. precede the base verb |
| Copula/”To Be” Verbs | Not used in present tense; implied or replaced by suffixes (e.g., ‘öğretmenim’) | Explicit forms of ‘to be’ (am, is, are, was, were) |
| Auxiliary Verbs | Used less frequently; often replaced with verb morphology | Used extensively for tense, aspect, and mood (have, be, do) |
| Passive Voice | Suffix –(i)n or –(i)l attached to verb stem | ‘To be’ + past participle (e.g., ‘was eaten’) |
| Direct Object Pronouns | Suffix or separate word depending on emphasis (e.g., onu = him/her/it) | me, you, him, her, it, us, them |
| Conjunctions | Commonly used; examples include ‘ve’ (and), ‘ama’ (but), ‘çünkü’ (because) | Commonly used; similar structure (and, but, because) |
| Plurals | Suffix –lar or –ler added to noun, vowel harmony applies | Add –s or –es; irregular forms exist (e.g., children, mice) |
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Contributors:
A special thanks to Amanda Mangiove and Nicole Quick, The University of Texas at Austin, for contributions to this information.
