Consonant Mutation - Changes in Spelling to reflect Changes in Pronunciation
In Turkish the spelling of the words is changed when the pronunciation changes. Generally this does not happen in English, when we change the pronunciation we do not change the spelling. In fact we often change the spelling when the pronunciation is the same so that we can recognize the meaning. A number of words can easily show this - meet vs meat, feet vs feat, right vs write, main vs mane, sea vs see, and many more. For example, if English were written phonetically, the word "does" should be spelt "duz" Turkish however being a phonetically written language will make these changes in spelling. The reason for the changes in pronunciation are only for ease of speaking and are only concerned with consonants which have voiced and unvoiced equivalents.
About Voicing of Consonants
A voiced consonant is one where the voice is used to produce the sound and an unvoiced consonant is where the voice is silent and only air is expelled to produce the sound. In Turkish when a word ends in a consonant it is usually the Un-Voiced Form
The word for - letter - is - mektup, but my letter is - mektubum - the terminal -p has changed to -b- when it appears between two vowels - see equivalent chart below. This is simply because it is easier to pronounce in its Voiced form "b" and in Turkish the spelling must reflect this change for the rules of phonetics to operate.
| Unvoiced p equivalent to Voiced b | Unvoiced f equivalent to Voiced v |
| Unvoiced ç equivalent to Voiced c | Unvoiced s no equivalent - |
| Unvoiced t equivalent to Voiced d | Unvoiced ş no equivalent - |
| Unvoiced k equivalent to Voiced ğ | Unvoiced h no equivalent - |
The last three - s, ş, h - do not have a unvoiced form, as they are not really voiced consonants, but they do affect the added suffix as they are considered as unvoiced consonants:
nefis - delicious - becomes - nefistir - it is (certainly) delicious - not nefisdir.
sabah - morning - becomes - sabahtan - from morning - not sabahdan
güneş - sun - becomes - güneşten - from the sun - not güneşden
Examples of Changes
Whenever unvoiced -k terminates a word it nearly always changes to voiced -ğ when suffixes beginning in a vowel are affixed to that word. The exceptions where no change is made are very few and will not be discussed here.
| köpek - dog | köpeğim [köpek+im]- my dog |
| bacak - leg | bacağın [bacak + ım] - your leg |
| topuk - ankle | topuğu [topuk + u] - his ankle |
| bilek - wrist | bileğimiz - our wrists |
| gözlük - spectacles | gözlüğünüz - your spectacles |
| durak - bus stop | durağa - to the bus stop |
| görecek - will see | göreceğim - I shall see |
| yaptık - we did | yaptığımız - that which we did |
| bardak - glass (tumbler) | bardağı - his glass |
| The consonant change from unvoiced -k to voiced -ğ- when adding suffixes is the most widespread mainly because so many Turkish words end in a terminal -k | |
A Special Case Exception
| If the word ends in -nk. Then the terminal -k changes directly to a unvoiced -g as it is totally impossible to utter the letter cluster -nğ plus an added vowel. | ||
| denk - bale, equation | becomes | dengim - my bale |
| ahenk - harmony, accord | becomes | ahengi - its harmony |
| kepenk - shutter | becomes | kepenginiz - your shutter |
| renk - color | becomes | rengimiz - our colour |
Some other Minor Consonant Changes:
Some of the other unvoiced consonants which change to their voiced form in similar fashion are as follows:
-p changes to -b in front of suffixed vowels
-ç changes to -c in front of suffixed vowels
-t changes to -d in front of suffixed vowels.
| kitap - book | kitabın - your book |
| öğüt - advice | öğüdüm - my advice |
| tat - taste | tadı - its taste |
| ilaç - medicine | ilacı - his medicine |
| ağaç - tree | ağacın - the tree's |
Single Syllable Word Roots:
The general rule is that single syllable words do not change their final unvoiced consonants in line with the general rule, hence:
| ak - white | akı - the white/his white |
| at - horse | atı - the horse/his horse |
| ek - addition | eki - the addition/its addition |
| et - meat | eti - the meat/his, her, its meat |
| göç - migration | göçü - the migration |
| ip - rope | ipi - the rope |
| kaç? - how many? | kaçıncı? - which one? |
| kök - root | kökü - the root/its root |
| ok - arrow | oku - the arrow/his arrow |
| ot - grass | otu - the grass/its grass |
| saç - hair | saçı - the hair/his, her hair |
| sap - handle | sapı - the handle/its handle |
| suç - fault | suçu - the fault/his,her, its fault |
| süt - milk | sütü - the milk/his, her its milk |
| üç - three | üçü - the three/trio |
| But of course there are some exceptions to this rule where a single syllable word does take on its voiced form when adding a vowel suffix | |
| but - thigh | budu - the thigh/his,her,its thigh |
| dip - bottom/base | dibi - the bottom/the base/its bottom |
| çok - a lot/much/very | çoğu - the lot/his, her, its lot |
| gök - sky | göğü - the sky/its sky |
| kap - vessel (utensil) | kabı - the vessel/his vessel |
| kurt - worm/wolf | kurdu - the worm, the wolf/his wolf |
| uç - point/tip/end | ucu - the point/his, her, its point |
| yurt - tent, village | yurdu - the tent, the village |
Some Notes about Consonants in Turkish:
Words can not end with the voiced consonants - b, c, d, g. Words must end in the equivalent unvoiced forms p, ç, t, k in order to finish the pronunciation without continuity thus helping the listener to determine word breaks in conversation.
Altinkum 1989
 |
We can see from the photograph that Turkish has changed the English import of the word - Pub (public house) into a Turkish version of the word - Pup - which ends in the equivalent unvoiced consonant -p. So - Sahil Pup - has been written for- Sahil Pub (Beach Pub). For example - kebab - is wrong - kebap - is correct - (Although the original form of the word - kebap - is - kebab - in Arabic.) Similarly the name - Mehmed - is wrong - Mehmet - is correct. |
Some Exceptions:
However there are a few words which do end in voiced consonants such as - ad, od, sac - simply to make their meaning recognizable from similar word that have a unvoiced consonant at the end. This little group of words is an exception to the general rule that words always end in a unvoiced Consonant.
ad (isim) - first name (noun) and at (binek hayvanı) - horse (riding animal)
od (ateş) - fire and ot (bitki) - grass (plant)
saç (yassı demir) - sheet iron and saç (kıl) - hair (bristle)
Proper Names:
Proper Names do not change in writing - Memed'in is only valid in spoken language.
It should be written as - Mehmet'in - in writing but should be pronounced - Memedin.
Another example - Burak'in - (as written) should be pronounced as - Burağin
Although the letter -h- is always articulated and pronounced in Turkish (it being a phonetic language) - The name Mehmet is an exception it is always pronounced as Memed (through constant usage).
Also thank you to Wojtek Pahhur of Poland for his corrections and additions to this page - JG - May 2007.
Consonant Equivalents - Unvoiced and Voiced Letter Equivalents
Unvoiced p equivalent to Voiced b
Unvoiced ç equivalent to Voiced c
Unvoiced t equivalent to Voiced d
Unvoiced k equivalent to Voiced ğ
Unvoiced s no equivalent -
Unvoiced ş no equivalent -
Unvoiced h no equivalent -
Spelling Changes to Suffixes:
We saw in the Introduction to Consonant Change that words ending in an unvoiced consonant change it to the voiced equivalent when a vowel is added - for example as in bilek - wrist - which becomes - bileği - his wrist. However the converse happens when adding a suffix which begins with an unvoiced consonant, as the suffix itself must take its own voiced form. For Example - the suffix meaning - in, on, at - is -de or -da [the voiced form] , but it also changes to -te or -ta [the unvoiced form] when added to words ending in unvoiced consonants - for example as in ayak - foot - which becomes - ayakta - on the foot. In a similar fashion the suffix meaning - from - is -den or -dan will change to -ten or -tan - as in - ağaç - tree - which becomes - ağaçtan - from the tree.
Mutation of Word ending in Unvoiced Consonants
The suffix reverts to its unvoiced form when added to words ending in an unvoiced consonant, this includes extended (suffixed) words.
| kıtap - book | kıtapta - in the book - [not kitap-da] |
| otobüs - bus | otobüstü - it was a bus - [not otobüs-dü] |
| dolmuş - dolmush (small bus) | dolmuşta - in the dolmush - [not dolmuş-da] |
| ilaç - medicine | ilaçta - in the medicine - [not ilaç-da] |
| sabah - morning | sabahtan - from morning - [not sabah-dan] |
| kibrit - match | kibritten - from the match - [not kibrit-den] |
| Note the last example kibrit which preserves a double letter -tt- when adding the suffix -ten to produce kibritten. Although Turkish generally abhors two consonants arising together we must realize that what we have here is two separate words match and from being joined together - so each word must retain its full form.Thanks to Carl Boswell for correction to the note above - JG Sept.2006 | |
A Very few Exceptions:
There are a few words that historically end in a voiced consonant, for these words that end in a voiced consonant - then the suffix retains its voiced form.
Mutation of words ending in Unvoiced Consonants:
Here is an example of the effect of adding a suffix which begins with a consonant.
kıtaptı - it was a book - word ends in unvoiced -p thus - kitap-tı (suffix -tı takes it unvoiced form from the noun ending.
The same example when adding a Suffix which begins with a Vowel:
kitabınız - your book suffix -iniz begins with a vowel so kitap beomes kitab-iniz
kitabınızda - in your book - extended word ends in voiced -z thus - kitabınız-da
Note that the suffix reverts to its voiced form when added to words ending in an voiced consonant (this includes the plural -ler/-lar which ends in an voiced letter -r), or ending in a vowel - this also includes extended (already suffixed) words and plurals.
- Words ending in an unvoiced consonant or a vowel - then the suffix is also in its unvoiced form
| Examples of Nouns changing to Voiced Form when adding suffixes beginning with a vowel or the Plural Suffix -lar/-ler | |
| köpekten - from the dog | köpeğinden - (köpeğ-in-den) - from his dog |
| ilaçta - in the medicine | ilacında - (ilac -ın-da) - in his medicine |
| otobüsten - from the bus | otobüslerden - (otobüs-ler-den) - from the buses |
| sokaktan - from the street | sokaklardan - (sokak-lar-dan) - from the streets |
| Note the last two examples above where the voiced -r ending of the plural suffix -ler/-lar forces the subsequent suffix to take its voiced form. | |
The Rules for Consonant Mutation can be summed up:
1. If the word ends in an Unvoiced Consonant [p, ç, t, k]:
When adding a suffix beginning with a vowel - this last letter of the root word changes to its voiced [b, c ,d, ğ] form:
kilit - lock becomes kilidi - his lock
köpek - dog becomes köpeğiniz - Your dog
2. If the word ends in an Unvoiced Consonant [p, ç, t, k]:
When adding a suffix beginning with a consonant - then the suffix consonant changes to its unvoiced Form [p, ç, t, k]:
kilit - lock becomes kilitte - in the lock
köpek - dog becomes köpekten - from the dog
These are the Complete Rules of Consonant Mutation