Nouns which lose an internal vowel in Turkish

Definition of grammar term: Apocopate

verb. - To cut off or drop; as, to Apocopate a word, or the last letter, syllable, or part of a word.
adj. - Shortened by apocope ; as, an Apocopate form.

Apocopating Nouns

This is a comprehensive list of Turkish nouns which lose their final vowel (apocopate) when a suffix which itself begins with a vowel is added to the noun.
As an example: izin - leave, time off - becomes izn-im [NOT izin-im] - my leave (ie the final vowel of the noun root is dropped when adding a suffix which begins in a vowel.

Adding a vowel does affect the Noun
iznim - my leave - iznimden - [izn-im-den] - since my time off..
The Final Vowel in the noun is lost when adding -im - my.. suffix (which begins with a vowel)

Adding a consonant does NOT affect the Noun
izindeyim - [izin-de-yim] - I am on leave..
Here the vowel of izin is not lost as the first suffix -de begins with a consonant.

Some Examples of Possessive Adjectives being added

fikrimiz - our idea - from fikir
keyfi - his/her joy - from keyif
oğlum - my son - from oğul
boynu - his neck - from boyun
nakli - his transport - from nakil - transport
nakdi - his cash - from nakit - cash
ahdi - his injunction - from ahit
In the last two examples above that the final consonant -t has Mutated to its soft form -d.
kaybı - his loss - from - kayıp also undergoes a softening of the consonant -p to -b.
We can thus see that the rules of Consonant Mutation are still observed in the reduced form of the noun. There are some words in this list which do not soften their root vowel as they may be considered (a) Single Syllable Words or (b) Foreign Word Imports. As an example we cite: vakit (arb.) - time, occasion - which becomes - vaktim - my time

Some Examples of Case Suffixes being added

Mehmet filmi seyretmiş - It seems Mehmet watched the film - (film-i)
Here the Direct Object suffix -i affects the noun - filim - film
Ali'nin alnı terliyor - Ali's forehead is sweating - (Ali'nin aln-ı)
Here the word - forehead - is in the Possessive Relationship which affects the noun - alın - shortening it to aln-.

Note: That if we add a suffix which begins with a consonant, then the root word retains its basic form:
ağızda - in the mouth
beyinden - from the brain
kayıptan - from the loss
But of course the root word is shortened (apocopated) as stated above, if the first added suffix begins with a vowel:
ağzında - [ağz-ı-nda] - in his mouth
beynimden - [beyn-im-den] - from my brain
kaybımızdan - [kayb-ımız-dan] - from our loss

A Comprehensive Apocopating Noun List

Nouns which lose their final vowel from the root word. These particular nouns are to be shortened before adding any suffixes beginning with a vowel. This list is comprehensive to The Turkish Language as far as we know.

Common Verbs - You can learn these words individually on this page below:
 

Many of these words - especially the parts of the body like burun - nose becomes burnum - my nose and beyin - brain becomes beynim - my brain etc. are in constant daily use therefore time should be taken to learn some of this list's common words.

Last but not least, a small hint in Turkish - for the word "şehir" itself, we perform the vowel loss; however, for the words "Eskişehir", "Nevşehir" (which are actually cities in Turkey), we say "Eskişehir'e gidiyorum" or "Nevşehir'imiz çok güzel", without using vowel loss. These are proper nouns (özel isim). Many thanks to Oytun Arslan for corrections and suggestions to this page. - JG - 19 Sept 2011