Turkish Alphabet for Kids: 29 Letters With a Word for Each
All 29 letters of the Turkish alphabet with one simple word each, English meanings and sound hints, the eight letters that differ from English, and easy alphabet games for home.
The Turkish alphabet has 29 letters. Most look familiar to anyone who reads English, and a few wear dots, tails or a small curve on top. Here is every letter with one simple Turkish word, its English meaning and a sound hint, plus the letters English does not have and a few games to play at home.
Watch: the Turkish alphabet in 30 seconds. Our characters show the eight letters that look or sound different from English, in a short video with English captions.
How many letters are in the Turkish alphabet?
There are 29: eight vowels (a, e, ı, i, o, ö, u, ü) and 21 consonants. Turkish is written the way it sounds, with no silent pairs like the "gh" in "night", so a word on a tea box can usually be sounded out letter by letter. The odd one out is ğ.
The Turkish alphabet with a word for each letter
Each word is easy to point at or draw. The sound hints are close, not exact.
| Letter | Word | Meaning | Sound hint |
|---|---|---|---|
| A a | arı | bee | "a" as in "father" |
| B b | balık | fish | "b" as in "ball" |
| C c | civciv | chick | "j" as in "jam" |
| Ç ç | çay | tea | "ch" as in "chair" |
| D d | dondurma | ice cream | "d" as in "dog" |
| E e | elma | apple | "e" as in "bed" |
| F f | fil | elephant | "f" as in "fun" |
| G g | güneş | sun | "g" as in "go", always hard |
| Ğ ğ | dağ | mountain | soft g: it makes the vowel before it longer |
| H h | halı | carpet | "h" as in "hat" |
| I ı | ıspanak | spinach | no dot: close to the "e" in "taken" |
| İ i | incir | fig | "ee" as in "see" |
| J j | jöle | jelly | "s" as in "measure" |
| K k | kedi | cat | "k" as in "kite" |
| L l | lale | tulip | "l" as in "lemon" |
| M m | martı | seagull | "m" as in "moon" |
| N n | nazar boncuğu | evil eye bead | "n" as in "nest" |
| O o | otobüs | bus | "o" as in "more", short |
| Ö ö | ördek | duck | like the "u" in "fur", with rounded lips |
| P p | penguen | penguin | "p" as in "pen" |
| R r | reçel | jam | a light, tapped "r" |
| S s | simit | sesame bread ring | "s" as in "sun" |
| Ş ş | şemsiye | umbrella | "sh" as in "shoe" |
| T t | terlik | slipper | "t" as in "top" |
| U u | uçurtma | kite | "oo" as in "moon", but short |
| Ü ü | üzüm | grapes | say "ee" with rounded lips |
| V v | vapur | ferry | "v" as in "van", soft |
| Y y | yoğurt | yogurt | "y" as in "yes" |
| Z z | zeytin | olive | "z" as in "zoo" |
No Turkish word starts with ğ, so dağ has it at the end; say it "daa". And yoğurt is a word English borrowed from Turkish, so many children already know one Turkish word.
Turkish letters not in English
Six letters are not in the English alphabet: Ç, Ğ, I (the dotless ı), Ö, Ş and Ü. A seventh, İ, looks familiar but keeps its dot even as a capital. And three English letters are missing from Turkish: Q, W and X. That is why a taxi is a taksi.
- Ç and Ş are C and S with a small tail: "ch" and "sh".
- Ğ, the soft g, has a small curve on top and is not said like a g. It stretches the vowel before it, so yoğurt sounds like "yo-urt".
- I and İ are two different letters. Dotless I/ı is a short, relaxed sound; dotted İ/i is "ee" and keeps its dot as a capital, as in İstanbul.
- Ö and Ü have two dots, as in German: say "e" (for ö) or "ee" (for ü) with rounded lips.
- C is an English letter too, but in Turkish it always sounds like "j": civciv, a chick, sounds like "jeev-jeev".
Those are the eight letters worth a second look; the table shows the small differences in the rest.
Alphabet games to play at home
- Letter of the day. Pick one letter at breakfast, say its word, and look for that letter all day: on a tea box, a holiday photo or a birthday card from grandma.
- Name hunt. Write each family name and circle the Turkish letters. Eylül has an ü; Giray has none.
- Grandparent relay. On a video call, a child says a letter and a grandparent answers with a Turkish word that starts with it, then swap. Ğ is the joker: nobody can start a word with it.
- Draw your own chart. Fold a big sheet into 30 boxes, write one letter in each and draw its word. The last box is for the artist's name.
- Five-letter guess. Older children can try Türkçe Kelime, a five-letter guessing game where ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş and ü count as separate letters. Younger ones can play Word Garden, with ten Turkish words a round. More are on our games page.
A printable chart for the fridge
We made a one-page printable chart of all 29 letters and words, for A4 and US Letter paper. It is on our printables page, next to our printable Turkish word cards. Pin it on the fridge and look for one letter a day.
Download the printable Turkish alphabet chart (PDF)
Want it on the wall? The same chart comes as a poster, a framed poster or a canvas print in our Turkish Alphabet collection.
Alphabet picks from Roots & Talks
F is for fil. Filiz, the Roots & Talks elephant, dances and paints with her trunk. The Filiz Elephant Canvas Print shows her in a yellow shirt and a pink skirt with a blue bow, in six portrait sizes.
P is for penguen. Pingucan, our penguin in a red scarf, is on posters and other gifts in the Pingucan collection.
Three letters in one picture. The Susam the Simit Kitten Mug shows a calico kitten curled up inside a giant sesame simit, with a glass of tea beside it: S for simit, K for kedi and Ç for çay. Susam means sesame.
For saying words out loud. Ela and the Lost Word / Ela ve Kayıp Kelime is a picture book for ages 4 to 8 with a Turkish listen-and-repeat version that pauses so you can say the words out loud. More stories are in the E-Books & Audio Stories collection, and every character is on our characters page.
One letter at a time
Nobody needs all 29 letters on the first day. Start with the letters in your child's name, add ç for çay and ş for şemsiye, and let the dotted and dotless i become a family joke. For warm everyday words, see Turkish words for kids; for sounds that tie the tongue, try our Turkish tongue twisters.