The Turkish Alphabet in 30 Seconds: A Short Video

In this short video, the Roots & Talks characters show how the Turkish alphabet works: 29 letters, and a handful that look or sound different from English. Each letter comes with a simple Turkish word, such as çay (tea) or ördek (duck).

What the video says

Here is the narration, word for word.

Turkish has 29 letters, but no Q, W or X. Eight look or sound different from English.

C sounds like the “j” in “jam”: civciv, chick. Add a tail and it says “ch”: çay, tea.

S with a tail says “sh”: şemsiye, umbrella.

Two dots? Round your lips: ördek, duck. Same for U: üzüm, grapes.

This I has no dot: ıspanak, spinach.

Soft G never starts a word; it makes the vowel longer: dağ, mountain.

Print the free chart at Roots & Talks.

Keep exploring

• Free Turkish alphabet chart: print the 29-letter chart from the video, in US Letter or A4 size.
• The Turkish alphabet for kids: all 29 letters, with a word for each one.