Vowel Harmony Explained
The First Rule of Vowel Harmony
The first rule of Vowel Harmony concerns the vowels - a - and - e
There are eight vowels in Turkish which are divided into two groups as follows:
The A-Undotted Vowels - A I O U
The E-Dotted Vowels - E İ Ö Ü
Forming the Plural
To explain Vowel Harmony we are using the Plural Suffix choosing either -ler or -lar to mirror the final vowel of its noun - all other suffixes will follow these Vowel Harmony rules
To form the plural we have a choice to add either -lar or -ler to the word.
Plural of the A-Undotted Vowel Group.
We must add -lar to words whose final vowel is any of the A-Undotted Vowels
1. balta - final vowel -a - axe
2. baltalar - balta-lar - axes
1. kapı - final vowel -ı - door
2. kapılar - kapı-lar - doors
1. palto - final vowel -o - overcoat
2. paltolar - palto-lar - overcoats
1. boncuk - final vowel -u - bead
2. boncuklar - boncuk-lar - beads
Not that the vowels in these Turkish word are all of the A-Undotted Group so the added Plural suffix -lar - must also comtain an A-Undotted Vowel.
Plural of the E-Dotted Vowel Group.
We must add -ler to words whose final vowel is one of the E-Dotted Vowels
1. ev -final vowel -e house
2. evler - ev-ler - houses
1. kedi - final vowel -i - cat
2. kediler - kedi-ler - cats
1. göz - final vowel -ö - eye
2. gözler - göz-ler - eyes
1. ödül - final vowel -ü - present (gift)
2. ödüller - ödül-ler - presents
This echoing of the final vowel by the suffix is called Vowel Harmony.
Some Exceptions In Formation of Words
There are a very few exceptions to this rule where the suffix does not echo Vowel Harmony exactly - as examples:
1. saat - hour, clock
2. saatler - hours, clocks
1. harf - letter (of alphabet)
2. harfler - letter (of alphabet)
We should note that all exceptions to the rule of pluralizing nouns in Turkish also constitute exceptions when other suffixes are attached to them.
For instance, when you want to pluralize the word, say, rol - rôle in Turkish, then we must add the suffix -ler to form - roller - roles, which is contrary to the general rule, as the plural suffix -lar would normally be added to a word like rol, which contains an UnDotted Vowel o.
These words like rol also constitute exceptions when case suffixes are attached, as follows:
1. Bu rolü ben almak istiyorum - I want to take (on) the is rôle.
2. Bu rolden çok sıkıldım - I am fed up wth this rôle.
3. Bu rolde bir sürü aksaklık var - There is something wrong in this rôle.
4. Bu role hiç ısınamadım - I could not get used to this rôle.
Exceptions
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Some Exceptions - with Suffix Additions Shown
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Vaat
Promise
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Vaatler
Promises
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Vaadi
Promise (obj.)
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Vaadin
of the promise
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Vaade
to the promise
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Vaatten
from the promise
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Kalp
Heart
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Kalpler
Hearts
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Kalbi
Heart (obj.)
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Kalbin
of the heart
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Kalbe
to the heart
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Kalpten
from the heart
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Harf
Letter
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Harfler
Letters
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Harfi
Letter (obj.)
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Harfin
of the ketter
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Harfe
to the letter
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Harften
from the letter
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There are other words - especially from Arabic - which exibit this irregularity, but it is not too important - only the words mentioned above are in regular use.
Many thanks to Fırat Özgül for corrections and additions to this page - JG - 3rd Aug. 2006
The Explanation and Grammar Rules in the panel on the right (in Turkish) about Vowel harmony is taken from the TDK (Turkish Language Association website which can be found at:
Manisa Turkish is publishing this in the interests of our Turkish Students and of course those students of other nationalities who may be interested in the underlying Turkish Grammar Rules regarding Vowel Harmony.
