Major vowel harmony was the hardness-softness (kalınlık-incelik) harmony of the vowels in a word. Besides, the major vowel harmony concerns all the vowels together.
But minor vowel harmony is different. It´s more detailed than the major one. The vowels are categorized as "geniş (large)", "dar (narrow)", "yuvarlak (round/annular)", "düz (flat)".
The minor vowel harmony concerns the consecutive two vowels. A new table may make a presummarizing.
**If a syllable is.......................the consecutive syllable can be...................** ..........................a..........................................................................a, e, ı, i ..........................e..........................................................................a, e, i ..........................ı...........................................................................a, ı ..........................i...........................................................................a, e, i ..........................o..........................................................................a, u ..........................ö..........................................................................e, ü ..........................u..........................................................................a, u ..........................ü..........................................................................e, ü
_____Edit on 10th of October___ To determine the suffix, look at the last vowel of the word as first. Choose the suffix according to the knowledges** I gave above. ____________________________
Example words that obey to minor vowel harmony and explain the table above:
adam (man) : "a, a" : First syllable is "a", namely a large and flat vowel. And consecutive syllable is "a", too. kalem (pencil, pen) : "a, e" : First syllable is "a", namely a large and flat vowel. The consecutive syllable is "e", namely another large-flat vowel. halı (carpet) : "a, ı" : First syllable is "a", namely a large-flat vowel. The consecutive syllable is "ı", namely another flat vowel, but it doesn´t matter it is narrow, not large. It was important that it is flat. karanlık (darkness) : "a,a", "a, ı" : first step:: first and second syllables: the same explaining as the explaining of "adam". second step:: second and third syllables: the same explaining as the explaining of "halı". yabancı (1foreign, 2stranger) : "a,a", "a,ı" makine (machine) : "a,i", "i,e" eşek (donkey) : First syllable is "e", a large and flat vowel. The consecutive one is the same, too. Ekim (October) : First syllable is "e", a large and flat vowel. Ok, "i" isn´t large, but it´s flat, too. hesap (1calculating, 2account) : "e" is a large-flat. "a" is a large-flat, too. ılık (warm, lukewarm) : "ı,ı" : yıka- (to wash) : "ı, a" : first syllable is "ı", a narrow-flat vowel. "a" isn´t narrow but it is flat, too. kırmızı (red) : "ı, ı, ı" : all those vowelrs are flat. kitap (book) : "i, a" : both of "i" and "a" are flat. kilit (lock) : "i, i" : both of them are flat. çilek (strawberry) : both of them are flat. bitebilir (it may end up) : all the vowels are flat. kolay (easy) : both of the vowels are large. yosun (alga) : both of the vowels are round. örnek (example) : both of the vowels are large. öküz (ox) : both of the vowels are round kural (rule) : "a" may come after "u". uzun (1tall, 2long) : both of them are narrow-round. güneş (sun) : "e" may come after "ü" üzüm (grapes) : both of them are narrow-round
The letters "o" and "ö" can be in only first syllable in a Turkish word. You will learn later the present continuous tense suffix "-yor" and you may ask "but it is not the first syllable, why?". The suffix "-yor" has got a historical story. It bases on ancient Turkish.
alkol (alcohol) : "o" is in a different syllable except the first syllable. müzik (music) : if you look at the table above, you see narrow-flat vowels can´t come after narrow-round vowels. komik (comic) : narrow-flat vowels can´t come after large-round vowels. etc. --- (etc.=vs. , vb.) ve saire=vs ve böyle=vb ---
edit 2 on 10th of October: I´ll rearrange this lesson again. I may do it today or within a few days.
edit on 11th of October: I am editing.
-li (1the one that has ...) (I gave its only one meaning, because the conditions of the vowels are important here, not the tasks of the suffix.)
çikolata (chocolate), pasta (cake) çikolata... pasta | ... = lı/li/lu/lü What is the last vowel of "çikolata"? : a way 1: "a" is hard vowel. Therefore "-li" and "-lü" are eliminated as first due to "i" and "ü", because they are soft vowels. "a" is flat vowel. Therefore "-lu" is eliminated, because "u" is a round vowel. way 2: "a" is flat vowel. Therefore "-lu" and "-lü" are eliminated as first, because "u" and "ü" are round vowels. "-lı" and "-li" remained. "a" is hard vowel. Because "i" is soft, the only one alternative is "-lı"
çikolotalı pasta (cake with chocolate (direct: cake that has chocolate))
güzel (nice, beautiful), koku (smell), çiçek (flower) güzel koku (nice smell) güzel koku... çiçek | ... = lı/li/lu/lü What is the last vowel of "koku"? : u way 1: "u" is hard vowel. Therefore "-li" and "-lü" are eliminated. "u" is round. Therefore "-lı" is eliminated because "ı" is a flat vowel. way 2: "u" is round vowel. "-lı" or "-li" can´t come because "ı" and "i" are flat, not round. "u" is hard. "-li" can´t come because "i" is soft.
güzel kokulu çiçek (the flower that smells nice (direct: the flower that has a nice smell))
güneş (sun), gün (day) güneş... gün | ... = lı/li/lu/lü way 1: "e" is soft. "-lı" and "-lu" can´t come because "ı" and "u" are hard. "e" is flat. You can´t use it with "-lü" because "ü" is round, not flat. way 2: "e" is flat. "-lu" and "-lü" can´t be used because "u" and "ü" are round. "e" is soft. "-lı" can´t come because "ı" is hard.
güneşli gün (sunny day (direct: the day that has sun))
-siz (without, -less)
karar (decision), insan (human) karar... insan | ... = sız/siz/suz/süz way 1: "a" is flat. "-suz" and "-süz" are not available, because "u" and "ü" are round. "a" is hard. "-siz" can´t come because "i" is soft. way 2: "a" is hard. "-siz" and "-süz" can´t come because "i" and "ü" are soft. "a" is flat. "-sız" or "-siz" must come because "ı" and "i" are flat as well. But only "ı" is suitable because "i" is soft like I stated above.
kararsız insanlar (undecided people)
başarı (success), öğrenci (student) başarı... öğrenci | ... = sız/siz/suz/süz way 1: "ı" is hard and flat. "u" and "ü" are round. "i" is soft. only "-sız" is suitable.
başarısız öğrenci (the unsuccessful student)
THESE ARE JUST SOME ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGES. I DIDN´T WRITE MANY SUFFIX EXAMPLES BECAUSE YOU HAVEN´T LEARNT MANY SUFFIXES YET. YOU WILL MAKE YOURSELVES BETTER IN THIS TOPIC AS LONG AS YOU LEARN NEW SUFFIXES AND SEE NEW TOPICS. |