____extra note : If you can´t read the letters because they disappear in the edge of the lesson area, you can solve this problem by zooming the page. I have noticed this later and I wanted to forewarn you.____

Reminding : The major vowel harmony was the harmony in aspect of hardness and softness. We have analysed the vowels about those features. Now, we shall analyse them in different aspects.

düz : flat_______________________ |

yuvarlak : round_________________O

dar : tight, narrow, constricted_____()

geniş : large____________________(( ))

The Turkish language experts have referred to the vowels in four names which I have showed above. Those names hinge on the shapes of the mouth while pronouncing the letters.

For example, we really give a shape "O" when we pronounce the letters "O" and "Ö"; we keep our mouths large when we pronounce the letters "A" end "E" and etc.

Before showing in the charts, it may require to do short explanations:

düz ünlüler (the flat vowels) : a, e, ı, i

yuvarlak ünlüler (the round vowels) : o, ö, u, ü

dar ünlüler (the constricted/narrow vowels) : ı, i, u, ü [we give our mouths a constricted shape when we pronounce these letters, we make our mouths narrower.]

geniş ünlüler (the large vowels) : a, e, o, ö ["o" and "ö" are pronounced by a larger shape of mouth in comparison with u and ü.]

And now 

Showing in the charts:

1)

or

2) 

özellik : 1feature, 2attribute

ünlü : vowel

or

Let´s start to learn these by using example suffixes.

If a suffix has a narrow vowel, you should know it has got variations with another narrow vowels. **Like you see below:

1) -li (**-lı,-lu,-lü)

1.To have got something or a feature. 2.To belong* to somewhere or a group or foundation.

*I shan´t explain about this meaning in this lesson because I already will explain it in next lessons.

İlk senemde de çok başarılıydım. (I was very successful in my first year as well.)

başarı : success

başarı+lı--------------------->başarılı (successful)

purely translation: the one that has got success.

ilk : first

sene, yıl : year

çok : 1very, 2too, 3much

First step: the major vowel harmony: hardness-softness : The last vowel is I and it is hard. The suffix must contain a hard vowel. İ and Ü are eliminated.

Second step: [looking at the chart above] and now the minor vowel harmony : I is a vowel that is flat, therefore the suffix mustn´t include a round vowel. Thus u and ü are eliminated. Only one alternative remained: ı

başarıLI, başarılu, başarıli, başarılü

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Evli değilim. (I´m not married.)

ev : house, home

ev+li------------------------>evli : Perhaps ancient Turks used to call the people who got married "the one that has house" because they used to think one would have a house if one is married. But, in modern Turkish, we don´t use the word "evli" to express that someone has a house. We use this word for the people who are married.

değil* : not

*I shall tell about the negation in another lessons.

It already has got only one vowel: e.

First step: E is soft. Therefore "-lı" and "-lu" can´t be brought, because I and U are hard vowels. We have two possibilities: -li and -lü.

Second step: E is not round, it´s flat. Because Ü is round, "-lü" is eliminated as well. The ideal one is "-li."

evLİ, evlı, evlu, evlü

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Mutlu günlerimiz de olacak kötü günlerimiz de olacak. (We shall have both happy days and bad days.)

gün : day

kötü : bad

mut [Well nigh nobody knows this word´s meaning, but you can be sure this word stayed in ancient Turkic languages.]

Otherwise "Mut" is a district in Mersin*; as an extra knowledge.

*one of the southern cities of Anatolia, that locates in the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.

mut_ günlerimiz (mut + our days)

mut+li---------------------------->mutlu (happy) : the one that has "mut". 

mutlu günlerimiz (our happy days : our days that have got "mut".)

First step: U is a hard vowel. -li and -lü are eliminated, beause İ and Ü are soft. We have two possibilities: "-lı" and "-lu".

Second step: U is a round vowel. If we bring "-lı", the minor vowel harmony is breached, becasue I is a flat vowel, not a round one. Therefore "-lu" is ideal.

mutLU, mutli, mutlü, mutlı

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Beş çocuklu bir ailenin en küçük çocuğuydu. (He was the youngest child of a family with five children.)

beş : five

çocuk : child

bir : 1one, 2a, an, 3.........8.........

küçük : small, little

beş çocuk__ aile (five children + family)

çocuk+li--------------------------------->çocuklu

beş çocuklu aile (the family with five children) : the family that have got five children.

First step: the last vowel of the word is U. It is a hard vowel. -li and -lü are eliminated.

Second step: U is round, therefore we cannot bring -lı because I is not round. Only one alternative : -lu

çocukLU, çocukli, çocuklı, çocuklü

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Bazı şarkılarda, şiirlerde İstanbul´dan "yedi tepeli şehir" diye söz edilir. (One refers to İstanbul "the city with seven hills" in some songs and poems.)

bazı : some

şarkı : song

şiir : poem

yedi : seven

tepe : hill

şehir : city

söz : 1promise, 2word, words, sentences, (any given word/s that are said)

söz etmek : 1to refer, 2to talk about

yedi tepe__ şehir (seven hills + city)

yedi tepeli şehir (the city with seven hills : the city that has got seven hills.)

First step: The last vowel of the word is "e". It´s a soft vowel. -lı and -lu are eliminated.

Second step: E is a flat vowel. -lü is eliminated because Ü is a round, not flat.

tepeLİ, tepelı, tepelu, tepelü

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Kazadan yaralı kurtuldular. (They freed theirselves from the accident with injuries. (purely : They freed ... injuredly))

kaza : 1crash, 2accident

yara : injury

kurtulmak : 1to free, 2to rid of, 3to escape..............

yara+li-------------------------->yaralı (injured : the one that has injuries)

First step: The last vowel of the word is A, it´s hard. -li and -lü eliminated.

Second step: A is a flat vowel. -lu is eliminated because U is a round vowel.

yaraLI , yarali, yaralu, yaralü

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Felsefe tarihiyle ilgilenenler için önemli bir kitap. ((It is) an important book for ones who are insterested in the history of philosophy.)

felsefe : philosophy

tarih : 1history, 2date

ilgilenmek : to be interested in

... için : for ...

önem : importance

kitap : book

önem_ bir kitap (importance + a book)

önemli bir kitap (an important book : a book that has got importance)

First step : The last vowel of the word is "e". It is a soft vowel. -lı and -lu are eliminated.

Second step : E is a flat vowel. -lü can´t be brought because Ü is round, not flat.

önemLİ, önemlı, önemlu, önemlü

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2) -siz (** -sız,-suz,-süz)

without, -less, not having

Son günlerde çok mutsuz görünüyorsun. (You look so unhappy in recent days.)

son : 1last, 2latest, 3recent

gün : day

görünmek : 1to appear, 2to seem, to look (like)

mut+siz------------------------------>mutsuz (unhappy)

First step : U is hard. -siz and -süz are eliminated.

Second step : U is round. -sız cannot be brought because I is not round.

mutSUZ , mutsız, mutsiz, mutsüz

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Önemli bir iş yapıyoruz ve hatasız bir iş olmak zorunda. (We are doing an important work and it has to be a work having no mistake.)

önemli : important

iş : 1work, 2business, 3job

yapmak : 1to do, 2to fulfil

hata : 1mistake, 2error, 3fault

hata_ bir iş (mistake + a work)

hatasız bir iş (an impeccable work, a work without any mistake : a work that has got no mistake)

First step : The last vowel is A, it is hard. -li and -lü are eliminated.

Second step : A is flat. -lu can´t be brought because U is not flat, it is round.

hataSIZ, hatasiz, hatasuz, hatasüz

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Saygısız davranışlarına devam etmeseydin sana kızmayacaklardı. (They wouldn´t get angry with you if you didn´t go on your unrespectful behaviours.)

saygı : respect

davranış : behaviour

devam etmek : to go on

sana : to you

kızmak : to get angry

saygı__ davranışlar (respect + behaviours)

saygısız davranışlar (unrespectful behaviours : behaviours without any respect, the behaviours that has got no respect)

First step: The last vowel is I, it is a hard vowel. -li and -lü are eliminated.

Second step: I is flat, not round. -lu is eliminated as well, because U is round.

saygıSIZ, saygısiz, saygısuz, saygısüz

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Siz bizsiz hiçbir yere gidemezsiniz, çünkü buraları bilmiyorsunuz. (You can´t go anywhere without us, because you don´t know about here.)

siz : you (plural, 2nd plural)

biz : we

hiçbir : none

hiçbir yer : nowhere (none of places)

gitmek : 1to go, 2to visit, 3to go off

çünkü : because

bura : this place, here

bilmek : to know

biz+siz--------------------------->bizsiz (without us)

first step : İ . İ is soft. -sız and -suz are eliminated.

second step : İ is flat, -süz can´t be brought, because Ü is round. -siz is the ideal one.

bizSİZ, bizsız, bizsuz, bizsüz

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Maç golsüz bitti. (The match finished without any goal.)

maç : match

gol : goal (score in football)

bitmek : 1to finish, to end, 2to grow

gol+siz--------------------------->golsüz (without goal)

If you ask, why not "golsuz"? You should return to the lesson of Major Vowel Harmony and look at the exceptional situations.

L makes the sound O lighter, therefore a suffix that contains soft vowel is needed. -sız and -suz are eliminated.

O is a round vowel, -siz can´t be brought because İ is not a round vowel.

golSÜZ, golsiz, golsuz, golsüz

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3) Mİ (**mı, mu, mü)

The interrogative postposition Mİ 

It is written strictly separately. This is a certain rule.

Sınavın yarın. (Your exam is tomorrow.)

Sınavın yarın mı? (Is your exam tomorrow?)

yarın + mı---------------------------------> yarın mı?

First step: The last vowel of the word is I. I is hard. mi and mü are eliminated.

Second step: I is flat. mu is eliminated because U is round.

yarın MI, yarın mi, yarın mu, yarın mü

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Türkiye´nin başkenti Ankara. (The capital of Turkey is Ankara.)

Türkiye´nin başkenti Ankara mı İstanbul mu? (Is Turkey´s capital city Ankara or İstanbul?)

başkent : capital city

First step: The last vowel is A. A is hard. mi and mü are eliminated.

Second step: A is flat, mu can´t be brought because U is round.

Ankara MI, Ankara mi, Ankara mu, Ankara mü

First step: The last vowel is U. U is hard. mi and mü are eliminated.

Second step: U is round, mı can´t be brought because I is flat.

İstanbul MU, İstanbul mi, İstanbul mü, İstanbul mı

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Dün arkadaşları geldi. (Yesterday his friends came.)

Dün arkadaşları geldi mi? (Did his friends come yesterday?)

dün : yesterday

arkadaş : friend

gelmek : to come

First step: The last vowel of "geldi" is İ. İ is soft. mı and mu are eliminated.

Second step: İ is flat. mu is eliminated, because U is round.

geldi Mİ, geldi mu, geldi mü, geldi mı

I will tell about this postposition in another lesson in details, therefore I will not go into the details here.

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4) -nci (**-inci, -ıncı, -uncu, -üncü)

To express the ordinal numbers.

If you put a stop beside the number´s own, you use that stop instead of the -nci suffix.

2., 2´nci, 2.nci, 14. 14´üncü, 14.üncü, 50., 50´nci, 50.nci, 138., 138´inci, 138.inci

The suffix is -nci indeed. If you bring this suffix to a word that ends with a consonant, the narrow vowels become helper vowels.

bir_nc_ -----------------------> birinci, biruncu, birüncü, birıncı

İ of "bir" is soft. -ıncı and -uncu are eliminated.

İ is flat. -üncü is eliminated because Ü is round.

iki_nc_ ------------------------> ikinci, ikincı, ikincu, ikincü

"iki" already ends with a vowel, therefore there is no need to any helper vowel. We add just -nci.

İ of "iki" is soft. -ncı and -ncu are eliminated.

İ is flat. -üncü is eliminated because Ü is round.

altı_nc_ -----------------------> altıncı, altınci, altıncu, altıncü

"altı" already ends with a vowel, no need to any helper vowel. Just -nci is needed.

I of "altı" is hard. -nci and -ncü are eliminated.

I is flat, -ncu is eliminated because U is round.

on dokuz_nc_ ------------------> on dokuzuncu*, on dokuzıncı, on dokuzinci, on dokuzüncü

*analysing : 10+9th

U of "dokuz" is hard. -inci and -üncü are eliminated.

U is round, -ıncı is eliminated because I is not a round vowel.

yüz kırk dört_nc_ ---------------> yüz kırk dördüncü*, yüz kırk dördinci, yüz kırk dörduncu, yüz kırk dördıncı

*analysing : 100+40+4th

Ö of "dört" is soft. -ıncı and -uncu are eliminated.

Ö is round, -inci is eliminated because İ is not a round vowel.

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İkinci yarıda altı gol gördük. (We saw six goals in the second half.)

yarı : half (as a noun)

görmek : to see

iki__ yarı (two + the half)

ikinci yarı (the second half)

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Dört yüz kişinin katıldığı bir sınavda yirmi sekizinci olmak da güzel bir başarı. (It is a good success to be twenty eighth in an exam that four hundred people joined.)

kişi : person

katılmak : to join

sınav : exam

*analysing 20+8th (yirmi+sekizinci) --> yirmi sekizinci (28th)

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Bu, yazdığım dördüncü ders. (This is the fourth lesson that I have written.)

yazmak : to write

ders : lesson

dört____ ders (four + lesson)

dördüncü ders (the fourth lesson)

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Türkiye´de seksen bir il var ve Mersin otuz üçüncü il. (There are eighty one cities in Turkey and Mersin is thirty third city.)

il, şehir : city

"il" is commonly used in the administrative official texts.

"şehir" is general one of those names.

otuz üç____ il (thirty three + city)

otuz üçüncü il (the thirty third city)

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Bu yılki 30 Eylül Mevlâna´nın ölümünün yedi yüz kırk birinci yıl dönümü olacak. (30th September of this year will be the seven hundred and forty first anniversary of the death of Rumi.)

Eylül : September

Mevlâna : Rumi

yıl dönümü : anniversary

yedi yüz kırk bir___ yıl dönümü (seven hundred and forty one + anniversary)

yedi yüz kırk birinci yıl dönümü