Vowel harmony: 2-way and 4-way suffixes
Vowel harmony decides which vowel a suffix gets: words with back vowels (a, ı, o, u) take back-vowel suffixes, words with front vowels (e, i, ö, ü) take front-vowel suffixes. English has nothing like it, so practise it from day one.
| Vowel group | Vowels in the word | 2-way suffix vowel | 4-way suffix vowel |
|---|---|---|---|
| back | a, ı, o, u | a (e.g. -lar, -da) | ı or u |
| front | e, i, ö, ü | e (e.g. -ler, -de) | i or ü |
2-way and 4-way harmony
- 2-way harmony chooses only between a (after back vowels) and e (after front vowels), as in the plural *-lar / -ler*.
- 4-way harmony chooses between ı, i, u, ü: after a/ı → ı, after e/i → i, after o/u → u, after ö/ü → ü.
- Only the last vowel of the word counts, not the first one.
- A few loanwords break the rule: *saatler* (hours), *alkoller*.
Examples
- arabalar ve evlercars and houses
- odada ve iştein the room and at work
- yolun sonuthe end of the road
- köyün yoluthe road of the village
- günler çok hızlı geçiyor.The days pass very quickly.
Common mistakes
- ✗ Bu evlar çok eski.✓ Bu evler çok eski.The last vowel of ev is front (e), so the plural is -ler; unlike English endings, Turkish suffixes change to match the word.
- ✗ Bu arkadaşler çok iyi.✓ Bu arkadaşlar çok iyi.Only the last vowel counts: arkadaş ends in a, so it takes -lar, whatever came before.
- ✗ Kuşin sesi güzel.✓ Kuşun sesi güzel.After u, 4-way harmony gives u: kuşun; -in only fits after e or i.
- ✗ Bu yüzüklar kimin?✓ Bu yüzükler kimin?Yüzük ends in the front vowel ü, so the plural is -ler.
- ✗ Balığin adı ne?✓ Balığın adı ne?After the dotless ı, 4-way harmony gives ı again: balığın, not balığin.