turkish phonology and morphology (türkçe ses ve b‹ç‹mb‹lg‹s‹)

Turkish Consonants
INTRODUCTION
Why is it that in a crossword puzzle, it is easier to guess the word when only the
consonants of a word emerge rather than when only the vowels emerge? For
example, can you guess what the following Turkish word are?
k - rt - nk - l -
› - › - - -
We use letters as a shorthand description of sounds. When we see the letter ‘m’
for example, we know to close our mouth by putting both lips together and letting
the air out only from the nose. We know to fix our vocal cords in such a way so
that there is vocal cord vibration. In other words, we know what the sound the
letter ‘m’ represents. In this unit, we will learn to describe consonants that occur
in Turkish.
CONSONANT PRODUCTION
Consonants are produced by blocking the air partially or completely in the vocal
tract. Therefore, when consonants are described in terms of articulation, reference
is made to where in the vocal tract these sounds are produced and which articulators
are involved in producing these sounds. Before describing consonants then, let us
describe the vocal tract and the articulators that are involved in the production of
speech sounds.
The Vocal Tract
The air passage above the larynx is known as the vocal tract. There are two
cavities within the vocal tract: Oral tract and nasal tract. The two tracts, or
cavities are illustrated in Figure 2.1. To produce some sounds, the air is let out of
the oral tract or the mouth while for others, the air is let out of the nasal tract or
the nose. If the air is let out of the mouth, then those sounds are called oral
sounds. If the air is let out of the nose, then those sounds are called nasal sounds.