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

The necessary condition for /n/ becoming [N] is that /n/ needs to be followed
by a velar consonant as in words such as ‘renk, dengi’. In Turkish, /k/ and /g/ are
the only velar consonants. The opposite, velar consonant preceding /n/ as in
‘tekne’, does not satisfy the condition for alveolar nasal becoming a velar nasal.
Thus, in all other environments, alveolar nasal is used.
Turkish ‘r’, an alveolar flap /R/, is realized differently depending on the position
of ‘r’ within a word. Compare the ‘r’s in the following words, ‘ara’, ‘rüya’, ‘bir’.
Notice that the /R/ in each word is different. The /R/ in ‘ara’ is a voiced alveolar
flap. In words such as ‘rüya’, ‘resim’, ‘renk’, /R/ is formed with a narrow passage
between the tongue and the alveolar ridge. As the airflow is forced through this
narrow passage, frication occurs. Thus, word-initial /R/ is fricated and described
as ‘voiced fricated alveolar flap’ symbolized as [R‡]. In word-final position, the /R/ is
fricated also. But in word-final position, the frication is voiceless. Say the words
‘bir’, ‘fleker’, ‘kar’. Notice that if you hold /R/ long enough you could hear a sound
like a whistle. That sound is frication and it is voiceless. The IPA symbol for
voiceless fricated alveolar flap is [R‡•]. The allophones of /R/ are represented as
shown below.
[R] intervocalic (e.g., ara, s›ra, kere)
/R/ [R‡] word-initial (e.g., resim, rahat, rende)
[R‡•] word-final (e.g., bir, dar, her)
Unit 2 - Turkish Consonants
In Turkish, /V/ is a voiced labiodental central approximant, and most commonly
it occurs as an approximant (Kopkalli-Yavuz, 1999). Depending on the neighboring
sounds, it may have different realizations. After voiceless consonants (i.e., stops,
fricatives, affricates), it may be realized as a voiced labiodental fricative [v] as in
words such as ‘cetvel’, ‘teflvik’. In the environment of labial sounds, before labial
consonants such as /b/, /v/, it may delete (represented as Ø, meaning ‘null’). Do
you delete /V/ in your pronunciation of words such as ‘kovmak’, ‘sevmek’, ‘sövmek’?
This allophone may be idiolectic, different for each person rather than a general
rule. The allophones of /V/ are shown below with one allophone being optional
or speaker-dependent.
[v] after voiceless consonants (e.g., cetvel, teflvik)
/V/ [Ø] before labial consonants
[V] elsewhere
(e.g., kovmak, sövmek)
Another consonant which is realized differently in different environments is the
alveolar lateral approximant /l/. Turkish /l/ has two allophones [l] and [¬]. [l] is an
alveolar lateral approximant produced with a central obstruction and air flowing
from the sides of the tongue. [¬] is a velarized ‘l’ produced in the same way except
that the back of the tongue is raised toward the velum. As a general rule, in Turkish
[l] occurs in the environment of vowels ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘ö’, ‘ü’. Conversely, [¬] occurs in the
environment of vowels ‘a’, ‘›’, ‘o’, ‘u’. Compare the pronunciation of the following
pairs, ‘hele-hala’, ‘sel-sal’, ‘kel-kal’. In the production of the second members of
the pairs, the back of the tongue is raised. However, in word-initial position,
regardless of the vowel environment, /l/ is always realized as [l]. Consider the
following words in which /l/ is followed by the vowels ‘a’, ‘›’, ‘o’, ‘u’: ‘lamba’,
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