Turkish
Türkçe
Turkish is "agglutinative" — you can build one enormous word by sticking many meaning pieces together! It switched from Arabic to Latin script in 1928.
Amy says:
Merhaba! It's Amy! Turkish is a fascinating language — it's 'agglutinative', which means you build meaning by sticking pieces together to make one looooong word! Turkey sits at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, with stunning mosques, bazaars, hot air balloons over Cappadocia, and delicious baklava. Çok güzel! (So beautiful!)
Quick Facts
Speakers
~80 million
Language Family
Turkic
Official in
Turkey & Cyprus
Script
Latin alphabet (since 1928)
Discover Turkish
Turkish is "agglutinative" — you can build one enormous word by sticking many meaning pieces together! It switched from Arabic to Latin script in 1928.
Native Speakers
~80 million
Did You Know?
The word "coffee" (and the beverage itself) came to Europe from Turkey — "kahve" in Turkish, originally from Arabic "qahwa". Ottoman Turkish coffee houses were the world's first coffee shops.
Turkish has a unique language rule called "vowel harmony" — the vowels in a word's suffixes must match the vowels in the main word. It makes the language sound musical.
Troy, the ancient city of the Trojan Horse legend, is located in western Turkey — as is the underground city of Derinkuyu which could house 20,000 people!
What Makes Turkish Special?
Agglutinative Language
Turkish packs huge amounts of meaning into single words by attaching suffixes. One Turkish word can translate to a full English sentence!
Crossroads of Continents
Istanbul is the only major city in the world that spans two continents — Europe and Asia — and Turkish culture reflects this unique blend.
Language Reform
In 1928, Turkey's founder Atatürk replaced the Arabic script with a new Latin-based alphabet — and taught it to the entire nation within a few years.
Keep Exploring the World!
Languages are windows into the world's cultures. Discover more languages and the countries where they are spoken.