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Turkish is a phonetic language. Each sound is represented by a distinct character and this character is spoken the same way, always. The alphabet includes the following special characters: "Ç/ç" for the "ch" in "check" which would be "çek" in Turkish; the "I/i" ("i" without the dot) is like the "e" sound in "butter," which would be "batIr"; soft "G/g," (with a cedilla over it) is similar to the "th" in "neither," which would be "ni(G)d(I)r";the "Ö/ö" is the "u" in "fur," which would be "för," or the "i" in "sir" which would be "sör"; "S/s" (with a dot or accent mark below) is the "Sh" in Sharon; the "Ü/ü" is like the first "u" in "future," which would be "füyç(I)r" or "füç(I)r," as also the "ea" in "feature," which would be "fiyç(I)r."
Note that the "Ç/ç" represents also the "t" sound in "future," as it does the "ch" in "check." However, it cannot represent the "ch" in "chord," because the latter "ch" sounds like the "Kh" in the Arabic name "Khaled" for which there is no alphabet in Turkish. It would be estimated by "kord," because "kh," equivalent to "ch" here, are not used together in Turkish. (Turkish relies on clear sounds.) "Beautiful" would be "biyutiful," which also shows that in Turkish words are generally a series of consonant-then-vowel combinations. (The "y" is always a consonant in Turkish.)
There is no "q" or "w" or "x" in Turkish. "Quit" would be estimated as "kuit," "what" as "huat" or "uat"; "sex" would be "seks," xeriscape "seriskeyp," xenophobic "zenofobik," the latter three duplicating the English sounds exactly. The "â" (soft "a"), though not an alphabet, is used in pronunciation, like the "a" in "la" in "do re mi fa sol (la) si do." In Turkish, the "a" is the hard "a" sound of "u" in "but." English "bet" would be the same in Turkish, "ate" would be "eyt," "byte" or "bite" would be "bayt." However, Turkish cannot reproduce the "ae" sound in "bat." It would be explained parenthetically, like "ä" from German. The hard "g" in "gun" would be the same in Turkish: "gan." However, the "g" in "gentle" would be spelled with "c" as "cent(I)l," as also the "j" sound in "JR" in TV's "Dallas" which would be "Ceyar," duplicating the English sounds exactly. (Turkish "j" is pronounced like "je" in French.) The "i" in Turkish is pronounced like the "i" in "bit." However, the long "i" sound in "pier" or "peer" would be spoken as "piyr" or "pi(G)r" using "y" or "soft G" to elongate "i," but perhaps also with a second "i" as "piir," like Turkish "(Sh)iir" for poem.
Therefore, our last name "Celayir" is pronounced in English as "Gel.a.Year," my first name "Sirman" as "Siermann." The Turks readily adopt words, things, trends, values, views from other cultures. The language is very rich and florid in the way people use it colloquially, especially for gossip and casual interaction. And they have an infectious sense of humor--but less so if the humor is at their expense.
It would seem to the Turks that the English language has built- in "learning disability," because it assigns different sounds to the same alphabet, or the same sound to different alphabets, causing children to learn words twice: by their spelling and pronunciation. Imagine a child--or immigrant--trying to make sense of daughter ("do(G)tur") and laughter (laft(I)r), steak ("steyk") and bleak (bliik). Spelling contests would be meaningless in Turkey. So people enjoy more of life . . .
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