Vowel letters: S ›, ', which are vowels generally, when they are the second letter of the syllable.

ع غ ق Hard letters ح خ ص ض ط ظ

ك گ ه :Soft letters . ت س

ل من :Neuter letters ب پ ث ج چ د ذ ر ز ژ ش ف ل

و

and ✔, ', when at the beginning of the syllables; as is the case with y and w in the English language.

B1. Pronunciation of Letters.

§ 17. All the Ottoman letters in the Alphabetical Table are considered to be consonants, except 1, which are often used as vowels, and call for further elucidation. (§ 29 ff.)

We now proceed to the phonetic value of the

consonants:

bé has the value of English b, as: béd bad, ssly. birader brother. But when ending a syllable or word, it sometimes, anomalously, takes the value of p, as: sharap wine, iptida beginning. Especially is this the case with the Gerunds in as: gidip, Šī alîp. (§ 435.)

,

گیدوب

پ

pé is the English p, as:

pédér father.

té is the German t, as: tt tatar a Tartar; courier. It is sometimes changed into din derivation when it

is originally final; as:

git go,

gider he goes. Also (os) démir iron, (4) dépé a hill.

sé is found in Arabic words only, and is pronounced as s; as: sabit firm, Jémsal proverbs.

ج

jim is pronounced as j, as: ¿ jan soul.

chim has the value of the English ch, in church;

as: cham the pine,

chali bush. (§ 8.)

て ha has the harshly aspirated sound of English h, in horse. It is chiefly used in Arabic words; as:

.haji pilgrim حاجی

khi has no equivalent in English. It is the counterpart of the Scotch ch in loch and German Rache. It is generally transliterated kh. But there are a good many words in which it is commonly pronounced as h,

.hane house خانه ;hoja teacher خواجه as

> dal is German d, as: ♪ dérd.

zal is found in Arabic words alone; its value is z, as: zér ́ré atom.

ر

ré is in all positions a distinctly articulated lingual ras in rain. There are two important remarks, however, which is necessary for the English student to bear in mind with respect to this, to him, peculiar letter. Firstly, it must always be pronounced and accented (never dropped or slurred over, as in the pronunciation of part, pa't); and secondly, the value of the vowel before it in the same syllable must never be corrupted (as when it is pronounced pot pat; for far; cur car), but always kept pure, as with any other consonant; thus, qor', rö qîr', s'j zar'; not qo', qî', za'. (§ 49 V.)

گز

j zé is English ≈, as: géz.

zhé is only found in Persian and French words; it is of the value of the English s in treasure, and is transliterated zħ; as: 。>• múzhdé tidings, ›› azh ́dér dragon, J hour'nal journal. It is often pronounced

ژاندارمه,jiva quicksilver ژیوه ,jenger verdigris زنگار :j, as

jandarma a county policeman.

س

sin is a soft s, always followed by a soft vowel in all Ottoman words, as: j, seoz word.

as:

shin is English sh, as:

ish work.

Lo sad is a hard s, it designates a hard vowel, ¿sagh right, J sol left.

dad is used in Arabic words only. It is generally pronounced as a hard, but sometimes as a hard d; thus: razee content, zaptiyé a gendarme,

.khadir alyas St. Elias خضر الياس gali judge قاضی

tê is pronounced as t, thus:

top ball. But sometimes in Turkish words it is pronounced as d. ¿b (¿lɔ) dagh mountain, ab] (1ɔ]) odɑ room.

zi is used in Arabic words only, as a very hard,

¿ ayn, ¿ ghayn, 3 qaf, kéf. See §§ 33-36.
fé is the English f, in all cases,
Jlam is the English 7, in all cases.

م

féna.

mim is the English m, as: J. mal.

noun is like the English n, as: nan bread. But before bé it is pronounced as m.

ب

pembé light rose colour,

(Stambul).

نه Thus

istambul Constantinople

§ 18. Note. The reason why so many s and ≈ sounds occur in Ottoman is that Arabic words intro

duced into the language have to be written as in Arabic.

and

ص ، س ، ث In the latter tongue the sounds of

again those of

''j's are quite distinct from one

and, of and

ع

But

another, as are those of て these distinctions are not observed by the Ottoman.

C1. The Orthographic Signs.

§ 19. There are five kinds of orthographic signs used in Ottoman-Turkish. The vowel signs, Jezma, Medda, Shedda and Nunation. These are put under or over the letters.

The Vowel Signs.

§ 20. There are three kinds of vowel signs: ústún, ésré, éotré. These are named haréké 'movements'; but by the Europeans they are commonly called vowel points.

§ 21. These three vowel signs have two values each. I. With a soft or neuter consonant, ústûn has the value of é; and with a hard consonant a.

II. With a soft or neuter consonant, ésré has the value of i; and with a hard consonant ĉ.

III. With a soft or neuter consonant, éôtré has the value of û, eo; and with a hard one o, ou.

a) Hard Vowels.

§ 22. Hard vowels are used with hard letters. I. Ústún is a diagonal stroke drawn from right to left, placed above the letter thus; it indicates that the hard letter over which it is placed, is to be followed in pronunciation by a, as in English bar, star.

Key. Ha ûstûn ha, khî ûstûn kha, ayn ûstûn á, etc. II. This sign is called és-ré, under hard letters it is pronounced ê, as e in heaven.

ظ

ع غ

je e bbw Ę Ę

Key. Ha és-ré hî, khî és-rẻ khi, sad és-ré si, etc.

III. This sign is éôtré, over the hard letters it is pronounced o or ou, as in cold, could.

Key. Ha éotré ho, hou, khî eotré kho, khou, dad éotré do, dou, etc.

b) Soft Vowels.

§ 23. Soft vowels are pronounced with soft or neuter letters.

I. Üstün when put over a soft or neuter letter, is pronounced like é, as in met.

ك گئی

Key. Sin ûstûn sé, kéf ûstûn ké, géf ûstûn gé, etc. II. Esré when put under a soft or neuter letter, is pronounced i, as in pit, him.

Key. Mim ésré mi, lam ésré li, zé ésré zi, etc. III. Eotré when put over a soft or neuter letter, is pronounced û, eo, which have no equivalent in English. ( 6, 7. 8.

Key. Dal otre dit, deo, pé eotre pi, peo, shin Cotré shú, shéo, etc.

The Connection of the Letters.

§ 24. The letters of the Ottoman alphabet are divided into two other divisions: connected and unconnected letters.