What is I-Type Vowel Harmony?

Imagine Turkish words as puzzle pieces. Every time you attach a new piece (like a suffix), it should match the shape and color of the piece before it. In Turkish, these “shapes and colors” are the vowels.

This rule helps Turkish sound smooth and natural. The goal is to make suffixes blend in with the word they're added to.

Step 1: Understand the vowels

Turkish has 8 vowels:

a, e, ı, i, o, ö, u, ü

For I-Type Vowel Harmony, we group them like this:

Group	Vowels	Description
1	a, ı	Back and flat
2	e, i	Front and flat
3	o, u	Back and rounded
4	ö, ü	Front and rounded

Step 2: The suffix vowel changes to match the last vowel in the word

In I-Type vowel harmony, suffixes choose from four vowels: ı, i, u, ü

This is how it works:

If the last vowel is...	Use this vowel in the suffix	Example word	Result
a or ı	ı	Amerika	Amerikalı
e or i	i	İngiltere	İngiltereli
o or u	u	Tunus	Tunuslu
ö or ü	ü	Ürdün	Ürdünlü

Why does this matter?

Because Turkish prefers words that sound smooth. It’s uncomfortable to switch from a deep vowel to a light one or from a flat vowel to a rounded one. The suffix vowel adapts so your mouth doesn't need to make a hard jump.

Try the nationality conjugator!

Report bug or mistake at info@turkish.academy