Tongue Twisters for Turkish Learners

Jul 2
3 min read

Many Turkish learners struggle with pronouncing some of the sounds in Turkish. Ö, Ü, I, E, L, R, and P seem to be the most problematic — some of them do not exist in other languages (Ö, Ü, I, R, P), while others have multiple versions unindicated in writing (E, L).

But fear not, plenty of Turkish tongue twisters (which I will be referring to as TTTs) are perfect for improving your articulation and fixing any speech impediments. With daily half-hour practice, you too can learn to properly pronounce all of the sounds in Turkish.

a little kid sticking tongue out — Photo by cottonbro studio

Turkish Tongue Twisters with Ö and Ü

These two sounds are very difficult for learners to pronounce properly since they do not exist in most other languages. Most of the time, learners pronounce Ö and Ü as their undotted counterparts — O and U.

To pronounce Ö and Ü, say O and U while raising the root (back) of your tongue. Here are some tongue twisters for practice:

Ödemişli ödlek Ömer, öksürüklü Özdemir'in öküzüyle ördeğini öldürmüş.
Öğretmen öğleyin öğrencilere dört ögeden oluşan öğütler söylemiş.
Üsküplü Hüseyin, üzüm üzüm üzülen, süzüm süzüm süzülen üzümcüye üzülmüş.

TTTs with I and İ

These two are another problematic pair. To pronounce I, say İ but lower the root and body of the tongue. Here are some tongue twisters:

Iğdır'ın ığıl ığıl akan ılıman ırmağının kıyıları ıklım tıklım ılgın kaplıdır.
Kızgın sivri dilli kız, Sivrihisarlı işlek Ilgaz'ı hızlı hızlı ısırıp çimdirdi.
Ismarlama ırgat, Işıklı'nın ıssız ırmağında ıkına ıkına ıvır zıvırını ısladı.

TTTs with E

Turkish has two types of E in its phonetic inventory — open E (like the a in cat) and closed E (a bit narrower than the e in belt). For further information, check out one of my previous articles on the topic.

In the tongue twisters below, open E's are marked with a circumflex (^), while unmarked E's are closed.

Evet benim êrdêmli, eğitimli, efe beyefêndim. Eğêr egemên edepsizse, edepsizlik egemêndir.
Genç gebe, çêrçilerin kendi evlerindeki neşeyi penceredên êrkên êrkên izlêrkên ezik ezik etkilêndi.
El eli, têl teli, sêl seli sevse, el ele dêrvişe hep el vêrse.

TTTs with L

Turkish differentiates between palatalized L (which occurs word-initially and sometimes within loanwords) and normal L. For more details, check out my article on palatalized consonants in Turkish. Most learners do not have any trouble pronouncing the normal L. Palatalized L, on the other hand, is quite the struggle.

To pronounce palatalized L, place the tip of the tongue slightly behind the upper front teeth and raise the tongue body towards the roof of the mouth. In the tongue twisters below, all L's are palatalized.

Elâzığ'ın losyoncu lordu, lokomotifin loş lokantasında lokmacının lokmalarını lokma lokma yuttu.
Lapsekili Lâle, Laz Halûk'un lokantasına gidip löp löp lahmacun yedi.
Liseli lirik limonatacı, limancılara limonlu likörler getirdi.

TTTs with R

Unlike most other European languages, Turkish R is not rolled — it is realized as a single tap with the tip of the tongue on the alveolar ridge.

When pronouncing R, make sure not to roll it. Word-finally, you might hear a slight whisper or whistle after you realize the R. That is completely normal, do not try to delete that sound.

Rizeli Remzi rüküş Rümeysa'ya rastlamış ve riziko, rüzgârgülü, rokoko, römorkör, rot, rop, rint, ring, ray ve radyoaktivite nedir diye sormuş.
Karlı kırda rızkını arayan roman Rasım, rastladığı rezeneyi katır kutur kemirmiş.
Ramazanda rastıklı Rasim, raftaki radyonun rabıtasını kesti.

TTTs with P

The P sound mostly impedes Arabic speakers, whose native language lacks a P.

To pronounce P, try to exaggerate the puff of air that comes out. You can do this by holding a piece of paper in front of your face and alternating between pa and ba to see the difference in the volume of air that comes out. Here are some tongue twisters:

Posbıyıklı bıkkın pısırık, pıtırcık pazarına pılısını pırtısını bıraktı.
Perçemli pişkin pehlivan, peltek Bekir'in paralarını pis bir paçavrayla paketlemiş.
Boz başlı pis perişan porsuk, besili pembe pantere bakıp pörsük pörsük pörsümüş.

Here is an old video footage of Zeki Müren perfectly singing the longest tongue twister in the Turkish language.