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Turkish light - some phrases of politeness
In the tourist centers between Bodrum and Alanya you'll get along everywhere with German or English. All
professional travel organizers have attuned to the languages of their paying guests ;-).
But it's a big pleasure, when you astonish a Turk with some words in his
mother tongue. If you wan to leave the vacation center - that's not only
possible in the inland but also sometimes at the weekly market - the most
important phrases are essential for the understanding.
First of all:
The Turkish language has 4 special characters:
"ç" with crux below: pronounced "tsch"
"Ğ" with crux ahead: not pronounced, but elongation of the preceding letter
"Ş" with crux below: pronounced "sch"
"ı" without point: similar to a lumpish "E" or a damped "Ü"
In the following we wont use these characters, as you only would see illegible
hieroglyphs, if you don't have installed the Turkish fonts on your computer. Instead
we show these characters with red capital letters and
we include, in parenthesis, a German traduction how to pronounce.
Greeting phrases, always useful:
HoS geldiniz |
"hosch geldiniss" |
Welcome |
HoS bulduk |
"hosch bulduk" |
firm answer to hoS geldiniz
difficult to translate but perhaps: It was a pleasure for me
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Merhaba |
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How do you do? |
Selam |
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Hello |
Güle güle |
accent on the "e", is not heard like "Gülle" an |
Good bye, more exactly: go and smile , only the staying person is using this
Good bye, never the leaving person |
Eyvallah |
"ejwallah" |
Bye, Bye |
GünaydIn |
"günajden" |
Good Morning |
Iyi günler |
"iji günler" |
Good afternoon |
Iyi akSamlar |
"iji akschamlar" |
Good evening |
Iyi geCeler |
"iji gedscheler" |
Good night |
Some phrases for the everyday life:
NasIlsInIz ? |
"Naselseness"
unpronounced "e" like the in the word cup |
How are you ?
("How are you?" would be "NasIlsIn ?")
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Iyiyim. Ya siz (sen)? |
"Ijijim. Ja siss (sen)" |
I'm fine and you? |
Tamam |
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Ok |
evet |
"ewet" |
Yes |
hayIr |
"hajer" |
No |
Efendim ? |
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Pardon? |
Pardon |
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Sorry |
TeSekkür |
"Teschekkür" |
Thank you |
At shopping:
Ne kadar ? |
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How much is it ? |
Cok pahalI ! |
"tschok pahale" |
Very expensive ! |
... istiyorum |
"... istijorum" |
I want to ... (Put in the desired word) |
If you don’t understand anything , say only "anlamIyorum"
(anlamejorum) - I don't understand. U can always use the international
accepted sign language and in this way you exhilarate interlocutors ;-).
For
interested tourists the Pons Voyage dictionary, about 15 Euros, is
recommended. It contains the most important vocabulary, many phrases for the
everyday life and the most important grammar. Who wants to lean more, should
buy the "Langenscheidt Praktisches Lehrbuch türkisch" with
cassettes but you will need a lot of self - discipline !!!!
Or you couple your holidays in Turkey to a language course. The Institute for
Languages TÖMER offers recommendable programs in several Turkish cities (for
ex. Istanbul and Antalya)...
With this in mind - Have a good conversation !!!!!!
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