Linguistics
Turkmen: linguistics
Turkmen sounds, pronunciation, grammar and core vocabulary.
Türkmençe / تۆرکمن
01Sounds
The language’s phonemes, from one published description.
Awaiting licence review
This section will show the consonant and vowel tables of Turkmen from PHOIBLE 2.0, inventory Turkmen (Teke) (EA 2595), based on Gray 1994. PHOIBLE is under CC BY-SA 3.0, and the tables appear once the owner approves the source.
02Pronunciation
Each letter with its usual sound.
Persian alphabet
| Letter | Romanisation | Sound (IPA) | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ا | ā / not written | ɒː, ʔ | Awaiting licence review |
| ب | b | b | Awaiting licence review |
| پ | p | p | Awaiting licence review |
| ت | t | t | Awaiting licence review |
| ث | s | s | Awaiting licence review |
| ج | j | d͡ʒ | Awaiting licence review |
| چ | ch | t͡ʃ | Awaiting licence review |
| ح | ḥ | h | Awaiting licence review |
| خ | kh | x | Awaiting licence review |
| د | d | d | Awaiting licence review |
| ذ | z | z | Awaiting licence review |
| ر | r | ɾ | Awaiting licence review |
| ز | z | z | Awaiting licence review |
| ژ | zh | ʒ | Awaiting licence review |
| س | s | s | Awaiting licence review |
| ش | sh | ʃ | Awaiting licence review |
| ص | ṣ | s | Awaiting licence review |
| ض | z̤ | z | Awaiting licence review |
| ط | ṭ | t | Awaiting licence review |
| ظ | ẓ | z | Awaiting licence review |
| ع | ‘ | ʔ | Awaiting licence review |
| غ | gh | ɣ, ɢ | Awaiting licence review |
| ف | f | f | Awaiting licence review |
| ق | q | ɢ, ɣ | Awaiting licence review |
| ک | k | k | Awaiting licence review |
| گ | g | ɡ | Awaiting licence review |
| ل | l | l | Awaiting licence review |
| م | m | m | Awaiting licence review |
| ن | n | n | Awaiting licence review |
| و | v / ū / aw | v, uː, ow | Awaiting licence review |
| ه | h | h | Awaiting licence review |
| ی | y / ī / ay | j, iː, ej | Awaiting licence review |
| آ | ā | ɒː | Awaiting licence review |
| ء | ʼ | ʔ | Awaiting licence review |
Sound values are a teaching guide for the standard language, labelled to verify. Dialects differ. To verify
Sources Wikimedia Commons: pronunciation recordings, each under its own open licence. (2026) To verify
03Core words compared
Ten everyday words across the languages of the region.
| Meaning | Persian | Kurmanji | Sorani | Zazaki | Balochi | Azerbaijani | Armenian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| water | آبāb | av | ئاوaw | awe | āp | su | ջուրjur |
| bread | نانnān | nan | نانnan | nan | nān | çörək | հացhatsʻ |
| mother | مادرmādar | dê | دایکdayk | maye | māt | ana | մայրmayr |
| father | پدرpedar | bav | باوکbawk | pî | pit | ata | հայրhayr |
| house | خانهkhāne | mal | ماڵmał | keye | lōg | ev | տունtun |
| night | شبshab | şev | شەوşew | şewe | shap | gecə | գիշերgisher |
| two | دوdo | du | دووdû | di | do | iki | երկուerku |
| three | سهse | sê | سێsê | hîrê | sē | üç | երեքerekʻ |
| eye | چشمcheshm | çav | چاوçaw | çim | chamm | göz | աչքachkʻ |
| name | نامnām | nav | ناوnaw | name | nām | ad | անունanun |
Persian, Kurdish, Zazaki and Balochi are Iranian languages, and many of their core words are related. Azerbaijani is Turkic and Armenian is its own branch of Indo-European, so their words differ. To verify
Sources Steingass. A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary. Routledge and K. Paul. Digital edition: Digital Dictionaries of South Asia, University of Chicago. (1892) Verified; Chyet. Kurdish-English Dictionary. Yale University Press. (2003) To verify; Wahby and Edmonds. A Kurdish-English Dictionary. Clarendon Press. (1966) To verify; Paul. Zazaki: Grammatik und Versuch einer Dialektologie. Reichert. (1998) To verify; Jahani and Korn. Balochi. In Windfuhr (ed.), The Iranian Languages. (2009) To verify; Johanson and Csató (eds.). The Turkic Languages. Routledge. (1998) To verify; Dum-Tragut. Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian. John Benjamins. (2009) To verify
04Sources
Moran and McCloy (eds.). PHOIBLE 2.0. Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. 2019
Verified CC BY-SA 3.0 Phoneme inventories, each from the published source it names, read 2026-10-23.
Verified Public domain. The digital edition was reachable on 2026-10-23.
Chyet. Kurdish-English Dictionary. Yale University Press. 2003
To verify
Wahby and Edmonds. A Kurdish-English Dictionary. Clarendon Press. 1966
To verify
Paul. Zazaki: Grammatik und Versuch einer Dialektologie. Reichert. 1998
To verify
Jahani and Korn. Balochi. In Windfuhr (ed.), The Iranian Languages. 2009
To verify
Johanson and Csató (eds.). The Turkic Languages. Routledge. 1998
To verify
Dum-Tragut. Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian. John Benjamins. 2009
To verify
Cite this page
- APA
Iranian Diaspora Cooperation & Development Council. (2026). Turkmen: Linguistics. iranians.global. https://iranians.global/language/languages/tk/linguistics/
- Chicago
Iranian Diaspora Cooperation & Development Council. 2026. “Turkmen: Linguistics.” iranians.global. https://iranians.global/language/languages/tk/linguistics/.
- BibTeX
@misc{idcdc2026_language_languages_tk_linguistics, author = {{Iranian Diaspora Cooperation \& Development Council}}, year = {2026}, note = {Licence: CC BY 4.0}, title = {Turkmen: Linguistics}, url = {https://iranians.global/language/languages/tk/linguistics/}, howpublished = {https://iranians.global/language/languages/tk/linguistics/}, }- RIS
TY - ELEC AU - Iranian Diaspora Cooperation & Development Council DA - 2026/// PY - 2026 ID - idcdc2026_language_l N1 - Licence: CC BY 4.0 TI - Turkmen: Linguistics UR - https://iranians.global/language/languages/tk/linguistics/ ER -
05Research and sources
Recent and relevant work on this page’s subject, from approved open scholarly sources. Metadata and links only. Titles stay as published. Not yet reviewed.
-
SPORTS VOCABULARY OF THE TURKMEN LANGUAGE LEXICO-THEMATIC GROUPS
Ahmet Begchiev · 2023 · Zenodo
ArticleDataCiteZenodoOpen accessCC-BY-4.0
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National Cancer Institute · 2020 · Definitions
OtherOpenAlexCrossrefOpen accessCC-BY
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Khanahmadi A, Rahimi Mianji G, Moradi Shahrebabak H et al. · 2026 · Iran J Biotechnol
ArticleEurope PMCOpen access
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Dilnoza Charyyeva · 2026 · Zenodo
ArticleDataCiteZenodoOpen accessCC-BY-4.0
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Quality of Life and Some Related Factors of Elderly People in Turkmen County, Iran
Shahnaz Moalemi, Health Management and Social Development Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran, Maryam Eri et al. · 2019 · Journal of Clinical and Basic Research
ArticleCrossrefDOAJOpen access
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Expression forms of negation in turkmen languages (based on Turkmen language materials)
Katiba Mahmudova · 2024 · Terminology Issues
ArticleCrossrefOpenAIRE
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DISQUISITIONS UPON THE HISTORY OF TURKMEN LANGUAGE: K. BORIYEV SAMPLE
Tahir AŞİROV, Gurbangeldi MUHAMMEDOV · 2019 · Uluslararası Türk Lehçe Araştırmaları Dergisi
ArticleDOAJOpen access
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Purkhani as a ‘healing drama’: Analysis of a healing performance among Turkmen people of Iran
Mahnaz Alimardanian · 2022 · La Trobe
ArticleDataCite
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The Turkmen Language Survival in the City of Erbil: A Sociolinguistic Study
Sangar Othman Ibrahim · 2024 · JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE STUDIES
ArticleOpenAIRE
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Language Perceptions and Communication in the Baghdad Turkmen Community
Bader Saed Dweik, Sara Najim Al-Rahal · 2016 · International Journal of Culture and History
ArticleOpenAIREOpen access
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Computer Analysis of the Turkmen Language Morphology
A. Cüneyd Tantug, Esref Adali, Kemal Oflazer · 2006 · Springer Berlin Heidelberg
ArticleOpenAIRE
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Porkhani and Ishani: Women Healers in the Turkmen Community in Iran
Manijeh Maghsudi · 2023 · Ethnic Religious Minorities in Iran
ChapterCrossref
Sources, licences and fetch dates: Crossref (Metadata facts, any use; abstracts may be publisher-owned and are never shown), 2026-10-23; DataCite (CC0 1.0 (DataCite metadata)), 2026-10-23; DOAJ (Metadata CC0 1.0 (DOAJ); articles under their own open licences), 2026-10-23; Europe PMC (Metadata reusable; full text under each article’s licence), 2026-10-23; OpenAIRE (CC BY 4.0 (OpenAIRE Graph)), 2026-10-23; OpenAlex (CC0-1.0 data; metered API (free key)), 2026-10-23; Zenodo (Metadata CC0 1.0; each record under its own licence), 2026-10-23.