Say Hello in the Turkish Language
Turkce
Turkish is the official language of the Republic of Turkey and a part of the Turkic language family. The form of the language used today, known as Modern Turkish, arose from two older forms – Middle Turkish and its precursor Old Turkish. Over several centuries, Old Turkish borrowed many words from the Arabic and Persian languages. In fact, it even borrowed various grammatical aspects and was also written entirely in Arabic script. But after the Republic of Turkey was founded in the early 1920s, the script was reformed with support from the government and redone in the Latin alphabet. Here, we discuss various aspects of the language today starting from how to say hello in Turkish.
| English: | Hello | My name is |
|---|---|---|
| Turkish: | Merhaba | Benim adim |
| Pronunciation: | MER-ha-ba | Bee-nim ah-DUHM |
The most common way to say hello in Turkish is merhaba. It can be used with anyone, in any situation, and at any time of the day. A less formal way to greet people is selam (pronounced sell-um). It is a way of saying “hey” in Turkish and is hence the more preferred choice of greeting among youngsters.
Did You Know You Were Speaking Turkish?
Words in English from the Turkish language:
| yoghurt | caftan | pilaf |
| divan | caviar | shish-kebab |
| dervish | meander | baklava |
Turkish Alphabet
This link delves into the Turkish alphabet:
Learning Turkish
Learn more than how to say hello in Turkish with these resources:
- Turkish Language and Culture Resources
- Learning Turkish Online
- NASA: Voyager Audio Greeting in Turkish
- Turkish in Turkey conversational videos in Turkish with translations
- Language Differences: English and Turkish
Turkish Culture
Explore these links for information on the Turkish culture:
- Constitution of the Republic of Turkey
- Turkish Culture
- Nasreddin Hodja: Tales of the Turkish Trickster
- Turkey (Republic) – Encyclopedia.com
- Turkey: International Travel
- Country Study of Turkey
- CIA World Factbook: Turkey
Who Can You Talk To?
There are over 88.1 million people who speak Turkish in Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, North Macedonia, Netherlands, Romania, Russia (Asia), Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Uzbekistan. Now, you can say hello to more than 88.1 million people! *Source: Ethnologue: Turkish – (Register for free to access.)
Say Hello to the World was created by Lorri Mon.
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