Istanbul Guide

218

Language Turkish belongs to the Ural-Altaic language family. It’s the official language of Turkey and northern Cyprus, and has approximately 70 million speakers worldwide. Pronouncing Turkish is pretty simple for Please. Lü tfen. English speakers as most Turkish sounds are also found in English. If you read our coloured pronunciation guides as if they were English, you should be understood just fine. Note that the symbol ew represents the sound ‘ee’ pro nounced with rounded lips (as in ‘few’), and that the symbol uh is pronounced like the ‘a’ in ‘ago’. The Turkish r is always rolled and v is pronounced a little softer than in English. Word stress is quite light in Turkish – in our pronunciation guides the stressed syllables are in italics. BASICS Hello. Merhaba. mer ·ha·ba

Sorry. Özür dilerim.

er· zewr dee· le ·reem

lewt ·fen

Thank you. Teşekkür ederim. You’re welcome. Birşey değil. How are you? Nasılsınız? Fine, and you? İyiyim, ya siz? What’s your name? Adınız nedir?

te·shek· kewr e· de ·reem

beer· shay de· eel

na ·suhl·suh·nuhz

ee ·yee ·yeem ya seez

a·duh· nuhz ne ·deer

My name is … Benim adım …

be· neem a· duhm …

Do you speak English? İngilizce

een·gee· leez ·je ko·noo· shoo ·yor moo·soo· nooz

konuşuyor musunuz?

Goodbye. Hoşçakal.

I understand. Anlıyorum.

hosh· cha ·kal

an· luh ·yo·room

(said by person leaving) Güle güle. (said by person staying) Yes. Evet.

gew· le gew· le

I don’t understand. Anlamıyorum.

an· la ·muh·yo·room

e· vet

ACCOMMODATION Where can I Nerede …

No. Hayır.

ne ·re·de … boo· la ·bee· lee·reem

ha ·yuhr

find a …?

bulabilirim?

Excuse me. Bakar mısınız .

ba· kar muh·suh· nuhz

campsite

kamp yeri

kamp ye· ree mee· sa ·feer· ha·ne pan·see· yon gench· leek hos·te· lee o· tel

guesthouse

misafirhane

hotel

otel

WANT MORE? For in-depth language information and handy phrases, check out Lonely Planet’s Turkish Phrasebook . You’ll find it at shop. lonelyplanet.com , or you can buy Lonely Planet’s iPhone phrasebooks at the Apple App Store.

pension

pansiyon

youth hostel

gençlik hosteli

How much is it per night/person? Geceliği/Kişi

ge·je·lee· ee/ kee· shee ba·shuh· na ne ka· dar

başına ne kadar?