TurkishOrthography

Turkish orthography refers to the standardized spelling system used for the Turkish language. It is a Latin-based alphabet designed to represent Turkish phonology with a high degree of phoneme–grapheme correspondence. The system emphasizes consistent spelling for durable literacy and reliable reading across dialects and registers.

The current orthography was introduced in 1928 as part of the Turkish language reform led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and later supported by state institutions such as the Turkish Language Association. It replaced the Ottoman Turkish script, which was based on the Arabic alphabet and had become a barrier to literacy during the late Ottoman period. The reform aimed to modernize Turkish culture, facilitate mass education, and integrate Turkey more closely with the Latin-script world.

The Turkish alphabet consists of 29 letters: A, B, C, Ç, D, E, F, G, Ğ, H, I, İ, J, K, L, M, N, O, Ö, P, R, S, Ş, T, U, Ü, V, Y, Z. It excludes Q, W, and X from the standard alphabet, though these letters may appear in loanwords. A distinguishing feature is the presence of dotless i (ı) and dotted i (i), as well as the soft g (ğ), which does not itself produce a separate sound but often lengthens the preceding vowel. Turkish uses diacritics such as Ç, Ö, and Ü to indicate specific consonant-vowel qualities.

Key principles include a largely phonemic correspondence between letters and sounds, comprehensive vowel harmony that governs suffix vowels, and extensive agglutination that attaches numerous suffixes to stem words. The orthography supports consistent capitalization, punctuation, and digital encoding, contributing to high literacy rates and broad accessibility of Turkish texts.