Ü ü — ü
«ü» is a vowel of Turkish, the “Turkish alphabet” script, read as “like German ü — “ee” with rounded lips”. Say ee and round your lips as if for oo — German ü, French u. For example, in the word “güle güle” — goodbye (to the one leaving). The Turkish alphabet has 29 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. It appears, for example, in the word “teşekkürler” — thanks.
In short
| Character | Ü ü |
| Name | ü |
| Sound | like German ü — “ee” with rounded lips |
| What it is | a vowel |
In our course the character comes 26th of 29, its neighbours in the course are u and v, appears in 404 words of this site.
How it sounds
Say ee and round your lips as if for oo — German ü, French u
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- güle gülegoodbye (to the one leaving)
The character in the “eight vowels instead of five” group
The whole grammar rests on them: an ending bends to the last vowel of the stem (vowel harmony). Back vowels — a, ı, o, u; front vowels — e, i, ö, ü.
Words with this character
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «ü» it is “like German ü — “ee” with rounded lips”, as in the word “güle güle”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 29 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Turkish character ü read?
As “like German ü — “ee” with rounded lips” — it is a vowel of the “Turkish alphabet” script. Say ee and round your lips as if for oo — German ü, French u. For example, in the word “güle güle” — goodbye (to the one leaving).
What is the letter ü called?
Ü. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Turkish script: it is called “ü” and reads as “like German ü — “ee” with rounded lips”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.