I can read c as the j of “jam”, ç as the ch of “church”, x as the ch of Scottish “loch”, h as a light breath, q as a voiced g from the back of the mouth, ğ as a soft gargled g — and not spell a word the Turkish way: qız, not kız.
c, ç, j; q, k, g, ğ
c, ç, j; q, k, g, ğ
c is the j of “jam”: cavab (answer). ç is the ch of “church”: çay (tea). j is the s of “measure”, a rare letter in borrowed words: jurnal (magazine). The written check doesn't tell ç from c (or ə from e), so this pair is practiced by ear and by choice.
q is a voiced g made further back in the mouth: qız (girl), qapı (door). It's never k.
k and g are soft in native Azerbaijani words, close to the c of “cute” and the g of “argue”: kitab (book), gəl (come here). A hard k is found in words from Russian: kartof (potato), karandaş (pencil), kassa (cash register).
ğ is a soft gargled g: the back of the tongue comes close to the roof of the mouth but doesn't close — dağ (mountain), oğlan (boy, young man), yağış (rain). The vowel before it isn't lengthened. No word starts with ğ.
ş is the sh of “shoe”: şəhər (city). y is the y of “yes”: yağış.
Common mistakes:
• NOT c as in English “cat” or “city” — cavab starts with the j of “jam”.
• NOT q as k — qız starts with a voiced sound.
• NOT ğ as a long vowel — in dağ you hear the ğ.
Look-alike letters
Read by the Azerbaijani rule, not by English habit.
| Letter | Sound | Word | Not read as |
|---|---|---|---|
| c | the j of “jam” | cavab — answer | not k or s |
| ç | the ch of “church” | çay — tea | not k or s |
| j | the s of “measure” | jurnal — magazine | — |
| q | a voiced g from the back of the mouth | qapı — door | not k |
| k | a soft k, as in “cute” | kitab — book | hard only in words from Russian |
| g | a soft g, as in “argue” | gəl — come here | — |
| ğ | a soft gargled g | dağ — mountain | not a long vowel |
| x | the ch of “loch” | yaxşı — good | not ks |
| h | a light breath | hava — weather | never silent |
Lesson notes
c, ç, j; q, k, g, ğ
c is the j of “jam”: cavab (answer). ç is the ch of “church”: çay (tea). j is the s of “measure”, a rare letter in borrowed words: jurnal (magazine). The written check doesn't tell ç from c (or ə from e), so this pair is practiced by ear and by choice.
q is a voiced g made further back in the mouth: qız (girl), qapı (door). It's never k.
k and g are soft in native Azerbaijani words, close to the c of “cute” and the g of “argue”: kitab (book), gəl (come here). A hard k is found in words from Russian: kartof (potato), karandaş (pencil), kassa (cash register).
ğ is a soft gargled g: the back of the tongue comes close to the roof of the mouth but doesn't close — dağ (mountain), oğlan (boy, young man), yağış (rain). The vowel before it isn't lengthened. No word starts with ğ.
ş is the sh of “shoe”: şəhər (city). y is the y of “yes”: yağış.
Common mistakes:
• NOT c as in English “cat” or “city” — cavab starts with the j of “jam”.
• NOT q as k — qız starts with a voiced sound.
• NOT ğ as a long vowel — in dağ you hear the ğ.
x and h — and how Turkish spells them
x is the ch of Scottish “loch”: yaxşı (good). h is a light breath, like English h, and it is always said: hava (weather), həkim (doctor), hə (yes, informal). English has no x sound: learners hear and say h for both, but they are different letters and the checker tells them apart.
Turkish spellings are mistakes: Turkish writes kız, kapı; Azerbaijani writes qız, qapı. Where a Turkish word has k or h, Azerbaijani often has q or x. And Azerbaijani ğ is heard; it doesn't lengthen the vowel.
Some words differ in one letter: q or k, x or h. That's why the exercises show each word's meaning next to it.
Without an Azerbaijani keyboard you can type ç, ş, ğ as c, s, g — the answer counts. But q and k, x and h can't replace each other.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “kız”, “kapı” — that's the Turkish spelling: qız, qapı.
• NOT h dropped at the end — sabah ends in a light breath.