Turkish language guide
Understand the context before translating into or out of Turkish.
Practical guides for translating files, emails and reviewing results
Language overview
Turkish is listed in the translation catalog under the language identifier tr. Selecting this entry sets the source or target language; it does not specify every regional variety or specialist vocabulary.
Writing system
The default writing system associated with this catalog entry is Latin. Preserve accents, punctuation and personal names. This default script information is derived from Unicode locale data and is not an exhaustive list of scripts used by speakers.
Common usage
Use the Turkish translator to understand correspondence, study material, travel information and short workplace drafts. For a specialist text, supply a complete sentence rather than an isolated term, and retain any context that identifies the subject.
Preserve Turkish letters before reviewing meaning
Turkish distinguishes dotted i from dotless ı; their uppercase partners are İ and I. A name such as İpek or Işık should therefore be checked letter by letter after copying text or changing capitalization. Unicode documents language-sensitive case mappings. Do not replace unfamiliar characters with approximate English letters to make the source look simpler.
Keep a full sentence around a short Turkish expression so that the action and participants remain visible. When a copied PDF splits a word at a line break, compare the original before joining or deleting characters. After translating, review names and reference numbers again in the final email or document, because copying can introduce a separate problem. A plausible-looking result cannot recover letters that were already missing from the source.
Further reading: Unicode: character properties and case mappings
Translation tips
Check suffixes, vowel harmony, and dotted versus dotless i.
Check negation and the subject of each sentence. Compare quantities, currencies and dates with the original. A fluent reader should review important text for meaning and tone before it is published.