ON THE QUESTION OF PALATALIZATION OF CONSONANTS IN THE TURKISH LANGUAGE

Dubrovina M., Suleymanova A.

In this article, the authors examine the consonant phonemes of the Turkish language and attempt to answer several questions. First, to what extent is the process of palatalization significant for the system of Turkish phonemes. Secondly, are all Turkish consonants subject to palatalization in speech, and if not, which ones are subject to softening? In addition, the authors analyze specific speech situations in which situational features of the pronunciation of various consonant sounds are outlined from the point of view of their softening, while conducting a comparative analysis with the phonemes of the Russian language. The study showed that the consonants /b/, /d/, /p/, /t/, /f/, /m/, /n/, /v/ are never softened when pronounced before vowels /e/, /i/, /ö/, /ü/. Only the consonant phonemes /g/, /k/, /l/ undergo the process of palatalization and this occurs in words with vowels /e/, /i/, /ö/, /ü/. Since palatalized and velarized sounds are in a state of complementary distribution, they must be recognized as allophones of one phoneme.

Keywords:Phonemes of the Turkish language, consonant sounds, palatalization, Turkish language, phonetics