# Turkish words with English/Spanish cognates



## Jacobtm

Selam,

I'm beginning to learn Turkish. I feel that it's a good practice to learn all the cognates I can first, so that I have an easy way to learn a few hundred words from the get-go. I speak English and Spanish, and because of that recognize lots of French vocab, though I do not speak French.

So are there any lists out there of Turkish cognates with English, French, or Spanish?

I have to assume that many people use (modified) English words for things such as technology which aren't accepted by language authorities in Turkey, but since I plan to speak to young people, I'd like to know all these ''improper'' cognates as well.

Words I know so far with English/French/Spanish cognates:

Pardon 
Parti (political)
Polis

But there must be more than 3 words!

Thanks a ton,
Jacob


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## shadow_shooter

Merhaba Jacob,

You are kind of lucky that French and Turkish in fact have many words in common. There are about 7000 words common. So if you are able to distinguish french words and can guess the pronunciation, you should be safe when you hear a common word.

Here is a list of some common words:
fransaguzeliguldanem.com/?&Bid=446797

PS: I'm not allowed to post links, so add www at the beginning. I hope this helps a bit.


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## kalamazoo

There are more French cognates in Turkish than is obvious at first sight, because the French words are spelled phonetically in Turkish, not with the French spelling. Some words just off the top of my head: mayo (maillot in French),gişe (guichet in French)  ambalaj (not even sure how you spell it in French). So you hear the cognates, but in writing they will not look the same.


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## Guner

televizyon, radyo, suare, sempati, monitör...
and many other words which end up with "yon" or "iyon" 

In fact (unfortunately) some new "elites" in Turkey think converting English (maybe French as well ) words ending with "ion" to Turkish pronounciation makes them "upper class" although there can already be Turkish words for them! 

i.e: ajitasyon (agitation), egzejere (exaggerate), pronansuasyon (pronunciation) and many others...

Sad to hear it but I guess it will help you to get by in Turkey...

Cheers,


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## Melaike

kalamazoo said:


> There are more French cognates in Turkish than is obvious at first sight, because the French words are spelled phonetically in Turkish, not with the French spelling. Some words just off the top of my head: mayo (maillot in French),gişe (guichet in French)  ambalaj (not even sure how you spell it in French). So you hear the cognates, but in writing they will not look the same.



It's true.Some  examples came to my mind:
Maquillage, in Turkish it's ''makyaj''
Mannequin, in Turkish     ''Manken''


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## Halit Demir

Jacobtm said:


> Selam,
> 
> I'm beginning to learn Turkish. I feel that it's a good practice to learn all the cognates I can first, so that I have an easy way to learn a few hundred words from the get-go. I speak English and Spanish, and because of that recognize lots of French vocab, though I do not speak French.
> 
> So are there any lists out there of Turkish cognates with English, French, or Spanish?
> 
> I have to assume that many people use (modified) English words for things such as technology which aren't accepted by language authorities in Turkey, but since I plan to speak to young people, I'd like to know all these ''improper'' cognates as well.
> 
> Words I know so far with English/French/Spanish cognates:
> 
> Pardon
> Parti (political)
> Polis
> 
> But there must be more than 3 words!
> 
> Thanks a ton,
> Jacob



You may like to have a look at the list I have compiled.


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## jbionic2010

Lavabo and camion (kamyon) both seem to have the same meanings in Spanish and Turkish..

Obviously, English vocabulary is not that deeply present in Turkish. 44% of all loanwords in Turkish are of Arabic origin. French words in Turkish are less common than Arabic, but much more common than English loanwords. Even word "computer" in Turkish is "bilgisayar" unlike Spanish "computadora" (or ordenador).

What strikes me the most is the fact that there are more loanwords of Arabic origin in modern Spanish than in modern Turkish language (8% vs 7%, respectively, given as % of total vocabulary). This seems to be in contradiction with the fact that for the last 6 centuries Spain has been completely free from Arab influence, whereas Turks lived in the same Caliphate with Arabs up to 20th century. Apparently, Ataturk's language reform has had a more profound influence on Turkish language than anybody would have expected.


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