Although a large proportion of Northern Cypriots, especially the workers in the tourism industry speak English, the language of Northern Cyprus is Turkish and everyone you meet will be very impressed and pleased if you do try and use at least a couple of words. Although Cypriot Turks do speak Turkish, their dialect tends to be different to mainland Turkish.

Turkish (Cypriot) language basics

Here are some basic Turkish words you may find useful. For numbers please see further down the page.

English                Turkish                     Pronunciation

Hello                      Merhaba                   ( Mer- ha- ba)

Goodbye               Gule gule                  (Goo le – Goo le)

Please                   Lutfen                       (Loot-fen)

Thank you             Tesekurler                (Teshek- coor- ler)

Yes                        Evet                          (Ev-vet)

No                         Hayir                         (Haigh-yir)

Morning                 Sabah                      (Saa-bah)

Afternoon              Oglen                       (Ogh-len)

Night                     Gece                         (Ge-je)

Toilet                     Tuvalet                      (Tuh-vah-let)

Water                    Su                             (Su)

Food                     Yemek                       (Ye-mek)

Beer                      Bira                           (Bi-raa)

Car                        Araba                       (Ara-ba)

Taxi                       Taxi                            (Taxi)

Bus                       Otobus                      (Oto-boos)

Hotel                     Otel                           (O-tel)

House                   Ev                              (e-v)

Shop                    Dukyan                      (Dook-yan)

Buy                       Satin Al                     (Saa-tin-al)

Sell                       Satilik                        (Saa-ti-lik)

Money                  Para                          (Paa-ra)

Open                    Açık                           (Ah-chuk)

Closed                  Kapali                       (Kah-pah-luh)

Help                      Yardim                      (Yaar-dim)

Lost                      Kayboldum               (Kay-bol-dum)

Numbers in Turkish

English                Turkish                     Pronunciation

Zero                     Sifir                            (Su-fur)

One                      Bir                             (Bir)

Two                       Iki                             (Ee-kee)

Three                   üç                             (Ewch)

Four                     Dört                          (Durrt)

Five                      Beş                           (Behsh)

Six                        Altı                            (Ahl-tuh)

Seven                  Yedi                           (Yeh-dee)

Eight                    Sekiz                          (Seh-keez)

Nine                     Dokuz                        (Doh-kooz)

Ten                      On                             (On)