Learning how to identify countries, nationalities, and languages is a fundamental step in Turkish. There are logical patterns for deriving these terms using specific suffixes.
💡 Core Derivation Rules:
Nationality: Usually derived from the country name by adding the -lI suffix (L + 4-way vowel).
Example: Ürdün (Jordan) + lü = Ürdünlü (Jordanian).
Language: Usually derived from the ethnic name by adding the -cA suffix (C/Ç + 2-way vowel).
Note: If the ethnic name ends in a "hard" consonant (F, S, T, K, Ç, Ş, H, P), the C changes to Ç.
Example: Arap (Arab) + ça = Arapça (Arabic).
Comprehensive Comparison Table
Country (Ülke) | Ethnicity (Etnik Köken) | Nationality (Milliyet) | Language (Dil) |
Türkiye (Turkey) | Türk | Türkiyeli | Türkçe |
Suriye (Syria) | Arap | Suriyeli | Arapça |
İngiltere (England) | İngiliz | İngiltereli | İngilizce |
Almanya (Germany) | Alman | Almanyalı | Almanca |
Rusya (Russia) | Rus | Rusyalı | Rusça |
Common Country List
Turkish | English | Turkish | English |
ABD | USA | Birleşik Arap Emirlikleri | UAE |
Fransa | France | İspanya | Spain |
İtalya | Italy | Yunanistan | Greece |
Kanada | Canada | Japonya | Japan |
Kuveyt | Kuwait | Katar | Qatar |
Brezilya | Brazil | Güney Kore | South Korea |
Remember that language names in Turkish are always capitalized (e.g., İngilizce). These rules will empower you to derive the nationality of any new country you learn!