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See also: Wikipedia:Turkish characters (info on usage in Wikipedia).

[edit] Circumflex accent

I have an old edition of "Teach Yourself Turkish" published in 1953 which says on page 14, section 12, "the circumflex accent is written over a and u to indicate that a preceeding g, k or l is palatalized". It goes on to say that "some writers" also used it over long vowels in Arabic and Persian loanwords and gives the specific examples of circumflexes used to disambiguate the pairs hala (paternal aunt) vs. hâlâ (yet) vs. halâ (void). This accent is discussed further on page 15, section 18 and page 17, section 23.

I can't seem to find any information on this on the internet. Has this feature of Turkish writing become obsolete? Is this book just plain wrong? Can anybody shed some light? — Hippietrail 12:51, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I've uncovered an interesting discussion on Usenet which goes into this here: http://groups.google.com.au/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&frame=right&th=290ca9f886ce8a05&seekm=I0dm9.98164%24142.1281107%40news.chello.at#link1

— Hippietrail 13:14, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Your source is correct. The governing body of the Turkish language still insists that the circumflex accent should be used in these three situations:

1. To disambiguate words with same spelling but different pronunciacions and meanings. (over a and u)
2. To indicate that a preceding g, k or l is palatalized. (over a and u)
3. To disambiguate the suffixes "-i" and "-î"

But in practice they are rarely used. Zfr 19:44, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Well, when I watch DVDs with Turkish subtitles the circumflexes are generally shown so I assume you mean 'rarely used by the general population', right? Or is it general for all Turkish speakers, including linguists? Mulder1982 23:11, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

Most of the general population doesn't know how exactly to use circumflexes anyway. Even if they do, it's annoying to type them with a keyboard. That's why, TDK's suggestion (that they should be used in all cases of ambiguity) is almost entirely disregarded by general population. Tylose 15:21, 29 November 2006 (UTC)