A Vowel Falls Out
Add -um to oğul (son) and you do not get oğulum — you get oğlum (my son). A family of two-syllable nouns drops the vowel of its second syllable whenever a suffix starting with a vowel attaches — most often the possessives you just learned:
| noun | + possessive |
|---|---|
| oğul (son) | oğlum — my son |
| isim (name) | ismim — my name |
| resim (picture) | resmin — your picture |
| şehir (city) | şehrimiz — our city |
| My son is studying at the library. | Oğlum kütüphanede ders çalışıyor. |
| My name is Deniz. | Benim ismim Deniz. |
| What is your name? | İsmin ne? |
Which Nouns Do This?
There is no visible mark on the noun — the group has to be learned word by word. Many are body parts or old, everyday words: burun (nose) → burnum, karın (belly) → karnım, akıl (mind) → aklımda, ağız (mouth) → ağzı. You will meet each of these later; when you do, this is why their vowel disappears:
| Your picture is very beautiful. | Senin resmin çok güzel. |
| My picture is not new. | Resmim yeni değil. |
Only Before Vowels
The vowel drops only when the suffix starts with a vowel. Consonant-initial suffixes leave the noun whole:
| vowel-initial suffix | consonant-initial suffix |
|---|---|
| şehrim (my city) | şehirde (in the city) |
| oğlun (your son) | oğullar (sons) |
| Our city is very big. | Şehrimiz çok büyük. |
| Is your city small? | Senin şehrin küçük mü? |
| Our son is at school today. | Oğlumuz bugün okulda. |
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