Turkish Language -Turkish Modes of Address

"Who are you...?"

The usual method of address when you do not know the person's name or title is as follows:
- For males: Beyefendi - Sir - Daily pronunciation is truncated to: - Beyfendi
- For females: Hanımefendi - Miss or Madam - Daily pronunciation is truncated to: - Hanfendi - These are used in formal situations and to strangers.

Personal Addressing - Formal and Informal

As stated, the above are used in formal situations. Once names are known then bey and hanım are used after the first name, this usage is still formal and semi-formal. These titles follow the given-name (Christian name) and are written without a Capital Letter:
Mustafa bey - Mr. Mustafa
Ayşe hanım - Miss or Mrs. Ayşe
These are used in formal situations when you know the person's first name but also in informal situations to acquaintances, friends and even to you own family members.
Surnames are not usually used in Conversational Turkish, so the Mustafa bey can mean - Mr. Mustafa and Ayşe hanım can mean Mrs. OR Miss Ayşe (in a formal situation) or it can mean just a friendly Mustafa or Ayşe (without the title) between acquaintances.

All About Names

Turkish has two words for the first name of a person - isim or ad - and they can both be used at any time as they are interchangeable. The Turkish word for surname is soyadı - there is no corresponding word for surname based in the word isim
İsminiz ne? - What is your first name?
İsmim Ayşe. - My name is Ayşe.

isim - name - becomes - ism-iniz - your name and ism-im - my name. This is one of the nouns that "apocopate" (ie: loses an internal vowel)
isim - name - is one of the nouns in Turkish which lose an internal vowel when adding a suffix which begins with a vowel itself.
Click Me - to toggle the list of nouns which lose a vowel

Adınız ne? - What is your first name?
Adım Ali - My name is Ali.
Soyadınız ne? - What is your surname?
Soyadım Karaca - My surname is Karaca.

Finding out about a Third Person

The third person suffix is -i or -ı meaning - his, her, its
Onun ismi ne? - What is his name?
Onun ismi Mehmet - His name is Mehmet.
Onun adı ne? - What is her name?
Onun adı Deren - Her name is Deren.
Onun soyadı ne? - What is his surname?
Onun soyadı Gürses - His surname is Gürses.

If we are talking about a third person remote from us we may ask the question: What is that man's name?. In this case we must translate the words "man's name" correctly by using the Possessive Relationship to show that the two words belong to each other.
adamın ismi - the man's name - [Lit: the name of the man..]
adamın adı - the man's name
adamın soyadı - the man's surname
O Beyefendinin soyadı ne? - What is that gentleman's surname? - [Lit: the surname of the man..]
O Beyefendinin ismi ne? - What is that gentleman's name?

If we want to make the sentence more conversational we would normally say : I wonder what that lady's name is?. I wonder.... is simply translated by adding the word - acaba - at the beginning or end of the Turkish question.
O Hanımefendinin adı ne, acaba? - I wonder what that lady's name is?
Acaba, Mehmed'in soyadı ne? - I wonder what Mehmet's surname is?
Kız kardeşinizin ismi ne, acaba? - What is your sister's name, I wonder?

Addressing Letters and Envelopes

There is an increasing use of addressing people by their surname - especially used on television in interviews etc.
This method uses the word - Sayın - esteemed - before the surname directly. If the interviewee's name is Musafa Kurt, then he may be addressed as Mustafa bey - (formal and informal) or directly by his surname as Sayın Kurt - Esteemed Kurt - (formal and public) or Bay Kurt - Mr. Kurt - (polite and official). Bay - Mr. - and - Sayın - Esteemed - are usually spelt with capital letters, but they can be found without capital letters.

Addressing Envelopes

Greetings

In semi formal situations there is a four stage greeting procedure:

1. The Welcome: - hoş geldiniz or less formal hoş geldin - Welcome!. - This is answered by hoş bulduk - We found it well!
2. The Greeting: - This is an exchange of merhaba - Hello
3. The Asking after Health Stage: - nasılsınız? (formal) or nasılsın? (informal) - How are you?
4. The Response: - This is is answered by ıyiyim, teşekkür ederim - I am well, thank you. This then followed by a question about the other's health: siz nasılsınız? - You, how are you?

günaydın - good morning, good day, good afternoon
iyi günler - good day
iyi akşamlar - good evening - (said in arrival..)
iyi geceler - good night - (said on leaving company..)
görüşmek üzere - see you soon
hoşça kal - so long - [Lit: stay joyful]
Note that the plural is used in - "Good day, Good evening, Good night" - similar to the Spanish - "Buenos Días"
Listen to: Hosça kal.. - Saying - "Cheerio.. Goodbye.."

Some Daily Informal Greetings

For an informal greeting like - Hi! - in English Turkish uses - Selam..! - to which the answer is the same - selam..!
Also one can use - What's up..? - Na'ber..? Na'ber..? - is commonly used in everyday language. It is actually - Ne haber..? - What news..? [Lit: - It's good. ..and from you.?]. The answer is generally - iyidir, senden..?
Another informal greeting is - ne var? ne yok..? - What is happening..? [Lit: What is there..(going on..?) What isn't there.. (going on..?)] - The answer to this one is - iyilik..! - Goodness..! Wellness..!

A Long Goodbye..

There is a "Formula Speak" that is used quite lot and is very common for saying your "Goodbyes". This is often used when leaving company or on going away to somewhere. The person(s) who are leaving will say - Allaha ısmalardık..! - goodbye..! - [a quasi religious-type formula].
The answer said by those staying behind is - güle güle..! - Cheerio..! - [Lit: Go with a smile!].
If you use this formula after visiting your Turkish friends they will be suitably impressed..

The Muslim Peace Greeting

selâmünaleyküm, (a Muslim peace greeting), answered by - aleykümselâm
This greeting is mainly used between passing strangers - normally both male - during travel or on entry to a crowded room, such as a tea house, when one cannot address everybody personally.