Abstract

This study examines the phonetic differences and shared phonological features between Turkish as spoken in Turkey and the Erbil dialect of Iraqi Turkmen Turkish. Focusing specifically on consonants, the analysis explores the structural changes and distinctive articulatory characteristics observed in the Erbil dialect. The findings indicate that the Turkish consonant g undergoes a shift to ''c'' > ''ç'' while the phoneme ''ğ ''> realized as ''c'' in the Erbil dialect. Moreover, the Turkish ''k''phoneme frequently transforms to ''ç'' within words. Another notable feature is the articulation of the Turkish'' v''as a bilabial /w/, reflecting a tendency toward more conservative or historically retained phonetic features. Consonants are categorized and analyzed based on voicing, voicelessness, and place of articulation. The classification includes: bilabial consonants (b, m, p, w), labiodental consonants (f, v), dental consonants (d, l, n, r, s, t, z), alveo-palatal consonants (c, ç, j, ş), palatal consonants (g, k, ğ, y), velar consonants (h, ḥ, ḫ), semi-vowels (''y''), and trilled consonants (''r''). Each group is examined in terms of its phonological behavior in both language varieties.
A particularly distinguishing feature of the Erbil dialect is the softer and more palatalized articulation of ''c'' and ''ç'', realized as ''ć'' and ''ḉ'', respectively. Additionally, instances of the transformation '' d''  > ''t''  in certain lexical items are discussed. These phonetic and phonological variations emphasize the influence of historical sound changes, as well as contact with neighboring languages, and underline the unique character of the Erbil Turkmen dialect in contrast to standard Turkish.