Türkiye Türkçe'sindeki /e/ ünlüsünün sesbirimcikleri üzerine

The aim of this study is to review the allophones of the low, front, unrounded vowel in Turkish. The previous studies have already stated that the vowel has three allophones and there is a strict rule about their distribution, which could be described as open appearing [s] before nasals [m, n] and liquids [1, r]; slightly closed [e] in syllable final position;and closed [e] for allother environment. On the other hand, although it seems relevant in general, the rule is quite problematic when one considers the number of exceptional cases in which the distribution of the allphones is not in accordance with the rule. For instance, in the presence of two consecutive nasals or liquids proceeding the vowel the rule offered in earlier studies does not work just as in the case of/n/ and /k/~/g/ following the vowel. In addition to these, the rule also should be questioned with regard to some historical, dialectic and gender-related aspects. This study provides a new look at the cases again to find out if the rule needs to be modified or not.