Unstable Vowels

In Tatar, there are vowel phonemes ı and e that are unstable. These vowels are fully articulated in the basic form of a word but are often reduced or ejected when suffixes are added. There are no fixed rules for their behavior, but generally, they are pronounced when the accent is on them. When the accent shifts due to suffixes, these vowels tend to be reduced or ejected.

Vowel ejection in bisyllabic verbs

Some bisyllabic verbs eject the vowel ı or e from the stem when a suffix starting with a vowel is added:

qurıq! (be afraid), qurıqma! (don’t be afraid), bez qurıqmadıq (we were not afraid)

BUT: alar qurqalar (they are afraid), ul qurqaçaq (he will be afraid), qurqu (to be afraid), qurqaq (coward)

qalıq! (rise), qalıqma! (do not rise!), min qalıqmadım (I did not rise)

BUT: sez qalqasız (you are rising), min qalqaçaqmın (I will rise), qalqıp (rising), qalqu (to rise), qalqıtu (to raise)

Dual-stem verbs

Some bisyllabic verbs have two stems with an unstable vowel in the second syllable. These verbs also eject the vowel ı or e when a suffix with an initial vowel is added:

selkü (to shake), selki (he shakes), selkep (shaking)

BUT: selekkən or selkegən (he shook) 

Same happens to some other verbs: balqu (to shine), yolqu (to pluck), börkü (to sprinkle, to emit)

Ejection in bisyllabic words

A large group of bisyllabic words with an open first syllable and ı or e in a closed second syllable sometimes (usually in poems) reduce or eject the ı or e when suffixes with an initial vowel are added:

urın (place) – urınıbız or urnıbız (our place)

borın (nose) – borını or bornı (his nose)

küñel (spirit) – küñele or küñle (his spirit)

burıç (debt) – burıçım or burçım (my debt)

küren! (appear) – kürenə or kürnə (he appears)

Words of Arabic origin that end in two consonants and have become bisyllabic by inserting ı or e between consonants also eject the unstable vowel:

isem (name) – isemem or ismem (my name)

fiker (thought) – fikere or fikre (his thought)

ğömer (life) – ğömere or ğömre (his life)

waqıt (time), waqıtında or waqtında (in its time)

axır (end) – axırına or axrına (to its end)

These words always eject the unstable vowel when the Arabic adjective endings i or ıy are added:

ğilem (science) – ğilmi (scientific)

Reduction in open first syllables

In the first syllable, if it is open and unaccented, the vowels ı and e are always strongly reduced:

belü (to know) sounds almost like blü

teləw (to wish) sounds almost like tləw

qısu (to press) sounds almost like qsu