The distinctive characteristic of Turkish phonology operates through vowel harmony because it requires vowels to match their frontness and roundedness throughout a word. Turkish pronunciation follows this rule because it establishes rules for suffixation which control how words should be pronounced (Kornfilt, 0000).

English speakers do not use vowel harmony because they follow irregular patterns for vowel distribution throughout their language. English speakers who study Turkish must learn this new phonological system because it does not exist in their native language.