“Bu Yogurdu Sarimsaklasak” is the second most famous Turkish tongue twister and possibly the most difficult. It is a genuine philosophical dilemma wrapped in impossible phonetics: should we or should we not add garlic to the yogurt? The answer is almost impossible to say clearly because of the S, K, and L sounds stacking up in the long compound verb forms.
The Tongue Twister – Full Text
Bu yoğurdu sarımsaklasak da mı saklasak,
sarımsaklamasak da mı saklasak?
English Translation
“Should we store this yogurt with garlic in it, or should we store it without garlic?”
Pronunciation Guide
Key pronunciation notes:
– yoğurdu: yo-OOR-doo (“this yogurt,” accusative case)
– sarımsak: SAH-ruhm-sahk (garlic)
– sarımsaklasak: SAH-ruhm-sahk-LAH-sahk (“if we garlicify it”)
– sarımsaklamasak: SAH-ruhm-sahk-lah-MAH-sahk (“if we don’t garlicify it”)
– saklasak: sahk-LAH-sahk (“if we store/hide it”)
– The ğ (soft g) is not pronounced but lengthens the preceding vowel.
Why It’s Hard
Turkish is an agglutinative language, which means it builds very long words by stacking suffixes. The verb “sarimsaklasak” (let’s add garlic) is derived from “sarimsak” (garlic) with action, conditional, and plural suffixes added. The negative form “sarimsaklamasak” adds a negation suffix in the middle, making it even longer. Both of these long words then rhyme with “saklasak” (let’s store it), creating three near-identical endings in one two-line sentence. Your mouth settles into the “-saklas-” rhythm and cannot stop, even when the word has already ended.
How to Practice
- Say “sarimsaklasak” alone 10 times until it is stable.
- Then say “sarimsaklamasak” alone 10 times – the negation suffix in the middle changes the rhythm.
- Then “saklasak” alone – notice it ends the same as the other two.
- Now try line 1: “bu yogurdu sarimsaklasak da mi saklasak” – slow first.
- Add line 2: the negative version. This is the hardest part.
Difficulty Rating
Very Hard. This is widely considered one of the hardest Turkish tongue twisters because of the agglutinated verb forms. Even native speakers find it challenging to deliver cleanly at speed. Suitable for confident speakers aged 14 and above.
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