Azerbaijani alphabet
Encyclopedia
In the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani alphabet refers to a Latin alphabet used for writing the Azerbaijani language
. This superseded a previous versions based on Cyrillic and Arabic scripts.
In Iran
, the Perso-Arabic script
is used to write the Azeri language, with several characters borrowed from other Arabic alphabets or invented for Azeri. While there has been a few standardization efforts, the orthography and the set of letters to use differs widely among Iranian Azeri writers, with at least two major branches, the orthography used by Behzad Behzadi
and the Azari
magazine, and the orthography used by the Varliq
magazine (both are quarterlies published in Tehran
).
to replace the Arabic script and create a Latin alphabet for Azeri. In 1922, a Latin alphabet was created by Yeni türk əlifba komitəsi (New Turkish Alphabet Committee; Јени түрк əлифба комитəси) in Baku
. In 1929, the Uniform Turkic Alphabet
was introduced to replace the varieties of the Arabic script in use at the time. In 1939, because Joseph Stalin
wished to sever the ties between the Republic of Turkey
and the Turkic peoples
living within the Soviet Union
, he decreed that only the Cyrillic script be used. When the Soviet Union collapsed and Azerbaijan gained its independence, one of the first laws passed in the new Parliament was the adoption of the new Latin alphabet.
The 1958–1991 script is based on the Macedonian Cyrillic alphabet, with a few letters representing Macedonian sounds removed and new letters for Azerbaijani sounds added.
From 1918 until 1939
Aa, Bв, Cc, Ç
ç, Dd, Ee, Əə, Ff, Gg, , Hh, Ii, Ь
ь, Jj, Kk, Qq, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, , Pp, Rr, Ss, Ş
ş, Tt, Uu, Vv, Xx, Yy, Zz,
From 1939 until 1958:
Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Ғғ, Дд, Ее, Ёё, Әә, Жж, Зз, Ии, Йй, Кк, Ққ, Лл, Мм, Нн, Оо, Өө, Пп, Рр, Сс, Тт, Уу, Үү, Фф, Хх, Һh, Цц, Чч, Ҷҷ, Шш, Щщ, ъ, Ыы, ь, Ээ, Юю, Яя, ' (apostrophe)
From 1958 until 1991
Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Ғғ, Дд, Ee, Әә, Жж, Зз, Ии, Ыы, Јј, Кк, Ҝҝ, Лл, Мм, Нн, Оо, Өө, Пп, Рр, Сс, Тт, Уу, Үү, Фф, Хх, Һһ, Чч, Ҹҹ, Шш, ' (apostrophe)
From 1991 until 1992
Aa, Ää, Bb, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Ğğ, Hh, Xx, Iı, İi, Jj, Kk, Qq, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Yy, Zz
Since 1992
Aa, Bb, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Əə, Ff, Gg, Ğğ, Hh, Xx, Iı, İi, Jj, Kk, Qq, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Yy, Zz
The Azerbaijani alphabet is the same as the Turkish alphabet
, except for ə, x, and q, the sounds for which do not exist in Turkish.
An interesting fact about the alphabet is the existence of schwa (Ə ə). When the new Latin script was introduced on December 25, 1991, A-umlaut
was selected to represent the sound /æ/. However, on May 16, 1992, it was replaced by the schwa. Although use of Ä ä (also used in Tatar, Turkmen
, and Gagauz) seems to be a simpler alternative as the schwa is absent in most character sets, particularly Turkish encoding
, it was reintroduced; the schwa had existed continuously from 1929 to 1991 to represent Azeri's most-common vowel, in both post-Arabic alphabets (Latin and Cyrillic) of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
. This superseded a previous versions based on Cyrillic and Arabic scripts.
In Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, the Perso-Arabic script
Perso-Arabic script
The Persian or Perso-Arabic alphabet is a writing system based on the Arabic script. Originally used exclusively for the Arabic language, the Arabic alphabet was adapted to the Persian language, adding four letters: , , , and . Many languages which use the Perso-Arabic script add other letters...
is used to write the Azeri language, with several characters borrowed from other Arabic alphabets or invented for Azeri. While there has been a few standardization efforts, the orthography and the set of letters to use differs widely among Iranian Azeri writers, with at least two major branches, the orthography used by Behzad Behzadi
Behzad Behzadi
Behzad Behzadi was an Iranian lawyer, Azerbaijani language author, and owner and manager-in-charge of the Azari quarterly magazine....
and the Azari
Azari (magazine)
Azari is a quarterly magazine published in Tehran in the Azerbaijani and Persian languages. It is a "cultural-social-literary-artistic" magazine managed by Behzad Behzadi ....
magazine, and the orthography used by the Varliq
Varliq
Varliq is a bilingual quarterly magazine in Persian and Azari Turki published in Tehran under Prof. Javad Heyat since 1979.Its main focus is on Turkic languages spoken in Iran, such as Azari, Turkmen, Qashqai, Khorasan, Sonqor, Faridan and Abivard dialects....
magazine (both are quarterlies published in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
).
History and development
From the 19th century there were efforts by some intellectuals like Mirza Fatali AkhundovMirza Fatali Akhundov
Mirza Fatali Akhundov , former – Akhundzade , was a celebrated Azerbaijani author, playwright, philosopher, and founder of modern literary criticism, "who acquired fame primarily as the writer of European-inspired plays in the Azeri language"...
to replace the Arabic script and create a Latin alphabet for Azeri. In 1922, a Latin alphabet was created by Yeni türk əlifba komitəsi (New Turkish Alphabet Committee; Јени түрк əлифба комитəси) in Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
. In 1929, the Uniform Turkic Alphabet
Uniform Turkic Alphabet
The Uniform Turkic Alphabet was a Latin alphabet used by non-Slavic peoples of the USSR in the 1930s. The alphabet used ligatures from Jaŋalif as it was also a part of the uniform alphabet. The uniform alphabet utilized Latin ligatures, excluding "w." Some additional ligatures were also introduced...
was introduced to replace the varieties of the Arabic script in use at the time. In 1939, because Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
wished to sever the ties between the Republic of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and the Turkic peoples
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
living within the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, he decreed that only the Cyrillic script be used. When the Soviet Union collapsed and Azerbaijan gained its independence, one of the first laws passed in the new Parliament was the adoption of the new Latin alphabet.
The 1958–1991 script is based on the Macedonian Cyrillic alphabet, with a few letters representing Macedonian sounds removed and new letters for Azerbaijani sounds added.
From 1918 until 1939
Aa, Bв, Cc, Ç
Ç
is a Latin script letter, used in the Albanian, Azerbaijani, Ligurian, Tatar, Turkish, Turkmen, Kurdish and Zazaki alphabets. This letter also appears in Catalan, French, Friulian, Occitan and Portuguese as a variant of the letter “c”...
ç, Dd, Ee, Əə, Ff, Gg, , Hh, Ii, Ь
Soft sign
The soft sign , also known as yer, is a letter of the Cyrillic script. In Old Church Slavonic, it represented a short front vowel. As with its companion, the back yer, the vowel phoneme it designated was later partly dropped and partly merged with other vowels...
ь, Jj, Kk, Qq, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, , Pp, Rr, Ss, Ş
S
S is the nineteenth letter in the ISO basic Latin alphabet.-History: Semitic Šîn represented a voiceless postalveolar fricative . Greek did not have this sound, so the Greek sigma came to represent...
ş, Tt, Uu, Vv, Xx, Yy, Zz,
From 1939 until 1958:
Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Ғғ, Дд, Ее, Ёё, Әә, Жж, Зз, Ии, Йй, Кк, Ққ, Лл, Мм, Нн, Оо, Өө, Пп, Рр, Сс, Тт, Уу, Үү, Фф, Хх, Һh, Цц, Чч, Ҷҷ, Шш, Щщ, ъ, Ыы, ь, Ээ, Юю, Яя, ' (apostrophe)
From 1958 until 1991
Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Ғғ, Дд, Ee, Әә, Жж, Зз, Ии, Ыы, Јј, Кк, Ҝҝ, Лл, Мм, Нн, Оо, Өө, Пп, Рр, Сс, Тт, Уу, Үү, Фф, Хх, Һһ, Чч, Ҹҹ, Шш, ' (apostrophe)
From 1991 until 1992
Aa, Ää, Bb, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Ğğ, Hh, Xx, Iı, İi, Jj, Kk, Qq, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Yy, Zz
Since 1992
Aa, Bb, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Əə, Ff, Gg, Ğğ, Hh, Xx, Iı, İi, Jj, Kk, Qq, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Yy, Zz
The Azerbaijani alphabet is the same as the Turkish alphabet
Turkish alphabet
The Turkish alphabet is a Latin alphabet used for writing the Turkish language, consisting of 29 letters, seven of which have been modified from their Latin originals for the phonetic requirements of the language. This alphabet represents modern Turkish pronunciation with a high degree of accuracy...
, except for ə, x, and q, the sounds for which do not exist in Turkish.
An interesting fact about the alphabet is the existence of schwa (Ə ə). When the new Latin script was introduced on December 25, 1991, A-umlaut
Umlaut (diacritic)
The diaeresis and the umlaut are diacritics that consist of two dots placed over a letter, most commonly a vowel. When that letter is an i or a j, the diacritic replaces the tittle: ï....
was selected to represent the sound /æ/. However, on May 16, 1992, it was replaced by the schwa. Although use of Ä ä (also used in Tatar, Turkmen
Turkmen alphabet
The current official Turkmen alphabet as used in Turkmenistan is a Latin alphabet based on the Turkish alphabet, but with notable differences: J is used instead of the Turkish C; Ž is used instead of the Turkish J; Y is used instead of the dotless i ; Ý is used instead of the Turkish consonantal Y;...
, and Gagauz) seems to be a simpler alternative as the schwa is absent in most character sets, particularly Turkish encoding
ISO/IEC 8859-9
ISO/IEC 8859-9:1999, Information technology — 8-bit single-byte coded graphic character sets — Part 9: Latin alphabet No. 5, is part of the ISO/IEC 8859 series of ASCII-based standard character encodings, first edition published in 1989. It is informally referred to as Latin-5 or Turkish...
, it was reintroduced; the schwa had existed continuously from 1929 to 1991 to represent Azeri's most-common vowel, in both post-Arabic alphabets (Latin and Cyrillic) of Azerbaijan.
Transliteration
The Arabic, Latin, and Cyrillic alphabets each have a different sequence of letters. The table below is ordered according to the latest Latin alphabet:| Arabic | Latin | Cyrillic | Latin | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| —1918 | 1918–1939 | 1958–1991 | 1992— | |
| ﺍ | A a | А а | A a | [ɑ] |
| ﺏ | B в | Б б | B b | [b] |
| ﺝ | C c | Ҹ ҹ | C c | [dʒ] |
| چ | Ç ç | Ч ч | Ç ç | [tʃ] |
| ﺩ | D d | Д д | D d | [d] |
| ﻩ | E e | Е е | E e | [e] |
| ع | Ə ə | Ә ә | Ə ə | [æ] |
| ﻑ | F f | Ф ф | F f | [f] |
| گ | G g | Ҝ ҝ | G g | [ɡʲ] |
| ﻍ | Ғ ғ | Ğ ğ | [ɣ] | |
| ﺡ,ﻩ | H h | Һ һ | H h | [h] |
| ﺥ | X x | Х х | X x | [x] |
| ی | Ь ь | Ы ы | I ı | [ɯ] |
| ی | I i | И и | İ i | [ɪ] |
| ژ | Ж ж | J j | [ʒ] | |
| ک | K k | К к | K k | [k] |
| ﻕ | Q q | Г г | Q q | [ɡ] |
| ﻝ | L l | Л л | L l | [l] |
| ﻡ | M m | М м | M m | [m] |
| ﻥ | N n | Н н | N n | [n] |
| ﻭ | O o | О о | O o | [ɔ] |
| ﻭ | Ө ө | Ö ö | [œ] | |
| پ | P p | П п | P p | [p] |
| ﺭ | R r | Р р | R r | [r] |
| ﺙ,ﺱ,ﺹ | S s | С с | S s | [s] |
| ﺵ | Ş ş | Ш ш | Ş ş | [ʃ] |
| ﺕ,ﻁ | T t | Т т | T t | [t] |
| ﻭ | U u | У у | U u | [u] |
| ﻭ | Y y | Ү ү | Ü ü | [y] |
| ﻭ | V v | В в | V v | [v] |
| ی | J j | Ј ј | Y y | [j] |
| ﺫ,ﺯ,ﺽ,ﻅ | Z z | З з | Z z | [z] |
Sources
- Hatcher, Lynley. 2008. Script change in Azerbaijan: acts of identity. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 192:105-116.