Crimean Tatar alphabet
For the modern Crimean Tatar language, the Latin and the Cyrillic alphabets are used. The Latin script dominates on the Internet and the Cyrillic script in printed productions. Historically, the Arabic script was also used.
History[]
Arabic script[]
Crimean Tatars used the Arabic script from 16th century to 1928 when it was replaced with the Latin alphabet based on Yañalif. The Crimean variant contained a couple of modified Arabic letters.
Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial | Name | Modern Latin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ﺍ | ﺎ | — | elif (елиф) | a, â | |
ﺀ | — | hemze (хемзе) | - | ||
ﺏ | ﺐ | ﺒ | ﺑ | be (бе) | b, p (word-finally) |
ﭖ | ﭗ | ﭙ | ﭘ | pe (пе) | p |
ﺕ | ﺖ | ﺘ | ﺗ | te (те) | t |
ﺙ | ﺚ | ﺜ | ﺛ | se (се) | s |
ﺝ | ﺞ | ﺠ | ﺟ | cim (джим) | c |
ﭺ | ﭻ | ﭽ | ﭼ | çim (чим) | ç |
ﺡ | ﺢ | ﺤ | ﺣ | ha (ха) | - |
ﺥ | ﺦ | ﺨ | ﺧ | hı (хы) | h |
ﺩ | ﺪ | — | dal (дал) | d | |
ﺫ | ﺬ | — | zel (зел) | z | |
ﺭ | ﺮ | — | re (ре) | r | |
ﺯ | ﺰ | — | ze (зе) | z | |
ﮊ | ﮋ | — | je (же) | j | |
ﺱ | ﺲ | ﺴ | ﺳ | sin (син) | s |
ﺵ | ﺶ | ﺸ | ﺷ | şin (шин) | ş |
ﺹ | ﺺ | ﺼ | ﺻ | sad (сад) | s |
ﺽ | ﺾ | ﻀ | ﺿ | dad (дад) | d, z |
ﻁ | ﻂ | ﻄ | ﻃ | tı (ты) | t |
ﻅ | ﻆ | ﻈ | ﻇ | zı (зы) | z |
ﻉ | ﻊ | ﻌ | ﻋ | ayn (айн) | - |
ﻍ | ﻎ | ﻐ | ﻏ | ğayn (гъайн) | ğ |
ﻑ | ﻒ | ﻔ | ﻓ | fe (фе) | f |
ﻕ | ﻖ | ﻘ | ﻗ | qaf (къаф) | q |
ﻙ | ﻚ | ﻜ | ﻛ | kef (kef-i arabiy) (кеф) (кеф-и арабий) |
k (g, ñ)1 |
ﮒ | ﮓ | ﮕ | ﮔ | gef (kef-i farsiy) (геф) (кеф-и фарсий) |
g |
ﯓ | ﯔ | ﯖ | ﯕ | nef (kef-i nuniy, sağır kef) (неф) (кеф-и нуний, сагъыр кеф) |
ñ |
ﻝ | ﻞ | ﻠ | ﻟ | lâm (лям) | l |
ﻡ | ﻢ | ﻤ | ﻣ | mim (мим) | m |
ﻥ | ﻦ | ﻨ | ﻧ | nun (нун) | n |
ﻭ | ﻮ | — | vav (вав) | v, o, ö, u, ü | |
ﻩ | ﻪ | ﻬ | ﻫ | he (хе) | -, e, a |
ﻻ | ﻼ | — | lâm-elif (лям-елиф) | la, lâ | |
ﻯ | ﻰ | ﻴ | ﻳ | ye (йе) | y, ı, i |
1 — The letter ﻙ (kef) was often used in place of ﮒ and ﯓ.
Latin alphabet[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BC%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%96%D1%84.jpg/400px-%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BC%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%96%D1%84.jpg)
In 1928, during latinisation in the Soviet Union the Crimean Tatar Arabic alphabet was replaced by the Latin alphabet based on the Yañalif script. This alphabet contained a number of differences from the modern variant. Particularly, in letters Ь ь, Ƣ ƣ, N̡ ᶇ, Ɵ ɵ, X x, Ƶ ƶ, I i instead of modern  â, Ğ ğ, I ı, İ i, Ñ ñ, Ö ö, and Ü ü.
Alphabet of 1928 | Alphabet of 1997 | Alphabet of 1928 | Alphabet of 1997 | Alphabet of 1928 | Alphabet of 1997 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
A a | A a | Ь ь | I ı | R r | R r |
B ʙ | B b | K k | K k | S s | S s |
C c | Ç ç | Q q | Q q | Ş ş | Ş ş |
Ç ç | C c | Ƣ ƣ | Ğ ğ | T t | T t |
D d | D d | L l | L l | U u | U u |
E e | E e | M m | M m | Y y | Ü ü |
F f | F f | N n | N n | V v | V v |
G g | G g | N̡ ᶇ | Ñ ñ | X x | H h |
H h | H h | O o | O o | Z z | Z z |
I i | İ i | Ɵ ɵ | Ö ö | Ƶ ƶ | J j |
J j | Y y | P p | P p |
Modern alphabets[]
Cyrillic[]
Cyrillic for Crimean Tatar was introduced in 1938 as part of Cyrillization of languages in Soviet Union. It is based on Russian alphabet with no special letters. From 1938 to 1990s, that was the only alphabet used for Crimean Tatar.
А а | Б б | В в | Г г | Гъ гъ* | Д д | Е е | Ё ё |
Ж ж | З з | И и | Й й | К к | Къ къ* | Л л | М м |
Н н | Нъ нъ* | О о | П п | Р р | С с | Т т | У у |
Ф ф | Х х | Ц ц | Ч ч | Дж дж* | Ш ш | Щ щ | Ъ ъ |
Ы ы | Ь ь | Э э | Ю ю | Я я |
*Гъ (ğ), къ (q), нъ (ñ) and дж (c) are separate letters of the alphabet (digraphs).
Latin[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Ba%C4%9F%C3%A7asaray_Devlet_Tarihiy-Medeniy_Qorumas%C4%B1.jpg/250px-Ba%C4%9F%C3%A7asaray_Devlet_Tarihiy-Medeniy_Qorumas%C4%B1.jpg)
Modern Latin alphabet for Crimean Tatar was introduced in 1990s. It is based on Turkish alphabet with three special letters — Q, Ñ, Â. Its official use in Crimea was accepted in 1997 by Crimean Parliament. In 2021 it was approved by the government of Ukraine, to be adopted in education by September 2025.[1]
A a | Â â* | B b | C c | Ç ç | D d | E e | F f |
G g | Ğ ğ | H h | I ı | İ i | J j | K k | L l |
M m | N n | Ñ ñ | O o | Ö ö | P p | Q q | R r |
S s | Ş ş | T t | U u | Ü ü | V v | Y y | Z z |
*Ââ is not recognized as separate letter. It is used to show softness of a consonant followed by Aa.
In Dobruja they also use Ĭĭ and Ww letters.
Cyrillic to Latin transliteration[]
Cyrillic | Latin | Notes |
---|---|---|
А а | A a | |
Б б | B b | |
В в | V v | |
Г г | G g | |
Гъ гъ | Ğ ğ | |
Д д | D d | |
Е е | E e | following a consonant |
Ye ye | word-initially, following a vowel or ь | |
Ё ё | Ö ö | following a consonant |
Yö yö | word-initially in "soft" words | |
Yo yo | word-initially in "hard" words; following a vowel, ь or ъ | |
Ж ж | J j | |
З з | Z z | |
И и | İ i | |
Й й | Y y | |
К к | K k | |
Къ къ | Q q | |
Л л | L l | |
М м | M m | |
Н н | N n | |
Нъ нъ | Ñ ñ | |
О о | Ö ö | if о is the first letter in a "soft" word |
O o | in other cases | |
П п | P p | |
Р р | R r | |
С с | S s | |
Т т | T t | |
У у | Ü ü | if у is the first letter in a "soft" word |
U u | in other cases | |
Ф ф | F f | |
Х х | H h | |
Ц ц | Ts ts | |
Ч ч | Ç ç | |
Дж дж | C c | |
Ш ш | Ş ş | |
Щ щ | Şç şç | |
ъ | — | is not a separate letter in Cyrillic |
Ы ы | I ı | |
ь | — | no special signs for softness |
Э э | E e | |
Ю ю | Ü ü | following a consonant |
Yü yü | word-initially, following a vowel or ь in "soft" words | |
Yu yu | word-initially, following a vowel or ь in "hard" words | |
Я я | Â â | following a consonant |
Ya ya | word-initially, following a vowel or ь |
References[]
- ^ "Cabinet approves Crimean Tatar alphabet based on Latin letters". Ukrinform. 2021-09-24. Archived from the original on 2021-09-22. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
- Кай И.С. Руководство для обучения крымско-татарскому языку по новому алфавиту — Симферополь, 1928.
- Alem-i-Medeniye
- Latin alphabets
- Cyrillic alphabets
- Arabic alphabets
- Persian alphabets
- Alphabets used by Turkic languages
- Crimean Tatar culture