Azerbaijani alphabet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Azerbaijan (Republic), the Azerbaijani alphabet may refer to either of two alphabets used to write the Azerbaijani language: one based on the Cyrillic alphabet and the other based on the Latin alphabet. These superseded a previous version formed from the Arabic alphabet.
[edit] History and Development
Since 19th century, there were efforts by some intellectuals like Mirza Feteli Ahundzade to replace Arabic alphabet and create a Latin script for Azerbaijani. In 1922, a Latin script was created by Yeni türk əlifba komitəsi (New Turkish Alphabet Committee; Јени түрк əлифба комитəси or يني طورك عليفبا كوميطعصي) in Baku. In 1929, the Uniform Turkic Alphabet was introduced to replace the variety of the Arabic alphabet in use at the time. In 1939, because 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 alphabet might 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 a modified Latin alphabet.
In Iranian Azerbaijan (Southern Azerbaijan), the Arabic alphabet is still in use.
From 1929 until 1939
Aa, Bв, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Əə, Ff, Gg, Ƣƣ, Hh, Ii, Ьь, Jj, Kk, Qq, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Ɵɵ, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Vv, Xx, Yy, Zz, Ƶƶ
From 1939 until 1958:
Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Ғғ, Дд, Ее, Ёё, Әә, Жж, Зз, Ии, Йй, Кк, Ққ, Лл, Мм, 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, which do not exist in Turkish.
An interesting fact about the alphabet is the existence of turned e (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 turned e. Although use of Ä ä (also used in Tatar and Turkmen) seems to be a simpler alternative as the turned e is absent in most character sets, particularly the Turkish encoding, it was reintroduced chiefly due to national pride. Turned e’s have existed in both post-Arabic alphabets (Latin and Cyrillic) of Azerbaijan.
[edit] 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| —1929 | 1929–1939 | 1958–1991 | 1992— | |
| ﺍ | A a | А а | A a | [ɑ:] |
| ﺏ | B в | Б б | B b | [b] |
| ﺝ | Ç ç | Ҹ ҹ | C c | [ʤ] |
| چ | C c | Ч ч | Ç ç | [ʧ] |
| ﺩ | D d | Д д | D d | [d] |
| ﻩ | E e | Е е | E e | [ɛ] |
| ﻉ | Ə ə | Ə ə | Ə ə | [æ] |
| ﻑ | F f | Ф ф | F f | [f] |
| گ | G g | Ҝ ҝ | G g | [g'] |
| ﻍ | Ƣ ƣ | Ғ ғ | Ğ ğ | [ɣ] |
| ﺡ,ﻩ | H h | Һ һ | H h | [h] |
| ﺥ | X x | Х х | X x | [x] |
| ﻱ | Ь ь | Ы ы | I ı | [ɯ] |
| ﻱ | I i | И и | İ i | [ɪ] |
| ﺝ | Ƶ ƶ | Ж ж | J j | [ʒ] |
| ﻙ | K k | К к | K k | [k] |
| ﻕ | Q q | Г г | Q q | [g] |
| 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 | Ɵ ɵ | 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] |
| ﻱ | J j | Ј ј | Y y | [j] |
| ﺫ,ﺯ,ﺽ,ﻅ | Z z | З з | Z z | [z] |
