Kyrgyz alphabets

The Kyrgyz alphabets (Kyrgyz: кыргыз алфавити) are the alphabets used to write the Kyrgyz language. The Kyrgyz language uses the following alphabets:

• The Cyrillic script is officially used in the Kyrgyz Republic
• The Arabic script is officially used in People's Republic of China in the Kyzylsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture and the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
• Kyrgyz Braille

The Arabic script was traditionally used to write Kyrgyz before the introduction of the first Latin-based alphabets in 1927. Today an Arabic alphabet is used in China.^[1] The Uniform Turkic Alphabet was used in the USSR in the 1930s until its replacement by a Cyrillic script. The Kyrgyz Cyrillic alphabet is the alphabet used in Kyrgyzstan. It contains 36 letters: 33 from the Russian alphabet with 3 additional letters for sounds of the Kyrgyz language: Ң, Ү, Ө.

Although the Latin script is not in official use, some Kyrgyz texts are written in the Turkish variant of the Latin alphabet, and uses Turkish spelling norms e.g. for diphthongization (ey, ay etc.). Native Kyrgyz sound values are almost identical to Turkish, the only exception being the velar nasal 〈ŋ〉 which does not exist in Turkish.

Correspondence chart

Correspondence chart of five Kyrgyz alphabets: the Kyrgyz Cyrillic and Kyrgyz Braille alphabets used in Kyrgyzstan, the modified Turkish alphabet used unofficially by the Kyrgyz communities and Turkologists in Turkey and around the world, the Kyrgyz Latin alphabet used 1928–1938 in Kyrgyzstan, and the Kyrgyz Arabic alphabet used in Xinjiang.

Cyrillic	Name	Braille	Arabic[2]	Transliteration	Latin (Based on Turkish)	Latin (Google Translate)	Latin (1928–⁠1938)	IPA transcription
А а	а	⠁	ا	A a	A a	A a	A a	/ɑ/
Б б	бе	⠃	ب	B b	B b	B b	B ʙ	/b/, [w], [v]
В в	ве	⠺	ۋ	V v	V v	V v	V v	/v/
Г г	ге	⠛	گ ع*	G g	G g, Ğ ğ	G g	G g, Ƣ ƣ	/ɡ/ [ʁ]
Д д	де	⠙	د	D d	D d	D d	D d	/d/
Е е	e	⠑	ه	E e, Ye ye	E e, Ye ye	E e	E e, Je je	/je/, /e/
Ё ё	ё	⠡	يو	Yo yo	Yo yo	Yo yo	Jo jo	/jo/
Ж ж	же	⠚	ج	J j	C c	J j	Ç ç (Ƶ ƶ from 1938)	/dʒ/
З з	зе	⠵	ز	Z z	Z z	Z z	Z z	/z/
И и	и	⠊	ى	I i	İ i	İ i	I i	/i/
Й й	ий	⠯	ي	Y y	Y y	Y y	J j	/j/
К к	кa	⠅	ك ق*	K k	K k	K k	K k, Q q	/k/, [q], [χ]
Л л	эл	⠇	ل	L l	L l	L l	L l	/l/
М м	эм	⠍	م	M m	M m	M m	M m	/m/
Н н	эн	⠝	ن	N n	N n	N n	N n	/n/
Ң ң	ың	⠽	ڭ	Ng ng	Ñ ñ	Ŋ ŋ	N̡ ᶇ	/ŋ/
О о	о	⠕	و	O o	O o	O o	O o	/o/
Ө ө	ө	⠌	ۅ	Ö ö	Ö ö	Ö ö	Ɵ ɵ	/ø/
П п	пe	⠏	پ	P p	P p	P p	P p	/p/
Р р	эр	⠗	ر	R r	R r	R r	R r	/r/
С с	эс	⠎	س	S s	S s	S s	S s	/s/
Т т	те	⠞	ت	T t	T t	T t	T t	/t/
У у	у	⠥	ۇ	U u	U u	U u	U u	/u/
Ү ү	ү	⠧	ۉ	Ü ü	Ü ü	Ü ü	Y y	/y/
Ф ф	эф	⠋	ف	F f	F f	F f	F f	/f/
Х х	ха	⠓	ح	Kh kh	H h	H h	H h (X x from 1938)	[χ] /k/
Ц ц	це	⠉	تس	Ts ts	Ts ts	Ts ts	Ts ts	/ts/
Ч ч	че	⠟	چ	Ch ch	Ç ç	Ç ç	C c	/tʃ/
Ш ш	ша	⠱	ش	Sh sh	Ş ş	Ş ş	Ş ş	/ʃ/
Щ щ	ща	⠭	-	Shch shch	Şç şç	Sç sç	Şc şc	/ʃtʃ/, /ʃː/
Ъ ъ	ажыратуу белгиси	⠷	-	”	-	-	-	*[3]
Ы ы	ы	⠮	ى	Y y	I ı	I ı	Ь ь	/o/
Ь ь	ичкертүү белгиси	⠾	-	’	-	-	-	*[3]
Э э	э	⠪	ه	E e	E e	E e	E e	/e/
Ю ю	ю	⠳	يۋ	Yu yu	Yu yu	Yu yu	Ju ju	/ju/, /jy/
Я я	я	⠫	يا	Ya ya	Ya ya	Ya ya	Ja ja	/ja/, /jɑ/

• К – ك changes into ق if precedes or succeeds by letters а, о, у, ы.
• Г – گ changes into ع if precedes or succeeds by letters а, о, у, ы.

Text sample

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ^[4]

Kyrgyz in Cyrillic script	Kyrgyz in Latin script (Based on Turkish)	Kyrgyz in Latin script (Google Translate)	Kyrgyz in Latin script (1928–1938)	English
Бардык адамдар өз беделинде жана укуктарында эркин жана тең укуктуу болуп жаралат. Алардын аң‑сезими менен абийири бар жана бири‑бирине бир туугандык мамиле кылууга тийиш.	Bardık adamdar öz bedelinde cana ukuktarında erkin cana teñ ukuktuu bolup caralat. Alardın añ‑sezimi menen abiyiri bar cana biri‑birine bir tuuğandık mamile kıluuğa tiyiş.	Bardık adamdar öz bedelinde jana ukuktarında erkin jana teŋ ukuktuu bolup jaralat. Alardın aŋ‑sezimi menen abiyiri bar jana biri‑birine bir tuugandık mamile kıluuga tiyiş.	Bardьq adamdar ɵz ʙedelinde çana uquqtarьnda erkin çana teᶇ uquqtuu ʙolup çaralat. Alardьn aᶇ‑sezimi menen aʙijiri ʙar çana ʙiri‑ʙirine ʙir tuuƣandьq mamile qьluuƣa tijiş.	All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Arabic

Name in Kyrgyz	Transliteration	IPA	Final	Medial	Initial	Isolated
	a	[a]	ﺎ	ﺎ		ا
	b	[b]	ﺐ	ﺒ	ﺑ	ﺏ
	p	[p]	ﭗ	ﭙ	ﭙ	پ
	n	[n]	ﻦ	ﻨ	ﻧ	ﻥ
	t	[t]	ﺖ	ﺘ	ﺗ	ﺕ
	j	[ʒ]	ﺞ	ﺠ	ﺟ	ﺝ
	č / ch	[t͡ʃ]	ﭻ	ﭽ	ﭼ	ﭺ
	ĥ / x	[χ]	ﺢ	ﺤ	ﺣ	ﺡ
	f	[ɸ]	ﻒ	ﻔ	ﻓ	ﻑ
	q	[q]	ﻖ	ﻘ	ﻗ	ﻕ
	ġ	[ʁ]	ﻊ	ﻌ	ﻋ	ﻉ
	k	[k~q]	ـك	ـكـ	كـ	ك
	g	[ɡ~ʁ]	ﮓ	ﺕ	ﮔ	گ
	ṅ / ng	[ŋ]				ڭ
	l	[l]	ﻞ	ﻠ	ﻟ	ﻝ
	m	[m]	ﻢ	ﻤ	ﻣ	ﻡ
	o	[o]	ﻮ	ﻮ	و	و
	ö / oe	[ø]	ـۅ	ـۅ	ۅ	ۅ
	u	[u]				ﻉ
	ü	[y]				ﻗ
	v	[v]				ﻞ
	s	[s]	ﺲ	ﺴ	ﺳ	ﺱ
	a / sh	[ʃ]	ﺶ	ﺸ	ﺷ	ﺵ
	d	[d]	ﺪ	ﺪ	ﺩ	ﺩ
	r	[r]	ﺮ	ﺮ	ڭ	ڭ
	z	[z]	ﺰ	ﺰ	گ	گ
	e	[je/e]	ﻪ	ﻬ	ﻫ	ﻩ
	ı(b)	-				ﻯ
	o(f)	[y]				ﯗﺀ
	i(f)					ﻰﺋ
	y	[j]	ي	ﻴ	ﻳ	ﻲ
	i/ı		ﻯ			ﻯ
	-					ء
()	(la)	([])	()	()	()	(ﻻ)

See also

• Kyrgyz language
• Romanization of Kyrgyz

References

1. Minglang Zhou (2003). Multilingualism in China: the politics of writing reforms for minority languages, 1949-2002. Volume 89 of Contributions to the sociology of language (illustrated ed.). Published Walter de Gruyter. p. 149. ISBN 3-11-017896-6. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
2. Kyrgyz alphabet, language and pronunciation
3. no phonemic value; only found in borrowings
4. Kyrgyz edition of Universal Declaration of Human Rights

External links

• Kyrgyz – Latin converter
• Kyrgyz Cyrillic – Arabic – Latin converter
• Грамматический справочник – Письменность
• Kyrgyz Website in China using the Arabic script
• Kyrgyz Latin alphabet (Кыргыз латын алфавити)