Tatar alphabet

Two scripts are currently used for the Tatar language: Cyrillic and Latin.

Contents 1 Latin versions 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Zamanälif 1.3 Pronunciation (based on Zamanälif) 1.4 Changing of alphabets (based on Zamanälif) 2 Cyrillic version 2.1 Letter names and pronunciation 3 History of Tatar writing 4 See also 5 External links

Latin versions

Introduction

While Latin alphabet has been officially in use for Crimean Tatar for many years, there is controversy in the matter of Latin-based Tatar alphabet for İdíl-Ural (Qazan) Tatar. One dimension is that there are multiple proposed versions of Latin alphabet. The other dimension is that the Moscow authorities in a move to solidify the unity of the Russian Federation^{[citation needed]}, have lately outlawed any switch to Latin, or any other non-Cyrillic, alphabet^{[citation needed]}. This specifically targeted Tatars, but affects all other nations living within borders now recognized as Russian Federation.

The Tatarstani parliament legislated encoding mostly with the characters listed in Zamanälif section below, but with the following differences: Ə letter is used instead of Ä, Ө instead of Ö and Ŋ instead of Ñ, and there is no letter Íí. The Tatarstani Cabinet of Ministers about a year later issued a decree about computer-based encoding, in which the letters Ä, Ö and Ñ were present. The letter Íí is not present in either the law or the decree. About a year after, the speaker of the Tatarstani parliament mentioned in an interview that changes could be made by the parliament to the law by making corrections for certain characters in the alphabet.

Some versions of Latin-based alphabet for İdíl-Ural Tatar are as follows:

Zamanälif

(Tatar for: Modern alphabet based on what was considered for official acceptance) is as follows:

The Latin version of the Tatar alphabet contains 35 letters. There are 10 vowels and 25 consonants. There are 10 extra letters: Çç, Ğğ, Şş, Ññ, Ää, Öö, Üü, Iı, İi and Íí. The other letters are the same in both alphabets, but they are pronounced differently.

A, Ä, B, C, Ç, D, E, F, G, Ğ, H, I, İ, Í, J, K, L, M, N, Ñ, O, Ö, P, Q, R, S, Ş, T, U, Ü, V, W, X, Y, Z.

Tatar vowels are: a/ä, o/ö, u/ü, í/i, ı/e.

The symbol <'> is used for the glottal stop (known as hamza in Tatar).

It is possible to use these letters for writing words of non-Tatar origin: Á, Â, É, Ó, Ú.

Crimean Tatar has its own written form, with some differences from the Qazan Tatar orthography: in comparison to Zamanälif, ä corresponds to e, e corresponds to i, and i or ıy correspond to í, and there is no w, and x.

Pronunciation (based on Zamanälif)

Tatar writing is largely phonetic, meaning that the pronunciation of a word can usually be derived from its spelling. This rule excludes recent loanwords, such as summit and names.

• A – a as in "ugly"
• Ä – ä as in "man", but less open
• B – be as in "bell"
• C – ce as in "pleasure"
• Ç – çe as in "usher" or "chocolate" but without first [t]
• D – de as in "decade" (the tongue touches only the front teeth but not the palate.)
• E – e as in "six" or "needed"
• F – fe as in "federal"
• G – ge as in "get"
• Ğ – ğı is back version of g, very close to back r in French
• H – he as in "helicopter"
• I – ı as in "number"
• İ – i as in "kiss" or "read"
• Í – í as in "beyond"
• J – je as in "garage" pronounced as in French & English)
• K – ke as in "kettle"
• L – le as in "leg"
• M – me as in "men"
• N – ne as in "never"
• Ñ – ñe as in "English" and "song"
• O – o as in "orchestra" and "obligation"
• Ö – ö as in "urbane" and like German ö
• P – pe as in "pen"
• Q – qu as in "Iraq"
• R – re as in Spanish "carro" (the tongue vibrates doing a few touches of palate during pronunciation of one sound)
• S – se as in "sell"
• Ş – şe as in ""slash"
• T – te as in "telephone" (the tongue touches only the front teeth but not the palate.)
• U – u as in "oops!"
• Ü – ü as in "jew" and like German ü
• V – ve as in "vegetable"
• W – we as in "wall"
• Y – ye as in "yes"
• X – xa close to that in "chemistry", or like Scottish "ch" in "loch"
• Z – ze as in "zebra"

Changing of alphabets (based on Zamanälif)

Letter Number	Latin Character	Name in Latin	Name in Cyrillic	Transcription
1	A a	A	А	ɑ, ʌ
	Á á	A hämzä belän	А һәмзә белән	ɑ
2	Ä ä	Ä , noqtalı A	Ә, нокталы А	æ,ə
	Â â	A dulqın belän	А дулкын белән	æ
3	B b	Bé	Бэ	b
4	C c	Cé	Җэ	ʓ
5	Ç ç	Çé	Чэ	ʆ, ʧ
6	D d	Dé	Дэ	d
7	E e	E	Э	e
	É é	E hämzä belän, ozın E	Э һәмзә белән, озын э	ɛ
8	F f	Éf	Эф	f
9	G g	Gé	Ге	g
10	Ğ ğ	Ğé	Гъэ	ɣ
11	H h	Hé	Һэ	h
12	İ i	İ	И	i
13	Í í	Í	Ый	ɨɪ
14	I ı	I	Ы	ɨ
15	J j	Jé	Жэ	ʒ, ʤ
16	K k	Ké	Ке	k
17	L l	El	Эль	l
18	M m	Ém	Эм	m
19	N n	Én	Эн	n
20	Ñ ñ	Éñ	Эң	ŋ
21	O o	O	О	o, o:
	ó	O hämzä belän	О һәмзә белән	ø
22	Ö ö	Ö, noqtalı O	Ө, нокталы О	œ
23	P p	Pé	Пэ	p
24	Q q	Qu	Ку	q
25	R r	Ér	Эр	r
26	S s	És	Эс	s
27	Ş ş	Şa	Ша	ʃ
28	T t	Té	Тэ	t
29	U u	U	У	u
	ú	U hämzä belän	У һәмзә белән	ʊ
30	Ü ü	Ü, noqtalı U	Ү, нокталы У	Y
31	V v	Vé	Вэ	v
32	W w	Wé	Вэ (Уэ)	w
33	X x	Éx	Эх	x
34	Y y	Yé	Йэ	j,ɪ
35	Z z	Zet	Зет	z
	' - hämzä	Hämzä	Һәмзә	ء

Cyrillic version

The official Cyrilic version of the Tatar alphabet used in Tatarstan contains 39 letters:

А Ә Б В Г Д Е (Ё) Ж Җ З И Й К Л М Н Ң О Ө П Р С Т У Ү Ф Х Һ Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ь Э Ю Я

Letter names and pronunciation

Letters and symbols of the Tatar Cyrillic alphabet

Capital	Small	Translit.	Name	Pronunciation	Notes
А	а	a	/a/	[a]
Ә	ә	ä	/æ/	[æ]
Б	б	b	/be/	[b]
В	в	v	/we/	[w]
Г	г	g	/ge/	[g]; [ʁ]
Д	д	d	/de/	[d]
Е	е	e	/je/	[je]; [jɤ]; [e]
Ё	ё	ё	/jo/	[jo]
Ж	ж	ž	/ʒe/	[ʒ]
Җ	җ	ẓ̌	/ʤe/	[ʤ]
З	з	z	/ze/	[z]
И	и	i	/i/	[i]
Й	й	j	/'qɯqa 'i/	[j]
К	к	k	/qa/	[k]; [q]
Л	л	l	/el/	[l]
М	м	m	/em/	[m]
Н	н	n	/en/	[n]
Ң	ң	ņ	/eŋ/	[ŋ]
О	о	o	/o/	[o]
Ө	ө	ö	/ø/	[ø]
П	п	p	/pe/	[p]
Р	р	r	/er/	[r]
С	с	s	/es/	[s]
Т	т	t	/te/	[t]
У	у	u	/u/	[u]; [w]
Ү	ү	ü	/y/	[y]; [w]
Ф	ф	f	/eɸ/	[f]
Х	х	x	/χa/	[x]
Һ	һ	h	/ha/	[h]
Ц	ц	c	/tse/	[ts]
Ч	ч	č	/ʧe/	[tʃ]
Ш	ш	š	/ʃa/	[ʃ]
Щ	щ	šč	/ʃʧa/	[ʃʧ]
Ъ	ъ	”	калынлык билгесе /qalɤn'lɤk bilge'se/	[ʔ]
Ы	ы	y	/ɤ/	[ɤ]
Ь	ь	’	нечкәлек билгесе /neʧkæ'lek bilge'se/	[ʔ]
Э	э	è	/e/	[e]; [ʔ]
Ю	ю	ju	/ju/	[ju]; [jy]
Я	я	ja	/ja/	[ja]; [jæ]

Due to the Russian Federal law, only Cyrillic alphabets may have official status in regions of the Russian Federation. There is ongoing confrontation with regards to adoption of Latin alphabet for the Tatar language.

History of Tatar writing