Turkmen alphabet
The Turkmen alphabet used for official purposes in Turkmenistan is a Latin alphabet based on the Turkish alphabet, but with notable differences: J is used instead of the Turkish C; W is used instead of the Turkish V; Ž is used instead of the Turkish J; Y is used instead of the dotless i (I/ı); Ý is used instead of the Turkish consonantal Y; and the letters Ä and Ň have been added to represent the phonetic values [æ] and [ŋ], respectively.
At the start of the 20th century, when Turkmen started to be written, it used the Arabic script, but in 1928 the Latin script was adopted. In 1940, the Russian influence in Soviet Turkmenistan prompted a switch to a Cyrillic alphabet, and a Turkmen Cyrillic alphabet (shown below in the table alongside the Latin) was created. When Turkmenistan became independent in 1991, President Saparmurat Niyazov immediately instigated a return to the Latin script. When it was reintroduced it was supposed to use some unusual letters, such as the pound (£), dollar ($), yen (¥), and cent signs (¢), but these were replaced by more conventional letter symbols. The political and social forces that have combined to bring about these changes of script, then modifications of the Latin script, have been documented by Victoria Clement (2008).
Turkmen is still often written with an Arabic alphabet in other countries where the language is spoken and where the Arabic script is dominant (such as Iran and Afghanistan).
Alphabetic order
- UTA Latin alphabet
Aa, Bʙ, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Әә, Ff, Gg, Hh, Xx, Ii, Jj, Kk, Qq, Ll, Mm, Nn, N̡ᶇ, Oo, Өө, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Vv, Yy, Zz, Ƶƶ, Ьь
- Cyrillic alphabet
Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Дд, Ее, Ёё, Жж, Җҗ, Зз, Ии, Йй, Кк, Лл, Мм, Нн, Ңң, Оо, Өө, Пп, Рр, Сс, Тт, Уу, Үү, Фф, Хх, (Цц), Чч, Шш, (Щщ), (Ъъ), Ыы, (Ьь), Ээ, Әә, Юю, Яя
- Latin alphabet
Aa, Bb, Çç, Dd, Ee, Ää, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Žž, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Ňň, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Ww, Yy, Ýý, Zz
Originally, the Latin alphabet was intended to use $ ¢ for the modern Ş ş, £ ſ for modern Ž ž and ¥ ÿ for modern Ý ý, however they were changed to their current forms in 1995.
Correspondence chart
| Latin letter |
Cyrillic equivalent |
Arabic equivalent |
Phonetic value |
English Approximation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | А а | ا | [a, aː] | Father |
| B b | Б б | ب | [b] | Ball |
| Ç ç | Ч ч | چ | [t͡ʃ] | Cheek |
| D d | Д д | د | [d] | Dean |
| E e | Е е | اِ– ە | [je], [e] | Yes, Egg |
| Ä ä | Ә ә | أ | [æ, æː] | Hat, Had |
| F f | Ф ф | ف | [ɸ] | |
| G g | Г г | غ - گ - ق | [ɡ~ʁ] | Get |
| H h | Х х | ح - خ - هـ | [h~x] | Hat, Loch |
| I i | И и | ای | [i, iː] | Mini |
| J j | Җ җ | ج | [d͡ʒ] | Joke |
| Ž ž | Ж ж | ژ | [ʒ] | Treasure |
| K k | К к | ق - ك | [k~q] | Look |
| L l | Л л | ل | [l] | Lake |
| M m | М м | م | [m] | Mole |
| N n | Н н | ن | [n] | Nest |
| Ň ň | Ң ң | نگ | [ŋ] | Sing |
| O o | О о | اوْ | [o, oː] | Horse |
| Ö ö | Ө ө | اؤ | [ø, øː] | Measure |
| P p | П п | پ | [p] | Loop |
| R r | Р р | ر | [r] | Rim |
| S s | С с | ث - س - ص | [θ, s] | Thick, Sick |
| Ş ş | Ш ш | ش | [ʃ] | Shimmer |
| T t | Т т | ت - ط | [t] | Austin |
| U u | У у | اوُ | [u, uː] | Fluent |
| Ü ü | Ү ү | اۆ | [y, yː] | |
| W w | В в | و | [β] | |
| Y y | Ы ы | ای | [o, oː] | Roses |
| Ý ý | Й й | ی | [j] | Yacht |
| Z z | З з | ز - ذ - ض - ظ | [ð, z] | There, Zoo |
Letter names and pronunciation
Pronunciation of the Latin alphabet
Türkmen elipbiýi
| Letter | Name | IPA | Letter | Name | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A, a | a | /a, aː/ | N, n | en | /n/ |
| B, b | be | /b/ | Ň, ň | eň | /ŋ/ |
| Ç, ç | çe | /tʃ/ | O, o | o | /o, oː/ |
| D, d | de | /d/ | Ö, ö | ö | /ø, øː/ |
| E, e | e | /e/ | P, p | pe | /p/ |
| Ä, ä | ä | /æ, æː/ | R, r | er | /r/ |
| F, f | fe | /ɸ/ | S, s | es | /θ, s/ |
| G, g | ge | /ɡ~ʁ/ | Ş, ş | şe | /ʃ/ |
| H, h | he | /h~x/ | T, t | te | /t/ |
| I, i | i | /i, iː/ | U, u | u | /u, uː/ |
| J, j | je | /dʒ/ | Ü, ü | ü | /y, yː/ |
| Ž, ž | že | /ʒ/ | W, w | we | /β/ |
| K, k | ka | /k~q/ | Y, y | y | /o, oː/ |
| L, l | el | /l/ | Ý, ý | ýe | /j/ |
| M, m | em | /m/ | Z, z | ze | /ð, z/ |
Cyrillic
түркмен элипбийи
Arabic
توركمهن الیپبایی
Common in Iran and Afghanistan
Vowels
| Letter | IPA | Latin equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| آ | /a, aː/ | a |
| أ | /æ, æː/ | ä |
| ه | /e/ | e |
| اوْ | /o, oː/ | o |
| اؤ | /ø, øː/ | ö |
| اوُ | /u, uː/ | u |
| اۆ | /y, yː/ | ü |
| ای | /i, iː/ | i |
| اى | /ɯ, ɯː/ | y |
Consonants
| Letter | IPA | Latin equivalent | Letter | IPA | Latin equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ب | /b/ | b | ض | /z/ | z |
| پ | /p/ | p | ط | /t/ | t |
| ت | /t/ | t | ظ | /z/ | z |
| ث | /s/ | s | ع | /ʔ/ | |
| ج | /dʒ/ | j | غ | /ɡ~ʁ/ | g |
| چ | /t͡ʃ/ | ç | ف | /f/ | f |
| ح | /h/ | h | ق | /ɡ~ʁ/ | g-k |
| خ | /x/ | h | ك | /k/ | k |
| د | /d/ | d | گ | /g/ | g |
| ذ | /z/ | z | ل | /l/ | l |
| ر | /r/ | r | م | /m/ | m |
| ز | /z/ | z | ن | /n/ | n |
| ژ | /ʒ/ | ž | نگ | /ŋ/ | ň |
| س | /s/ | s | و | /β/ | w |
| ش | /ʃ/ | ş | هـ | /h/ | h |
| ص | /s/ | s | ی | /j/ | ý |
See also
References
- Clement, Victoria. 2008. Emblems of independence: script choice in post-Soviet Turkmenistan in the 1990s. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 192: 171-185