Crimean Tatar is written in both Latin and Cyrillic. Historically, the Persian script was also used.
Before 1990s Persian alphabet which was used by the Turks before the introduction of the new Latin-based alphabet was used but since 1990s when Verkhovna Rada of Crimea officially accepted the new Common Turkic-based Latin alphabet, it had been dominant mostly on the internet while the Soviet Cyrillic alphabet remained dominant in printed productions. After the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, the Russian government requires the use of Cyrillic script only. In 2021 the Ukrainian government started the switch of Crimean Tatar language to the Latin script.[1]
Crimean Tatars used the Arabic script from the 16th century to 1928, when it was replaced by 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 | |
(ࢰ) | kef-i yayiy (кеф-и яйий) | y2 | ||||
| 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.
2 — The letter is actually ﮒ, some words with ﮒ are also readed as "y", to simplified this was the character by some writers used.[2]
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, the letters Ь ь, Ƣ ƣ, Ꞑ ꞑ, Ɵ ɵ, X x, Ƶ ƶ, I i instead of the 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 | Ꞑ ꞑ | 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 |
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 |
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.[3]
| 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 |
| 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 |
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: