The Kyrgyz alphabets are the alphabets used to write the Kyrgyz language. Kyrgyz uses the following alphabets:
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 New Turkic Alphabet was used in the USSR in the 1930s until its replacement by a Cyrillic script.[2] 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.
Within the country there have been mixed reactions to the idea of adopting the Latin alphabet for Kyrgyz. The chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s National Commission for the State Language and Language Policies, Kanybek Osmonaliev, announced in September 2022 that it is considering switching to the Latin alphabet.[3] However, several months later, Russia suspended dairy exports to Kyrgyzstan after Osmonaliev repeated his proposal to change the official script from Cyrillic to Latin to bring the country in line with other Turkic-speaking nations. Osmonaliev was reprimanded by President Sadyr Japarov who then clarified that Kyrgyzstan had no plans to replace the Cyrillic alphabet.[4]
In Kyrgyz Cyrillic Alphabet, there are 15 vowels, and in Kyrgyz Arabic Alphabet, there are 13. The discrepancy is for two reasons. First, in Kyrgyz Cyrillic, both vowels "Э э" and "Е е" were imported from Russian Cyrillic. They essentially make the same sound, and the choice comes down to a matter of orthographic rule. They are both represented in Kyrgyz Arabic Alphabet with "ە / ﻪ". The second difference is that Kyrgyz Cyrillic Alphabet has two letters "Ы ы" and "И и", the former being a back vowel, and the latter, a front vowel.
Similar to other Turkic languages, Kyrgyz vowels are divided into front vowel and back vowel, and all words shall follow the vowel harmony rules. This means that the vowel sounds within a word can either be front vowel, or back vowel.
In Kyrgyz, vowels are also divided into short and long. Whether in Kyrgyz Cyrillic Alphabet, or in Kyrgyz Arabic Alphabet, long vowels are represented by writing the same letter twice. For example, in the world "дөөлөт / دۅۅلۅت", there is a long vowel and a short vowel. Of the two letters "Э э" and "Е е", only the former also has a long vowel, "Ээ ээ"
The two letters "Ы ы" and "И и" do not have a long vowel equivalent.
| Rounded | Unrounded | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | Open | Close | Open | |||||||
| Short | Long | Short | Long | N/A | Short | Long | Short | Long | ||
| Back Жоон үндүүлөр جوون ۉندۉۉلۅر | Arabic | ـﯗ / ﯗ | ـﯗﯗ / ﯗﯗ | ـو / و | ـوو / وو | ىـ / ـى / ى | ا / ـا | اا / ـاا | ||
| Cyrillic (Latin) | У у (U u) | Уу уу (Uu uu) | О о (O o) | Оо оо (Oo oo) | Ы ы (Y y) | А а (A a) | Аа аа (Aa aa) | |||
| IPA | pronounced as /link/ | [uː] | pronounced as /link/ | [ɔː] | [ɯ] | [ɑ] | [ɑː] | |||
| Front Ичке үндүүлөр ئچكە ۉندۉۉلۅر | Arabic | ـۉ / ۉ | ـۉۉ / ۉۉ | ـۅ / ۅ | ـۅۅ / ۅۅ | ئـ / ـئ / ئ | ە / ـە | ەە / ـەە | ||
| Cyrillic (Latin) | Ү ү (Ü ü) | Үү үү (Üü üü) | Ө ө (Ö ö) | Өө өө (Öö öö) | И и (I i) | Е е / Э э (E e) | Ээ ээ (Ee ee) | |||
| IPA | [ʏ] | [yː] | [ɵ] | [ɵː] | [ɪ] | [e] | [eː] | |||
Correspondence chart of four Kyrgyz alphabets: the Kyrgyz Cyrillic and Kyrgyz Braille alphabets used in Kyrgyzstan, the Kyrgyz Latin alphabet used 1928–1938 in the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic and the Kyrgyz Arabic alphabet used in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Xinjiang, China. In this correspondence chart, the Cyrillic alphabet is written in its official order. The Arabic and Latin equivalents are not written in their official alphabetical orders but have been listed around the Cyrillic for ease of understanding.
| А а | а (a) | ا | A a | A a | pronounced as //ɑ// | |
| Б б | бе (be) | ب | B b | B ʙ | pronounced as //b// | |
| В в | ве (ve) | ۋ | V v | V v | pronounced as //v/, /w// | |
| Г г | ге (ge) | گ ع* | G g | G g, Ƣ ƣ | pronounced as //ɡ/, /ʁ/, /ɢ// | |
| Д д | де (de) | د | D d | D d | pronounced as //d// | |
| Е е | е (e) | ە | E e | E e | pronounced as //e// | |
| Ё ё | ё (ë) | ي+و(يو) | Yo yo | Jo jo | pronounced as //jo// | |
| Ж ж | же (je) | ج | C c | Cc (Ƶ ƶ from 1938) | pronounced as / /d͡ʒ//, both pronounced as / /d͡ʒ// and pronounced as / /ʒ// since 1938 | |
| З з | зе (ze) | ز | Z z | Z z | pronounced as //z// | |
| И и | и (i) | ئ | I i | I i | pronounced as //i// | |
| Й й | ий (iy) | ي | Y y | J j | pronounced as //j// | |
| К к | ка (ka) | ك ق* | K k | K k, Q q | pronounced as //k/, /q/, /χ// | |
| Л л | эл (el) | ل | L l | L l | pronounced as //l/, /ɫ// | |
| М м | эм (em) | م | M m | M m | pronounced as //m// | |
| Н н | эн (en) | ن | N n | N n | pronounced as //n// | |
| Ң ң | ың (yng) | ڭ | Ng ng | Ꞑ ꞑ | pronounced as //ŋ/, /ɴ// | |
| О о | о (o) | و | O o | O o | pronounced as //o// | |
| Ө ө | ө (ö) | ۅ | Ö ö | Ɵ ɵ | pronounced as //ø// | |
| П п | пе (pe) | پ | P p | P p | pronounced as //p// | |
| Р р | эр (er) | ر | R r | R r | pronounced as //r// | |
| С с | эс (es) | س | S s | S s | pronounced as //s// | |
| Т т | те (te) | ت | T t | T t | pronounced as //t// | |
| У у | у (u) | ۇ | U u | U u | pronounced as //u// | |
| Ү ү | ү (ü) | ۉ | Ü ü | Y y | pronounced as //y// | |
| Ф ф | эф (ef) | ف | F f | F f | pronounced as //f// | |
| Х х | ха (kha) | ح | Kh kh | H h | pronounced as //χ// | |
| Ц ц | це (tse) | (ت+س (تس | C c | Ts ts | pronounced as //t͡s// | |
| Ч ч | че (che) | چ | Ch ch | Ç ç | pronounced as //t͡ʃ// | |
| Ш ш | ша (sha) | ش | Ş ş | Ş ş | pronounced as //ʃ// | |
| Щ щ | ща (shcha) | - | Shch shch | ŞÇ şç | pronounced as //ʃt͡ʃ/, /ʃː// | |
| Ъ ъ | ажыратуу белгиси (azhyratuu belgisi) | - | ” | - | ||
| Ы ы | ы (y) | ى | Y y | Ь ь | pronounced as //ɯ// | |
| Ь ь | ичкертүү белгиси (ichkertüü belgisi) | - | ’ | - | ||
| Э э | э (e) | ە | E e | E e | pronounced as //e// | |
| Ю ю | ю (yu) | ي+ۇ(يۇ) | Yu yu | Ju ju | pronounced as //ju/, /jy// | |
| Я я | я (ya) | ي+ا(يا) | Ya ya | Ja ja | pronounced as //ja/, /jɑ// | |
The letter H is not present in the Kyrgyz alphabet. Instead, it was replaced by a mute sound. (e.g. "Шаар (Shaar)" (city) in Kyrgyz corresponds to Şahar/Şähär/Şəhər in other Turkic languages.)
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights[9]
The tabel below illustrates the letter order for Kyrgyz as the letter order differs based on whether it is being written in the Arabic versus Cyrillic alphabet.
| Transliteration | Letter name | IPA | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyrillic | Latin | |||||||
| А а | Алиф | pronounced as /[ɑ]/ | ||||||
| Б б | Бе | pronounced as /[b]/ | ||||||
| П п | Пе | pronounced as /[p]/ | ||||||
| Т т | Те | pronounced as /[t]/ | ||||||
| Ж ж | Жим | pronounced as /[dʒ]/ | ||||||
| Ч ч | Чим | pronounced as /[t͡ʃ]/ | ||||||
| Х х | Хе | pronounced as /[χ~q]/ | ||||||
| Д д | Дал | pronounced as /[d]/ | ||||||
| Р р | Ре | pronounced as /[r]/ | ||||||
| З з | Зайн | pronounced as /[z]/ | ||||||
| С с | Син | pronounced as /[s]/ | ||||||
| Ш ш | Шин | pronounced as /[ʃ]/ | ||||||
| Г г | Гайн | pronounced as /[ɢ~ʁ]/ | ||||||
| Ф ф | Фе | pronounced as /[ɸ]/ | ||||||
| К к | Каф | pronounced as /[q]/ | ||||||
| Кь кь | Kе | pronounced as /[k]/ | ||||||
| Гь гь | Ге | pronounced as /[ɡ]/ | ||||||
| Ң ң | Эң | pronounced as /[ŋ~ɴ]/ | ||||||
| Л л | Лам | pronounced as /[l~ɫ]/ | ||||||
| М м | Mим | pronounced as /[m]/ | ||||||
| Н н | Нун | pronounced as /[n]/ | ||||||
| О о | O o | pronounced as /[o]/ | ||||||
| Ө ө | Ө ө | pronounced as /[ø]/ | ||||||
| У у | У у | pronounced as /[u]/ | ||||||
| Ү ү | Ү ү | pronounced as /[y]/ | ||||||
| В в | Ве | pronounced as /[v~w]/ | ||||||
| Э э | Э э | pronounced as /[e]/ | ||||||
| Ы ы | I ı | I ı | [ɯ] | |||||
| И и | İ i | İ i | [i] | |||||
| Й й | Эй эй | pronounced as /[j]/ | ||||||
| Кыбачы | ||||||||