Kyrgyz alphabets

The Kyrgyz alphabets 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.

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. 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.

Correspondence chart

Correspondence chart of three Kyrgyz alphabets: the Kyrgyz Cyrillic alphabet used in Kyrgyzstan, the Kyrgyz Latin alphabet used 1928–1930 in Kyrgyzstan, and the Kyrgyz Arabic alphabet used in Xinjiang.

Cyrillic	Name (in Cyrillic)	Arabic	Transliteration	Latin (1928—1940)	IPA transcription
А а	а	ا	A a	A a	/ɑ/
Б б	бе	ب	B b	B в	/b/, [w], [v]
В в	ве	ۋ	V v	V v	/v/
Г г	ге	گ ع*	G g	G g, Ƣ ƣ	/ɡ/ [ʁ]
Д д	де	د	D d	D d	/d/
Е е	e	ه	E e	E e	/je/, /e/
Ё ё	ё	يو	Yo yo	Yo yo	/jo/
Ж ж	же	ج	J j	Ç ç (Ƶ ƶ from 1938)	/dʒ/
З з	зе	ز	Z z	Z z	/z/
И и	и	ى	I i	I i	/i/
Й й	ий	ي	Y y	J j	/j/
К к	кa	ك ق*	K k	K k, Q q	/k/, [q], [χ]
Л л	эл	ل	L l	L l	/l/
М м	эм	م	M m	M m	/m/
Н н	эн	ن	N n	N n	/n/
Ң ң	ың	ڭ	Ng ng	Ŋ ŋ	/ŋ/
О о	о	و	O o	O o	/o/
Ө ө	ө	ۅ	Ö ö	Ɵ ɵ	/ø/
П п	пe	پ	P p	P p	/p/
Р р	эр	ر	R r	R r	/r/
С с	эс	س	S s	S s	/s/
Т т	те	ت	T t	T t	/t/
У у	у	ۇ	U u	U u	/u/
Ү ү	ү	ۉ	Ü ü	Y y	/y/
Ф ф	эф	ف	F f	F f	/f/
Х х	ха	ح	Kh kh	X x (H h before 1938)	[χ] /k/
Ц ц	це	تس	Ts ts	Ts ts	/ts/
Ч ч	че	چ	Ch ch	C c	/tʃ/
Ш ш	ша	ش	Sh sh	Ş ş	/ʃ/
Щ щ	ща	-	Shch shch	Şc şc	/ʃtʃ/, /ʃː/
Ъ ъ	ажыратуу белгиси	-	”	-	(no phonemic value; only found in borrowings)
Ы ы	ы	ى	Y y	Ь ь	/ɯ/
Ь ь	ичкертүү белгиси	-	’	-	(no phonemic value; only found in borrowings)
Э э	э	ه	E e	E e	/e/
Ю ю	ю	يۋ	Yu yu	Yu yu	/ju/, /jy/
Я я	я	يا	Ya ya	Ya ya	/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

Kyrgyz in Cyrillic script	Kyrgyz in Arabic script	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.	باردىق ادامدار ۅز بەدەلىندە جانا ۇقۇقتارىندا ەركىن جانا تەڭ ۇقۇقتۇۇ بولۇپ جارالات.۔ الاردىن اڭ-سەزىمى مەنەن ابئيىرى بار جانا بئرى-بئرىنە بئر تۇۇعاندىق مامئلە قىلۇۇعا تئيىش.	Bardьq adamdar ɵz вedelinde çana uquqtarьnda erkin çana teŋ uquqtuu вolup çaralat. Alardьn aŋ-sezimi menen aвijiri вar çana вiri-birine вir tuugandьk 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]	ﮏ	ﮑ	ﮐ	ک
	g	[ɡ~ʁ]	ﮓ	ﮕ	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]				ۅ
	u	[u]				ۉ
	ü	[y]				ﯗ
	v	[v]				ﯞ
	s	[s]	ﺲ	ﺴ	ﺳ	ﺱ
	š / sh	[ʃ]	ﺶ	ﺸ	ﺷ	ﺵ
	d	[d]	ﺪ	ﺪ	ﺩ	ﺩ
	r	[r]	ﺮ	ﺮ	ﺭ	ﺭ
	z	[z]	ﺰ	ﺰ	ﺯ	ﺯ
	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

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)