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.
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 |
*Гъ (ğ), къ (q), нъ (ñ) and дж (c) are separate letters of the alphabet (digraphs).
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 |
*Ââ is not recognized as separate letter. It is used to show softness of a consonant followed by Aa (Яя).
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:
Cyrillic | Latin | English translation |
---|---|---|
Бутюн инсанлар сербестлик, менлик ве укъукъларда мусавий олып дюньягъа келелер. Олар акъыл ве видждан саибидирлер ве бири-бирилеринен къардашчасына мунасебетте булунмалыдырлар. | Bütün insanlar serbestlik, menlik ve uquqlarda musaviy olıp dünyağa keleler. Olar aqıl ve vicdan saibidirler ve biri-birilerinen qardaşçasına munasebette bulunmalıdırlar. | 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. |
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Three scripts are currently used for the Tatar language: Arabic, Cyrillic and Latin.
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Jaꞑalif, Yangalif or Yañalif is the first Latin alphabet used during the latinisation in the Soviet Union in the 1930s for the Turkic languages. It replaced the Yaña imlâ Arabic script-based alphabet in 1928, and was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet in 1938–1940. After their respective independence in 1991, several former Soviet states in Central Asia switched back to Latin script, with slight modifications to the original Jaꞑalif.
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