Turkmen alphabet

The Turkmen alphabet (Turkmen: Türkmen elipbiýi) is a variant of the Latin alphabet used for official purposes in Turkmenistan.

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 in 1993, 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 in 1999. 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).

Evolution
Latin Cyrillic,
1940–1993		 Arabic IPA
Current,
since 1999		 1993–1999 1992
(project)		 1929–1940 Correspondence in
Common Turkic Alphabet		 Turkmen SSR
(1923–1929)		 Iran and
Afghanistan
A a А а آ عآ [ɑ]
B b Б б ب [b]
Ç ç C c Ç ç Ч ч چ [tʃ]
D d Д д د [d̪]
E e initial Э э
non-init. Е е		 ٱ اِ / ه [e]
Ä ä Ea ea Ә ә Ә ә أ [æ]
F f Ф ф ف [ɸ]
G g G/Ğ g/ğ Г г گق غ گ [g~ɢ~ʁ]
H h H/X h/x Х х خخ ه ح [h~x]
I i İ i И и ىاى [i]
J j Ç ç C c Җ җ ج [dʒ]
Ž ž £ ſ Jh jh Ƶ ƶ J j Ж ж ژ [ʒ]
K k K/Q k/q К к ک قق ك [k~q]
L l Л л ل [l~ɫ]
M m М м م [m]
N n Н н ن [n]
Ň ň Ñ ñ Ng ng Ŋ ŋ Ñ ñ Ң ң ڭنگ [ŋ~ɴ]
O o О о اواوْ / وْ [o]
Ö ö Q q Ө ө Ö ö Ө ө اۇاؤ / ؤ [ø]
P p П п پ [p]
R r Р р ر [ɾ~r]
S s С с ث س ص [θ]
Ş ş $ ¢ Sh sh Ş ş Ш ш ش [ʃ]
T t Т т ط تت [t̪]
U u У у اواو / ُو [u]
Ü ü V v Y y Ü ü Ү ү اۇاۆ / ۆ [y]
W w V v В в و [β]
Y y X x Ь ь I ı Ы ы ىایٛ [ɯ]
Ý ý ¥ ÿ Y y J j Y y Й й ﻳی [j]
Z z З з ظ ض ذ ز [ð]

Sample text (Article 1 of the UDHR)
  • Hemme adamlar öz mertebesi we hukuklary boýunça deň ýagdaýda dünýä inýärler. Olara aň hem wyždan berlendir we olar bir-birleri bilen doganlyk ruhundaky garaýyşda bolmalydyrlar. (Latin 1999–present)
  • Hemme adamlar öz mertebesi we hukuklary boÿunça deñ ÿagdaÿda dünÿä inÿärler. Olara añ hem wyſdan berlendir we olar bir-birleri bilen doganlyk ruhundaky garaÿy¢da bolmalydyrlar. (Latin 1993–1999)
  • Hemme adamlar qz mertebesi we hukuklarx boyunca deng yagdayda dvnyea inyearler. Olara ang hem wxjhdan berlendir we olar bir-birleri bilen doganlxk ruhundakx garayxshda bolmalxdxrlar. (Latin 1992–1993)
  • Хемме адамлар өз мертебеси ве хукуклары боюнча дең ягдайда дүнйә инйәрлер. Олара аң хем выждан берлендир ве олар бир-бирлери билен доганлык рухундакы гарайышда болмалыдырлар. (Cyrillic)
  • Hemme adamlar өz mertebesi ve hukuklarь bojunca deŋ jagdajda dynjә injәrler. Olara aŋ hem vьƶdan berlendir ve olar bir-birleri bilen doganlьk ruhundakь garajьşda bolmalьdьrlar. (Latin 1927–1940)
  • Hemme adamlar öz mertebesi ve xuquqları boyunça deñ yağdayda dünyə inyərler. Olara añ hem vıjdan berlendir ve olar bir-birleri bilen doğanlıq ruxundaqı ğarayışda bolmalıdırlar. (Common Turkic Alphabet)
  • [he̞mːe̞ ɑdɑmɫɑɾ ø̞ð me̞ɾt̪e̞be̞θi βe̞ χuquqɫɑɾɯ bo̞jund͡ʒɑ d̪e̞ŋ jaʁd̪ɑjd̪ɑ d̪ynjæ injæɾle̞ɾ ‖ o̞ɫɑɾɑ ɑɴ he̞m βɯʒd̪ɑn be̞ɾle̞nd̪iɾ βe̞ o̞ɫɑɾ biɾbiɾle̞ɾi bile̞n d̪o̞ʁɑnɫɯq ruχund̪ɑqɯ ɢɑɾɑjɯʃd̪ɑ bo̞ɫmɑɫɯd̪ɯɾɫɑɾ ‖] (IPA transcription)

Letter names and pronunciation
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 /ɯ, ɯː/
L, l el /l/ Ý, ý ýe /j/
M, m em /m/ Z, z ze /ð, z/

See also
  • Turkmen Braille

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
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