Tatar alphabet. Tatar writing. Phonetic and lexical features of the Tatar language. Interesting Alphabet Facts

The Tatar alphabet took a long time to form. It is interesting because it has the roots of the Arabic script, Latin and Cyrillic, and its modern form was established by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in the early 2000s. Such a phenomenon as the alphabet of the Tatar people deserves attention.

How many vowels are in the Tatar alphabet?

Of the 39 letters of the modern Tatar alphabet, 10 are vowels. Unlike Russian vowels, they can be hard or soft.

For words of soft pronunciation, soft vowels are used, and vice versa. Hard and soft vowels do not occur together in native Tatar words. This is the so-called law of harmony.

If it happened that hard and soft vowels met in one word, then the word came from another language. Usually such borrowings are made from Persian or Arabic.

How many consonants are in the Tatar alphabet?

The consonants in the Tatar alphabet should have been equal to 29 by the method of deducting vowels, but this is not entirely true. There are 24 of them.

The fate of the consonant letters ğ and q is interesting, instead of which combinations of letters gb and kb are increasingly used in writing.

In the Tatar language, consonants are grouped into double sounds very rarely. Speech tends to open syllable. The last syllable in a word, even closed to a deaf consonant, must be pronounced clearly.

An interesting feature of the Tatar writing is that when possessive suffixes are added, the end of the word becomes voiced if it ended before with a dull sound, for example, “balyk” - “balygym”.

Outside the groups of consonants and vowels, there are, as in the Russian alphabet, b and b.

Phonetic and lexical features of the Tatar language. Interesting Alphabet Facts

Like any other language, Tatar has its own distinctive features.

1. The Tatars wrote down texts in Arabic script until 1927. In the pre-Islamic period, it was customary to use ancient Turkic runes.
2. But attempts to create their own writing systems have been made repeatedly before that: the suit imlya, yang imlya, the Ilminsky alphabet. In the 30s of the last century, the Arabic script was replaced by Yanalif.
3. There is no concept of gender in the Tatar language.
4. All nouns, except for the word "man", in the Tatar language answer the question "what?".
5. Special affixes help to understand where the plural is in nouns, where the action is directed, and even indicate the location of the object in the Tatar language.
6. In the Tatar language, there are many borrowings from Russian speech, for example, the word "fruit". From the flow of speech, many Russian speakers can draw conclusions about what is being said in the Tatar language.
7. Traditionally, the stress in the words of the Tatar language falls on the last syllable.
8. After the collapse of the USSR in 1999, Yanalif-2 was created. An attempt was made to return to the Latin alphabet. It was stopped by the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. At the local level, at the end of 2012, an act was adopted that states that the Cyrillic alphabet is the official version of the letter. However, since 2013, Tatars can use the Latin or Arabic alphabet in writing when they apply to government agencies.
9. Cyrillic was used by Tatars baptized in Orthodoxy back in the 19th century, who lived on the territory of the modern republic.
10. The Latin alphabet in writing is still customary to use among the Tatar diasporas of France, the Czech Republic, Australia and other countries.
11. Before the release of the Windows XP version, it was customary on Tatnet to use the so-called Kazanowitz, a variant of practical transcription. After the appearance of this OS, the Tatar layout was incorporated into subsequent programs.

Related videos

Tatar alphabet|Tatar letters

The Tatar alphabet consists of 39 letters.

Familiarization and practical tasks for the child.

A a Ә ә B b C c D d E e Ё ё F f Җ җ Z I i J y K k L l M m N Ң ң O o Ө ө P p R r S s T t U y Y Y F X X X Y Y Z Z H H W W W Y Y Y L

It includes 33 letters of the Russian alphabet and 6 additional letters: Ә ә, Ө ө, Ү ү, Җ җ, Ң ң, Һ һ
This order of letters in the alphabet was fixed in January 1997 by the Decree of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Sounds indicated by additional letters of the Tatar alphabet

Ә ә, Ө ө, Ү ү, Җ җ, Ң ң, Һ һ

[ә] = [æ] - this sound can otherwise be denoted as [''a], that is, very soft [a]. It is close to Russian ['a] in the words 'sit', 'look', 'row'. When pronouncing [''a], lower the tip of the tongue to the lower teeth, and you will get the sound [æ].

ani - mother

ati - dad

aida - aida

aiber - a thing

[ү] = [ü] - soft and more rounded ['y]. A sound close to it is found in the Russian words ‘bale’, ‘ditch’, ‘lute’. Say these words, giving ['u] even more rounding (curl your lips into a tube), and you will approximately get the sound you are looking for.

urdak - duck

үrnk sample

uzem - myself

uzek - center

[ө] = [ә:°] - this vowel is the most difficult for the Russian-speaking reader. The closest variant of the Tatar [ө] can be found in the words ‘maple’, ‘honey’, ‘Peter’. But in the Tatar language [ө] is short, and Russian [’o] is found only under stress. Try to pronounce these Russian words as shortly as possible and with more rounding, and you will be close to the desired sound. It looks like a common sound in English: bird, work. But the English sound lacks roundness.

өс - top

өstәl - table

[җ] - this sound is also often found in English, and in borrowings from English in Russian it is transmitted by the letter combination j: 'jumper', 'Jack'. Tatar borrowings are also drawn up: dzhilyan - җilәn, Jalil - Җәlil. The sound [zh] in Russian is always hard, but it is usually not difficult for a Russian-speaking reader to form a soft version from it. It should be noted that the hard [zh] is also uncharacteristic for the Tatar language, as ['zh] is for Russian. Therefore, mixing of these sounds, as a rule, does not occur.

qavap - answer

җan - soul

Yil - wind

җyr - song

[ң] - a nasal sound formed with the help of a small tongue. The closest in Russian can be considered the sound combination [ng] in the word ‘gong’ when pronouncing it through the nose. This sound is often found in French: jardin, bien, chien [òjeŋ]. It has been noticed that mastering this sound with the help of a consultant teacher is not at all difficult. And if you have the opportunity to check your pronunciation, do not neglect this opportunity.

yana - new

u - right

yangyr - rain

mon - chant

[h] = [h] - pharyngeal sound. It is formed in the pharynx and pronounced with a breath. There is a sound close to it in English: hat, hand, hare. In Russian, the closest sound can be considered [x] in the words robe, chill, if you pronounce it without a guttural overtone. It must be remembered that the Tatar [һ] is of more posterior, pharyngeal origin.

hava - air

һәykәl - a monument

һөnәr - profession

һөҗүm - attack

Lessons. Pronunciation of letters

Tatar alphabet spell with pronunciation

Tatar writing - writing of the Tatar language. Different writing systems were used at different times:
Arabic script - until 1927; a few Tatars of China still use the Arabic script
Latin - in 1927-1939; attempts were made to revive the Latin alphabet at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries; Tatars of Turkey, Finland, Czech Republic, Poland, USA and Australia use the Tatar Latin alphabet at present
Cyrillic - from 1939 to the present; baptized Tatars have been using the Cyrillic alphabet since the 19th century.

State Council Republic of Tatarstan adopted the law 1-ZRT "On the use of the Tatar language as the state language of the Republic of Tatarstan" (December 24, 2012.)
According to the law, the Cyrillic alphabet remains the official alphabet, however, the use of the Latin and Arabic alphabets when citizens apply to government bodies and the Latin alphabet for transliteration has become acceptable. Cyrillic alphabet is used in the official responses of state bodies, however, the possibility of duplicating the Cyrillic text in Latin or Arabic is provided.
The correspondence of Cyrillic letters to Latin and Arabic letters is specified in the appendix to the law.

The Tatar language belongs to. It speaks ok. 7 million people in Tatarstan (Russia), as well as in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, USA, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Finland and Estonia.

The Tatar language was used as a written language by several different alphabets: before the 9th century A.D. - Orkhon alphabet, then a variant up to 1920. Between 1920. and 1927. An adapted Arabic alphabet was used, known as Yana imla or a new spelling. After this, an adapted Cyrillic alphabet and some variants of the Latin alphabet were introduced.

Arabic alphabet for Tatar letters

This script was used by the Tatars from the 9th century until 1920.

Latin alphabet for the Tatar language (Jaŋalif)

Since 1927 to 1939 the Tatar language used an adapted Latin alphabet.

Cyrillic alphabet for the Tatar language (Tatar әlifbasy)

In 1939 Stalin introduced the Cyrillic alphabet.

Note:

• The Tatar language has a law of vowel harmony: front vowels: ә , uh(e), and, ө And ү , back vowels: A, s, th, O, y
• The stress always falls on the last syllable, for example, no shit/ni’ek/
• Yo, Zh, Ts and Shch - are found only in words borrowed from the Russian language. в = /v/ occurs only in Russian words doctor /vratɕ/
• f is also found in most words borrowed from the Russian language, but there are also words of Tatar origin: yafrak, kalfak

Latin alphabet for the Tatar language, adopted in 2001. (tatar alifbası)

In 2001 the government of Tatarstan decided to switch to an adapted Latin alphabet.

An example of text written in the Cyrillic alphabet

Barlyk keshelәr da azat һәm үz abruylary һәm hokuklary yagynnan tiң bupyp tuapar. Alarga akyl һәm vөҗdan birelgәn һәm bәr-bәrsenә carat tugannarcha mөnasәbәttә bulyrga tieshlәr.

An example of text written in the Latin alphabet (Zamanälif)

Barlıq keşelär dä azat häm üz abruyları häm xoquqları yağınnan tiñ bulıp tualar. Alarğa aqıl häm wöcdan birelgän häm ber-bersenä qarata tuğannarça mönasäbättä bulırğa tieşlär

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards each other in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Since the 10th century, the Arabic alphabet has been used for Tatar writing, with certain changes made in 1920. This was preceded by the Turkic runic and the Uighur script. In 1927, the Arabic alphabet was replaced by a Latinized one (the so-called Yanalif) with additional letters, and in 1939 there was a transition to the Cyrillic script, and again with six letters added to the Russian alphabet (but the goal of adequately displaying the rather complex Tatar phonetics is still was not achieved; we note that in addition to these six letters, four more were introduced into the Bashkir alphabet). Below is the modern Tatar alphabet based on Cyrillic.

Tatar alphabet

The order of the letters of the alphabet (to distinguish it from Russian) is “from top to bottom, from left to right”. Capital letters that do not exist in plain text words are not given, but their use is in no way excluded, for example, in words written in capitals only.

Since the end of the 80s of the XX century, scientists and public figures from the Tatar environment have made serious attempts to return the Latin basis in order to achieve a more accurate phonetic display of the language itself, on the one hand, and an obvious facilitation of the computerization and informatization of the language, on the other (without which it is difficult to enter the Internet, email exchange, DTP, book publishing, etc.). And the point is not only that the standard Cyrillic computer keyboard layout is not enough for typing in Tatar, but also that there are no corresponding additional letters in many Cyrillic fonts created for ANSI encoding. However, these aspirations were not positively assessed by various branches of the central government, and the issue gradually faded from the forefront.

Additional information about the Tatar language:

In Cyrillic Tatar alphabet

The main goal of the Tatar-Bashkir people, in terms of writing and language, should be a return to Arab alphabet. I will return to this topic inshaAllah more than once. For now, about something else.

The Tatar (Cyrillic) alphabet of the 1939 model was intended to promote 1. Russification of the Tatars, 2. move the Tatars away from the language of the Koran.

To solve the first goal, the Russian alphabet was applied in full with the addition of 6 additional letters. It was necessary to leave the entire Russian alphabet for the exact written use of Russian borrowings. At the same time, many Russian letters were not used in the Tatar letter (such as c), some were used contrary to Russian phonetics (a couple w-sh), and for some the application was "created" (letter V).

Here I will consider the option of reforming the Cyrillic Tatar alphabet, since today the former tasks of the alphabet are irrelevant, and the transition to the Latin alphabet is prohibited by law. (We'll talk about Arabica later).

The modern Cyrillic Tatar alphabet (variant of Kurbangaliev and Ramazanov, 1939, letter order - according to the decree of 1997):
Aa Әә Bb Vv Gg Dd Her Ёё Zhzh Җҗ Zz Ii Yi Kk Ll Mm Nn ​​Ңң Oo Өө Pp RR Ss Tt Uu Үү Ff Хх Һһ Shsh Shch Shch Ts ъ Yy ь Ee Yuyu Yaya
Total: 39 letters.

Comments:
1. In the Tatar language, "V" is pronounced as a short "U" ("ү") and spelling in the form "u" ("ү") is more consistent with Tatar phonetics. In particular, the words "vatan", "vali", etc. were previously written using the Arabic "u", which was more in line with Tatar phonetics.
That is, it is required to abandon the letter "B", translating its spelling into the letters "U", "Y"
2. In contrast to the Bashkir alphabet, in Tatar they did not use a separate letter for the "throat G" (a similar situation with the "throat K"). However, the Tatar language in mind b O More Arabization of sounds, in comparison with other Turkic languages, requires separate letters for the throat Г and К. to denote this with "hard vowels", which is not correct for soft syllables.
For example, in the word "garab" the writing of the letter "A" is required only to indicate the correct reading of the throat letter "G" and violates the law of synharmonism.
That is, you need to additionally enter the letters "Ғғ", "Ққ"
3. The letters "E", "E", "Yu", "I" in Russian are read at the beginning of the word as diphthongs (ye, yo, yu, ya), and in the middle of the word - as monophthongs with softening of the previous consonant.
In the Tatar language, everything is much more complicated: due to the presence of soft monophthong vowels "Ә, Ө, Y", the letters "Yu, Ya" in the middle of the word are not written at all. The letter "E" in the middle of a word is read as a monophthong, a soft pair of hard monophthong "E". The letters "E, Yu, Ya" at the beginning of the word are read as diphthongs, but such a letter does not show exactly how the diphthong is read, soft or hard. The letter "Yo" is absent from the Tatar script at all.
That is, it is required to simplify writing by excluding diphthongs, and leave the spelling at the beginning of words only with the help of monophthongs - similar to how it was done in the Tatar language when the Russian letter "Ё" was abandoned. In this case, "E" remains only as a monophthong, with an entry at the beginning of the word with the help of an additional "Y" ("Yel").
4. The letter "Zh" is used in the Tatar language only in one word "Zhumba". Thus, you can refuse to write the letter "Җ", using the letter "Ж". This will be done following the example of the pair "Ch" - "Shch": In the Tatar literary language, the sound-analogue of the Russian "Ch" is not used, however, this letter is used to write the sound-analogue of the Russian "Shch", and the letter "Sch" itself in Tatar letter is not used.
That is, you should abandon the letter "Җ" by changing its spelling to "Ж".
5. The letters "Sch" (see above) and "C" are not used in the Tatar script.
That is, the letters "SCH, C" should be derived from the alphabet
6. The letters "b, b" are used to a limited extent. The letter "Ъ" is used as an analogue of the Arabic "hamza" in Arabic borrowings, and should be replaced by a simpler sign " ` " Following the example of most Latin alphabets. The letter "b" is used to a limited extent due to the problems outlined in paragraphs 2 and 3. With the solution of these problems, the need for this letter disappears.
That is, you should remove the letters "b, b" from the alphabet, replacing "b" with the separation sign " ` ".

The reformed alphabet will look like this:
Aa Әә Bb Gg Ғғ Dd Her Zhzh Zz Ii Yi Kk Ққ Ll Mm Nn ​​Ңң Oo Өө Pp RR Ss Tt Uu YU Ff Xx Һһ Shsh Yy Ee
31 letters