Crimean Tatar alphabet


For the modern Crimean Tatar language, the Latin and the Cyrillic alphabets are used. The Latin script dominates on the Internet and the Cyrillic script in printed productions. Historically, the Arabic script was also used.

History

The Arabic Script

Crimean Tatars used the Arabic script from 16th century to 1928 when it was replaced with the Latin alphabet based on Yañalif. The Crimean variant contained a couple of modified Arabic letters.
1 — The letter ﻙ was often used in place of ﮒ and ﯓ.

The Latin Alphabet

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, in letters Ь ь, Ƣ ƣ, N̡ ᶇ, Ɵ ɵ, X x, Ƶ ƶ, I i instead of modern  â, Ğ ğ, I ı, İ i, Ñ ñ, Ö ö, and Ü ü.
Alphabet of 1928Alphabet of 1997Alphabet of 1928Alphabet of 1997Alphabet of 1928Alphabet of 1997
A aA aЬ ьI ıR rR r
B ʙB bK kK kS sS s
C cÇ çQ qQ qŞ şŞ ş
Ç çC cƢ ƣĞ ğT tT t
D dD dL lL lU uU u
E eE eM mM mY yÜ ü
F fF fN nN nV vV v
G gG gN̡ ᶇÑ ñX xH h
H hH hO oO oZ zZ z
I iİ iƟ ɵÖ öƵ ƶJ j
J jY yP pP p

Modern alphabets

Latin

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.

Cyrillic

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.

Cyrillic to Latin transliteration