Dobrujan Tatar alphabet

The Dobrujan Tatar alphabet is the writing system of Dobrujan Tatar.^[1] Before 1956 only Perso-Arabic script was used and after 1956, Latin alphabet was also adopted.^[2][3][4]

The children in Romania learn Tatar with Latin alphabet in the school. Also in public they use Latin alphabet. Many Tatars, who migrated to Turkey, use the Latin-based Turkish alphabet or the Crimean Tatar alphabet.

Latin script

In 1 June 1956, Latin alphabet for Dobrujan Tatar was accepted^[2] and it was used in University of Bucharest, the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures.^[3] The alphabet is to found in a grammatic book of Dobrujan Tatar by University of Bucharest.^[5][6] This alphabet was redesigned after communist period.^[7] It was designed by some writers and Prof. Doctors, including the general secretary of UDTTMR.^[8]

Literary Tatar

Tatar spoken in Romania has two distinct facets existing, interweaving and forming together the literary Tatar language "edebiy Tatarşa". One of these aspects is the authentic Tatar called "calpı Tatarşa" or "calpaq Tatarşa" and the other is the academic Tatar language called "muwallimatşa".^[6]

• Academic Tatar language, means writing and pronouncing Arabic and Persian neologisms - occurring mostly in science, religion, literature, arts or politics - in their original form.

• Authentic Tatar language, means writing and pronouncing words, including those of Arabic and Persian origin, by strictly adapting them to the own phonetic system.

Naturalization

Naturalization is shifting the spelling of academic speech sounds to authentic sounds following the patterns below, where a greater-than sign indicates that one sound changes to another.^[6]

f > p
v > w
v > b
ç > ş
ç > j
h > (skip over)
h > k
h > y
h > w
ţ > s

Letters

There is a total of 10 letters used to represent determinant sounds of which 9 mark authentic determinant sounds: a, e, ı, ĭ, i, o, ö, u, ü while the letter á is used for an academic vowel. The writing system registers authentic consonants with 19 letters: b, c, ç, d, g, ğ, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, p, q, r, s, ş, t, z and has four signs standing for the academic consonants: f, h, ţ, v. There are also two authentic semivowels: y, w. An old authentic Turkic consonant, the sound /ç/ represented by the letter ⟨Ç⟩ is rarely heard because authentic speakers of Tatar spoken in Dobruja spell it /ş/ as letter ⟨Ş⟩. As the written language most often follows the spoken language shifting ⟨Ç⟩ to ⟨Ş⟩, the result is that in Tatar spoken in Romania letter ⟨Ç⟩ and sound /ç/ are often treated as academic.^[6]

Pronunciation

Latin character	Name	Sound description and pronunciation
A a	a	This letter represents the low unrounded RTR or hard vowel /ɑ/ as in ana [ɑṉɑ] 'mother'.
Á á	á	This letter represents the near-low unrounded ATR or soft vowel not belonging to authentic Tatar language /æ/ as in sáát [s̶ææt̶] 'hour', 'clock'. The phoneme, that is, the sound that determines the meaning of the word, is only found in the words "sár" and "şáş". Apart from these, in words such as "had" or "hal" and their derivatives, after the h sounds are dropped, the a sounds become lower and become "had" → "ád" or "hal" → "ál". However, the á sounds in these words are not phonemes, but they are only a sounds with a reading sign. When the rule of vowel harmony, which is one of the basic laws of Turkic dialects, shows its effect on words taken from foreign languages during speech, example they are called "ádem" or "álem", but their meaning does not change even if they say "adem" or "alem". In this case, the letter á may not be used. The same is true for the Tatar compound words "alıp kelmek" → "ákelmek" / "akelmek" or "alıp ketmek" → "áketmek" / "aketmek".[9] Also used for indicate that the consonant before á is palatalised, wich occurs only in Arabic and Persian loanwords, like in "lále".[3]
B b	be	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiced bilabial stop /ḇ/ as in bal [ḇaḻ] 'honey' and the soft voiced bilabial stop /b̶/ as in bel [b̶el̶] 'waist'.
C c	ce	The letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiced palato-alveolar affricate/ḏ͡ʒ̱/ as in car [ḏ͡ʒ̱ɑṟ] 'abyss' and the soft voiced palato-alveolar affricate/d̶͡ʒ̶/ as in cer [d̶͡ʒ̶er̶] 'place', 'ground'.
Ç ç	çe	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless palato-alveolar affricate /ṯ͡ʃ̱/ as in ça-ça [ṯ͡ʃ̱ɑṯ͡ʃ̱ɑ] 'cha-cha' and the soft voiceless palato-alveolar affricate /t̶͡ʃ̶/ as in çeçen [t̶͡ʃ̶et̶͡ʃ̶en̶] 'chechen'. Common to Turkic languages, these sounds are quasi non-existent in Tatar spoken in Dobruja where they have shifted from «Ç» to «Ş». Therefore, although authentic, these sounds could be equally treated as academic.
D d	de	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: hard voiced dental stop /ḏ/ as in dal [ḏɑḻ] 'branch' and the soft voiced dental stop/d̶/ as in deren [d̶er̶en̶] 'deep'.
E e	e	This letter represents the mid unrounded ATR or soft vowel /e/ as in sen [s̶en̶] 'you'.
F f	fe	This letter occurs only in loanwords for it represents sounds that do not belong to authentic Tatar language. In authentic reading the foreign sound is naturalized and the letter reads as letter «P». In academic reading it represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless labio-dental fricative [f̱] as in fal [f̱ɑḻ] 'destiny' and the soft voiceless labio-dental fricative [f̶] as in fen [f̶en̶] 'technics'.
G g	ge	This letter represents the soft voiced palatal stop [ɟ̱] as in gene [ɟ̱en̶e] 'again', 'still' with its allophone the soft voiced velar stop /g/ as in gül [gu̶l̶] 'flower', 'rose'.
Ğ ğ	ğa	This letter represents the hard voiced uvular fricative /ʁ/ as in ğam [ʁɑm] 'grief'.
H h	he	Representing sounds that do not belong to authentic Tatar language this letter occurs only in loanwords. Most often, in authentic reading, when it reproduces the Arabic or Persian ه‍ it is a silent letter or, if it is located at the beginning or end of the word, the sound is usually naturalized and the letter reads as letter «Q». When it reproduces ح or خ the sound is usually naturalized as /q/. In academic reading it represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless glottal fricative /h/ as in taht [ṯɑhṯ] 'throne' and the soft voiceless uvular fricative /χ/ as in heşt [χeʃ̶t̶] 'eight'.
I ı	ı	This letter represents the hight unrounded RTR or hard vowel /ɯ/ as in ışan [ɯʃ̱ɑṉ] 'mouse'. At the end of the word it is pronounced with half open mouth shifting through dilatation to mid unrounded RTR or hard /ɤ/, close to schwa, as in şılapşı [ʃ̱ɯḻɑp̱ʃ̱ɤ] 'trough'.
Ĭ ĭ	ĭ	This letter represents the hight unrounded half-advanced ATR or soft vowel /ɨ/ as in bĭr [b̶ɨr̶] 'one' is specific to Tatar. At the end of the word it is pronounced with half open mouth undergoing dilatation and becoming mid unrounded half-advanced ATR or soft /ə/, also known as schwa, as in tĭlĭ [t̶ɨl̶ə] 'his tongue'.
İ i	i	The letter represents the hight unrounded ATR or soft vowel /i/ as in biñ [b̶iŋ] 'thousand'.
J j	je	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiced palato-alveolar affricate /ʒ̱/ as in taj [ṯɑʒ̱] 'crown' and the soft voiced palato-alveolar affricate /ʒ̶/ as in bej [b̶eʒ̶] 'beige'.
K k	ke	This letter represents the soft voiceless palatal stop /c/ as in kel [cel̶] 'come!' and its allophone the soft voiceless velar stop /k/ as in köl [kɵl̶] 'lake'.
L l	le	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard alveolar lateral aproximant /ḻ/ as in bal [ḇɑḻ] 'honey' and the soft alveolar lateral aproximant /l̶/ as in bel [b̶el̶] 'waist'.
M m	me	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard bilabial nasal /m̱/ as in mağa [m̱ɑʁɑ] 'to me' and the soft bilabial nasal /m̶/ as in men [m̶en̶] 'I'.
N n	ne	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard dental nasal /ṉ/ as in ana [ɑṉɑ] 'mother' and the soft dental nasal /n̶/ as in ne [n̶e] 'what'.
Ñ ñ	ñe	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard uvular nasal /ɴ/ as in añ [ɑɴ] 'conscience' and the soft velar nasal /ŋ/ as in eñ [eŋ] 'most'.
O o	o	This letter represents the mid rounded RTR or hard vowel /o/ as in bo [ḇo] 'this'.
Ö ö	ö	This letter represents the mid rounded half-advanced ATR or soft vowel /ɵ/ as in tör [t̶ɵr̶] 'background'.
P p	pe	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless bilabial stap /p̱/ as in cap [ḏ͡ʒ̱ɑp̱] 'close!' and the soft voiceless bilabial stop /p̶/ as in cep [d̶͡ʒ̶ep̶] 'pocket'.
Q q	qa	This letter represents the hard voiceless uvular stop /q/ as in qal [qɑḻ] 'stay!'.
R r	re	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard alveolar trill /ṟ/ as in tar [ṯɑṟ] 'narrow' and the soft alveolar trill /r̶/ as in ter [t̶er̶] 'sweat'.
S s	se	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless alveolar fricative /s̱/ as in sal [s̱ɑḻ] 'raft' and the soft voiceless alveolar fricative /s̶/ as in sel [s̶el̶] 'flood'.
Ş ş	şe	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless palato-alveolar fricative /ʃ̱/ as in şaş [ʃ̱ɑʃ̱] 'spread!' and the soft voiceless palato-alveolar fricative /ʃ̶/ as in şeş [ʃ̶eʃ̶] 'untie'.
T t	te	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless dental stop /ṯ/ as in tar [ṯɑṟ] 'tight', 'narrow' and the soft voiceless dental stop /t̶/ as in ter [t̶er̶] 'sweat'.
Ţ ţ	ţe	This letter occurs only in loanwords for it represents sounds that do not belong to authentic Tatar spoken in Romania. In authentic reading the foreign sound is naturalized and the letter reads as «S». In academic it represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiceless alveolar affricate /t̠͡s̠/ as in ţar [t̠͡s̠ɑr̠] 'tsar' and the soft voiceless alveolar affricate /t̶͡s̶/ as in injekţiya [in̶ʒ̶ect̶͡s̶ij̠ɑ] 'injection'.
U u	u	This letter represents the hight rounded RTR or hard vowel /u/ as in un [uṉ] 'flour'.
Ü ü	ü	This letter represents the hight rounded half-advanced ATR or soft vowel /ʉ/ as in süt [s̶ʉt̶] 'milk'. In the vicinity of semivowel y, which occurs rarely, its articulation shifts to high rounded ATR or soft /y/, close to Turkish pronunciation, as in süymek [s̶yj̶m̶ec] 'to love'.
V v	ve	This letter occurs only in loanwords for it represents sounds that do not belong to authentic Tatar spoken in Romania. In authentic reading the foreign sound is naturalized and the letter reads sometimes as «W», sometimes as «B». In academic it represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiced labio-dental fricative /v̱/ as in vals [v̱ɑḻs̱] 'waltz' and the soft voiced labio-dental fricative /v̶/ as in ve [v̶e] 'and'.
W w	we	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard labio-velar semivowel /w̱/ as in taw [ṯɑw̱] 'forest', 'mountain' and the soft labio-velar semivowel /w̶/ as in tew [t̶ew̶] 'central', 'fundamental'.
Y y	ye	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard palatal semivowel /j̠/ as in tay [ṯɑj̠] 'foal' and the soft palatal semivowel /j̶/ as in yer [j̶er̶] 'place', 'ground'.
Z z	ze	This letter represents two distinctive consonantal sounds: the hard voiced alveolar fricative /ẕ/ as in taz [ṯɑẕ] 'bald' and the soft voiced alveolar fricative /z̶/ as in tez [t̶ez̶] 'quick'.

Notes

• The letters Á á and Ţ ţ are not well-known.
• The letters Ğ ğ, Ĭ ĭ, Q q or W w were outcluded by some writers.
• The letter Ï ï was used instead of Ĭ ĭ,^[10] also Î î instead of I ı and/or Ĭ ĭ.
• The letters  â and Û û were used by some writers for palatalization of the consonant before the vowel.^[9]
• Due to print (or similar) problems, some letters did appear as Ǧ ǧ, Ň ň, Șș, Ț ț.

Old version

This version was used in Tatar language section of University of Bucharest the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, between 1957-1977. Some writers, like Taner Murat, did also use this orthography.

A a	Á á	B b	Ç ç	D d	E e	F f	G g	Ğ ğ
H h	I i	Î î	Í í	J j	K k	L l	M m	N n
Ñ ñ	O o	Ó ó	P p	R r	S s	Ş ş	T t	Ţ ţ
U u	Ú ú	V v	W w	Y y	Z z

• Some writers, including Taner Murat, did outclude the letter Ţ ţ.

Arabic script

Arabic script for Turkic languages is used since the 10th century by Kara Khanids. Dobrujan Tatar uses a variant of Chagatai alphabet. Nowadays, the writer Taner Murat, along with some others, revived the Arabic script, he did use it in some translations and did also make transliterations to Arabic script. He did marked the vowels all the time by Arabic diacritics,^[11] like Xiao'erjing.

Letters

Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial	Latin
ﺍ	ﺎ	—		a, á
ﺏ	ﺐ	ﺒ	ﺑ	b
ﭖ	ﭗ	ﭙ	ﭘ	p
ﺕ	ﺖ	ﺘ	ﺗ	t
ﺝ	ﺞ	ﺠ	ﺟ	c
ﭺ	ﭻ	ﭽ	ﭼ	ç
ﺩ	ﺪ	—		d
ﺭ	ﺮ	—		r
ﺯ	ﺰ	—		z
ﮊ	ﮋ	—		j
ﺱ	ﺲ	ﺴ	ﺳ	s
ﺵ	ﺶ	ﺸ	ﺷ	ş
ﻍ	ﻎ	ﻐ	ﻏ	ğ
ﻑ	ﻒ	ﻔ	ﻓ	f
ﻕ	ﻖ	ﻘ	ﻗ	q
ﻙ	ﻚ	ﻜ	ﻛ	k
ﮒ	ﮓ	ﮕ	ﮔ	g
ﯓ	ﯔ	ﯖ	ﯕ	ñ
ﻝ	ﻞ	ﻠ	ﻟ	l
ﻡ	ﻢ	ﻤ	ﻣ	m
ﻥ	ﻦ	ﻨ	ﻧ	n
ﻭ	ﻮ	—		v, w
ﻩ	ﻪ	ﻬ	ﻫ	h
ى	ﻰ	ﻴ	ﻳ	y
ء	—			-

Additional letters

The letters in this list are either lesser used alternatives or they are common Arabic or Persian letters that are exclusively used for writing loan words.

Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial	Latin
ث	ـث	ـثـ	ثـ	s
ح	ـح	ـحـ	حـ	h, -
خ	ـخ	ـخـ	خـ	k, h, -
ذ	ـذ	—		z
ص	ـص	ـصـ	صـ	s
ض	ـض	ـضـ	ضـ	d, z
ط	ـط	ـطـ	طـ	t
ظ	ـظ	ـظـ	ظـ	z
ع	ـع	ـعـ	عـ	-

Vowels

Vowels as a first letter of the word

Character	Vowel
اَ / ءَ	a, á, e
اِ / ءِ	ı, ĭ, i
اُ / ءُ	o, u, ö, ü

Vowels in middle and end of the word

Character	Vowel
ـَا / ـَى / ـَو / ـٰ	a, á
ـَ	e, a, á
ـِ	ı, ĭ, i
ـُ	o, u, ö, ü

Long vowels

Character	Long vowel
ـَآ	aa, ee
ـَ / ـَا / ـٰ	aá, áa, áá
ـِىٓ	ii
ـِى	iy
ـُو	uw, üw

Tanwin

Character	Vowel
ـً	an/añ, en/eñ, -
ـٍ	ın/ıñ, ĭn/ĭñ, in/iñ, -
ـٌ	un/uñ, ün/ün, -

Other scripts

Some scripts have Dobrujan Tatar versions, but are actually not used or were just designed to create connection with Turkic languages.

Cyrillic

There is a Cyrillic alphabet designed for Dobrujan Tatar.^[4] There are one^[12] or two^[13] books in Cyrillic script, it appears also in some translated books with transliteration.^[4]

Cyrillic	Name	Latin	Notes
А а	а	A a
Ә ә	ә	Á á
Б б	бэ	B b
В в	вэ	V v
Г г	гэ	G g/Ğ ğ	There is an alternative letter for "Ğ ğ": Ғ ғ
Д д	дэ	D d
Э э	э	E e
Ж ж	жэ	J j
Җ җ	җэ	C c
З з	зэ	Z z
И и	и	İ i
Й й	йэ	Y y
К к	кэ	K k/Q q	There is an alternative letter for "Q q": Қ қ
Л л	лэ	L l
М м	мэ	M m
Н н	нэ	N n
Ң ң	ңэ	Ñ ñ
О о	о	O o
Ө ө	ө	Ö ö
П п	пэ	P p
Р р	рэ	R r
С с	сэ	S s
Т т	тэ	T t
У у	у	U u
Ү ү	ү	Ü ü
Ў ў	ўэ	W w
Ф ф	фэ	F f
Х х	хэ	H h
Ц ц	цэ	Ts ts/Ţ ţ	Is used when "t" follows "s" or for "Ţ ţ".
Ч ч	чэ	Ç ç
Ш ш	шэ	Ş ş
Щ щ	щэ	Şç şç	Is used when "ş" follows "ç".
Ы ы	ы	I ı
І і	і	Ĭ ĭ
Ю ю	ю	Yu yu, Yü yü	Is used when "y" follows "u" or "ü".
Я я	я	Ya ya	Is used when "y" follows "a".

Old Turkic script

The Old Turkic script was used in one book, but like Cyrillic script, it appears also in some translated books with transliteration.^[4]

Vowels

Orkhon		Yenisei variants	Trans- literation	IPA
Image	Text
	𐰀‎	𐰁 𐰂‎	a, ä	/ɑ/, /æ/
	𐰃‎	𐰄‎	ı, i	/ɯ/, /i/
	𐰅‎	𐰅‎	e	/e/
	𐰆‎	𐰆‎	o, u	/o/, /u/
	𐰇‎	𐰈‎	ö, ü	/ø/, /y/

Consonants

Synharmonic sets

Back vowel					Front vowel
Orkhon		Yenisei variant	Trans- literation	IPA	Orkhon		Yenisei variant	Trans- literation	IPA
Image	Text				Image	Text
	𐰉‎	𐰊‎	b¹	/b/		𐰋‎	𐰌‎	b²	/b/
	𐰑‎	𐰒‎	d¹	/d/		𐰓‎		d²	/d/
	𐰍‎	𐰎‎	g¹	/ɡ/		𐰏‎	𐰐‎	g²	/ɡ/
	𐰞‎	𐰟‎	l¹	/l/		𐰠‎		l²	/l/
	𐰣‎		n¹	/n/		𐰤‎	𐰥‎	n²	/n/
	𐰺‎	𐰻‎	r¹	/r/		𐰼‎		r²	/r/
	𐰽‎		s¹	/s/		𐰾‎		s²	/s/
	𐱃‎	𐱄‎	t¹	/t/		𐱅‎	𐱆‎	t²	/t/
	𐰖‎	𐰗‎	j¹	/j/		𐰘‎	𐰙‎	j²	/j/
	𐰴‎	𐰵‎	q	/q/		𐰚‎	𐰛‎	k	/k/
	𐰸‎	𐰹‎	oq, uq, qo, qu, q	/oq/, /uq/, /qo/, /qu/, /q/		𐰜‎	𐰝‎	ök, ük, kö, kü, k	/øk/, /yk/, /kø/, /ky/, /k/

Other consonantal signs

Orkhon		Yenisei variants	Trans- literation	IPA
Image	Text
	𐰲‎	𐰳‎	č	/tʃ/
	𐰢‎		m	/m/
	𐰯‎		p	/p/
	𐱁‎	𐱀 𐱂‎[14]	š	/ʃ/
	𐰔‎	𐰕‎	z	/z/
	𐰭‎	𐰮 𐰬‎	ñ	/ŋ/
	𐰱‎		ič, či, č	/itʃ/, /tʃi/, /tʃ/
	𐰶‎	𐰷‎	ıq, qı, q	/ɯq/, /qɯ/, /q/
	𐰨‎	𐰩‎	-nč	/ntʃ/
	𐰪‎	𐰫‎	-nj	/ɲ/
	𐰡‎		-lt	/lt/, /ld/
	𐰦‎	𐰧‎	-nt	/nt/, /nd/
	𐰿‎		aš	/aʃ/
	𐱇‎		ot, ut[15]	/ot/, /ut/
	𐱈‎		baš[16]	/baʃ/

A colon-like symbol (U+205A ⁚ TWO DOT PUNCTUATION) is sometimes used as a word separator.^[17] In some cases a ring (U+2E30 ⸰ RING POINT) is used instead.^[17]

A reading example (right to left): 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃 transliterated t²ñr²i, this spells the name of the Turkic sky god, Täñri (/tæŋri/).

References