Lezgin alphabets

Alphabets used to write the Lezgin language

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The Lezgin language has been written in several different alphabets over the course of its history. These alphabets have been based on three scripts: Perso-Arabic script, Latin script, and Cyrillic script.

## History

[edit]

Lezgin Cyrillic alphabet of 1911 1871 Lezgin alphabet

Until 1928, Lezgin was written in Arabic script, which was taught in religious schools. In the early 1920s, it was used in a few secular textbooks.

In parallel with the Arabic alphabet, as alphabet based on Cyrillic compiled by Baron Peter von Uslar in the 1860s was used. In 1911, a slightly modified version of this alphabet was published as a primer[1] used in secular schools.

In 1928, under the Soviet Union's process of Romanization, a Lezgin Latin alphabet was created and this was altered in 1932.

In 1938, as with most other Soviet languages, a new Cyrillic alphabet was created for Lezgin. Changes after its introduction include adding the letter Ё ё and replacing Уӏ уӏ with Уь уь. This alphabet is still used in various publications.

## Lezgin Arabic alphabet

[edit]

The Lezgin Perso-Arabic alphabet was as follows:

آ  | ب  | چ  | ج  | ڃ  | د  | اه  | ا

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ف  | گ  | غ  | ھ  | اى  | اي  | ک  | ل
م  | ن  | اۊ  | پ  | ڢ  | ۊ  | ر  | س
ص  | ش  | ت  | ط  | او  | و  | خ  | ݤ
څ  | ز  | ژ  | ڗ

## Lezgin Latin alphabet 1928–32

[edit]

The Latin alphabet of 1928–1932's displayed all phonemes in contrast to the current alphabet but did not differentiate aspirated and non-aspirated consonants (k and kʰ, p-pʰ, t-tʰ, q-qʰ, t͡ʃ-t͡ʃʰ, and t͡s-t͡sʰ). The alphabet was as follows:

а  | b  | c  | сс  | ꞓ  | ç  | d  | е

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ə  | f  | g  | ƣ  | h  | i  | j  | k
kk  | ⱪ  | l  | m  | n  | о  | ɵ  | p
pp  |  | q  | ꝗ  | r  | s  | ş  | t
tt  |  | u  | v  | x  | ҳ  | ӿ  | y
z  | ƶ  | ~~s~~ | ~~ss~~ | ⱬ  | '

## Lezgin Latin alphabet 1932–38

[edit]

The first Latin alphabet was changed in 1932. A comparison of the two alphabets follows:

Lezgin Latin alphabets (1928–1938)[2][3]

## Lezgin Cyrillic alphabet

[edit]

There are 54 consonants in Lezgin. Aspiration is not normally indicated in the orthography, despite the fact that it is phonemic. The current Lezgin Cyrillic alphabet is as follows:[4]

А | Б | В | Г | Гъ | Гь | Д | Е | Ё | Ж | З | И | Й | К | Къ | Кь | КI | Л | М | Н | О | П | ПI | Р | С | Т | ТI | У | Уь | Ф | Х | Хъ | Хь | Ц | ЦI | Ч | Чӏ | Ш | Ъ | Ы | Ь | Э | Ю | Я

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а | б | в | г | гъ | гь | д | е | ё | ж | з | и | й | к | къ | кь | кl | л | м | н | о | п | пl | р | с | т | тl | у | уь | ф | х | хъ | хь | ц | цl | ч | чl | ш | ъ | ы | ь | э | ю | я
А а  | Б б  | В в  | Г г  | Гъ гъ  | Гь гь  | Д д  | Е е

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Ё ё  | Ж ж  | З з  | И и  | Й й  | К к  | Къ къ  | Кь кь
КI кl  | Л л  | М м  | Н н  | О о  | П п  | ПI пl  | Р р
С с  | Т т  | ТI тl  | У у  | Уь уь  | Ф ф  | Х х  | Хъ хъ
Хь хь  | Ц ц  | ЦI цl  | Ч ч  | ЧI чl  | Ш ш  | Ъ ъ
Ы ы  | Ь ь  | Э э  | Ю ю  | Я я

Notes:

* щ is used only in words borrowed from Russian language but is pronounced ш
* ё is used in only one word, ёъ (Lezgian pronunciation: [joʔ])
* ы ([ə]) is very common in Lezgin dialects
* ь (the soft sign) is only used in Lezgin appended to other letters to form different phonemes (гь, хь, уь, кь). Lezgin has no soft phonemes and the ь is not used to denote palatalization, even in borrowed words (where it is not written; e.g., автомобил, мултфилм).

## Comparative table of Lezgin alphabets

[edit]

Arabic  | Latin
1932–1938  | Cyrillic  | IPA

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آ  | A a  | А а  | a
ب  | B в  | Б б  | b
و  | V v  | В в  | w/v
گ  | G g  | Г г  | g
غ  | Ƣ ƣ  | Гъ гъ  | ʁ
ھ  | H h  | Гь гь  | h
د  | D d  | Д д  | d
اه  | E e  | Е е  | je/e
\-  | \-  | Ё ё  | jo
ژ  | Ƶ ƶ  | Ж ж  | ʒ
ز  | Z z  | З з  | z
اى  | I i  | И и  | i
ي  | J j  | Й й  | j
ک  | K k  | К к  | kʰ/k
ڠ  | Q q  | Къ къ  | q
ۊ  | Ꝗ ꝗ  | Кь кь  | q'
گ  | Ⱪ ⱪ  | Кӏ кӏ  | k'
ل  | L l  | Л л  | l
م  | M m  | М м  | m
ن  | N n  | Н н  | n
او  | O o  | О о  | o
پ  | P p  | П п  | pʰ/p
ڢ  |  | Пӏ пӏ  | p'
ر  | R r  | Р р  | r
س  | S s  | С с  | s
ت  | T t  | Т т  | tʰ/t
ط  | T̨ t̨  | Тӏ тӏ  | t'
او  | U u  | У у  | u
اۊ  | Y y  | Уь уь  | y
ف  | F f  | Ф ф  | f
خ  | X x  | Х х  | χ
څ  | Ӿ ӿ  | Хъ хъ  | qʰ
ݤ  | Ҳ ҳ  | Хь хь  | x
ص  | S̷ s̷  | Ц ц  | t͡sʰ/t͡s
ڗ  | Ⱬ ⱬ  | Цӏ цӏ  | t͡s'
چ  | C c  | Ч ч  | t͡ʃʰ/t͡ʃ
ج  | Ç ç  | Чӏ чӏ  | t͡ʃ'
ش  | Ş ş  | Ш ш  | ʃ
\-  | \-  | Щ щ  | \-
\-  | \-  | ъ  | ʔ
\-  | \-  | Ы ы  | \-
\-  | \-  | ь  | \-
اه  | E e  | Э э  | e
\-  | \-  | Ю ю  | ju/y
\-  | \-  | Я я  | ja/æ

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Ќу̇ре ჭалан елифарни аҳпа гw æниз қелдаj. Tiflis, 1911.
2. ^ Alqcdar a.q. z̨iji lezgi ilifar-ni sifte қeldaj ktab. Mahac-qala, 1928.
3. ^ Alqadarskij A.Q. Bukvar. Mahacqala, 1937.
4. ^ Талибов Б. Б., Гаджиев М. М. Лезгинско-русский словарь. Moscow, 1966.

## External links

[edit]

* Thomas T. Pedersen. "Transliteration of Lezgin".
* Non-Slavic Languages in Cyrillic Script (including Uslar Cyrillic) from ALA-LC Romanization Tables: Transliteration Schemes for Non-Roman Scripts (Library of Congress)

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Cyrillic script

Italics indicate that the language no longer uses Cyrillic

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Letters of the Cyrillic script

Primary letters|

* Аа
* Бб
* Вв
* Гг
* Дд
* Ее
* Жж
* Зз
* Ии
* Іі
* Йй
* Кк
* Лл
* Мм
* Нн
* Оо
* Пп
* Рр
* Сс
* Тт
* Уу
* Фф
* Хх
* Цц
* Чч
* Шш
* Щщ
* Ъъ
* Ыы
* Ьь
* Ээ
* Юю
* Яя

Other Slavic letters|

* Ґґ
* Ђђ
* Ѓѓ
* Ёё
* Єє
* З́з́
* Ѕѕ
* Її
* Јј
* Љљ
* Њњ
* С́с́
* Ћћ
* Ќќ
* Ўў
* Џџ

Non-Slavic letters|

* А̊
* А̃
* Ӓ̄
* Ӕ
* Ә
* Ә̃
* Ӛ
* В̌
* Ԝ
* Г̌
* Г̊
* Ҕ
* Ғ
* Ӻ
* Ғ̌
* Ғ̊
* Ӷ/Г̡
* Д́
* Д̌
* Д̆
* Ӗ
* Е̃
* Ё̄
* Є̈
* Ԑ
* Җ
* Ӝ
* Ӂ
* Ҙ
* Ӟ
* З̌
* Ӡ
* И̃
* И̇
* Ҋ
* Қ
* Ӄ
* Ҡ
* Ҟ
* Ҝ
* К̊
* Қ̊
* Ԛ
* Л́
* Ӆ
* Ԯ
* Ԓ
* Ӎ
* ᵸ
* Н́
* Ӊ
* Ԩ
* Ң
* Ӈ
* Ҥ
* О̆
* О̃
* Ө
* Ө̄
* Ө̆
* Ӫ
* Ԥ
* Р̌
* Ҏ
* С̌
* Ҫ
* Т́
* Т̌
* Ҭ
* Ᲊ
* Ӱӱ
* У̃
* Ӳ
* У̊
* Ұ
* Ү
* Ү́
* Х̑
* Х̌
* Ҳ
* Ӽ
* Х̊
* Ӿ
* Ӿ̊
* Һ
* Ԧ
* Ҵ
* Ҷ
* Ҷ̣
* Ӵ
* Ӌ
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* Ч̇
* Ч̣
* Ҽ
* Ҿ
* Ы̆
* Ы̄
* Ӹ
* Ҍ
* Ҩ
* Э̆
* Э̄
* Э̇
* Ӭ
* Ӭ́
* Ӭ̄
* Ю̆
* Ю̈
* Ю̄
* Я̆
* Я̄
* Ӏ

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* Ꙣꙣ
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Non-Slavic archaic letters|

* А̨
* Б̣
* Г̧
* Г̄
* Г̆г̆
* Д̨
* Ԁ
* Ԃ
* Ꚁ
*   * Ꚅ
* Ԅ
* Ԇ
* Ꚉ
* Ԫ
* Ꚃ
* Ꚕꚕ
* Ј̵
* К̀
* К̄
* К̂
* Ԟ
*   * Ԡ
* Ԉ
* Ԕ
* Ԋ
* Ԣ
*   * Ҧ
*   * Ԗ
* Ԍ
* Ԏ
* Ꚋ
* Ꚍ
* Х̾
* Ꚏ
* Ꚑ
* Ԭ
* Ꚓ
* Ꚗ
* Ԙ
* Ꙟ

Archaic diacritics|

* palatalization mark (◌҄)
* pokrytie (◌҇)
* titlo (◌҃)

Combinations of Cyrillic letters|

* Digraphs
* Multigraphs

* Glagolitic script
* Cyrillic numerals
* Scientific transliteration of Cyrillic

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