Azerbaijani

Azerbaijani
(آذربايجانجا ديلي /
Azərbaycan dili / Азәрбајҹан дили)

Azerbaijani is a Turkic language spoken by about 31 million people mainly in
Azerbaijani, Iran, Iraq, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Syria and Russia. There are
two main varieties of the language: North Azerbaijani and South Azerbaijani.
North Azerbaijani is spoken in Azerbaijan by about six million people, in
Armenia by about 160,000 people, in Georgia by about 285,000 people and by about
112,000 people in Russian Dagestan. South Azerbaijani has about 23.5 million
speakers in Iran, 530,000 in Turkey, 300,000 in Iraq, 30,000 in Syria and by
small groups in Afghanistan. The language is also known as Azeri, Azari, Azeri
Turkish, or Azerbaijani Turkish.

The Arabic script was introduced to the Azerbaijan region in the 7th
century and continued to be used to write Azerbaijani until the 1920s. Three
different versions of the Arabic script were used during this period: the
28-letter Arabic script, the 32-letter Perso-Arabic script and the 33-letter
Turkic Arabic script. None of these was ideal for writing Azerbaijani and various
reforms were proposed, particularly during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In Iran the Azerbaijani language has always been written with a version of
the Arabic script and is know as Azeri Turk.

Arabic script for Azerbaijani

Latin alphabet for Azerbaijani (1929 version)

In 1929 the Latin alphabet, known as Yanalif (new alphabet), was
adopted to write Azerbaijani in Soviet northern Azerbaijan. This was essentially an
attempt by the Soviet authorities to reduce the influence of Islam in the
Turkic republics, all of which used the Arabic script before 1929.

Latin alphabet for Azerbaijani (1929 version)

Cyrillic alphabet for Azerbaijani (Азәрбајҹан әлифбасы)

In 1939 the Cyrillic alphabet was imposed by Stalin and remained in use
until 1991. Stalin wanted to discourage contact between the Turkic republics
and Turkey and worried about the development of alliances which might undermine
the authority of the Soviet Union.

Cyrillic alphabet for Azerbaijani

Latin alphabet for Azerbaijani (1991 version)

On independence in 1991, Azerbaijan switched back to the Latin alphabet, though
a slightly different version to that of 1929-1939. This switch caused considerable
confusion and there was a chronic shortage of typewriters and computers fonts
which could be used to write the new alphabet. Fortunately the Latin alphabet
as used to write Turkish is very similar to the Azerbaijani one, so Turkish typewriters
were in great demand. The main difficulty with the new alphabet is the letter
which looks like a upside-down lower case ‘e’ and is known as a schwa as no
other language uses this letter. Some people write ‘æ’ instead
if the schwa is not available.

Latin alphabet for Azerbaijani (1991 version)

Latin alphabet for Azerbaijani (Azərbaycan əlifbası) – 1992 version

On 16th May 1992 the Latin alphabet for Azerbaijani was slightly revised –
the letter ä was replaced with ə and the order of letters was
changed as well.

Latin alphabet for Azerbaijani (1992 version)

Sample texts

1922 Latin alphabet

Butun insanlar ləƶaqət və huqyqlarьna
gөrə azad və bərabər doƣylyrlar.
Onarьn şüyralrь və vicdanlarь var və
bir-birlərinə munasibətdə qardaşlьq
rynhynda davranmalьdьrlar.

1929 Latin alphabet

Butun insanlar ləjaqət və huqyqlarьna
gөrə azad bərabər doƣylyrlar. Onarьn
şüyralrь və vicdanlarь var və
bir-birlərinə munasibətdə qardaşlьq
rynhynda davranmalьdьrlar.

1991 Latin alphabet

Bütün insanlar läyaqät vä hüquqlarına
göre azad bärabär doğulurlar. Onarın
şüuralrı vä vicdanları var vä
bir-birlärinä münasibätdä qardaşlıq
runhunda davranmalıdırlar.

1992 Latin alphabet

Bütün insanlar ləyaqət və hüquqlarına
görə azad bərabər doğulurlar. Onarın
şüuralrı və vicdanları var və
bir-birlərinə münasibətdə qardaşlıq
runhunda davranmalıdırlar.

Cyrillic alphabet

Бүтүн
инсанлар
ләјагәт вә
һүгугларына
ҝөрә азад
бәрабәр
доғулурлар.
Онларын
шүурлары вә
виҹданлары
вар вә бир-бирләринә
мүнасибәтдә
гардашлыг
руһунда
давранмалыдырлар.

Azeri Turk

بوتون
اينسانلار
حيثييت و
حاقلار
باخيميندان
دنك (برابر) و
اركين (آزاد)
دوغولارلار.
اوس (عقل) و
اويات (ويجدان)
ييهﺳﻴﺪيرلر
و بير
بيرلرينه
قارشى
قارداشليق
روحو ايله
داوراماليدرلار.

Transliteration
Bütün insanlar heysiyyət və
haqlar baxımından dənk
(bərabər) və ərkin (azad) doğularlar. Us (əql) və
uyat (vicdan) yiyəsidirlər və bir birlərinə qarşı
qardaşlıq ruhu ilə davranmalıdırlar.

Listen to this text

Translation

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

Tower of Babel in Azerbaijani |
Useful phrases in Azerbaijani

books
Azerbaijani language course and phrasebook