Azerbaijani writing

Arabic based alphabet

Until 1922, Azerbaijanis used Arabic script with additional characters characteristic of the Turkic languages ​​( ڭ , گ , ۋ , ﭺ , پ , ژ ) ^[1] . It was a rather difficult graphic system, which was sometimes noted by prominent representatives of Azerbaijani culture ^[2] . For example, back in the 16th century, the poet Fizuli pointed out the complexity of Arabic writing ^[3] . In the Azerbaijan SSR, the Arabic alphabet was used (in recent years in parallel with Latin) until 1929. Azerbaijanis living in Iran continue to write in Arabic letters, but the spelling of such a letter is still not standardized.

Latinization

The first projects to translate Azerbaijani writing into the Latin alphabet appeared in the middle of the XIX century. One of the variants of the new alphabet was compiled by Mirza Fatali Akhundov , but things did not go further than projects. So, back in 1857, Akhundov wrote in Persian his first draft of the reform of the Arabic alphabet, in which he pointed out the shortcomings of the Arabic script and suggested ways to solve them ^[4] . In 1863, Akhundov made a trip to Constantinople , setting himself the goal of supporting his project. But, despite the honors shown to Akhundov, his project was rejected by the Anjuman-Danish Scientific Society. In response, Akhundov proposed “to reject the Islamic alphabet altogether, accept the European writing system and write from left to right, respectively ...” etc. As a result of work on a new project, Akhundov composes a new alphabet based on the European system and includes 42 characters (32 consonants and 10 vowels). In the new project, Akhundov retained both all the letters in the Arabic alphabet and added not available vowels ^[5] .

At the beginning of the 20th century, the issue of switching to the Latin alphabet was repeatedly raised by the Azerbaijani intelligentsia. Jalil Mammadkulizade , Hasan-bek Zardabi , Nariman Narimanov and others spoke for the replacement of the Arabic alphabet ^[6] . In 1919, a commission was created under the Ministry of Education of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic to develop a new alphabet. One of the projects presented by A. Efendizade was approved and published.

Efendizadeh alphabet: a ä bc ç de ë fghijklmn n̈ o ö pq ƣ rstuvwxyz ƶ '(apostrophe) ^[7]

The events of the Civil War prevented the implementation of this project. After the proclamation of the Azerbaijan SSR, the issue of the Latinization of the Azerbaijani alphabet was again recognized as relevant. After much discussion, in 1922 the new alphabet was approved, and in 1925 it was introduced into official use in parallel with Arabic.

1922 Alphabet: Aa Bb Cc Çç Dd Ee Əə Ff Gg Ƣƣ Hh Ii    Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn ​​Ŋŋ Oo Ɵɵ Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Xx Yy Zz Ƶƶ    '(apostrophe) ^[8]

Since 1926, discussions begin on improving the new alphabet. In May 1926, the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of Azerbaijan, Agamaly oglu, declared Latinization the central issue of the revolution in the East ^[9] . As a result, in 1933, a new alphabet was adopted, which changed the styles of some letters and the phonetic meaning of others. The Azerbaijani Latin alphabet underwent another refinement in 1938 (the letter N̡n̡ was canceled).

1938 Alphabet: Aa Bʙ Cc Çç Dd Ee Əə Ff Gg Ƣƣ Hh Ii    Jj Kk Qq Ll Mm Nn ​​Oo Ɵɵ Pp Rr Ss Şş Tt Uu Vv Xx Yy Zz Ƶƶ '(apostrophe)

The introduction of the new alphabet came across opposition from the peasants. In 1928 and 1929 and again in 1931 and 1932 everywhere in Azerbaijan, there were cases of violence by peasants against teachers, Komsomol members, and female department activists who came to villages to teach reading and writing based on the new alphabet ^[10] .

Cyrillization

In May 1939, a discussion began on the translation of the Azerbaijani alphabet into Cyrillic . Many different projects have been put forward and published in print. The first project included the letters Aa, Bb, Cb, Gg, Ƣƣ, DD, Her, Әә, LJ, Zs, II, Yk, Kk, Ққ, LL, Mm, Nn, Oo, Өө, PP, Rp, SS, TT, Uy, Ўў, Фф, Хх, Һһ, Чч, Ҷҷ, Шш, Ны, '(apostrophe) ^[11] . In August 1939, another project of the Cyrillic alphabet was proposed: Aa, Bb, Vv, Gg, Gg, Һһ, Ƣƣ, DD, Her, Әә, LJ, Zz, II, Јј, Kk, LL, Mm, Nn, Oo, Өө , Pp, pp, ss, tm, yy, Үү, ff, xx, hh, shh, yy, '(apostrophe) ^[12] .

As a result, on November 15, 1939, a new Cyrillic alphabet was officially approved, developed by the alphabetical commission under the SNK of the Azerbaijan SSR.

The approved alphabet of 1939: Aa, BB, BB, Gg, Ғғ, DD, Her, Әә, LJ, Zs, II, Yy, Kk, Ҝҝ, LL, Mm, Nn, Oo, Өө, PP, Rr, SS, TT , Uu, Үү, Фф, Хх, Һһ, ЦЦ, Чч, Ҹҹ, Шш, Ыы, Ээ, Yuyu, Yaya, '(apostrophe)

According to the American scientist, specialist on the problems of the history of the countries of the Near and Middle East, Ph.D. Frank Hagl, “Cyrillic is more than Arabic graphics, fits the Azerbaijani language, which is distinguished by the harmony of vowels. As for phonetics, the current alphabet is the most suitable for the Turkic languages ​​” ^[13] .

In 1947, the letter Ts, previously used for Russian borrowings, was excluded from the alphabet. In 1958, the same fate befell the letters Ee, Yuyu, Yaya, and the letter Yi was replaced by Јј. This alphabet was officially valid until 2001. Azerbaijanis living in Dagestan continue to use the Cyrillic alphabet until now, although Latin is currently used in schools in the lessons of the Azerbaijani language. Derbent Azerbaijani-language newspaper “ Derbent ” publishes materials mainly in Cyrillic, but some articles are published in Latin ^[14] . A distinctive feature of the Azerbaijani Cyrillic alphabet was that it included the letters Ҝ and Ҹ , not found in the scripts of other languages ^[15] .

Modern Latin

In 1991, after the collapse of the USSR and Azerbaijan gained independence, the Azerbaijani letter was again translated into the Latin alphabet, which is still used today (in the original draft, Ää should be used instead of the letter)). Since 1992, a gradual transition to the Latin alphabet begins, which ends in 2001. It has 32 letters.

Modern alphabet:

Letters of the Latin alphabet and Cyrillic alphabet have a one-to-one correspondence, although the order of the letters is different.

Foreign names and transliterations are translated according to the rules of Azerbaijani graphics: for example, George Bush ( George Bush ) is spelled "Corc Buş", Gerhard Schröder ( Gerhard Schroeder ) - "Gerhard Şröder", Jacques Chirac ( Jacques Chirac ) - "Jak Şirak" etc.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Azerbaijan:

• Azerbaijani-Russian practical transcription
• Hasanoglu Izzeddin - founder of Azerbaijani literature (XIII-XIV centuries)
• Agamaly-Ogly Samed-Aga - propagandist of the first transition to the Latin alphabet
• I without a point

• G. G. Ismailova. On the history of the Azerbaijani alphabet // Issues of improving the alphabets of the Turkic languages ​​of the USSR / N. A. Baskakov. - M .: "Science", 1972. - S. 28-40 .
• Tagiev I. Mirza Fatali Akhundov and the new Turkic alphabet // Culture and Writing of the East. - B. , 1928. - S. 58-61 .