Language/Chechen/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

The Chechen Alphabet

Hi/салам Chechen Learners! 😃

➡ In today's lesson we will learn how to write, read and pronounce the Chechen Alphabet.

Happy learning!

Don't hesitate to look into these other pages after completing this lesson: Say Hello and Greetings in Chechen.

History of the Chechen Alphabet

Chechens do not have their own alphabet like Armenians and Georgians. After Islam was created they used Arabic script. In the mid-1920s the Latin letters were introduced, but none of these adapted systems really come to the fore. In the mid-1940s Latin was replaced by Cyrillic, which is still written in Chechnya today, although since independence there have been efforts to revert to the Latin or Arabic alphabet. Both reforms of the Soviet alphabet were successful repressive mechanisms: in each case, all books printed in the old script were destroyed, undermining the cultural heritage of the people.

Chechen Alphabets & IPA Pronunciation

• The Chechen language contains an alphabet of 49 letters and several diphthongs.

• Emphasis is placed on the first syllable of the word.

• Concerning the phonetics, there are long vowels and short vowels however the nasal is lacking.

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Cyrillic	Name	Arabic (before 1925)	Modern Latin	Name	IPA
А а	а	آ /ɑː/, ا	A a	a	/ə/, /ɑː/
Аь аь	аь	ا	Ä ä	ä	/æ/, /æː/
Б б	бэ	ب	B b	be	/b/
В в	вэ	و	V v	ve	/v/
Г г	гэ	گ	G g	ge	/ɡ/
Гӏ гӏ	гӏа	غ	Ġ ġ	ġa	/ɣ/
Д д	дэ	د	D d	de	/d/
Е е	е	ە	E e	e	/e/, /ɛː/, /je/, /ie/
Ё ё	ё	یوٓ	yo		/jo/ etc.
Ж ж	жэ	ج	Ƶ ƶ	ƶe	/ʒ/, /dʒ/
З з	зэ	ز	Z z	ze	/z/, /dz/
И и	и	ی	I i	i	/ɪ/
Ий ий		یی	Iy iy		/iː/
Й й (я, ю, е)	доца и	ی	Y y	doca i	/j/
К к	к	ک	K k	ka	/k/
Кк кк		کک	Kk kk		/kː/
Кх кх	кх	ق	Q q	qa	/q/
Ккх ккх		قق	Qq qq		/qː/
Къ къ	къа	ڨ	Q̇ q̇	q̇a	/qʼ/
Кӏ кӏ	кӏа	گ (ࢰ)	Kh kh	kha	/kʼ/
Л л	лэ	ل	L l	el	/l/
М м	мэ	م	M m	em	/m/
Н н	нэ	ن	N n	en	/n/
О о	о	ووٓ, وٓ uo	O o	o	/o/, /ɔː/, /wo/, /uo/
Ов ов	ов	وٓو	Ov ov	ov	/ɔʊ/
Оь оь	оь	وٓ	Ö ö	ö	/ɥø/, /yø/
П п	пэ	ف	P p	pe	/p/
Пп пп		فف	Pp pp		/pː/
Пӏ пӏ	пӏа	ڢ ـٯ	Ph ph	pha	/pʼ/
Р р	рэ	ر	R r	er	/r/
Рхӏ рхӏ		رھ	Rh rh		/r̥/
С с	сэ	س	S s	es	/s/
Сс сс		سس	Ss ss		/sː/
Т т	тэ	ت	T t	te	/t/
Тт тт		تت	Tt tt		/tː/
Тӏ тӏ	тӏа	ط	Th th	tha	/tʼ/
У у	у	و	U u	u	/uʊ/
Ув ув		وو	Uv uv		/uː/
Уь уь	уь	و	Ü ü	ü	/y/
Уьй уьй	уьй	و	Üy üy	üy	/yː/
Ф ф	фэ	ف	F f	ef	/f/
Х х	хэ	خ	X x	xa	/x/
Хь хь	хьа	ح	Ẋ ẋ	ẋa	/ʜ/
Хӏ хӏ	хӏа	ھ	H h	ha	/h/
Ц ц	цэ	ر̤	C c	ce	/ts/
Цӏ цӏ	цӏа	ڗ	Ċ ċ	ċe	/tsʼ/
Ч ч	чэ	چ	Ҫ ҫ	ҫe	/tʃ/
Чӏ чӏ	чӏа	ڃ	Ҫ̇ ҫ̇	ҫ̇e	/tʃʼ/
Ш ш	шэ	ش	Ş ş	şa	/ʃ/
Щ щ	щэ
(Ъ) ъ	чӏогӏа хьаьрк	ئ	Ə ə	ç̇oġa ẋärk	/ʔ/
(Ы) ы	ы
(Ь) ь	кӏеда хьаьрк			kheda ẋärk
Э э	э	اە	E e	e	/e/ etc.
Ю ю	ю	یو	yu		/ju/ etc.
Юь юь	юь	یو	yü		/jy/ etc.
Я я	я	یا، یآ	ya		/ja/ etc.
Яь яь	яь	یا	yä		/jæ/ etc.
Ӏ ӏ	ӏа	ع	J j	ja	/ʡ/, /ˤ/

Phonology

Some phonological characteristics of Chechen include its wealth of consonants and sounds similar to Arabic and the Salishan languages of North America, as well as a large vowel system resembling those of Swedish and German.

Consonants

The Chechen language has between 40 to 60 consonants (depending on the dialect and the analysis), far more than do most European languages.

	Labial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Velar	Uvular	Epiglottal	Glottal
Nasal	m mˤ	n nˤ
Plosive	pʰ pˤ b bˤ pʼ pː pːˤ	tʰ tˤ d dˤ tʼ tː tːˤ		kʰ ɡ kʼ kː	qʰ qʼ qː	ʡ	ʔ (ʔˤ)
Affricate		tsʰ tsˤ dz dzˤ tsʼ tsː tsːˤ	tʃʰ tʃˤ dʒ dʒˤ tʃʼ
Fricative	(f) (v)	s sˤ z zˤ	ʃ ʃˤ ʒ ʒˤ	x ʁ		ʜ	h
Rhotic		r rˤ r̥
Approximant	w (ɥ) wˤ	l lˤ	j

Vowels

Chechen has an extensive inventory of vowel sounds, about 44.

front unrounded	front rounded	back~ central
ɪ iː	y yː	ʊ uː
je ie	ɥø yø	wo uo
e̞ e̞ː	ø øː	o̞ o̞ː
(æ) (æː)		ə ɑː

Chechen Online Virtual Keyboard

Source

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chechen_language#Alphabets
• https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tch%C3%A9tch%C3%A8ne
• http://chechen.tchetchene.free.fr/index_uk.php
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tXYeL0T6QY