Language/Tajik/Grammar/Introduction-to-the-Tajik-Alphabet
| Next Lesson — Vowels and Consonants ▶️ |
Tajik is a Persian language spoken by approximately 10 million people worldwide. Tajik was influenced by multiple languages, including Arabic, Russian, and Turkic languages. Tajik is written using the Cyrillic alphabet, which has 35 letters.
In this lesson, you will learn the Tajik alphabet, its pronunciation, and differences between the Tajik and English alphabets.
Don't miss the chance to check out these pages as you wrap up this lesson: Using Adjectives & Plurals.
The Tajik Alphabet and Pronunciation[edit | edit source]
The Tajik Cyrillic alphabet has 35 letters, as shown in the table below:
| Tajik | Pronunciation | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| А а | a | A |
| Б б | b | B |
| В в | v | V |
| Г г | g | G |
| Ҳ ҳ | h | H |
| Д д | d | D |
| Е е | ye | Ye |
| Ё ё | yo | Yo |
| Ж ж | zh | Zh |
| З з | z | Z |
| И и | i | I |
| Й й | y | Y |
| К к | k | K |
| Қ қ | q | Q |
| Л л | l | L |
| М м | m | M |
| Н н | n | N |
| О о | o | O |
| П п | p | P |
| Р р | r | R |
| С с | s | S |
| Т т | t | T |
| У у | u | U |
| Ф ф | f | F |
| Х х | kh | Kh |
| Ц ц | ts | Ts |
| Ч ч | ch | Ch |
| Ҷ ҷ | j | J |
| Ш ш | sh | Sh |
| Щ щ | shch | Shch |
| Ы ы | ı | Y |
| Ъ ъ | a (consonant hardening) | (consonant hardening) |
| Ь ь | ' | (no sound) |
| Э э | e | E |
| Ю ю | yu | Yu |
| Я я | ya | Ya |
The pronunciation of Tajik letters can be challenging for English speakers because the sounds are different. However, the good news is that Tajik Cyrillic letters are almost entirely phonetic, which means that once you learn how to pronounce each letter, you can read any word in Tajik.
Note that the Tajik letters Ё ё and Ю ю are not present in the Russian alphabet. Instead, the Russian language replaces them with the letters E e and У у, respectively.
Differences Between the Tajik and English Alphabets[edit | edit source]
The differences between the Tajik and English alphabets are significant. The Tajik alphabet has 35 letters, while the English alphabet has only 26. Tajik also uses the Cyrillic script, while English uses the Latin script. Additionally, Tajik has nine vowels, while English has only five.
The nine Tajik vowels are А а, Е е, Ё ё, И и, Й й, О о, У у, Ы ы, and Э э. Note that Tajik has no equivalent vowel sounds to the English “e” as in "red" or "bed" and "o" as in "hot" or "pot."
It is essential to learn the Tajik alphabet correctly to read and write in Tajik. Practice writing each letter to help you remember it more easily. Once you learn the alphabet, you will be able to read and write Tajik words and sentences.
Practice[edit | edit source]
Practice reading and writing Tajik script by copying out the alphabet by hand. Say the letter name and sound aloud as you write out each letter. Once you have learned the letters, practice writing simple words and sentences, such as "Салом" (hello) and "Хуб мебошед" (welcome).
Conclusion[edit | edit source]
Congratulations! You have now learned the 35 letters of the Tajik alphabet, their names, and their pronunciation. It is crucial to spend time practicing how to read and write in Tajik to help you progress as you learn more about the language. In the next lesson, we will learn about the vowels and consonants in Tajik.
Other Lessons[edit | edit source]
- How to Use Be
- Using Adjectives
- Nouns
- Personal pronouns
- Questions
- Personal Pronouns
- Negation
- Pronouns
- Conditional Mood
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Tajik language - Wikipedia
- Tajik - Wikibooks, open books for an open world
- Tajik alphabet - Wikipedia
| Next Lesson — Vowels and Consonants ▶️ |