Language/Uighur/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-pronunciation

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Uighur Alphabet, IPA Pronuncation, Video, Virtual Keyboard...

Hello Polyglots,

Uyghur is a Turkic language with a long literary tradition spoken in Xinjiang, China by the Uyghurs. Today, the Uyghur Arabic alphabet is the official writing system used for Uyghur in Xinjiang. Whereas other alphabets like the Uyghur Latin alphabet and Uyghur Cyrillic alphabets are still in use outside China, especially Central Asia.

In today's lesson, you will learn how to write the different letters of the Uighur alphabet, how to pronounce these letters whether it is through the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), or through a video with the pronunciation of the letters by a native speaker.

You will also find at the end of this lesson a virtual keyboard to be able to type each special character of this language.

Take some time to dive into these other pages after completing this lesson: Say Hello and Greetings in Uighur.

Uighur Alphabet and IPA Pronunciation[edit | edit source]

English Approximant[edit | edit source]

ئا‎ [ɑ] as in act
ئە‎ [æ] as in about
ب‎ [b] as in bat
پ‎ [p] as in play
ت‎ [t] as in time
ج‎ [d͡ʒ] as in gym
چ‎ [t͡ʃ] as in chat
خ‎ [x] as in Bach
د‎ [d] as in day
ر‎ [r] as in ring
ز‎ [z] 12 as in Zulu
ژ‎ [ʒ] as in vision
س‎ [s] as in sing
ش‎ [ʃ] as in shine
غ‎ [ʁ] as in Ghana
ف‎ [f] as in fly
ق‎ [q] as in squid
ك‎ [k] as in kit
گ‎ [ɡ] as in jam
ڭ‎ [ŋ] as in sing
ل‎ [l] as in love
م‎ [m] as in map
ن‎ [n] as in nice
ھ‎ [h] as in hot
ئو‎ [o] as in ok
ئۇ‎ [u] as in Uzbakistan
ئۆ‎ [ø] as in old
ئۈ‎ [y] as in yes
ۋ‎ [v~w] as in vast
ئې‎ [e] as in eat
ئى‎ [ɪ] as in ink
ي‎ [j] as in yes

Vowels[edit | edit source]

Uyghur has 7-9 vowel phonemes, depending on the dialect. They can be either short or long. Vowel length makes a difference in word meaning.

Like most Turkic languages, Uyghur is characterized by vowel harmony, a type of phonological process that involves constraints on what vowels may be found near each other. There are two kinds of vowels — front vowels, which are produced at the front of the mouth, e.g., /i/, /e/, and back vowels, produced at the back of the mouth, e.g., /a/, /u/, /o/. Native Uyghur words can contain only all front or all back vowels, and all suffixes must conform to the vowel of the syllable preceding them in the word.

The table below shows the vowels of Uyghur.

Front Central Back
Unrounded Rounded Unrounded Rounded
Close i y ɨ u
Close-mid e ø o
Near-open æ
Open a
  • /y/ = second vowel in statue
  • /ø/ has no equivalent in English
  • /æ/ = a in cat
  • /ɨ/ similar to e in roses 

Consonants[edit | edit source]

Uyghur has 25 consonant phonemes, i.e., sounds that distinguish word meaning.

Bilabial Labio-dental Dental/Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stops voiceless p t k
voiced b d g
Fricatives voiceless f s ʃ x h
voiced v z ʒ ɣ
Affricates voiceless
voiced
Nasals m n ŋ
Tap (flap) r
Lateral l
Approximant w j
  • /ʔ/ = sound between the vowels in uh-oh
  • /x, ɣ/ have no equivalents in English
  • /ʃ/ = sh in shop
  • /ʒ/ = s in vision
  • /tʃ/ = ch in chop
  • /dʒ/ = j in job
  • /ŋ/ = ng in song
  • /j/ = in yet 

Stress[edit | edit source]

Uyghur words are normally stressed on the final syllable. 

Video - Uighur Alphabet Pronunciation by a Native Speaker[edit | edit source]

Uyghur Online Virtual Keyboard[edit | edit source]

Sources[edit | edit source]

Videos[edit | edit source]

ئۇيغۇر ئېلىپبەسى Uighur Alphabet - YouTube[edit | edit source]

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