Crimean Tatar is written in both the Latin and Cyrillic scripts. Before 1928, the Perso-Arabic script was the main orthography.

Before the official introduction of the Common Turkic-based Latin alphabet by the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea in the 1990s, the Cyrillic alphabet was the main orthography. After the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, the Russian government required solely the use of the Cyrillic script. In 2021, the Ukrainian government began the transition to the Latin script.

The Tatars of Romania use a different orthography. The letters Á, Ç, Ğ, Í, Î, Ñ, Ó, Ş, and Ú were added in the Dobrujan Tatar orthography in 1956.

History

Arabic script

Crimean Tatars used the Perso-Arabic script from the 16th century to 1928, when it was replaced by the Latin alphabet based on Yañalif. The Crimean variant contained a couple of modified Arabic letters.

Prior to its replacement, same as and in parallel with several other Arabic-based orthographies of Turkic and Caucasian languages across the Soviet Union, several improvements and standardizations were introduced in order to make the writing more clear and more closely matching spoken pronunciations, the first one being adopted in 1921, and the second in 1924.

Below table lists the letters used in Crimean Tatar Arabic script.A. Memetov. Эски Къырым-арап язылары. (Old Crimean Tatar Arabic System of Writing) [Crimean Tatar]. Simferopol, 2012. 40 pages. Ojaq (Оджакъ) Publication. ISBN 978-966-179-008-6. Link

Isolated Final Medial Initial Name ModernLatin اـا— elif (елиф) a, â ﺀ— hemze (хемзе) - بـبـبـبـ be (бе) b, p (word-finally)پـپـپـپـ pe (пе) pتـتـتـتـ te (те) tثـثـثـثـ se (се) sجـجـجـجـ cim (джим) cچـچـچـچـ çim (чим) çﺡـحـحـحـ ha (ха) -ﺥـخـخـخـ hı (хы) hدـد— dal (дал) dذـذ— zal (зал) zرـر— re (ре) rزـز— ze (зе) zژـژ— je (же) jسـسـسـسـ sin (син) sشـشـشـشـ şin (шин) şصـصـصـصـ sad (сад) sضـضـضـضـ zad (зад) d, zطـطـطـطـ ta (та) tظـظـظـظـ za (за) zعـعـعـعـ ayn (айн) - 1غـغـغـغـ ğayn (гъайн) ğفـفـفـفـ fe (фе) fقـقـقـقـ qaf (къаф) qكـكـكـكـ kef(kef-i arabiy) (кеф)(кеф-и арабий) k (g, ñ)2ڭـڭـڭـڭـ nef(kef-i nuniy, sağır kef) (неф)(кеф-и нуний, сагъыр кеф) ñگـگـگـگـ gef(kef-i farsiy) (геф)(кеф-и фарсий) gࢰ‎ـࢰ‎ـࢰ‎ـࢰـ kef-i yayiy(кеф-и яйий) y3لـلـلـلـ lâm (лям) lمـمـمـمـ mim (мим) mنـنـنـنـ nun (нун) nۋـۋ— üç noqtalı vav (учь нокъталы вав) v 4وـو— vav (вав) o, ö 4ۇـۇ— virgülli vav (виргюлли вав) u, ü 4ﻩـهـهـ ـه‌هـ he (хе) -, e, a 5ﻻﻼ— lâm-elif (лям-елиф) la, lâ 6یـیـیـیـ ye (йе) y, ı, i

In initial position, when the letter ع (ayn) is used, the vowel letter is usually dropped. Examples include عسكه‌ر (asker), عبره‌ت (ibret), عثمان (osman), عمه‌ر (ömer). The exception to this rule is that it can be followed by a vowel letter, in matching with the original Arabic writing of a word. عایشه (Ayşe), عالیم (Alim) The letter ﻙ (kef) was often used in place of ﮒ and ﯓ. The letter is actually ﮒ, some words with ﮒ are also readed as "y", to simplified this was the character by some writers used. The divergence of the three variants of the letter vav is one of the implemented conventions in the early 1920s into Crimean Tatar Arabic alphabet. Used as an h sound, and as a e sound (at the end of words). With the above mentioned modifications, the role of this letter expanded notably, in that the "final form ـه ه came to be used for the vowel sound e in the middle of the word in a lot more cases. Not an actual letter, but a common ligature. Letters shown with beige background are only used for writing of loanwords from Arabic language. They do not represent unique Crimean Tatar sounds, but sounds that are also written with other letters. Therefore, one of the implemented conventions in the early 1920s into Crimean Tatar Arabic alphabet was the acceptance (but not full enforcement, remaining optional) the removal of such letters. All loandwords written with either ث (se), س (sin), or ص (sad) were to be written using س (sin). All loandwords written with either ذ (zal), ز (ze), ض (zad), or ظ (za) were to be written using ز (ze). All loandwords written with either ث (te) or ط (ta) were to be written using ث (te). The letter ح (ha) in initial position is not pronounced in Crimean Tatar. Thus, the letter is dropped fully in the 1924 conventions.

As per the 1921 and 1924 Crimean Tatar Arabic alphabet orthographic conventions, all vowels were to be written, as shown in the table below.

ModernLatin Isolated Final Medial Initial a اـاـاآ e هـهـه‌اِ o, ö وـوـواو u, ü ۇـۇـۇاۇ ı, i یـیـیـایـ

The distinction between front and back vowel sounds "o, u, ı" versus "ö, ü, i" weren't marked. These were derived and understood from context and in following vowel harmony rules. Below general rules are noted in Crimean Tatar, same as other Turkic languages.

Words that contain the vowel آ ـا (a), contain back vowels, and thus the other vowels in the word will match. Words that contain the vowel اِ ـه‌ ه (e), contain front vowels, and thus the other vowels in the word will match. Words that contain the consonant sounds ق (q) or غ (ğ), are followed by back vowels, and thus the other vowels in the word will match. Words that contain the consonant sounds ك (k) or گ (g), are followed by front vowels, and thus the other vowels in the word will match. Various grammatical suffixes that attach a word, also follow vowel harmony rules, which will follow the above-mentioned rules as well.

Latin alphabet

In 1928, during latinisation in the Soviet Union, the Crimean Tatar Arabic alphabet was replaced by the Latin alphabet based on the Yañalif script. This alphabet contained a number of differences from the modern variant. Particularly, the letters Ь ь, Ƣ ƣ, Ꞑ ꞑ, Ɵ ɵ, X x, Ƶ ƶ, I i instead of the modern  â, Ğ ğ, I ı, İ i, Ñ ñ, Ö ö, and Ü ü.

Alphabet of 1928 Alphabet of 1992 Alphabet of 1928 Alphabet of 1992 Alphabet of 1928 Alphabet of 1992 A a A a Ь ь I ı R r R r B ʙ B b K k K k S s S s C c Ç ç Q q Q q Ş ş Ş ş Ç ç C c Ƣ ƣ Ğ ğ T t T t D d D d L l L l U u U u E e E e M m M m Y y Ü ü F f F f N n N n V v V v G g G g Ꞑ ꞑ Ñ ñ X x H h H h H h O o O o Z z Z z I i İ i Ɵ ɵ Ö ö Ƶ ƶ J j J j Y y P p P p

Modern alphabets

Cyrillic script

Cyrillic for Crimean Tatar was introduced in 1938 as part of Cyrillization of languages in Soviet Union. It is based on Russian alphabet with no special letters. From 1938 to 1990s, that was the only alphabet used for Crimean Tatar.

А а Б б В в Г г Гъ гъ* Д д Е е Ё ё Ж ж З з И и Й й К к Къ къ* Л л М м Н н Нъ нъ* О о П п Р р С с Т т У у Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Дж дж* Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я *Гъ (ğ), къ (q), нъ (ñ) and дж (c) are separate letters of the alphabet (digraphs).

Latin script

Modern Latin alphabet for Crimean Tatar was introduced in 1990s. It is based on Turkish alphabet with three special letters — Q, Ñ, Â. Its official use in Crimea was accepted in 1997 by Crimean Parliament. In 2021 it was approved by the government of Ukraine, to be adopted in education by September 2025.

A a  â* B b C c Ç ç D d E e F f G g Ğ ğ H h I i İ ı J j K k L l M m N n Ñ ñ O o Ö ö P p Q q R r S s Ş ş T t U u Ü ü V v W w X x Y y Z z *Ââ is not recognized as separate letter. It is used to show softness of a consonant followed by Aa (Яя).

Correspondence table Cyrillic Latin Notes А а A a Б б B b В в V v Г г G g Гъ гъ Ğ ğ Д д D d Е е E e following a consonant Ye ye word-initially, following a vowel or ь Ё ё Ö ö following a consonant Yö yö word-initially in "soft" words Yo yo word-initially in "hard" words; following a vowel, ь or ъ Ж ж J j З з Z z И и İ i Й й Y y К к K k Къ къ Q q Л л L l М м M m Н н N n Нъ нъ Ñ ñ О о Ö ö if о is the first letter in a "soft" word O o in other cases П п P p Р р R r С с S s Т т T t У у Ü ü if у is the first letter in a "soft" word U u in other cases Ф ф F f Х х H h Ц ц Ts ts Ч ч Ç ç Дж дж C c Ш ш Ş ş Щ щ Şç şç ъ — is not a separate letter in Cyrillic Ы ы I ı ь — no special signs for softness Э э E e Ю ю Ü ü following a consonant Yü yü word-initially, following a vowel or ь in "soft" words Yu yu word-initially, following a vowel or ь in "hard" words Я я Â â following a consonant Ya ya word-initially, following a vowel or ь

Sample text Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Cyrillic Latin Romanian versionRomanian Tatar in Omniglot English translationБутюн инсанлар сербестлик, менлик ве укъукъларда мусавий олып дюньягъа келелер. Олар акъыл ве видждан саибидирлер ве бири-бирилеринен къардашчасына мунасебетте булунмалыдырлар.Bütün insanlar serbestlik, menlik ve uquqlarda musaviy olıp dünyağa keleler. Olar aqıl ve vicdan saibidirler ve biri-birilerinen qardaşçasına munasebette bulunmalıdırlar. Ğúmle insanulî hak, asudelík we hukukta bírdiy tuwgan. Olar zihiniyet we pasiyet iyesí bolîp, bír-bírleríne tuwmalîkşa múnasebette tapîlmalarî kerek. 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. Arabic (Pre-1921) Arabic (1924) Latin (1928) Bytyn insanlar serʙestlik, menlik, ve uquqlarda musaviy olьp dynjaƣa keleler. Olar aqьl ve viçdan saiʙidirler ve ʙiri-ʙirilerinen qardaşcasьna munaseʙette ʙulunmalьdьrlar.

Romania

Literary Tatar Tatar spoken in Romania has two distinct facets existing, interweaving and forming together the literary Tatar language "edebiy Tatarğa". One of these aspects is the authentic Tatar called "ğalpî Tatarğa" or "ğalpak Tatarğa" and the other is the academic Tatar language called "muwallímatça".

Academic Tatar language, means writing and pronouncing Arabic and Persian neologisms - occurring mostly in science, religion, literature, arts or politics - in their original form.

Authentic Tatar language, means writing and pronouncing words, including those of Arabic and Persian origin, by strictly adapting them to the own phonetic system.

Naturalization Naturalization is shifting the spelling of academic speech sounds to authentic sounds following the patterns below, where a greater-than sign indicates that one sound changes to another.

f > p v > w v > b ç > ş ç > j h > (skip over) h > k h > y h > w

Letters

There is a total of 10 letters used to represent determinant sounds of which 9 mark authentic determinant sounds: a, e, i, î, í, o, ó, u, ú while the letter á is used for an academic vowel. The writing system registers authentic consonants with 17 letters: b, ç, d, g, ğ, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, p, r, s, ş, t, z and has three signs standing for the academic consonants: f, h, v. There are also two authentic semivowels: y, w. An old authentic Turkic consonant, the sound /ç/ represented by the letter ⟨Ç⟩ is rarely heard because authentic speakers of Tatar spoken in Dobruja spell it /ş/ as letter ⟨Ş⟩. As the written language most often follows the spoken language shifting ⟨Ç⟩ to ⟨Ş⟩, the result is that in Tatar spoken in Romania letter ⟨Ç⟩ and sound /ç/ are often treated as academic.

The letters b, d, g, ğ, i, ó, u, ú, v can't occur at the end, as a last letter of the word (exception: ald and dad). Also the letter ñ can't occur as an initial letter of a word.Kîrîm tatarşa — Kazakşa Sózlík, Taner Murat, CreateSpace, Charleston SC, USA, 2011, ISBN 978-1461083108

Letter groups "aá" and "áa" The group of letters aá does not symbolize two adjacent vowels, being a writing convention that shows that the reading is done according to the first vowel in the group and the inflection of the word is done according to the second vowel in the group. For example, the reading of the word kaár "care" is identical to that of kar "snow", but in the ablative case they will become kaárden "of/from care", respectively kardan "of/from snow". The group of letters áa must be treated similarly. For example, the word nikáa "wedding" is read as "niká" and its dative will be nikáaga "to/to the wedding".

Pronunciation