You'll see ə in many everyday Azerbaijani words, like şəhər (city) and dəniz (sea), and it has a look-alike that is easy to type by mistake.
What Do Ə, Ğ, X and Q Sound Like?
| Letter | How to Say It | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ə ə | The a in cat | əl | hand |
| Ğ ğ | A soft, gargled g, like a French r | oğlan | boy |
| Q q | The g in go | qar | snow |
| X x | A rough scrape, like the ch in Scottish loch | xiyar | cucumber |
| I ı | Like oo, but with your lips spread flat | qapı | door |
| İ i | The ee in see | it | dog |
| C c | The j in jam | corab | sock |
| J j | The s in vision | jurnal | magazine |
Q never sounds like kw, and x never sounds like ks. In a dictionary, x comes right after h, and q comes right after k. One pair in the course shows how much the dot on i matters: xalı means carpet, and xali means empty.
Which Ə Should You Type?
Azerbaijani's ə is the Unicode letter schwa, U+0259, and its capital is Ə, U+018F. An upside-down e, ǝ, looks almost the same, but it's a different character.
- əsmall schwaU+0259Əcapital schwaU+018FThese are the two forms to use. Copy them from here when your keyboard has no Azerbaijani layout.
- əthe right letterU+0259ǝturned eU+01DDThe turned e looks the same in many fonts. Typed in capitals, it becomes Ǝ, which is wrong in Azerbaijani.
- ıdotlessU+0131İdotted capitalU+0130Azerbaijani has two i letters, as Turkish does. The capital of i keeps its dot, so the word it (dog) is İT in capitals.
How Do You Type Azerbaijani Letters?
Tap Copy in the box above for a quick ə, or add an Azerbaijani keyboard so it's always one tap away.
- iPhone and iPadIn Settings, tap General, Keyboard, Keyboards and Add New Keyboard, then choose Azerbaijani.
- Word on WindowsType 0259 for ə or 018F for Ə, select just those four characters, and press Alt and X together.
- MacPress the Fn or globe key and E to open the Character Viewer. Search for schwa and click the letter.
Where Did These Letters Come From?
Ə was already in the Latin alphabet Azerbaijani used from the 1920s until 1939. For about fifty years after that, Azerbaijani was written in Cyrillic letters. In December 1991, the parliament voted for a Latin alphabet again, and in 2001, President Heydar Aliyev made the switch from Cyrillic to Latin required. Today's alphabet has 32 letters, and w is not one of them.
How Can You Learn These Sounds?
Listen to q and x in the Azerbaijani Alphabet course before you say them yourself, because neither one sounds like its English letter.
Free Azerbaijani Alphabet Course
- Audio for Every Word
- Real Example Words
0 of 2 Chapters Complete
After the course, Poppy, your AI tutor in the Bubblegum app, writes Azerbaijani lessons at your level, so you read ə, q and x in real sentences. When you can read the letters, the best way to learn Azerbaijani shows what to do next.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Azerbaijani Spelled the Way It Sounds?
Mostly. Each letter stands for one sound, so once you know the 32 letters, you can read a new word out loud. A few sounds shift a little, as when the b at the end of corab (sock) sounds closer to p.
Which Azerbaijani App Should a Beginner Choose?
If you are serious about learning Azerbaijani, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Its Azerbaijani Alphabet course starts with ə and the other new letters, then q and x. Our Azerbaijani app comparison covers more choices and what each one is good for.
Is Bubblegum Free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Unicode CLDR, Azerbaijani locale data (the 32 letters in alphabet order, with x after h and q after k)
- Unicode Character Database, NamesList (U+0259 LATIN SMALL LETTER SCHWA and U+018F LATIN CAPITAL LETTER SCHWA, noted for Azerbaijani; U+01DD LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED E, whose capital is U+018E)
- Unicode Character Database, SpecialCasing.txt (in Azerbaijani, i and İ are a case pair, and so are ı and I)
- Mokari and Werner, Azerbaijani, Illustrations of the IPA, Journal of the International Phonetic Association 47 (2017) (ğ is the voiced velar fricative [ɣ], as in oğlan 'boy'; the plosive [ɡ]; stops are devoiced at the end of a syllable, as in [d͡zorɑb̥] 'socks')
- Princeton University Library, Cotsen Children's Library blog, New Nation, New Alphabet: Azerbaijani Children's Books in the 1990s (ə used in the first Latin script of 1926 and again after 1991; Cyrillic from 1939; Latin script voted in December 1991; ə for the vowel in cat; President Heydar Aliyev made the move from Cyrillic mandatory in 2001)
- Wikipedia, Azerbaijani alphabet (the current 32 letters with Q q as [ɡ]; Latin alphabets of 1922–1939, then Cyrillic)
- Apple, iOS and iPadOS feature availability (keyboards include Azerbaijani)
- Apple Support, Add or change keyboards on iPhone
- Microsoft Support, Insert ASCII or Unicode character codes in Word (type the code, then press Alt+X)
- Apple Support, Use emoji and symbols on Mac (the Character Viewer)
