Reading Uzbek in Cyrillic

Level 4

The Uzbek Cyrillic alphabet has the Russian letters, minus Щ and Ы, plus four of its own: Ў = oʻ, Ғ = gʻ, Қ = q and Ҳ = h. So Ўзбекистон reads Oʻzbekiston.

How It Works

Why you still see it
Uzbek was written in Cyrillic from 1940 until the 1990s, when the Latin alphabet you are learning became official. Many older books, some newspapers, older signs and many older people still use Cyrillic.

1. The four Uzbek letters

  • Ў ў → oʻ: Ўзбекистон → Oʻzbekiston. See the letters oʻ and gʻ.
  • Ғ ғ → gʻ: боғ → bogʻ (garden)
  • Қ қ → q: қишлоқ → qishloq (village)
  • Ҳ ҳ → h: шаҳар → shahar (city)

2. Letters that look Latin but are not
Х х → x: хона → xona (room). В → v, Н → n, Р → r, С → s, У → u. Cyrillic О and А are Uzbek o and a, so Тошкент is Toshkent; see the vowels o and a and q, x, gʻ and h.

3. One Cyrillic letter, two Latin letters
Ш → sh, Ч → ch (чой → choy), Ё → yo, Ю → yu, Я → ya (янги → yangi). The pair НГ is ng, as in sh, ch and ng.

4. E and Э
Е at the start of a word or after a vowel is ye: ер → yer (earth). Elsewhere it is e: келди → keldi. Э is e: эмас → emas.

5. Signs
Ъ is the apostrophe sign ʼ: маъно → maʼno (meaning). After ў it is dropped: мўъжиза → moʻjiza (miracle). Ь and Ц appear in Russian loans: Ь is usually dropped, and Ц becomes ts after a vowel and s elsewhere (цемент → sement).

Words borrowed from Russian are sometimes spelled differently in the two alphabets: октябрь is oktabr in Latin. Read everything else letter by letter.

Examples (6)

  1. Ўзбекистон Республикаси

    The Republic of Uzbekistan

    Latin: Oʻzbekiston Respublikasi. Ў is oʻ.

  2. Хуш келибсиз!

    Welcome!

    Latin: Xush kelibsiz! Х is x, not h, and Ш is sh.

  3. Янги йил муборак!

    Happy New Year!

    Latin: Yangi yil muborak! Я is ya, НГ is ng and Й is y.

  4. Бу ерда чекиш мумкин эмас.

    Smoking is not allowed here.

    Latin: Bu yerda chekish mumkin emas. Е at the start of a word is ye, and Э is e.

  5. Шаҳар ҳокимлиги

    City administration

    Latin: Shahar hokimligi. Ҳ is h.

  6. Қишлоқ хўжалиги

    Agriculture

    Latin: Qishloq xoʻjaligi. Қ is q, Х is x and ў is oʻ.

Common Mistakes

  • Reading Cyrillic Х as h.

    Хуш келибсиз → Hush kelibsiz
    Хуш келибсиз → Xush kelibsiz

    Cyrillic Х is Uzbek x, the rough sound in xona. Uzbek h is written with its own letter, Ҳ: ҳа → ha.

  • Reading Ў as a plain u or o.

    Ўзбекистон → Uzbekiston
    Ўзбекистон → Oʻzbekiston

    Ў is its own letter, oʻ. Cyrillic У is plain u, so ўн (oʻn, ten) and ун (un, flour) are different words.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Reading Uzbek in CyrillicLevel 4

Learn This First

Builds on The Letter Pairs Sh, Ch and Ng, The Vowels O and A, The Back Consonants Q, X, Gʻ and H and The Apostrophe Sign.