The Apostrophe Sign

Level 1

The sign ʼ appears mostly in words borrowed from Arabic. After a vowel it makes that vowel longer: maʼno (meaning). Before a vowel it makes a small catch: sanʼat (art).

How It Works

The official spelling rules give the sign ʼ two jobs, both in borrowed words:

  • After a vowel, it shows that the vowel is said a little longer: maʼno (meaning), taʼlim (education), sheʼr (poem), eʼlon (announcement), feʼl (verb), baʼzan (sometimes).
  • Before a vowel, it shows a small break between a consonant and that vowel, so they are not run together: sanʼat (art), inʼom (gift), masʼul (responsible), qatʼiy (firm).

Two special cases:

  • It is not written after oʻ, even when that vowel is long: moʻjiza (miracle), moʻtabar (respected). Cyrillic spells these words with ъ, so people converting from Cyrillic sometimes add a sign that does not belong.
  • It keeps s and h apart when they are two sounds, so they do not read as sh: Isʼhoq. See sh, ch and ng.

The correct character is the modifier apostrophe (Unicode U+02BC), which looks like a raised comma. The turned comma in oʻ and gʻ curls the other way. Many websites type both as a plain apostrophe, but they are two different signs. In Cyrillic, the sign ʼ corresponds to ъ; see reading Uzbek in Cyrillic.

Examples (5)

  1. Maʼnosi nima?

    What does it mean?

    Word by Word: Meaning-its what?

    ʼ after a makes the vowel a little longer: maʼno.

  2. Men sheʼr oʻqiyman.

    I read poetry.

    Word by Word: I poem read-I.

    Sheʼr is a poem. Without ʼ, sher means lion.

  3. Sanʼat muzeyi qayerda?

    Where is the art museum?

    Word by Word: Art museum-its where?

    ʼ before a makes a small catch: san-at, not sa-nat.

  4. Taʼlim juda muhim.

    Education is very important.

    Word by Word: Education very important.

    ʼ after a lengthens the vowel in taʼlim.

  5. Baʼzan choy ichaman.

    Sometimes I drink tea.

    Word by Word: Sometimes tea drink-I.

    Baʼzan (sometimes) keeps its ʼ in every sentence.

Common Mistakes

  • Dropping ʼ from a word that needs it.

    Men sher oʻqiyman.
    Men sheʼr oʻqiyman.

    Sher means lion, so the incorrect sentence says I read a lion. Sheʼr, with ʼ, is a poem.

  • Adding ʼ after oʻ, copying the Cyrillic ъ.

    Bu moʻʼjiza!
    Bu moʻjiza!

    The spelling rules never put ʼ after oʻ, even when the vowel is long. Write moʻjiza.

How It Connects

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The Apostrophe SignLevel 1

Learn This First

Builds on The Uzbek Latin Alphabet.