TheKyrgyz alphabets^[a] are the alphabets used to write theKyrgyz language. Kyrgyz uses the following alphabets:

• TheCyrillic script is officially used in theKyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan)
• ThePerso-Arabic script is officially used in Afghanistan, Pakistan and thePeople's Republic of China (China) in theKizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, theIli Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of theXinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
• Kyrgyz Braille

The Perso-Arabic script was traditionally used to write Kyrgyz before the introduction of the first Latin-based alphabets in 1927. In the years 1923 to 1925, Kyrgyz literaturists and linguists such asKasym Tynystanov andIshenali Arabayev undertook a project of reforming Kyrgyz Arabic orthography. In doing so, they took inspiration from the reformedKazakh Arabic alphabet, one of the first Turkic Arabic scripts to be undergoing reforms as early as 1912. Today an Arabic alphabet is used in China, which slightly differs from the 1920s Soviet standard. For example, in the 1920s Arabic alphabet, the distinction between front and back vowel pairs [о][ɵ] and [u][ʏ] was to be marked with an initialhamza if it couldn't be inferred from the word itself. In the Chinese variant standardized in 1950s, each of the said four vowels have a unique letter for example, thus making the use of a hamza unnecessary.^[1][2]

TheNew Turkic Alphabet was used in theUSSR in the 1930s until itsreplacement by a Cyrillic script.^[3] The Kyrgyz Cyrillic alphabet is the alphabet used in Kyrgyzstan. It contains 36 letters: 33 from the Russian alphabet with 3 additional letters for sounds of the Kyrgyz language: Ң, Ү, Ө.

Within the country, there have been mixed reactions to the idea of adopting the Latin alphabet for Kyrgyz. The chairman of Kyrgyzstan's National Commission for the State Language and Language Policies, Kanybek Osmonaliev, announced in September 2022 that it is considering switching to the Latin alphabet.^[4] However, several months later, Russia suspended dairy exports to Kyrgyzstan after Osmonaliev repeated his proposal to change the official script from Cyrillic to Latin to bring the country in line with other Turkic-speaking nations. Osmonaliev was reprimanded by PresidentSadyr Japarov who then clarified that Kyrgyzstan had no plans to replace the Cyrillic alphabet.^[5]

In the Kyrgyz Cyrillic alphabet, there are 15 vowels, and in Kyrgyz Arabic Alphabet, there are 13. The discrepancy is for two reasons. First, in Kyrgyz Cyrillic, both vowelsЭ э andЕ е were imported from theRussian Cyrillic alphabet. They essentially make the same sound, and the choice comes down to a matter of orthographic rule. They are both represented in the Kyrgyz Arabic alphabet withە / ﻪ. The second difference is that Kyrgyz Cyrillic has two lettersЫ ы andИ и, the former being a back vowel and the latter a front vowel.

Similar to other Turkic languages, Kyrgyz vowels are divided intofront vowel andback vowel, and all words shall follow thevowel harmony rules. This means that the vowel sounds within a word can either be front vowel, or back vowel.

In Kyrgyz, vowels are also divided into short and long. Whether in Kyrgyz Cyrillic Alphabet, or in Kyrgyz Arabic Alphabet, long vowels are represented by writing the same letter twice. For example, in the wordдөөлөт / دۅۅلۅت 'state', there is a long vowel and a short vowel. Of the two lettersЭ э andЕ е, only the former also has a long vowel,Ээ ээ

The lettersЫ ы andИ и do not have a long vowel equivalent.

Notes

1. The common and standard letter for use the vowel pair [Ы ы][И и] (back vowel and front vowel respectively) in Arabic is the letter "ىـ / ـى / ى". When it cannot be inferred from the word which of these two the letter is referring to, if the vowel is front vowel, ahamza is placed on the letter. If there exists multiple front vowels [И и] in a word, where in Arabic, thehamza is necessary for the correct inference of the pronunciation, only the initial letter is to takehamza.^[2]

   What is meant by inference, is that the consonants "قـ ق" and "عـ ع" ([q] and [ɢ~ʁ]) are only used with back vowels, and the letters "كـ ك" and "گـ‌ گ" ([k] and [g]) with front vowels. Each of the other vowels in a word are also clearly either front or back vowels. So based on vowel harmony rules, it can be inferred that an unmarked "ىـ / ـى / ى" letter is also either back or front vowel, matching the word. However, there exists words in Kyrgyz, where in a word that contains back-vowels, there exists mid-word an exceptional use of the front vowel [И и]. In these cases as well, thehamza is to be used to mark the vowel. Below a variety of examples, and their Cyrillic transliterations:

   • سىرсыр ('secret')
   • انىن سىرى (анын сыры) ('his secret')
   • بئرбир ('one')
   • بئرىбири ('one of')
   • ابئيىرабийир ('conscience')
   • كىردىمкирдим ('I entered')
   • قىردىمкырдым ('I shaved')

Correspondence chart of four Kyrgyz alphabets: the Kyrgyz Cyrillic andKyrgyz Braille alphabets used inKyrgyzstan, the Kyrgyz Latin alphabet used from 1928 to 1938 in theKirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic, and the Kyrgyz Arabic alphabet used inAfghanistan,Pakistan and inXinjiang, China. In this correspondence chart, the Cyrillic alphabet is written in its official order. The Perso-Arabic and Latin equivalents are not written in their official alphabetical orders but have been listed around the Cyrillic for ease of understanding.

• К к and Г г correspond respectively withق andع in back-vowel words; and in front-vowel words withك andگ.

Article 1 of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights:^[10]

The table below illustrates the letter order for Kyrgyz as the letter order differs based on whether it's being written in Perso-Arabic, Cyrillic or Latin.

In earlier versions of the alphabet, the sequenceي‎ (ییی‎) was used to represent ы/и; the sequenceې‎ (ېېې‎) was instead used to represent й. This modification was likely undone because of the historic role ofې‎ representing/e/. Althoughې‎ was never a part of standardizedPersian orChagatai orthography, it possibly had precedent as a scribal variation of representing/e/ and its modern-day role inPashto andUyghur is also representing/e/. For this reason Kasym Tynystanov likely erred on the side of caution and settled on the modern scheme shown above.^{[citation needed]}

• Romanization of Kyrgyz
• Kazakh alphabets
• Uyghur alphabets

• Kyrgyz Cyrillic–Latin–Arabic–Orkhon converter
• Kyrgyz – Latin converter
• Грамматический справочник – Письменность
• Translation of the Bible into Kyrgyz using the Arabic script
• Various Christian-themed hymns written in Kyrgyz, both Cyrillic and Arabic scripts

• Arabic alphabets
• Cyrillic alphabets
• Alphabets used by Turkic languages
• Kyrgyz language

• Articles containing Kyrgyz-language text
• Pages with Kyrgyz IPA
• CS1: long volume value
• CS1 Russian-language sources (ru)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Pages with plain IPA
• Articles containing Arabic-language text
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from September 2024