LingoflyTransliteration of Kazakh
A correspondence table between the Kazakh script and Latin letters: 42 letters, with names and sounds. The Latin column is the 2021 version of the Kazakh Latin alphabet, which the country is moving to from Cyrillic.
Kazakh character → Latin
| Character | Name | In Latin | How it sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| А а | a | a | Open and steady even without stress; it never fades to "uh" |
| Ә ә | ä | ä | The mouth opens as for a, the tongue moves forward as for e. The front partner of a |
| Б б | be | b | An ordinary b |
| В в | ve | v | An ordinary v, found only in borrowed words |
| Г г | ge | g | Always hard, never as in "gem" |
| Ғ ғ | ğ | ğ | The voiced partner of q: a g made deep in the throat, where you gargle |
| Д д | de | d | An ordinary d |
| Е е | e | e | At the start of a word a short y slips in before it; elsewhere it is plain |
| Ё ё | yo | io | A y and an o said together |
| Ж ж | zhe | j | Say sh and switch the voice on |
| З з | ze | z | An ordinary z |
| И и | i | i | A short vowel with a y-glide after it — uhy in back words, iy in front words. In loanwords such as "taxi" it is a plain ee |
| Й й | short i | i | A short i that never makes a syllable of its own |
| К к | ka | k | An ordinary k |
| Қ қ | q | q | Like k, but made further back, right at the uvula |
| Л л | el | l | An ordinary l |
| М м | em | m | An ordinary m |
| Н н | en | n | An ordinary n |
| Ң ң | ñ | ñ | The back of the tongue presses on the soft palate, as for g, and the air goes out through the nose |
| О о | o | o | A pure, steady o |
| Ө ө | ö | ö | Say the e of "bed" and round the lips |
| П п | pe | p | An ordinary p |
| Р р | er | r | The tongue tip flutters behind the upper teeth. No native word begins with it |
| С с | es | s | Always s, never k |
| Т т | te | t | An ordinary t |
| У у | u | u | After a vowel it is a w: taw, mountain, rhymes with "cow". After a consonant a short vowel comes before the w, as in suw, water |
| Ұ ұ | ū | ū | A short oo with rounded lips |
| Ү ү | ü | ü | Say "see" and round the lips tightly, keeping the tongue forward |
| Ф ф | ef | f | An ordinary f, found only in borrowed words |
| Х х | kha | h | Air rasps at the back of the throat, as in Scottish "loch". Comes with Arabic and other borrowed words |
| Һ һ | h | h | A light breath, softer than kh |
| Ц ц | tse | ts | A t and an s in one sound |
| Ч ч | che | tş | An ordinary ch |
| Ш ш | sha | ş | An ordinary sh |
| Щ щ | shcha | ştş | An sh held a moment longer |
| Ъ ъ | separator sign | — | No sound of its own |
| Ы ы | y | y | Short and unrounded, said further back than i |
| І і | i (dotted) | ı | A short, crisp i |
| Ь ь | soft sign | — | No sound of its own |
| Э э | reversed e | e | A plain e |
| Ю ю | yu | iu | A y plus the sound of the letter u |
| Я я | ya | ia | A y and an a said together |
Where this Latin alphabet comes from
There are fewer Latin letters than Cyrillic ones: х and һ are both h, и and й are both i. Letters from borrowed words become pairs: ц is ts, ч is tş, щ is ştş, ю is iu, я is ia.
The hard and soft signs are not written in Latin. Everyday life, school and the internet still use Cyrillic, and so does the course.
What to watch out for
The nine letters of its own. They carry the sounds the Russian alphabet has no letters for. Five are vowels (ә ө ұ ү і), and vowel harmony rests on them: a word is spoken all-back or all-front, and the ending adjusts to it.
Letters for two sounds. Each of them hides a second sound. е gets a y before it at the start of a word, and ю and я are y plus a vowel. и is a short vowel plus y, and у is w, or a short vowel plus w.
Only in loanwords. Six signs that came in with Russian words: ё ц щ ъ ь э. Native Kazakh words do without them, apart from a handful with щ, and the new Latin alphabet has no letters for them. в, ф and ч also live almost only in loanwords, but they stand with the common letters.
Twenty-two common letters. Five of them read the way they look: а к м о т. Five only look Latin: В is v, Н is n, Р is r, С is s, Х is kh. The other twelve are new shapes: eleven consonants and one vowel, ы.
Frequently asked
How to write Kazakh text in Latin letters?
Using the table above, letter by letter. Where the spelling depends on the position in the word, the section “Where this Latin alphabet comes from” says so.
Why do transliterations differ across sources?
Because they solve different problems: the scholarly one is reversible and precise, the practical one is readable, the passport one is fixed by the country's rules. They are not required to agree.