Letters and Sounds in Uzbek
There are 30 sounds in Uzbek: 6 vowels and 24 consonants. However, there are 29 letters in the alphabet. 6 letters represent vowels and 23 letters represent consonants. The letter J is used for the sounds /dᴣ/ as in English journal and /ʒ/ as in English treasure.
Vowels:
A E I O U O'
Consonants:
B D F G H J K L M N P Q R S T V X Y Z G' Sh Ch Ng
As you can see, there are letters that are similar and different. Additionally, different sounds exist in both languages.
1. In Turkish there are vowels such as ı /ɯ/, ö /œ/, and ü /y/. In Uzbek these vowels do not exist. (*These sounds exist in
some dialects).
2. Turkish o/o/ and ö/œ/ are written in Uzbek as o' and pronounced like /o/ or/ø/.
3. Pronunciation of Turkish i /i/ and Uzbek i /i/ or/ɨ/ is different in many cases.
4. The sound o /ɑ/ or/ɔ/ does not exist in Turkish. The Turkish letter o /o/ is similar in spelling, however, they are different
sounds.
5. In Turkish there is only one h /h/ whereas in Uzbek, there are two different sounds. They are x /χ/ and h /h/.
6. Turkish c /dᴣ/ and j /ʒ/ are represented in Uzbek by one letter j /dᴣ/ or /ʒ/.
7. The Turkish letter ş is represented in Uzbek by sh, and the Turkish letter ç is represented in Uzbek by ch.
8. The Uzbek letter q /q/ does not exist in Turkish.
9. Turkish ğ /ɣ/ and Uzbek g' /ɣ/ are pronounced differently in both languages.
Vowels:
A E I O U O'
Consonants:
B D F G H J K L M N P Q R S T V X Y Z G' Sh Ch Ng
As you can see, there are letters that are similar and different. Additionally, different sounds exist in both languages.
1. In Turkish there are vowels such as ı /ɯ/, ö /œ/, and ü /y/. In Uzbek these vowels do not exist. (*These sounds exist in
some dialects).
2. Turkish o/o/ and ö/œ/ are written in Uzbek as o' and pronounced like /o/ or/ø/.
3. Pronunciation of Turkish i /i/ and Uzbek i /i/ or/ɨ/ is different in many cases.
4. The sound o /ɑ/ or/ɔ/ does not exist in Turkish. The Turkish letter o /o/ is similar in spelling, however, they are different
sounds.
5. In Turkish there is only one h /h/ whereas in Uzbek, there are two different sounds. They are x /χ/ and h /h/.
6. Turkish c /dᴣ/ and j /ʒ/ are represented in Uzbek by one letter j /dᴣ/ or /ʒ/.
7. The Turkish letter ş is represented in Uzbek by sh, and the Turkish letter ç is represented in Uzbek by ch.
8. The Uzbek letter q /q/ does not exist in Turkish.
9. Turkish ğ /ɣ/ and Uzbek g' /ɣ/ are pronounced differently in both languages.