Uyghur Latin alphabet

Template:Short description The Uyghur Latin alphabet (Template:Langx, Uyghur Latin Yëziqi, ULY, Уйғур Латин Йезиқи) is an auxiliary alphabet for the Uyghur language based on the Latin script. Uyghur is primarily written in Uyghur Arabic alphabet and sometimes in Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet.

In 2023, the alphabet was agreed as the BGN/PCGN romanization system for Uyghur.

Construction

The Uyghur Latin alphabet was first introduced in the 1930s in the former Soviet Union and was briefly used in the Uyghur Autonomous Region during the 1960s to 1970s. The ULY project was finalized at Xinjiang University, Ürümqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), People's Republic of China in July 2001, at the fifth conference of a series held there for that purpose that started in November 2000. In January 2008, the ULY project was amended and identified by Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Regional Working Committee of Minorities' Language and Writing.

The letters in the Uyghur Latin alphabet are, in order:

Capital Letter	A	E	B	P	T	J	CH	X	D	R	Z	ZH	S	SH	GH	F	Q	K	G	NG	L	M	N	H	O	U	Ö	Ü	W	Ë	I	Y
Small Letter	a	e	b	p	t	j	ch	x	d	r	z	zh	s	sh	gh	f	q	k	g	ng	l	m	n	h	o	u	ö	ü	w	ë	i	y
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Purpose

The creators of the Uyghur Latin alphabet strongly emphasized that “the proposed alphabet should not replace [the Persian-Arab Uyghur alphabet] nor should its introduction represent a new reform of the writing system. It is to be used solely in computer-related fields as an ancillary writing system.”

Public reception

The Uyghur Latin alphabet had a heavy public relations presence on both the Internet and official Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region media but despite official efforts to play down the sense of a massive reform, the Uyghur Latin alphabet has acquired that connotation and the public seems wary of it. The importance of having one-to-one correspondence between Latin and Arabic is noteworthy.

Comparison of orthographies

The different orthographies are compared in the following table.

Comparative alphabets: Arabic-Script Uyghur, Latin-Script Uyghur; Uyghur Ereb Yëziqi, Uyghur Latin Yëziqi sëlishturma ëlipbesi

Comparative alphabets: Arabic-Script Uyghur, Latin-Script Uyghur

Order	UEY	ULY	USY	UYY	IPA
01	Template:Script/Arabic	A a	А а	A a	Template:IPAslink
02	Template:Script/Arabic	E e	Ә ә	Ə ə	Template:IPAslink~Template:IPAslink
03	Template:Script/Arabic	B b	Б б	B b	Template:IPAslink
04	Template:Script/Arabic	P p	П п	P p	Template:IPAslink
05	Template:Script/Arabic	T t	Т т	T t	Template:IPAslink
06	Template:Script/Arabic	J j	Җ җ	J j	Template:IPAslink
07	Template:Script/Arabic	Ch ch	Ч ч	Q q	Template:IPAslink
08	Template:Script/Arabic	X x	Х х	H h	Template:IPAslink
09	Template:Script/Arabic	D d	Д д	D d	Template:IPAslink
10	Template:Script/Arabic	R r	Р р	R r	Template:IPAslink
11	Template:Script/Arabic	Z z	З з	Z z	Template:IPAslink
12	Template:Script/Arabic	Zh zh	Ж ж	Ⱬ ⱬ	Template:IPAslink
13	Template:Script/Arabic	S s	С с	S s	Template:IPAslink
14	Template:Script/Arabic	Sh sh	Ш ш	X x	Template:IPAslink
15	Template:Script/Arabic	Gh gh	Ғ ғ	Ƣ ƣ	Template:IPAslink
16	Template:Script/Arabic	F f	Ф ф	F f	Template:IPAslink
17	Template:Script/Arabic	Q q	Қ қ	Ⱪ ⱪ	Template:IPAslink
18	Template:Script/Arabic	K k	К к	K k	Template:IPAslink
19	Template:Script/Arabic	G g	Г г	G g	Template:IPAslink
20	Template:Script/Arabic	Ng ng	Ң ң	Ng ng	Template:IPAslink
21	Template:Script/Arabic	L l	Л л	L l	Template:IPAslink
22	Template:Script/Arabic	M m	М м	M m	Template:IPAslink
23	Template:Script/Arabic	N n	Н н	N n	Template:IPAslink
24	Template:Script/Arabic	H h	Һ һ	Ⱨ ⱨ	Template:IPAslink
25	Template:Script/Arabic	O o	О о	O o	Template:IPAslink
26	Template:Script/Arabic	U u	У у	U u	Template:IPAslink
27	Template:Script/Arabic	Ö ö	Ө ө	Ɵ ɵ	Template:IPAslink
28	Template:Script/Arabic	Ü ü	Ү ү	Ü ü	Template:IPAslink
29	Template:Script/Arabic	W w	В в	W w/V v	Template:IPAslink~Template:IPAslink
30	Template:Script/Arabic	Ë ë	Е е	E e	Template:IPAslink
31	Template:Script/Arabic	I i	И и	I i	Template:IPAslink~Template:IPAslink
32	Template:Script/Arabic	Y y	Й й	Y y

Text example

Below follows an example of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1) in Uyghur:

Example of writing in various Uyghur orthographies

Arabic alphabet (UEY):	Template:Ug-textonly
Cyrillic alphabet (USY):	Һәммә адәм туғулушидинла әркин, иззәт-һөрмәт вә һоқуқта баббаравәр болуп туғулған. Улар әқилгә вә виҗданға игә һәмдә бир-биригә қериндашлиқ мунасивитигә хас роһ билән муамилә қилиши керәк.
Former Pinyin-based alphabet (UYY):	Ⱨəmmə adəm tuƣuluxidinla ərkin, izzət-ⱨɵrmət wə ⱨoⱪuⱪta babbarawər bolup tuƣulƣan. Ular əⱪilgə wə wijdanƣa igə ⱨəmdə bir-birigə ⱪerindaxliⱪ munasiwitigə has roⱨ bilən mu’amilə ⱪilixi kerək.
Newer Latin alphabet (ULY):	Hemme adem tughulushidinla erkin, izzet-hörmet we hoquqta babbarawer bolup tughulghan. Ular eqilge we wijdan'gha ige hemde bir-birige qërindashliq munasiwitige xas roh bilen muamile qilishi kërek.
English:	All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

See also

• Uyghur Ereb Yëziqi
• Uyghur alphabets