# Volga Türki

The Volga Turki language was a literary language used by some ethnic groups of the Volga-Ural region (Tatars and Bashkirs) from the Middle Ages until the 19th century.
Volga Turki is a member of the Kipchak (or Northwestern) group of Turkic languages, although it is partly derived from the ancient Bulgar language (the first poem, considered to be written by Qul Ghali in Volga Turki dates back to Volga Bulgaria's epoch). It included many Persian and Arabic loans.
In its written form the language was spelled uniformly among different ethnic groups, speaking different Turkic languages of the Kipchak group, but pronunciation differed from one people to another, approximating to the spoken language, making this written form universal for different languages. The main reason for this universal usage was that the principal differences between the languages of the Kipchak group are in the pronunciation of the vowels, which was not adequately represented by the Arabic script.
The language formerly used the Arabic script and later its variant İske imlâ. The Volga Turki language is a language of Idel-Ural poetry and literature. With the Ottoman Turkish, Azeri, Kipchak, Khaqani Turkic and Chagatai, they were the only Turkic literary languages used in the Middle Ages. It was actively used in publishing until 1905, when the first Tatar and Bashkir newspaper started being published in modern Tatar and Bashkir language, which until then had been used only in a spoken form.

## Alphabet

| | Name | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial | Modern Cyrillic Bashkir alphabet | Modern Latin Bashkir alphabet | IPA | Notes |
| 1 | әлеп (әлиф) мәддә əlip (əlif) məddə | آ‎ | ـا‎ | ـا‎ | آ‎ | а | a | ɑ | |
| 2 | әлеп (әлиф) əlip (əlif) | ا‎ | –‎ | –‎ | ا‎ | ә, э, ы, и | ə, i, ı, e | æ, ɪ̆, ɤ̆, e | |
| 3 | бей biy | ب‎ | ـب‎ | ـبـ‎ | بـ‎ | б | b | b | |
| 4 | пей piy | پ‎ | ـپ‎ | ـپـ‎ | پـ‎ | п | p | p | |
| 5 | тей tiy | ت‎ | ـت‎ | ـتـ‎ | تـ‎ | т | t | t | Before front towels |
| 6 | сей siy | ث‎ | ـث‎ | ـثـ‎ | ثـ‎ | с, ҫ | s, ś | s, θ | Only in borrowings from Arabic, and in Bashkir words in 19th century modification |
| 7 | жем jim | ج‎ | ـج‎ | ـجـ‎ | جـ‎ | ж, й | j, y | ʒ, j | |
| 8 | сем sim | چ‎ | ـچ‎ | ـچـ‎ | چـ‎ | ш, с | ş, s | ɕ, s | |
| 9 | хей xiy | ح‎ | ـح‎ | ـحـ‎ | حـ‎ | х | x | χ | Only in borrowings from Arabic |
| 10 | хый xıy | خ‎ | ـخ‎ | ـخـ‎ | خـ‎ | х | x | χ | |
| 11 | дал dal | د‎ | ـد‎ | ـد‎ | د‎ | д | d | d | |
| 12 | зал zal | ذ‎ | ـذ‎ | ـذ‎ | ذ‎ | з, ҙ | z, ź | z, ð | Only in Arabic loanwords, and in Bashkir words in 19th century modification |
| 13 | рей riy | ر‎ | ـر‎ | ـر‎ | ر‎ | р | r | ɾ | |
| 14 | зей ziy | ز‎ | ـز‎ | ـز‎ | ز‎ | з | z | z |
| 15 | жей jiy | ژ‎ | ـژ‎ | ـژ‎ | ژ‎ | ж | j | ʒ | Only in Persian, French and Russian borrowings |
| 16 | сен sin | س‎ | ـس‎ | ـسـ‎ | سـ‎ | с, ҫ | s, ś | s, θ | Before front vowels |
| 17 | шен şin | ش‎ | ـش‎ | ـشـ‎ | شـ‎ | ш | ş | ʃ | |
| 18 | сад sad | ص‎ | ـص‎ | ـصـ‎ | صـ‎ | с, ҫ | s, θ | s | Before back vowels |
| 19 | дад, зад dad, zad | ض‎ | ـض‎ | ـضـ‎ | ضـ‎ | д, з | d, z | d, z | Only in borrowings from Arabic |
| 20 | та ta | ط‎ | ـط‎ | ـطـ‎ | طـ‎ | т | t | t | Before back vowels |
| 21 | за za | ظ‎ | ـظ‎ | ـظـ‎ | ظـ‎ | з, ҙ | z, ð | z, ð | Only in borrowings from Arabic |
| 22 | ғәйн ğəyn | ع‎ | ـع‎ | ـعـ‎ | عـ‎ | ғ | ğ | ʁ | Only in borrowings from Arabic |
| 23 | ғайн ğayn | غ‎ | ـغ‎ | ـغـ‎ | غـ‎ | ғ | ğ | ʁ | |
| 24 | фей fiy | ف‎ | ـف‎ | ـفـ‎ | فـ‎ | ф | f | ɸ | |
| 25 | ҡаф qaf | ق‎ | ـق‎ | ـقـ‎ | قـ‎ | ҡ | q | q | |
| 26 | каф kaf | ك/ ک‎ | ـك/ ـک‎ | ـكـ‎ | كـ‎ | к | k | k | |
| 27 | гаф gaf | گ‎ | ـگ‎ | ـگـ‎ | گـ‎ | г | g | g |
| 28 | һаңғырау каф hañğıraw kaf | ڭ/ نک‎ | ـڭ/ ـنک‎ | ـڭـ/ ـنکـ‎ | — | ң | ñ | ŋ | Initial form was never used due to phonetic reasons |
| 29 | ләм ləm | ل‎ | ـل‎ | ـلـ‎ | لـ‎ | л | l | l | |
| 30 | мим mim | م‎ | ـم‎ | ـمـ‎ | مـ‎ | м | m | m | |
| 31 | нон nun | ن‎ | ـن‎ | ـنـ‎ | نـ‎ | н | n | n | |
| 32 | һей hiy | ه‎ | ـه/ ـہ‎ | ـهـ/ ـہـ‎ | هـ‎ | һ, ә | h, æ | h, æ | |
| 33 | вау waw | و‎ | ـو‎ | ـو‎ | و‎ | в, у, о, ө, ү | w, o, u, ü, ö | w/o, ʊ̆/ʏ̆, ɵ, u | Alternative Cyrillic transcription: ў, у, о |
| 34 | вей viy | ۋ‎ | ـۋ‎ | ـۋ‎ | ۋ‎ | в | v | β | Only in borrowings from European languages |
| 35 | ей yiy | ی‎ | ـی/ ـے‎ | ـیـ‎ | یـ‎ | й, и, э, ы | y, e, i, ı | j, e, ɪ̆, ɤ̆ | |