# Abkhaz alphabet

The Abkhaz alphabet is a Cyrillic alphabet used for the Abkhaz language.
Abkhaz did not become a written language until the 19th century. Up until then, Abkhazians, especially princes, had been using Greek (up to c. 9th century), Georgian (9–19th centuries), and partially Turkish (18th century) languages. The Abkhaz word for alphabet is анбан (anban), which was borrowed from Georgian ანბანი (anbani).

## History

The first Abkhaz alphabet was created in 1862 by Peter von Uslar. It had 55 letters and was based on the Cyrillic script. Another version, having 51 letters, was used in 1892 by Dimitry Gulia and K. Machavariani. In 1909, the alphabet was again expanded to 55 letters by Andria Tchotchua to adjust to the extensive consonantal inventory of Abkhaz.
In 1926, during the korenizatsiya policy in the Soviet Union, the Cyrillic alphabet was replaced by a Latin alphabet devised by Nikolay Marr. It featured 76 letters and was called the "Abkhaz analytical alphabet". In 1928, this was replaced by another Latin alphabet. (See illustration at right.) From 1938 to 1954 the Abkhaz language was written in Georgian Mkhedruli script.
Since 1954, the Abkhaz language has been written in a new 58-letter (now 64-letter) Cyrillic alphabet (see chart below). Of these, 38 are graphically distinct; the rest are digraphs with ⟨ь⟩ and ⟨ә⟩ which indicate palatalization and labialization, respectively. In 1996, the most recent reform of the alphabet was implemented: while labialization had hitherto been marked with two additional letters, ә and у (у was used in the digraphs гу, ҕу, ку, қу, ҟу, and ху, which were not considered separate letters), since then only ә was retained in this function. Unusually, the Cyrillic plosive letters К П Т represent ejective consonants; the non-ejectives (pulmonic consonants) are derived from these by means of a descender at the bottom of the letter. In the case of the affricates, however, the plain letters are pulmonic, and the derived letters ejective.
The modern Abkhaz orthography gives preference to the letters Г К П Т Х Ч with descender (Ӷ Қ Ԥ Ҭ Ҳ Ҷ). The letters (Ҕ Ҧ) had previously (before 1996) had a hook, which Ҕ still does in Yakut. In pre-Soviet alphabets the hook was also used in Ӄ Ꚋ, see above.
The letters ь and ә are used as parts of digraphs, but are listed separately in the alphabet. Besides the digraphs listed in the alphabet, the letter ь occurs in ль /lʲ/, which is used in some loanwords.
The modern Abkhaz Cyrillic alphabet and transliteration systems :
| Letter | Name | ISO | TITUS (Chirikba, where different) | IPA Value |
| А/а | А | a | а | /ɑ/ |
| Б/б | Бы | b | b | /b/ |
| В/в | Вы | v | v | /v/ |
| Г/г | Гы | g | g | /ɡ/ |
| Гь/гь | Гьы | gʹ | gʹ | /ɡʲ/ |
| Гә/гә (pre-1996: Гу/гу) | Гәы | ga̋ | gᵒ | /ɡʷ/ |
| Ӷ/ӷ (pre-1996: Ҕ/ҕ) | Ӷы | ğ | ɣ | /ʁ/ |
| Ӷь/ӷь (pre-1996: Ҕь/ҕь) | Ӷьы | ğʹ | ɣʹ | /ʁʲ/ |
| Ӷә/ӷә (pre-1996: Ҕу/ҕу) | Ӷәы | ğa̋ | ɣᵒ | /ʁʷ/ |
| Д/д | Ды | d | d | /d/ |
| Дә/дә | Дәы | da̋ | dᵒ | /dʷ/ |
| Е/е | Е | e | e | /e/ |
| Ж/ж | Жы | ž | ž | /ʐ/ |
| Жь/жь | Жьы | žʹ | žʹ | /ʒ/ |
| Жә/жә | Жәы | ža̋ | žᵒ | /ʒʷ/ |
| З/з | Зы | z | z | /z/ |
| Ӡ/ӡ | Ӡы | ź | ʒ | /d͡z/ |
| Ӡә/ӡә | Ӡәы | źa̋ | ʒᵒ | /d͡ʑʷ/ |
| И/и | Иы | i | i, j | /j(i), i(:)/ |
| К/к | Кы | k | ḳ (kʼ) | /kʼ/ |
| Кь/кь | Кьы | kʹ | ḳʹ (kʼʹ) | /kʲʼ/ |
| Кә/кә (pre-1996: Ку/ку) | Кәы | ka̋ | ḳᵒ (kʼᵒ) | /kʷʼ/ |
| Қ/қ | Қы | ķ | k | /k/ |
| Қь/қь | Қьы | ķʹ | kʹ | /kʲ/ |
| Қә/қә (pre-1996: Ӄу/ӄу) | Қәы | ķa̋ | kᵒ | /kʷ/ |
| Ҟ/ҟ | Ҟы | k̄ | q̇ (qʼ) | /qʼ/ |
| Ҟь/ҟь | Ҟьы | k̄ʹ | q̇ʹ (qʼʹ) | /qʲʼ/ |
| Ҟә/ҟә (pre-1996: Ҟу/ҟу) | Ҟәы | k̄a̋ | q̇ᵒ (qʼᵒ) | /qʷʼ/ |
| Л/л | Лы | l | l | /l/ |
| М/м | Мы | m | m | /m/ |
| Н/н | Ны | n | n | /n/ |
| О/о | О | o | o | /o/ |
| П/п | Пы | p | ṗ (pʼ) | /pʼ/ |
| Ԥ/ԥ (pre-1996: Ҧ/ҧ) | Ԥы | ṕ | p | /pʰ/ |
| Р/р | Ры | r | r | /r/ |
| С/с | Сы | s | s | /s/ |
| Т/т | Ты | t | ṭ (tʼ) | /tʼ/ |
| Тә/тә | Тәы | ta̋ | ṭᵒ (tʼᵒ) | /tʷʼ/ |
| Ҭ/ҭ | Ҭы | ţ | t | /tʰ/ |
| Ҭә/ҭә | Ҭәы | ţa̋ | tᵒ | /tʷʰ/ |
| У/у | Уы | u | w, u | /u(:),w(ɵ)/ |
| Ф/ф | Фы | f | f | /f/ |
| Х/х | Хы | h | x | /χ/ |
| Хь/хь | Хьы | hʹ | xʹ | /χʲ/ |
| Хә/хә (pre-1996: Ху/ху) | Хәы | ha̋ | xᵒ | /χʷ/ |
| Ҳ/ҳ | Ҳы | h̦ | ḥ (h) | /ħ/ |
| Ҳә/ҳә | Ҳәы | h̦a̋ | ḥᵒ (hᵒ) | /ħʷ/ |
| Ц/ц | Цы | c | c | /t͡sʰ/ |
| Цә/цә | Цәы | ca̋ | cᵒ | /t͡ɕʷʰ/ |
| Ҵ/ҵ | Ҵы | c̄ | c̣ (cʼ) | /t͡sʼ/ |
| Ҵә/ҵә | Ҵәы | c̄a̋ | c̣ᵒ (cʼᵒ) | /t͡ɕʷʼ/ |
| Ч/ч | Чы | č | čʹ | /t͡ʃʰ/ |
| Ҷ/ҷ | Ҷы | c̦ | č̣ʹ (čʼʹ) | /t͡ʃʼ/ |
| Ҽ/ҽ | Ҽы | c̆ | č | /ʈ͡ʂʰ/ |
| Ҿ/ҿ | Ҿы | ̦c̆ | č̣ (čʼ) | /ʈ͡ʂʼ/ |
| Ш/ш | Шы | š | š | /ʂ/ |
| Шь/шь | Шьы | šʹ | šʹ | /ʃ/ |
| Шә/шә | Шәы | ša̋ | šᵒ | /ʃʷ/ |
| Ы/ы | Ы | y | ə | /ɨ/ |
| Ҩ/ҩ | Ҩы | ò | ʿᵒ (jᵒ) | /ɥ/ |
| Џ/џ | Џы | d̂ | ǯ | /ɖ͡ʐ/ |
| Џь/џь | Џьы | d̂ | ǯʹ | /d͡ʒ/ |
| Ь/ь | | ʹ | | /◌ʲ/ |
| Ә/ә | | a̋ | | /◌ʷ/ |

## Text Comparison

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
| Cyrillic script | Georgian script | Latin script (ISO 9) | IPA | English translation |
| Дарбанзаалак ауаҩы дшоуп ихы дақәиҭны. Ауаа зегь зинлеи патулеи еиҟароуп. Урҭ ирымоуп ахшыҩи аламыси, дара дарагь аешьеи аешьеи реиԥш еизыҟазароуп. | დარბანზაალაკ აუაჳჷ დშოუპ იხჷ დაქჿითნჷ. აუაა ზეგჲ ზინლეი პატულეი ეიყაროუპ. ურთ ირჷმოუპ ახშჷჳი ალამჷსი, დარა დარაგჲ აეშჲეი აეშჲეი რეიფშ ეიზჷყაზაროუპ. | Darbanzaalak auaòy dšoup ihy daķãiţny. Auaa zegʹ zinlei patulei eik̄aroup. Urţ irymoup ahšyòi alamysi, dara daragʹ aešʹei aešʹei reipš eizyk̄azaroup. | [darbanzaːlakʼ awaɥɨ tʂəʊpʼ jɨχɨ dakʷʰitʰnɨ ǁ awaː zəgʲ zinləɪ pʼatʼwɨləɪ əɪqʼarəʊpʼ ǁ wərtʰ jɨrɨməʊpʼ aχʂɨɥiː alamɨsiː ǀ dara daragʲ ajəʃəɪ rəɪpʰʂ əɪzɨqʼazarəʊpʼ ǁ] | 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. |