A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Karachay–Balkar | |
|---|---|
| къарачай-малкъар тил таулу тил | |
 | |
| Native to | North Caucasus |
| Region | Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay–Cherkessia, Turkey |
| Ethnicity | Karachays, Balkars |
Native speakers | 310,000 in Russia (2010 census)[1] |
Turkic
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Cyrillic Latin in diaspora | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Kabardino-Balkaria (Russia) Karachay-Cherkessia (Russia) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | krc |
| ISO 639-3 | krc |
| Glottolog | kara1465 |
 | |
 Karachay-Balkar is classified as "vulnerable" by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger[2] | |
Karachay–Balkar (Къарачай-Малкъар тил, Qaraçay-Malqar til), or Mountain Turkic[3][4] (Таулу тил, Tawlu til), is a Turkic language spoken by the Karachays and Balkars in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay–Cherkessia, European Russia, as well as by an immigrant population in Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey. It is divided into two dialects: Karachay-Baksan-Chegem, which pronounces two phonemes as /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ and Malkar, which pronounces the corresponding phonemes as /ts/ and /z/. The modern Karachay–Balkar written language is based on the Karachay–Baksan–Chegem dialect. The language is closely related to Kumyk.[5]
Writing
Historically, the Arabic alphabet had been used by first writers until 1924. Handwritten manuscripts of the Balkar poet Kazim Mechiev and other examples of literature have been preserved to this day. First printed books in Karachay–Balkar were published in the beginning of the 20th century.
After the October Revolution as part of a state campaign of Latinisation Karachay and Balkar educators developed a new alphabet based on Latin letters. In the 1930s, the official Soviet policy was revised and the process of Cyrillization of Soviet languages was started. In 1937–38 the new alphabet based on Cyrillic letters was officially adopted.
Alphabet
Modern Karachay–Balkar Cyrillic alphabet:
| А а /a/ |
Б б /b/ |
В в /v/ |
Г г /g/ |
Гъ гъ |
Д д /d/ |
Дж дж /dʒ/ |
Е е /je/ |
| Ё ё /ø, jo/ |
Ж ж** /ʒ/ |
З з /z/ |
И и /i/ |
Й й /j/ |
К к /k/ |
Къ къ /q/ |
Л л /l/ |
| М м /m/ |
Н н /n/ |
Нг нг /ŋ/ |
О о /o/ |
П п /p/ |
Р р /r/ |
С с /s/ |
Т т /t/ |
| У у /u, w/ |
Ф ф* /f/ |
Х х /x/ |
Ц ц /ts/ |
Ч ч /tʃ/ |
Ш ш /ʃ/ |
Щ щ | |
| ъ |
Ы ы /ɯ/ |
ь |
Э э /e/ |
Ю ю /y, ju/ |
Я я /ja/ |
- * Not found in native vocabulary
In Kabardino-Balkaria, they write ж instead of дж, while in Karachay-Cherkessia, they write нъ instead of нг. In some publications, especially during the Soviet period, the letter у́ or ў is used for the sound IPA: [w].
Karachay–Balkar Latin alphabet:
| A a | B в | C c | Ç ç | D d | E e | F f | G g |
| Ƣ ƣ | I i | J j | K k | Q q | L l | M m | N n |
| Ꞑ ꞑ | O o | Ө ө | P p | R r | S s | Ş ş | T t |
| Ь ь | U u | V v | Y y | X x | Z z | Ƶ ƶ |
Comparison chart
| Arabic (1920–1924) |
Latin (1924–1938) |
Cyrillic (1961–1964) |
Cyrillic (1937–1961), (1964–present) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ا | A a | А а | А а |
| ب | B в | Б б | Б б |
| و | V v | В в | В в |
| گ | G g | Г г | Г г |
| غ | Ƣ ƣ | Ғ ғ | Гъ гъ |
| د | D d | Д д | Д д |
| ە | E e | Е е | Е е |
| ۆ | Ө ө | Ө ө, Ё ё | Ё ё |
| ژ | Ƶ ƶ | Ж ж | Ж ж |
| ج | Ç ç | Җ җ | Дж дж (Ж ж) |
| ز | Z z | З з | З з |
| ي | I i | И и | И и |
| ي | J j | Й й | Й й |
| ك, ک | K k | К к | К к |
| ق | Q q | Қ қ | Къ къ |
| ل | L l | Л л | Л л |
| م | M m | М м | М м |
| ن | N n | Н н | Н н |
| ڭ, ݣ | Ꞑ ꞑ | Ң ң | Нг нг (Нъ нъ) |
| وٓ | O o | О о | О о |
| پ | P p | П п | П п |
| ر | R r | Р р | Р р |
| س | S s | С с | С с |
| ت | T t | Т т | Т т |
| و | U u | У у | У у |
| و | W w | Ў ў | У у (Ў ў, У́ у́) |
| ف | F f | Ф ф | Ф ф |
| خ | X x | Х х | Х х |
| ح | H h | Һ һ | - |
| — | S̷ s̷ | Ц ц | Ц ц |
| چ | C c | Ч ч | Ч ч |
| ش | Ş ş | Ш ш | Ш ш |
| — | — | Щ щ | Щ щ |
| — | — | ъ | ъ |
| ىٕ |  
|
Ы ы | Ы ы |
| — | — | ь | ь |
| ئە, اە | E e | Э э | Э э |
| ۉ | Y y | Ү ү, Ю ю | Ю ю |
| - | - | Я я | Я я |
Phonology
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i y | ɯ u |
| Mid | e ø | o |
| Open | ɑ |