The Turkmen alphabet to copy: the 30 Latin letters as capitals, then as small letters, then the eight signs that stood in for four of them from 1993 to 1999.
Read the full guide
Letters that surprise an English reader
S is /θ/, the th of path, and Z is /ð/, the th of father. J is the j of jive and Ž the s of pleasure. Ý is the y of yes, while plain Y is a vowel, /ɯ/. W is /w/, and the alphabet has no V. Ň is /ŋ/ and Ä is /æ/.
Dollar, yen and pound as letters
The Latin alphabet decreed in 1993 wrote capital Ş with the dollar sign and small ş with the cent sign, Ý with the yen sign and Ž with the pound sign. The letters were changed later, as the Turkmen standard of 1999 confirms, and the old signs may still be met.
Until 1993 Turkmen was written in Cyrillic, where W was В, Y was Ы and Ý was Й.
G, H and K each have a second sound: /ɣ/ for G, /χ/ for H and /q/ for K.
In Iran and Afghanistan Turkmen is written in the Arabic script.
Questions and answers
How many letters are in the Turkmen alphabet?
30: the letters of the English alphabet without C, Q, V and X, and eight more, Ç, Ä, Ž, Ň, Ö, Ş, Ü and Ý.
What alphabet does Turkmenistan use?
A Latin one, which has official status there. The Turkmenistan alphabet of today was decreed in 1993 to replace Cyrillic, in use since 1940. Some letters were changed afterwards, and the standard of 1999 has the present forms.
Is the Turkmen alphabet the same as the Turkish alphabet?
No. Turkmen has five letters the Turkish alphabet does not have, Ä, Ž, Ň, W and Ý, and does without four that Turkish has: C, Ğ, dotless I and V.
All 68 letters
Capital letters 30
AА /ɑ/U+0041 Latin capital letter a. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 1 of 30. Sound /ɑ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was А.
GГ /ɡ/U+0047 Latin capital letter g. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 8 of 30. Sound /ɡ/; also /ɣ~ʁ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Г.
ŽЖ /ʒ/U+017D Latin capital letter z with caron. Latin Extended-A block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 12 of 30. Sound /ʒ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Ж. From 1993 to 1999 it was written with the pound sign, £.
ZЗ /ð/U+005A Latin capital letter z. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 30 of 30. Sound /ð/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was З.
SС /θ/U+0053 Latin capital letter s. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 22 of 30. Sound /θ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was С.
Show all 68 letters (63 more)
Capital letters, continued
ŞШ /ʃ/U+015E Latin capital letter s with cedilla. Latin Extended-A block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 23 of 30. Sound /ʃ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Ш. From 1993 to 1999 it was written with the dollar sign, $.
YЫ /ɯ/U+0059 Latin capital letter y. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 28 of 30. Sound /ɯ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Ы.
ŇҢ /ŋ/U+0147 Latin capital letter n with caron. Latin Extended-A block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 17 of 30. Sound /ŋ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Ң. From 1993 to 1999 it was written Ñ.
ÄӘ /æ/U+00C4 Latin capital letter a with diaeresis. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 6 of 30. Sound /æ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Ә.
ÖӨ /œ/, /ø/U+00D6 Latin capital letter o with diaeresis. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 19 of 30. One chart of the source writes its sound /œ/ and the other /ø/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Ө.
BБ /b/U+0042 Latin capital letter b. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 2 of 30. Sound /b/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Б.
DД /d/U+0044 Latin capital letter d. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 4 of 30. Sound /d/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Д.
JҖ /dʒ/U+004A Latin capital letter j. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 11 of 30. Sound /dʒ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Җ.
EЭ, Е /e/U+0045 Latin capital letter e. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 5 of 30. Sound /e/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Э at the start of a word and Е elsewhere.
FФ /f/U+0046 Latin capital letter f. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 7 of 30. Sound /f/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Ф.
HХ /h/U+0048 Latin capital letter h. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 9 of 30. Sound /h/; also /χ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Х.
IИ /i/U+0049 Latin capital letter i. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 10 of 30. Sound /i/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was И.
ÝЙ /j/U+00DD Latin capital letter y with acute. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 29 of 30. Sound /j/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Й. From 1993 to 1999 it was written with the yen sign, ¥.
KК /k/U+004B Latin capital letter k. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 13 of 30. Sound /k/; also /q/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was К.
LЛ /l/U+004C Latin capital letter l. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 14 of 30. Sound /l/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Л.
MМ /m/U+004D Latin capital letter m. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 15 of 30. Sound /m/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was М.
NН /n/U+004E Latin capital letter n. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 16 of 30. Sound /n/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Н.
OО /o/U+004F Latin capital letter o. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 18 of 30. Sound /o/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was О.
PП /p/U+0050 Latin capital letter p. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 20 of 30. Sound /p/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was П.
RР /r/, /ɾ/U+0052 Latin capital letter r. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 21 of 30. One chart of the source writes its sound /r/ and the other /ɾ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Р.
TТ /t/U+0054 Latin capital letter t. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 24 of 30. Sound /t/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Т.
ÇЧ /tʃ/U+00C7 Latin capital letter c with cedilla. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 3 of 30. Sound /tʃ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Ч.
UУ /u/U+0055 Latin capital letter u. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 25 of 30. Sound /u/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was У.
WВ /w/U+0057 Latin capital letter w. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 27 of 30. Sound /w/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was В.
ÜҮ /y/U+00DC Latin capital letter u with diaeresis. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 26 of 30. Sound /y/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was Ү.
Small letters 30
aSmall а /ɑ/U+0061 Latin small letter a. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 1 of 30. Sound /ɑ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was а.
bSmall б /b/U+0062 Latin small letter b. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 2 of 30. Sound /b/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was б.
wSmall в /w/U+0077 Latin small letter w. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 27 of 30. Sound /w/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was в.
gSmall г /ɡ/U+0067 Latin small letter g. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 8 of 30. Sound /ɡ/; also /ɣ~ʁ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was г.
dSmall д /d/U+0064 Latin small letter d. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 4 of 30. Sound /d/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was д.
žSmall ж /ʒ/U+017E Latin small letter z with caron. Latin Extended-A block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 12 of 30. Sound /ʒ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was ж. From 1993 to 1999 it was written with a letter shaped like the long s, ſ.
zSmall з /ð/U+007A Latin small letter z. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 30 of 30. Sound /ð/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was з.
iSmall и /i/U+0069 Latin small letter i. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 10 of 30. Sound /i/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was и.
ýSmall й /j/U+00FD Latin small letter y with acute. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 29 of 30. Sound /j/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was й. From 1993 to 1999 it was written ÿ.
kSmall к /k/U+006B Latin small letter k. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 13 of 30. Sound /k/; also /q/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was к.
lSmall л /l/U+006C Latin small letter l. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 14 of 30. Sound /l/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was л.
mSmall м /m/U+006D Latin small letter m. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 15 of 30. Sound /m/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was м.
nSmall н /n/U+006E Latin small letter n. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 16 of 30. Sound /n/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was н.
oSmall о /o/U+006F Latin small letter o. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 18 of 30. Sound /o/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was о.
pSmall п /p/U+0070 Latin small letter p. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 20 of 30. Sound /p/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was п.
rSmall р /r/, /ɾ/U+0072 Latin small letter r. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 21 of 30. One chart of the source writes its sound /r/ and the other /ɾ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was р.
sSmall с /θ/U+0073 Latin small letter s. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 22 of 30. Sound /θ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was с.
tSmall т /t/U+0074 Latin small letter t. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 24 of 30. Sound /t/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was т.
uSmall у /u/U+0075 Latin small letter u. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 25 of 30. Sound /u/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was у.
fSmall ф /f/U+0066 Latin small letter f. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 7 of 30. Sound /f/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was ф.
hSmall х /h/U+0068 Latin small letter h. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 9 of 30. Sound /h/; also /χ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was х.
çSmall ч /tʃ/U+00E7 Latin small letter c with cedilla. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 3 of 30. Sound /tʃ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was ч.
şSmall ш /ʃ/U+015F Latin small letter s with cedilla. Latin Extended-A block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 23 of 30. Sound /ʃ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was ш. From 1993 to 1999 it was written with the cent sign, ¢.
ySmall ы /ɯ/U+0079 Latin small letter y. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 28 of 30. Sound /ɯ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was ы.
eSmall э, е /e/U+0065 Latin small letter e. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 5 of 30. Sound /e/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was э at the start of a word and е elsewhere.
jSmall җ /dʒ/U+006A Latin small letter j. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 11 of 30. Sound /dʒ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was җ.
ňSmall ң /ŋ/U+0148 Latin small letter n with caron. Latin Extended-A block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 17 of 30. Sound /ŋ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was ң. From 1993 to 1999 it was written ñ.
üSmall ү /y/U+00FC Latin small letter u with diaeresis. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 26 of 30. Sound /y/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was ү.
äSmall ә /æ/U+00E4 Latin small letter a with diaeresis. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 6 of 30. Sound /æ/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was ә.
öSmall ө /œ/, /ø/U+00F6 Latin small letter o with diaeresis. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. Letter 19 of 30. One chart of the source writes its sound /œ/ and the other /ø/. In the Cyrillic alphabet of 1940 to 1993 it was ө.
Signs of 1993 8
ÑOld ŇU+00D1 Latin capital letter n with tilde. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. In the Turkmen alphabet decreed in 1993 this sign stood where Ň stands now; the standard of 1999 confirmed the change.
$Old ŞU+0024 Dollar sign. Basic Latin block, Unicode 1.1. In the Turkmen alphabet decreed in 1993 this sign stood where Ş stands now; the standard of 1999 confirmed the change.
ñOld small ňU+00F1 Latin small letter n with tilde. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. In the Turkmen alphabet decreed in 1993 this sign stood where ň stands now; the standard of 1999 confirmed the change.
¢Old small şU+00A2 Cent sign. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. In the Turkmen alphabet decreed in 1993 this sign stood where ş stands now; the standard of 1999 confirmed the change.
ÿOld small ýU+00FF Latin small letter y with diaeresis. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. In the Turkmen alphabet decreed in 1993 this sign stood where ý stands now; the standard of 1999 confirmed the change.
ſOld small žU+017F Latin small letter long s. Latin Extended-A block, Unicode 1.1. In the Turkmen alphabet decreed in 1993 this sign stood where ž stands now; the standard of 1999 confirmed the change. The long s is the nearest character to that letter; the report that lists it prints it this way.
¥Old ÝU+00A5 Yen sign. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. In the Turkmen alphabet decreed in 1993 this sign stood where Ý stands now; the standard of 1999 confirmed the change.
£Old ŽU+00A3 Pound sign. Latin-1 Supplement block, Unicode 1.1. In the Turkmen alphabet decreed in 1993 this sign stood where Ž stands now; the standard of 1999 confirmed the change.
How this list was compiled: Every character was checked against UnicodeData.txt, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/UnicodeData.txt): the code points and the character names in the notes come from that file, names in sentence case. Block names come from Blocks.txt (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/Blocks.txt) and the Unicode version each character arrived in from DerivedAge.txt (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/DerivedAge.txt), both version 18.0.0. The 30 letters and their order follow the chart of letters in the Evolution section of Wikipedia's Turkmen alphabet article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmen_alphabet), and so does the Cyrillic letter of 1940 to 1993 on each tile. The article gives the sound of each Latin letter in the International Phonetic Alphabet in two charts, that one and its chart of letter names; a tile carries the sound both write, and for the two letters where they differ (Ö and R) the tile and the note give both. The letter names in the article are not on the page: Wiktionary's list of Turkmen letter names gives other names for seven letters. The Cyrillic letters were compared with the table of the Turkmen section of the Report on the Current Status of United Nations Romanization Systems for Geographical Names, version 2.2, January 2003 (https://www.eki.ee/wgrs/rom2_tk.htm), which also says that the alphabet was decreed in 1993, that some letters were later changed as the Turkmen standard TDS 565 of 1999 confirms, and which earlier letters may still be met: Ññ, $¢, ¥ÿ and £ſ. The list was compared with the exemplar characters of the Turkmen locale of CLDR (https://github.com/unicode-org/cldr/blob/main/common/main/tk.xml), which holds the same 30 letters in the same order and lists c, q, v and x apart. The small letter of a capital is its lowercase mapping in UnicodeData.txt. The tile names and the grouping are this site's own. All sources were read on 2026-10-16. Licence: own work