Since 1990s when Verkhovna Rada of Crimea officially accepted the new Common Turkic-based Latin alphabet, it had been dominant mostly on the internet while the Soviet Cyrillic alphabet remained dominant in printed productions. After the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, the Russian government requires the use of Cyrillic script only. In 2021 the Ukrainian government started the switch of Crimean Tatar language to the Latin script.[1]
History
Arabic script
An example of Crimean Tatar Arabic script. (Alexander Schlichter speaking during the celebration of the "five years of the liberation of Crimea", 1924)
Crimean Tatars used the Arabic script from the 16th century to 1928, when it was replaced by the Latin alphabet based on Yañalif. The Crimean variant contained a couple of modified Arabic letters.
1 — The letter ﻙ (kef) was often used in place of ﮒ and ﯓ.
2 — The letter is actually ﮒ, some words with ﮒ are also readed as "y", to simplified this was the character by some writers used.[2]
Latin alphabet
An example of Crimean Tatar Latin alphabet of 1920s. In modern orthography: «KÖYLİ VE SU ANASI: Bir köyli baltasını özenge tüşürgen, su kenarında oturub qayğısından ağlamağa başlağan edi. Su anası bunı işitdi, köylini acidi ve sudan altın bir balta çıkarıb „bu seniñmi?“ deb soradı.» In Cyrillic: «КЁЙЛИ ВЕ СУ АНАСЫ: Бир кёйли балтасыны озенге тюшюрген, су кенарында отуруб къайгъысындан агъламагъа башлагъан эди. Су анасы буны ишитди, кёйлини аджиди ве судан алтын бир балта чыкарыб „бу сенинъми?“ деб сорады.»
In 1928, during latinisation in the Soviet Union, the Crimean Tatar Arabic alphabet was replaced by the Latin alphabet based on the Yañalif script. This alphabet contained a number of differences from the modern variant. Particularly, the letters Ь ь, Ƣ ƣ, Ꞑ ꞑ, Ɵ ɵ, X x, Ƶ ƶ, I i instead of the modern  â, Ğ ğ, I ı, İ i, Ñ ñ, Ö ö, and Ü ü.
Cyrillic for Crimean Tatar was introduced in 1938 as part of Cyrillization of languages in Soviet Union. It is based on Russian alphabet with no special letters. From 1938 to 1990s, that was the only alphabet used for Crimean Tatar.
А а
Б б
В в
Г г
Гъ гъ*
Д д
Е е
Ё ё
Ж ж
З з
И и
Й й
К к
Къ къ*
Л л
М м
Н н
Нъ нъ*
О о
П п
Р р
С с
Т т
У у
Ф ф
Х х
Ц ц
Ч ч
Дж дж*
Ш ш
Щ щ
Ъ ъ
Ы ы
Ь ь
Э э
Ю ю
Я я
*Гъ (ğ), къ (q), нъ (ñ) and дж (c) are separate letters of the alphabet (digraphs).
Latin
Crimean Tatar Latin script on the table in Bakhchysarai.
Modern Latin alphabet for Crimean Tatar was introduced in 1990s. It is based on Turkish alphabet with three special letters — Q, Ñ, Â. Its official use in Crimea was accepted in 1997 by Crimean Parliament. In 2021 it was approved by the government of Ukraine, to be adopted in education by September 2025.[3]
A a
 â*
B b
C c
Ç ç
D d
E e
F f
G g
Ğ ğ
H h
I ı
İ i
J j
K k
L l
M m
N n
Ñ ñ
O o
Ö ö
P p
Q q
R r
S s
Ş ş
T t
U u
Ü ü
V v
Y y
Z z
*Ââ is not recognized as separate letter. It is used to show softness of a consonant followed by Aa.
Cyrillic to Latin transliteration
Cyrillic
Latin
Notes
А а
A a
Б б
B b
В в
V v
Г г
G g
Гъ гъ
Ğ ğ
Д д
D d
Е е
E e
following a consonant
Ye ye
word-initially, following a vowel or ь
Ё ё
Ö ö
following a consonant
Yö yö
word-initially in "soft" words
Yo yo
word-initially in "hard" words; following a vowel, ь or ъ
Ж ж
J j
З з
Z z
И и
İ i
Й й
Y y
К к
K k
Къ къ
Q q
Л л
L l
М м
M m
Н н
N n
Нъ нъ
Ñ ñ
О о
Ö ö
if о is the first letter in a "soft" word
O o
in other cases
П п
P p
Р р
R r
С с
S s
Т т
T t
У у
Ü ü
if у is the first letter in a "soft" word
U u
in other cases
Ф ф
F f
Х х
H h
Ц ц
Ts ts
Ч ч
Ç ç
Дж дж
C c
Ш ш
Ş ş
Щ щ
Şç şç
ъ
—
is not a separate letter in Cyrillic
Ы ы
I ı
ь
—
no special signs for softness
Э э
E e
Ю ю
Ü ü
following a consonant
Yü yü
word-initially, following a vowel or ь in "soft" words
Yu yu
word-initially, following a vowel or ь in "hard" words
Bütün insanlar serbestlik, menlik ve uquqlarda musaviy olıp dünyağa keleler. Olar aqıl ve vicdan saibidirler ve biri-birilerinen qardaşçasına munasebette bulunmalıdırlar.
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.
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