Southern Uzbek
Nativenameاۉزبېکچه, اۉزبېکی, اۉزبېک تورکچه‌سی
StatesAfghanistan
Pakistan
EthnicityUzbeks
(Uzbeks in Afghanistan and Uzbeks in Pakistan)
SpeakersL1:7 million
Date2025
Ref[1]
FamilycolorAltaic
Fam 1Turkic
Fam 2Common Turkic
Fam 3Karluk[2]
Fam 4Uzbek
AncestorMiddle Turkic
Ancestor 2Khorezmian Turkic
Ancestor 3Chagatai
ScriptPerso-Arabic
Iso 3uzs
Lingua44-AAB-da, db
Glottosout2699
GlottorefnameSouthern Uzbek
NoticeIPA
Minority
AgencyAfghan Ministry of Education
Speakers 2L2: 1 million

Southern Uzbek, also known as Afghan Uzbek, is the southern variant of the Uzbek language, spoken chiefly in Afghanistan and Pakistan with up to 8 million native and secondary speakers.[3] It uses the Perso-Arabic writing system in contrast to the Uzbek spoken in Uzbekistan and other former Soviet countries in Central Asia. It is written in the Nastaliq hand of calligraphy.

Southern Uzbek is intelligible with the Northern Uzbek spoken in Uzbekistan to a certain degree. However, it has differences in grammar and also many more loan words from Dari, the local New Persian variety, in which many Southern Uzbek speakers are proficient; on the other hand, Northern Uzbeks have absorbed loanwords from Russian (in which many Northern Uzbeks are proficient) since their integration to the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union.[4]

Southern Uzbek Alphabet

Main article: Uzbek alphabet

Southern Uzbek is written using the Arabic writing system called Arab Yozuv عرب یازوو ("Arab Script"). The writing system is for the most part identical to Perso-Arabic alphabet, with three additional letters. These include two vowels, "اۉ / ۉ" and "اې / ې" (optional in writing, and substitutable in practice by "او / و" and "ای / ی" respectively), which are meant to represent the sounds represented in Uzbek Latin Script with "E e" and "Oʻ oʻ". The alphabet also includes a combined consonant letter "نگ", formerly (and currently in writing systems such as Uyghur) shown with the letter "ڭ". This letter represents the sound /ŋ/, and represented in the Latin writing system with "-ng". This letter makes the Voiced velar nasal sound, where in English one can for example hear when pronouncing the word "wingman".

Uzbek has six vowels, and it has lost its vowel harmony rules, unlike other Turkic languages.[5]

Table of Vowels in Uzbek Arabic Alphabet (with alif at the beginning of words)[6][7]
NotesIPAArabicLatinCyrillicUzbek Equivalent[8]
FinalMedialInitial
[æ ~ ɑ]ـَهـَاَA aА а[æ ~ ɑ]
[ɒ ~ ɔ]ـاآ‌ O oО о[ɔ]
[i]ـِیـِیـاِیـI iИ и[i]
In unvocalized spelling, it may be substituted by ی. Final -e is limited to Persian loanwords.[e]ـېـېـاېـE eЭ э / Е е[e]
Final -e is limited to Persian loanwords.
For loanwords from other languages than Persian, ـِه is preferred to transliterate -e.		ـِهN/AN/AN/A
Only used in Persian and Arabic loanwords.[i, e]N/AـِاِI i
E e		И и
Э э / Е е		N/A
[u]ـُواُو‌ U uУ у[u]
In unvocalized spelling, it may be substituted by و.[o]ـۉاۉOʻ oʻЎ ў[o]
Only used in Persian and Arabic loanwords.[u, o]N/AـُاُU u
Oʻ oʻ		У у
Ў ў		N/A

Other than the additional combined letter "نگ / -ng", the consonants of Uzbek Arabic Alphabet are identical to that of Persian. Thus, there indeed is a case of various letters representing the same sound, as is the case in Persian. But the letters "ث، ح، ذ، ژ، ص، ض، ط، ظ، ع" are not used for writing of native Uzbek words. They are solely used for writing of loanwords from Arabic, Persian, or any of the European languages.

LetterLatinIPAUzbek Equivalent[8]
FinalMedialInitialIsolated
ـبـبـبـبB b/b/
ـپـپـپـپP p/p/
ـتـتـتـتT t/t//t̪/
ـثـثـثـثS s/s/
ـجـجـجـجJ j/dʒ/
ـچـچـچـچCh ch/tʃ/
ـحـحـحـحH h/h/
ـخـخـخـخX x/ x~χ //χ/
ـددD d/d//d̪/
ـذذZ z/z/
ـررR r/r/
ـززZ z/z/
ـژژJ j/ʒ/
ـسـسـسـسS s/s/
ـشـشـشـشSh Sh/ʃ/
ـصـصـصـصS s/s/
ـضـضـضـضZ z/z/
ـطـطـطـطT t/t/
ـظـظـظـظZ z/z/
ـعـعـعـعʻ/ʔ/
ـغـغـغـغGʻ gʻ/ ɣ~ʁ //ʁ/
ـفـفـفـفF f/f//ɸ/
ـقـقـقـقQ q/q/
ـکـکـکـکK k/k/
ـگـگـگـگG g/ɡ/
ـلـلـلـ‎لL l/l/
ـمـمـمـمM m/m/
ـنـنـنـنN n/n/
ـنگـنگـنگـنگ-ng/ŋ/
ـووV v/v//v~w/
ـهـهـهـهH h/h/
ـیـیـیـی‌ Y y/j/
-ـئـ / ـأ / ـؤئـ / أ / ؤءʻ/ʔ/

See also

References

  1. ^ "Southern Uzbek". ethnologue.com. Retrieved 2026-01-25.
  2. ^ Scott Newton (20 November 2014). Law and the Making of the Soviet World: The Red Demiurge. Routledge. p. 232. ISBN 978-1-317-92978-9.
  3. ^
  4. ^ "Uzbek, Southern"
  5. ^ Asamura, Takao. “Longing for Legacy: Vowel Harmony in the Uzbek Standard Language, 1924-1934.” Russian and East European Studies 2007, no. 36 (2007): 48–60. https://doi.org/10.5823/jarees.2007.48.
  6. ^ Sjoberg, Andrée F. (1963). Uzbek Structural Grammar. Vol. 18. Uralic and Altaic Series. Bloomington: Indiana University. pp. 16–18.
  7. ^ Uzbek Turki to Persian/Dari Dictionary, authored by D. Faizullah Aimaq (فرهنگ تورکی اوزبیکی به فارسی/ دری، تألیف داکتر فیض الله ایماق) [1] (Archive)
  8. ^ "UZBEK - Cyrillic script". Archived 2005-06-01 at the Wayback Machine.

Dictionaries