Lesson 14. The Uzbek alphabet, abbreviations, with audio

O’zbek alifbosi (or alfaviti) is translated as the Uzbek alphabet. What letters do Uzbeks have? How many letters are there in the Uzbek language? How many of them are vowels? Cyrillic or Latin? How do the letters of the Uzbek Cyrillic and Latin alphabet relate to each other? What do the most popular abbreviations, or qisqartmalar, mean in Uzbek? We will learn about all this in the 14th lesson of the Uzbek language, compiled on the basis of excerpts from my new tutorial. In this lesson, as in others, audio is from native Uzbek speakers.

First, think about what these abbreviations mean in Uzbek: IIV and O’zR.

Certainly!

IIV = Ichki ishlar vazirligi, , i.e. the MIA, or the Ministry of Internal Affairs
O’zR = O’zbekiston Respublikasi, i.e. the RUz, or the Republic of Uzbekistan

Now answer a couple of questions.

1. Ismingiz nima? – What is your name?
2. Harflab ayting, iltimos. – Spell it, please. (harf – letter, -lab affix, which forms adverbs from nouns and adjectives)

O’zbek alifbosi (The Uzbek alphabet)

The modern Uzbek Latin alphabet has 30 units – 26 letters, 3 digraphs and an apostrophe. There are 6 vowels and 23 consonants in total. The Uzbek Cyrillic alphabet, which is still in use, has 35 units – 10 vowels, 23 consonants and 2 signs.

Exercise 1. Listen and repeat the letters of the Uzbek alphabet.

Exercise 2. Listen and repeat the letters of the Uzbek alphabet.

Exercise 3. Hear the difference between the letters.

1 E I
2 G G’
3 H X
4 O O’
5 Y U
6 M N
7 K Q
8 O’ U
9 J G
10 B P
11 D T
12 V B

Exercise 4. Listen. Circle the letter you hear from Exercise 3.

Abbreviations, or qisqartmalar, in the Uzbek language

Abbreviations in the Uzbek language are formed in three ways:

1. by abbreviation keeping initial letters: IIV – The MIA, SI (sun’iy intellekt) – AI (artificial intelligence);
2. by connecting the initial element of the first word (or several first words) and the first letters of subsequent words: O’zR – RUz, O’zLiDeP (Oʻzbekiston Liberal-demokratik partiyasi) – The Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan;
3. by abbreviating from the initial elements of words: Toshunivermag (Toshkent universal magazini) – the Tashkent department store.

Exercise 5.
Look at the pictures. How do you pronounce these abbreviations? What do they mean? Listen and check.

Exercise 6. Circle the odd one on each line. Listen. Listen and repeat.

1 A O O’ B

2 Sh Ch S Ng

3 V X Y U

4 P R S E

5 I O U F

6 L M N Ng

7 Z X H ‘

8 E J U O’

Exercise 7. Say the abbreviations. What do they mean? Then listen and test yourself.

The previous lesson: Uzbek lessons (tutorial): #13 Listening and speaking, with audio

The next lesson: Uzbek lessons (tutorial): #15 Things in the classroom, with audio

Answers to lesson 13

Exercise 2. 1 b U Misrdami? 2 a U Turkiyadan. 3 a U qayerdan? 4 b U yoqimli shaharda. 5 a U buyuk mamlakatdan.

Exercise 3. 1 U Misrdan. 2 U Germaniyada. 3 U Yaponiyadan emas. 4 U Turkiyadami? 5 U Angliyadan emas. 6 U BAAdanmi?

Exercise 5. 1 U AQShdan. 2 U Xitoydan. 3 U O’zbekistondan. 4 U Misrdan. 5 U Fransiyadan. 6 U Saudiya Arabistonida. 7 U Yaponiyadan. 8 U Janubiy Koreyada. 9 U Ukrainadan. 10 U Hindistondan. 11 U BAAda. 12 U Buyuk Britaniyada.

Have you learned the Uzbek alphabet? Are there any problems with Latin letters or Cyrillic letters of the Uzbek language? Do you understand Uzbek abbreviations? Share in the comments.