Azerbaijani or Azeri (Azərbaycan dili, آذربایجان دیلی) is the primary and official language of Azerbaijan. It is also the primary language in northwestern Iran, and is also spoken to a small extent in southern Dagestan (Russia), the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia, eastern Turkey, in Shia cities of Iraq, like Karbala and Kirkuk. It is a Turkic language and is to an extent mutually intelligible with modern Turkish although a fair amount of vocabulary has been added from Russian, Arab or Persian influence in Azerbaijan and Iran respectively.
Pronunciation guide
A Language of Many Scripts The Persian-Arabic alphabet was used among all Azerbaijani speakers until 1922, when the Latin alphabet was adopted (slightly different from the current one in use). In 1939, Stalin sought to cut ties between Azerbaijanis (a Turkic peoples) and Turkey and use of the Latin alphabet was forbidden thereafter under Soviet rule replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet. In Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani language has been written in the Latin alphabet since 1991 and Cyrillic has fallen out of use. In Iran, the Persian-Arabic alphabet, with a few letters created especially for Azerbaijani, has remained in use; however, there is no standard for written Azerbaijani in terms of spelling. |
Azerbaijani is written in the Latin alphabet by its 8.8 million native speakers in Azerbaijan, the rest of southern Caucasus, and Turkey. Azerbaijani is written in Persian-Arabic alphabet by its estimated 24 million speakers in Iran, and Iraq. Be careful as many Latin letters are pronounced differently from the way they are in English and a few letters share the same sound in the Persian-Arabic script!
The following letters are in Latin (Azerbaijan since 1991) & Arabic (Iran; Azerbaijan until 1922).
- Aa ﺍ
- - short as in 'along' or long as in 'army'.
- Bb ﺏ
- - pronounced like 'b' in 'bell'.
- Cc ﺝ
- - pronounced like 'J' in Japan.
- Çç چ
- - pronounced like 'ch' in chat..
- Dd ﺩ
- - pronounced like 'd' in death; otherwise, like 'th' in 'the'.
- Ee ﻩ
- - pronounced like soft 'e' in Embassy. This can be long as in 'bate'.
- Əə ع
- - pronounced like 'a' in fat or apple. (This letter was represented by Ää from 1991-1992). This is long as in 'bate' or 'cape'.
- Ff ﻑ
- - pronounced like 'f' in 'fold'.
- Gg گ
- - pronounced like 'g' in goal. More like g' , while Xx is English g.
- Ğğ ﻍ
- - pronounced at the back of throat like the French 'r'
- Hh ﺡ / ﻩ
- - pronounced like 'h'.
- Xx ﺥ
- - pronounced like 'c' (or 'kh') in cartoon. More like a soft kh, while Kk is a hard k.
- Iı ی
- - pronounced like 'u' in 'butter' or 'Sutton'.
- İi ی
- - pronounced like 'i' in 'pit'. This can be 'ee' as in 'meet'.
- Jj ژ
- - pronounced like 'j' (or 'zh') in déjà vu.
- Kk ک
- - pronounced like 'k' in 'kill'.
- Qq ﻕ
- - pronounced like 'q' in 'Qatar'; usually a slide between 'g' in 'goal' and 'k' in 'kill'.
- Ll ﻝ
- - pronounced like 'l' in 'Lauren'
- Mm ﻡ
- - pronounced like 'm' in 'Maeve'.
- Nn ﻥ
- - pronounced like 'n' in 'noon'. Before 'b', 'm', and/or 'p', like 'm' in 'man'. Before 'g', 'k', and/or 'q', this is the 'ng' sound of 'pink'.
- Oo ﻭ
- - pronounced like 'o' in 'not'; otherwise, 'oh' as in 'note'.
- Öö ﻭ
- - same as in German, like 'er' in 'her'.
- Pp پ
- - pronounced like 'p'.
- Rr ﺭ
- - Roll you r's!
- Ss ﺙ / ﺱ / ﺹ
- - pronounced like 's' in sizzle.
- Şş ﺵ
- - pronounced like 'sh' in shape.
- Tt ﺕ / ﻁ
- - pronounced like 't'.
- Uu ﻭ
- - pronounced like 'u' in put.
- Üü ﻭ
- - pronounced like 'u' (or 'yu') in mute.
- Vv ﻭ
- - pronounced like 'v' in 'van'; otherwise, like 'w' in 'world'.
- Yy ی
- - pronounced like 'y' in year.
- Zz ﺫ / ﺯ / ﺽ / ﻅ
- - pronounced like 'z' in zebra, same as 's' in 'nose' or 'his'.
Vowels
There are 9 vowels: a, ı, o, u, e, ə, i, ö, ü
Phrase list
I love Baku/AzerbaijanMən Bakını/Azərbaycanı sevirəm
Visiting Baku/Azerbaijan is my dreamBakını/Azərbaycanı görmək mənim arzumdur
Basics
Common signs
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- Hello.
- Salam; Salam əleyküm
- How are you?
- Sən necəsən?
- Necəsən?
- How are you? (formal)
- Siz necəsiniz?;
- Necəsiniz?
- Fine, thank you.
- Mən yaxşıyam
- Good.
- Yaxşi
- Bad.
- Pis
- So-so.
- Elə-belə
- What is your name? (informal)
- Sənin adın nədir?
- What is your name? (formal)
- Sizin adınız nədir?
- My name is ______ .
- Mənim adım _____ .
- Nice to meet you.
- Çox şadam.
- Tanışlığımıza şadam.
- Please.
- Zəhmət olmasa.
- Mümkünsə
- Thank you.
- Təşəkkür edirəm.
- You're welcome.
- Buyurun
- Dəyməz
- You're welcome. (informal)
- Buyur
- Yes. (formal)
- Bəli
- No. (formal)
- Xeyr
- Yes. (informal)
- Hə
- No. (informal)
- Yox
- Excuse me. (getting attention or begging pardon)
- Üzr istəyirəm
- Bağışlayın
- I'm sorry.
- Məni bağışlayın
- Goodbye
- Sağolun
- Görüşëdëk
- I can't speak Azerbaijani [well].
- Mən Azərbaycanca [yaxşı] danışa bilmirəm.
- I do not understand.
- Başa düşmədim
- Do you speak [English/French/Russian]?
- Siz [İngiliscə/ fransızca/rusca] danışırsınız?
- Is there someone here who speaks English?
- Burada İngiliscə danışan var?
- Help!
- Kömək edin!
- Look out!
- Ehtiyyatlı olunol!
- Good morning.
- Sabahın xeyir.
- Good afternoon.
- Gün aydın.
- Good evening.
- Axşamın xeyir.
- Good night.
- Gecən xeyrə.
- Congratulations
- Təbriklər.
Problems
- Can you help me?
- Mənə kömək edə bilərsiniz?
- I feel bad.
- Mən özümü pis hiss edirəm.
- I am lost.
- Mən azmışam.
- Where is _____?
- ______ haradadır?
- How can I find hotel _____?
- Mən _____ otelinin mehmanxanasını tapa bilərəm?
- Are there any vacancies tonight?
- Bu gün üçün boş, otaq varmı?
- Where is the toilet (bathroom)?
- Tualet (ayaq yolu) haradadır?
- Male
- kişi
- Female
- qadın
Numbers
- one
- bir
- two
- iki
- three
- üç
- four
- dörd
- five
- beş
- six
- altı
- seven
- yeddi
- eight
- səkkiz
- nine
- doqquz
- ten
- on
- eleven
- on bir
- twelve
- on iki
- thirteen
- on üç
- fourteen
- on dörd
- fifteen
- on beş
- sixteen
- on altı
- seventeen
- on yeddi
- eighteen
- on səkkiz
- nineteen
- on doqquz
- twenty
- iyirmi
- thirty
- otuz
- forty
- qırx
- fifty
- əlli
- sixty
- altmiş
- seventy
- yetmiş
- eighty
- səksən
- ninety
- doxsan
- hundred
- yüz
- thousand
- min
Time
- What time is it?
- (Saat neçədir?)
- It's two o'clock
- (Saat ikidir)
Clock time
- It is 2:30.
- Saat üçün yarısıdır.
- It is 2:00.
- Saat ikidir.
- It is 2:50.
- Saat üçə on dəqiqə qalır.
Duration
Days
- Monday
- bazar ertəsi
- Tuesday
- çərşəmbə axşamı
- Wednesday
- çərşəmbə
- Thursday
- cümə axşamı
- Friday
- cümə
- Saturday
- şənbə
- Sunday
- bazar
Months
- January
- yanvar
- February
- fevral
- March
- mart
- April
- aprel
- May
- may
- June
- iyun
- July
- iyul
- August
- avqust
- September
- sentyabr
- October
- oktyabr
- November
- noyabr
- December
- dekabr
Writing time and date
Colors
- white
- ağ/bəyaz
- black
- qara
- red
- qırmızı
- green
- yaşıl
- blue
- göy/mavi
- orange
- narıncı
- grey
- boz
- brown
- şabalıdı/qəhvəyi
- yellow
- sarı
- rose
- çəhrayı
Transportation
Nəqliyyat
Bus and train
Avtobus və Qatar
Direction
İstiqamət
Taxi
Taksi
Lodging
Rent - İcarə haqqı
Lease - Kirayə
Money
Pul
Eating
- Bring us a menu.
- (Bizə menu gətir'.)
- What's our bill?
- (Bizim hesabimiz nədir?)
Bars
Buy
Driving
Suruculuk