Romanization of Kyrgyz

The Kyrgyz language is written in the Kyrgyz alphabet, a modification of Cyrillic. There is no commonly accepted system of romanization for Kyrgyz, i.e. a rendering of Kyrgyz in the Latin alphabet. For geographic names, the Kyrgyz government adopted the BGN/PCGN romanization system.[1][2]

There have been periodic discussions about changing the country's official writing system to Latin script. These proposals have seen little progress as the Cyrillic alphabet is more firmly established in Kyrgyzstan than in other post-Soviet Turkic states, which have either successfully switched to Latin script (Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan) or are in active transition (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan). In April 2023, Russia suspended dairy exports to Kyrgyzstan after the chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s National Commission for the State Language and Language Policies, Kanybek Osmonaliyev, proposed to change the official script from Cyrillic to Latin to bring the country in line with other Turkic-speaking nations. Osmonaliyev was reprimanded by President Sadyr Japarov who then clarified that Kyrgyzstan had no plans to replace the Cyrillic alphabet.[3]

Some Kyrgyz romanization systems are given below:

Cyrillic ALA/LC[4] BGN/PCGN[5] ISO 9[6][7] Common Turkic Wiktionary standard
А а A a A a A a A a A a
Б б B b B b B b B b B b
В в V v V v V v V v V v
Г г G g G g G g G g G g
Д д D d D d D d D d D d
Е е E e E e E e E e Ye ye, e
Ё ё Ë ë Yo yo Ë ë Yo yo Yo yo
Ж ж Zh zh J j Ž ž C c J j
З з Z z Z z Z z Z z Z z
И и I i I i I i İ i İ i
Й й Ĭ ĭ Y y J j Y y Y y
К к K k K k K k K k K k
Л л L l L l L l L l L l
М м M m M m M m M m M m
Н н N n N n N n N n N n
Ң ң N͡g n͡g Ng ng N̦ n̦ Ñ ñ Ŋ ŋ
О о O o O o O o O o O o
Ө ө Ȯ ȯ Ö ö Ô ô Ö ö Ö ö
П п P p P p P p P p P p
Р р R r R r R r R r R r
С с S s S s S s S s S s
Т т T t T t T t T t T t
У у U u U u U u U u U u
Ү ү U̇ u̇ Ü ü Ù ù Ü ü Ü ü
Ф ф F f F f F f F f F f
Х х Kh kh Kh kh H h H h H h
Ц ц T͡s t͡s Ts ts C c Ts ts Ts ts
Ч ч Ch ch Ch ch Č č Ç ç C c
Ш ш Sh sh Sh sh Š š Ş ş Ş ş
Щ щ Shch shch Shch shch Ŝ ŝ Şç şç Şc şc
Ъ ъ ʺ ˮ ʺ ʺ —
Ы ы Y y Y y Y y I ı I ı
Ь ь ′ʹ ʼ ʹ ʹ —
Э э Ė ė E e È è E e E e
Ю ю I͡u i͡u Yu yu Û û Yu yu Yu yu
Я я I͡a i͡a Ya ya  â Ya ya Ya ya
  1. ^ "Report of Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia Division" (PDF). UNGEGN. April 2016. p. 8.
  2. ^ "Position on the transfer of names of geographical objects of the Kyrgyz Republic in the letters of the Latin alphabet". 19 August 2008.
  3. ^ Russia Suspends Dairy Products From Kyrgyzstan After Calls In Bishkek To Drop Cyrillic Script. Radio Free Europe, 21 April 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023
  4. ^ Non-Slavic Languages (in Cyrillic Script), Library of Congress, accessed 22 January 2022.
  5. ^ Romanization of Kyrgyz, United States Board on Geographic Names, October 2017.
  6. ^ ISO 9:1995. Transliteration of Cyrillic characters into Latin characters — Slavic and non-Slavic languages, ISO.
  7. ^ Kirghiz, UNGEGN Working Group on Romanization Systems, March 2016.