Tatar alphabet

Three scripts are currently used for the Tatar language: Arabic (in China), Cyrillic (in Tatarstan and Kazakhstan) and Latin (unofficially).

Before 1928, the Tatar language was usually written using the Arabic alphabet. The Tatar Arabic alphabet used some letters such as چ and پ also found in the Persian modification of the Arabic alphabet, and in addition used ﯓ which is called nef or sağır kef. The writing system was inherited from Bolgar. See İske imlâ.

The most ancient of Tatar literature (in Bolgar) was created in the beginning of the 13th century. (Qíssai Yosıf by Qol-Ğäli). Until 1905 all literature was in Old Tatar, which was evolved from the Bolgar, which differed from modern Tatar. Since 1905 gazettes came to use modern Tatar in publishing. In 1918 the alphabet was revised (see: Yaña imlâ; some letters for Tatar sounds were added, some Arabic letters were deleted). A Latin alphabet (Jaꞑalif) was used from 1928 but superseded by a Cyrillic alphabet in 1939. The Cyrillic alphabet has been used ever since.

The first printed Tatar book used the Armenian alphabet in the 17th century and was printed in Leipzig (However, this is disputed). Another is Peter the Great's Manifest, printed in Arabic script on the tsar's ship during his voyage to Astrakhan.

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