Azerbaijani phrasebook

Azerbaijani is written in an extended Latin script with specific letters by its 8.8 million native speakers in Azerbaijan, and the rest of southern Caucasus. Standard Turkish orthography, also Latin script-based, is in use in eastern Turkey and in Iraq (where the language is more commonly called Iraqi Turkmen), as the dialects in these areas form a continuum between the standard varieties of Turkish and Azerbaijani. Azerbaijani is written in the Perso-Arabic script by its estimated 20 million speakers in Iran. 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 Perso-Arabic script!

The Perso-Arabic script is an abjad, not an alphabet, meaning that only the consonants are written out, and the vowels are usually omitted.

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'.

I love Baku/Azerbaijan Mən Bakını/Azərbaycanı sevirəm

Visiting Baku/Azerbaijan is my dream Bakını/Azərbaycanı görmək mənim arzumdur

Hello.

Salam; Salam əleyküm.

How are you?

Necəsən?

How are you? (formal)

Necəsiniz?

Fine, thank you.

Mən yaxşıyam, təşəkkürlər.

Good.

Yaxşı

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.

Şad oldum.

Tanışlığımıza şadam.

Please.

Zəhmət olmasa.

Mümkünsə.

Thank you.

Təşəkkür edirəm/Təşəkkürlər/Çox sağ olun.

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.

Görüşənədək.

Hələlik.