Ottoman Turkish 1/3

OTTOMAN TURKISH
Arabic script(0.0)

Modern Birnbaum WWS ALA-LC EI

Turkish 1967 1996 1997 1960
Consonants
iso ini med fin

‫ﺍ‬ ‫ﺎ‬ a – – – a, ā
‫ﺏ‬ ‫ﺑ‬ ‫ﺒ‬ ‫ﺐ‬ b, p b b [b, p] b b
‫ﭖ‬ ‫ﭘ‬ ‫ﭙ‬ ‫ﭗ‬ p p p [p] p p
‫ﺕ‬ ‫ﺗ‬ ‫ﺘ‬ ‫ﺖ‬ t t t [t] t t
‫ﺙ‬ ‫ﺛ‬ ‫ﺜ‬ ‫ﺚ‬ s s̱ s̱ [s] s̱ th
‫ﺝ‬ ‫ﺟ‬ ‫ﺠ‬ ‫ﺞ‬ c, ç c c [dʒ, tʃ] c dj
‫ﭺ‬ ‫ﭼ‬ ‫ﭽ‬ ‫ﭻ‬ ç ç ç [tʃ] ç č
‫ﺡ‬ ‫ﺣ‬ ‫ﺤ‬ ‫ﺢ‬ h ḥ ḥ [h] ḥ ḥ
‫ﺥ‬ ‫ﺧ‬ ‫ﺨ‬ ‫ﺦ‬ h ḫ ḫ [h] ḫ kh
‫ﺩ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ d d d [d, t] d d
‫ﺫ‬ ‫ﺬ‬ z ẕ ẕ [z] ẕ dh
‫ﺭ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ r r r [r] r r
‫ﺯ‬ ‫ﺰ‬ z z z [z] z z
‫ﮊ‬ ‫ﮋ‬ j j j [ʒ] j zh
‫ﺱ‬ ‫ﺳ‬ ‫ﺴ‬ ‫ﺲ‬ s s s [s] s s
‫ﺵ‬ ‫ﺷ‬ ‫ﺸ‬ ‫ﺶ‬ ş ş ş [ʃ] ş sh
‫ﺹ‬ ‫ﺻ‬ ‫ﺼ‬ ‫ﺺ‬ s ṣ ṣ [s] ṣ ṣ
‫ﺽ‬ ‫ﺿ‬ ‫ﻀ‬ ‫ﺾ‬ z, d ż ż [z, d] ż ḍ
‫ﻁ‬ ‫ﻃ‬ ‫ﻄ‬ ‫ﻂ‬ t, d ṭ ṭ [t, d] ṭ ṭ
‫ﻅ‬ ‫ﻇ‬ ‫ﻈ‬ ‫ﻆ‬ z ẓ ẓ [z] ẓ ẓ
‫ﻉ‬ ‫ﻋ‬ ‫ﻌ‬ ‫ﻊ‬ – ʿ ʿ [Ø, ɑ] ‘ ʿ
‫ﻍ‬ ‫ﻏ‬ ‫ﻐ‬ ‫ﻎ‬ ğ ġ ġ [ɣ, ɡ, k, h] ġ gh
‫ﻑ‬ ‫ﻓ‬ ‫ﻔ‬ ‫ﻒ‬ f f f [f, p] f f
‫ﻕ‬ ‫ﻗ‬ ‫ﻘ‬ ‫ﻖ‬ k ḳ ḳ [k] ḳ ḳ
‫ﻙ‬ ‫ﻛ‬ ‫ﻜ‬ ‫ﻚ‬ k, y k, ẏ (2.1)
k [k, j] k k
‫ﮒ‬ ‫ﮔ‬ ‫ﮕ‬ ‫( ﮓ‬0.1) g, k g g [ɡ, k] g g
‫ﯓ‬ ‫ﯕ‬ ‫ﯖ‬ ‫( ﯔ‬0.1) n ñ ñ [ɲ] ñ ñ
‫ﻝ‬ ‫ﻟ‬ ‫ﻠ‬ ‫ﻞ‬ l l l [l] l l
‫ﻡ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﻤ‬ ‫ﻢ‬ m m m [m] m m
‫ﻥ‬ ‫ﻧ‬ ‫ﻨ‬ ‫ﻦ‬ n n n [n] n n
‫ﻭ‬ ‫ﻮ‬ v v v [v] v w
‫ﻩ‬ ‫ﻫ‬ ‫ﻬ‬ ‫ﻪ‬ h h h [h, ɑ, i, e] h h
‫ﺓ‬ ‫ ﺔ‬ – e, a, t (2.2)
h [t ]
(3.1)

‫ﻯ‬ ‫ﻳ‬ ‫ﻴ‬ ‫ﻰ‬ y y y [j] y y

‫ﻻ‬ ‫ﻼ‬ la lā la [lɑ] la lā

‫ﺀ‬ ◌  – (’) ʾ (2.3)
ʾ [Ø] ’ ʾ

omas T. Pedersen (ttpedersen@[Link]) Rev. 1.3a, 2002-10-04

Ottoman Turkish 2/3

Modern Birnbaum WWS ALA-LC EI

Turkish 1967 1996 1997 1960
Vowels
iso ini med fin
‫◌َ ﺍ‬, ‫آ‬, ‫◌َ ى‬, ٰ◌ ‐a, ‐â ‐ā – – ‐ā
‫◌ِ ﻯ‬, ّ‫◌ِ ﻯ‬, ‫◌ِ ﻴ‬ ‐i (‐î), ‐ı, ‐ī (2.4)
– – ‐ī, ‐, ‐ē, ‐ā
‐e, ‐a (‐â)
‫◌ُ ﻭ‬ ‐o, ‐u (‐û), ‐ū – – ‐ū, ‐ō, ‐ü, ‐ö
‐ö, ‐ü

◌‫ﹶ‬ ‐a, ‐e ‐a, ‐e [ɑ, Ø; o, e(3.2)] – ‐a, ‐e

◌‫ﹺ‬ ‐i, ‐ı (1.1)
‐i, ‐ı [i, y, e, ej, – ‐i, ‐
ɑ, u, ɯ]
◌‫ﹸ‬ ‐o, ‐u, ‐ü, ‐u; [Ø, u, ɯ, i, – ‐o, ‐u,
‐ö, ‐ü ‐ö, ‐o y, o, œ] ‐ö, ‐ü

Vowel letters in Turkish words

‫ﺎ – آ آ‬ a a, ē(2.5)
‫أ‬, ‫أ ا‬, ‫ا‬ e e
‫◌ﹶ ﻪ‬, ‫◌ﹶ ه‬ e, a ĕ, ă(2.6)
‫◌ ﻪ‬, ‫◌ ه‬ e, a e, a(2.7)
‫ﺋﻪ ﺋﻪ‬ e e
‫◌ِ ﻰ ◌ِ ﻴ اﻳ ﻯ‬ i, ı i, ı, ė(2.8)
‫ﻮ ﻮ او او‬ ö, o; ü, u ö, o; ü, u
‫ﺋﻮ ﺋﻮ‬ ö, ü ö, ü
‫اﻳ‬, ‫◌ﹶ ﻰ ◌ﹶ ﻴ آﻳ‬ ey, ay ey, ay
‫◌ﹸ ﻮﻯ ◌ﹸ ﻮﻳ اوﻳ‬ öy, oy, üy, uy öy, oy, üy, uy

‫◌ِ ﻴﹼﻪ‬ ‐iye ‐īye

‫◌ِ ﻴﹼﺖ‬ ‐iyyet ‐īyet

◌‫ﹰ‬  ‐en ‐en, ‐an – – ‐en

◌‫ﹴ‬  ‐in ‐in, ‐ın – – ‐in
◌‫ﹲ‬  ‐on, ‐un ‐ün, ‐un – – ‐on, ‐un
◌‫ﹾ‬ Marks absence of vowel.
◌‫ﹼ‬  Marks doubling of consonant.

‫ال‬ ‫اﻟ‬ el-, ül- el-, ’l-, ül-(2.9) – – el-, ’l-, ül-

Notes
0.0. Character names in Birnbaum transliteration: . tā merbūt.a; . hemze; . tenvīn; . tedīd.
0.1. Frequently written as ‫ ﻙ‬or ‫ک‬.

1.1. Iżāfet is rendered in Modern Turkish as -i, -ı when the word ends in a consonant, and as -yi when
the word ends in a vowel.

omas T. Pedersen (ttpedersen@[Link]) Rev. 1.3a, 2002-10-04

Ottoman Turkish 3/3

In Ottoman Turkish it is rendered as follows: -i, -ı: ‫ ﮔﻠﺸﻦ ﺧﻠﻔﺎ‬Gülşen-i ḫulefā.

Aer ‫ا‬, ‫ ه‬or ‫ ى‬it is sometimes expressed by ‫ ء‬and is then transliterated -ʾi, -ʾı: ‫ ادارۀ ﺻﺤﺖ‬İdāre-ʾi
Ṣıḥḥat.
Aer ‫ ا‬or ‫ و‬it is sometimes expressed by ‫ى‬, resulting in -yı: ‫ روى زﻣﻴﻦ‬rū-yı zemīn.

2.1. Soening of k is normally not indicated, but can occasionally be rendered by ẏ.

2.2. Rendered as t at the end of the first element of an Arabic iżāfet construction, of which the second
element begins with a vowel: ‫ ز ﺑﺪة اﻟﺤﻘﺎﺋﻖ‬Zübdet ül-ḥaḳāʾiḳ.
2.3. When hemze rests on non-initial ‫ ا‬or on ‫ و‬or on undotted ‫ ﯨ‬as “bearer”, these “bearers” are not
transliterated: ‫ﻣﺴﺌﻠﻪ‬, ‫ ﻣﺴﺄﻟﻪ‬mesʾele, ‫ ﻣﺆﻣﻦ‬müʾmin, ‫ ﺭﺋﻴﺲ‬reʾīs.
When hemze rests on initial ‫أ( ا‬, ‫) إ‬, it is not transliterated.
2.4. In Turkish scholary transliterations i ̄ is used.
2.5. Rarely transliterated as ē, examples include ‫ﻠﻤﺎدى‬ gelmēdi.
2.6. Used medially to indicate the vowels e or a, especially in late 19th or 20th century orthography:
‫ ﺩﻩﻧﻴﻠﻴﺮ‬dĕnilir, ‫ آﻟﻪ ﺟﻖ‬alăcaḳ. Followed by a regular suffix e and a are used respectively.
2.7. Final ‫ ◌ِ ﻪ‬is transliterated i: ‫ ﻛﻪ‬ki, ‫ ﭼﻮﻧﻜﻪ‬çūnki.
2.8. In a limited number of historical spellings ė is used to indicate a closed e. Examples are: ‫دﻳﻤﻚ‬
dėmek; ‫ اﻳﺘﻤﻚ‬ėtmek; ‫ و ﻳﺮﻣﻚ‬vėrmek.
2.9. When followed by a “sun” letter (‫ )ن ل ظ ط ض ص ش س ز ر ذ د ث ت‬the ‫ ل‬of the article is assimilated with the
first consonant of the word, e.g. ‫ اﻟﺘﺮﺟﻤﺎن‬et-tercümān.
When immediately preceded by a long vowel, use ’l-: ‫ اﻧﺎ اﻟﺤﻖ‬enā ’l-Ḥaḳḳ; apply same procedure
with “sun” letters: ‫ اﺑﻮ اﻟﺴﻌﻮد‬Ebū ’s-Suʿūd.
When non-initial, transliterate ül-: ‫ اﺑﻦ اﻻﺛﻴﺮ‬İbn ül-Es̱īr; apply same procedure as above with “sun”
letters: ‫ دار اﻟﺸﻔﺎ‬Dār üş-şifā.
Names with ‫ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟ‬is always transliterated ʿAbdül‐, (except ‫ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﺎن‬which is ʿAbdürraḥmān); ‫اﻟﺪﻳﻦ‬
always ‐eddīn; ‫ اﻟﻠﻪ‬always ‐ullāh.

3.1. Indicates the Arabic feminine form.

3.2. Sometimes pronounced as [o] or [e].

Sources
• ALA-LC Romanization Tables: Transliteration Schemes for Non-Roman Scripts. Randal K. Berry (ed.). Library of Congress,
1997.
• Birnbaum, Eleazar: “e Transliteration of Ottoman Turkish for Library and General Purposes”, in Journal of the American
Oriental Society, vol. 87 (issue 2), April 1967. ([Link]
• e Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. Leiden, 1960-.
• Lagally, Klaus: ArabTeX – a System for Typesetting Arabic. User Manual Version 3.09. Institut für Informatik. Universität
Stuttgart, 1999. ([Link]
• e World’s Writing Systems. Peter T. Daniels & William Bright (eds.). New York, 1996.

omas T. Pedersen (ttpedersen@[Link]) Rev. 1.3a, 2002-10-04