The Tatar alphabet: 39 letters and how to read them

By Chamala · 5 November 2026

Tatar has been written in Cyrillic since 1939. Its alphabet takes all 33 letters of the Russian alphabet and adds six of its own — 39 letters in total. If you already read Russian, most of the work is done. If not, the good news is that Tatar spelling is fairly regular: once you know the letters, you can read a word aloud.

The six extra letters stand for sounds Russian does not have. Learn them first: they turn up in almost every sentence, and without them a word sounds — and sometimes means — something else.

All 39 letters in order

А Ә Б В Г Д Е Ё Ж Җ З И Й К Л М Н Ң О Ө П Р С Т У Ү Ф Х Һ Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ь Э Ю Я.

Each extra letter sits next to the Russian one it looks like: Ә after А, Җ after Ж, Ң after Н, Ө after О, Ү after У and Һ after Х. You can copy this line and keep the Tatar spelling.

The six special letters

Ә ә

An open front vowel, close to the “a” in English cat: the mouth is open, the tongue forward, the lips not rounded. One of the most common letters — it starts әйе, “yes”.

Ө ө

An “o” said with rounded lips and the tongue forward, like German ö or the vowel in French peu.

Ү ү

An “oo” with the tongue in the “ee” position, like German ü or French u in lune.

Җ җ

A voiced sound close to the “j” in English jam, but softer. Many words start with it: җиде — seven, җыр — song.

Ң ң

A nasal “n”, like the “ng” in sing: the tongue does not touch the teeth and the air goes through the nose.

Һ һ

A light breath, like the “h” in house.

Back and front words

The main rule of Tatar pronunciation is vowel harmony. The vowels of a word are usually all “back” (а, о, у, ы) or all “front” (ә, ө, ү, е, и), and endings change to match the word:

• китап — китаплар (book — books);
• дәфтәр — дәфтәрләр (notebook — notebooks).

So most Tatar endings come in at least two versions, chosen by the last vowel of the word. It is easier than it sounds: after a few dozen words you start choosing by ear. You can practise it in the affix trainer in the Chamala app.

Other things worth knowing

• Stress usually falls on the last syllable, and moves to the ending when one is added: китапла́р, мәктәптә́ (at school).
• Ё, ц, щ are mostly used in words borrowed from Russian.
• Е, ю, я can stand for a sound with “y” in front (“ye”, “yu”, “ya”). The exact sound depends on the word, so check it against the audio.

How to remember the letters

Do not learn the alphabet on its own. Take 20–30 simple words with the special letters, listen to them and repeat them aloud — the letters will stick together with their sounds. Words by topic with audio are in the vocabulary, and flashcards and pronunciation checks are in the app.

From letters to conversation

Read Сәлам! Минем исемем… (“Hi! My name is…”) and put in your own name. Then try the greetings with audio. If you want an order of lessons, start with the plan for learning Tatar from scratch.