Turkmen (Türkmen/Түркmен)

Turkmen is a Turkic language spoken by about 6.4 million people in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia (Asia), Tajikistan, Turkey (Asia), USA and Uzbekistan.

Turkmen only started to appear in writing at the beginning of the 20th century, when it was written with the Arabic script. Between 1928 and 1940 it was written with the Latin alphabet, and from 1940 it was written with the Cyrillic alphabet. Since Turkmenistan declared independence in 1991, Turkmen has been written with a version of the Latin alphabet based on Turkish.

Cyrillic alphabet for Turkmen (түркмен элипбийи)

Cyrillic alphabet for Turkmen

Latin alphabet for Turkmen (Türkmen elipbiýi)

Latin alphabet for Turkmen

Source: http://www.altynasyr.8m.com/portal/alphabet.htm

Sample text in Turkmen

Хемме адамлар өз мертебеси ве хукуклары бюнча дең ягдайда дүнйә инйәрлер. Олара аң хем выждан берлендир ве олар бир-бирлери билен доганлык рухундакы гарайышда болмалыдырлар.

Transliteration
Hemme adamlar öz mertebesi we hukuklary boýunça deň ýagdaýda dünýä inyärler. Olara aň hem wyždan berlendir we olar bir-birleri bilen doganlyk ruhundaky garaýyşda bolmalydyrlar.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Recommended books

Links

Online Turkmen - English dictionary
http://www.ismanov.com

An introduction to Turkmen grammar
http://www.altynasyr.8m.com/turkmen.htm

Learn Turkic languages - Turkish, Turkmen and Uzbek
http://www.xs4all.nl/~iamback/turkic/

Related languages

Azerbaijani, Balkar, Bashkir, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Even, Evenki, Gagauz, Karakalpak, Kazak, Kumyk, Kyrghyz, Nanai, Tatar, Turkish, Turkmen, Uyghur, Uzbek, Yakut

Other languages written with the: Cyrillic, and Latin alphabets