Azerbaijani phrasebook

Azerbaijani or Azeri (Azərbaycan dili, آذربایجان دیلی‎) is the primary and official language of Azerbaijan. It is also the primary language in northwestern Iran, and is also spoken to a small extent in southern Dagestan (Russia), the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia, eastern Turkey, in Shia cities of Iraq, like Karbala and Kirkuk. It is a Turkic language and is to an extent mutually intelligible with modern Turkish although a fair amount of vocabulary has been added from Russian, Arab or Persian influence in Azerbaijan and Iran respectively.

Pronunciation guide

A Language of Many Scripts

The Perso-Arabic script was used among all Azerbaijani speakers until 1922, when the Latin alphabet was adopted (slightly different from the current one in use). In 1939, Stalin sought to cut ties between Azerbaijanis (a Turkic peoples) and Turkey and use of the Latin alphabet was forbidden thereafter under Soviet rule replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet. In Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani language has been written in the Latin alphabet since 1991 and Cyrillic has fallen out of use. In Iran, the Perso-Arabic script, with a few letters created especially for Azerbaijani, has remained in use; however, there is no standard for written Azerbaijani in terms of spelling.

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'.

Vowels

There are 9 vowels: a, ı, o, u, e, ə, i, ö, ü

Phrase list

I love Baku/Azerbaijan Mən Bakını/Azərbaycanı sevirəm

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

Basics

Common signs


OPEN - AÇIQ
CLOSED - BAĞLI
ENTRANCE - GİRİŞ
EXIT - ÇIXIŞ
PUSH - İTƏLƏ
PULL - DART
TOILET - TUALET
MEN - KİŞİLƏR
WOMEN - QADINLAR
FORBIDDEN - QADAĞANDIR
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.

I love you

Mən səni sevirəm.
I can't speak Azerbaijani [well].
Mən Azərbaycanca [yaxşı] danışa bilmirəm.
I do not understand.
Başa düşmədim.
Do you speak [English/French/Russian]?
[İngiliscə/fransızca/rusca] danışa bilirsiz\bilirsən?
Is there someone here who speaks English?
Burada İngiliscə danışan var?
Help!
Kömək edin!
Look out!
Ehtiyyatlı olun\ol!
Good morning.
Sabahın xeyir.
Good afternoon.
Günortan xeyir.
Good evening.
Axşamın xeyir.
Good night.
Gecən xeyrə.
Congratulations
Təbriklər.

Problems

Can you help me?
Mənə kömək edə bilərsiniz?
I feel bad.
Mən özümü pis hiss edirəm.
I am lost.
Mən azmışam.
Where is _____?
______ haradadır?
How can I find hotel _____?
Mən _____ otelini necə tapa bilərəm?
Are there any vacancies tonight?
Bu gün üçün boş otaq varmı?
Where is the toilet (bathroom)?
Tualet (ayaq yolu) haradadır?
Male
kişi
Female
qadın

Numbers

zero
sıfır
one
bir
two
iki
three
üç
four
dörd
five
beş
six
altı
seven
yeddi
eight
səkkiz
nine
doqquz
ten
on
eleven
on bir
twelve
on iki
thirteen
on üç
fourteen
on dörd
fifteen
on beş
sixteen
on altı
seventeen
on yeddi
eighteen
on səkkiz
nineteen
on doqquz
twenty
iyirmi
thirty
otuz
forty
qırx
fifty
əlli
sixty
altmiş
seventy
yetmiş
eighty
səksən
ninety
doxsan
hundred
yüz
thousand
min

Time

What time is it?
(Saat neçədir?)
It's two o'clock
(Saat ikidir)

Clock time

It is 2:30.
Saat üçün yarısıdır.
It is 2:00.
Saat ikidir.
It is 2:50.
Saat üçə on dəqiqə qalır.

Days

Monday
bazar ertəsi
Tuesday
çərşənbə axşamı
Wednesday
çərşənbə
Thursday
cümə axşamı
Friday
cümə
Saturday
şənbə
Sunday
bazar

Months

January
yanvar
February
fevral
March
mart
April
aprel
May
may
June
iyun
July
iyul
August
avqust
September
sentyabr
October
oktyabr
November
noyabr
December
dekabr

Colors

white
ağ/bəyaz
black
qara
red
qırmızı
green
yaşıl
blue
göy/mavi
orange
narıncı
grey
boz
brown
şabalıdı/qəhvəyi
yellow
sarı
pink
çəhrayı

Transportation

Nəqliyyat

Bus and train

Avtobus və qatar

Direction

İstiqamət

Taxi

Taksi

Lodging

Rent

İcarə

Lease

Kirayə

Money

Pul

Eating

Bring us a menu.
(Bizə menu gətirin.)
What's our bill?
(Hesab nə qədərdir?)

Buy

Driving

Suruculuk

Learning more

This article is issued from Wikivoyage. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.