Uzbek
O‘zbek, Ўзбек, اوزبیک
Spoken in	Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Russia, China, Mongolia
Native speakers	40 million[citation needed]  (2012)
Language family	Turkic Uyghur Turkic Uzbek
Writing system	Uzbek alphabet
Official status
Official language in	Uzbekistan
Language codes
ISO 639-1	uz
ISO 639-2	uzb
ISO 639-3	uzb – inclusive code Individual codes: uzn – Northern Uzbek uzs – Southern Uzbek
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Uzbek (O‘zbek tili or O‘zbekcha in Latin script, Ўзбек тили or Ўзбекча in Cyrillic script; اوزبیک تیلی or اوزبیکچه in Arabic script) is a Turkic language and the official language of Uzbekistan. It has about 40 million native speakers, and it is spoken by the Uzbeks in Uzbekistan and elsewhere in Central Asia. Uzbek belongs to the southeastern Turkic or Uyghur family of Turkic languages, and consequently its lexicon and grammar are most closely linked to the Uyghur language, while other influences rose from Persian, Arabic and Russian.

One of the most distinguishing aspects of Uzbek from other Turkic languages is its rounding of the vowel /a/ to /ɒ/ or /ɔ/, a feature influenced by Persian.

History[link]

Turkic speakers have probably settled in the Amu-Darya, Syr-Darya and Zeravshan river basins since at least AD 600–700, gradually ousting or assimilating the speakers of Eastern Iranian languages who previously inhabited Soghdiana, Bactria and Chorasmia. The first Turkic dynasty in the region was that of the Karakhanids in the 9th–12th centuries AD, who were a confederation of Karluks (Qarluq), Chigil, Yaghma and other tribes.^[1]

Uzbek is a language which can be considered the direct descendant or a latter form of Chagatay, the language of great Turkic Central Asian literary development in the realm of Chagatai Khan, Timur (Tamerlane), and the Timurids.^[2] The language was championed by Mir Ali-Sher Nawa'i in the 15th and 16th centuries. Ultimately based on the Qarluq variant of the Turkic languages, it contained large numbers of Persian and Arabic loanwords. By the 19th century it was rarely used for literary composition.

The term "Uzbek" as applied to language has meant different things at different times. Prior to 1921 "Uzbek" and "Sart" were considered to be different dialects; "Uzbek" was a vowel-harmonised Kipchak dialect spoken by descendants of those who arrived in Transoxiana with Shaybani Khan in the 16th century, who lived mainly around Bukhara and Samarkand, although the Turkic spoken in Tashkent was also vowel-harmonised; "Sart" was a Qarluq dialect spoken by the older settled Turkic populations of the region in the Ferghana Valley and the Kashka-Darya region, and in some parts of what is now the Samarkand Province; it contained a heavier admixture of Persian and Arabic, and did not use vowel-harmony. In Khiva Sarts spoke a form of highly Persianised Oghuz Turkic. After 1921 the Soviet regime abolished the term Sart as derogatory, and decreed that henceforth the entire settled Turkic population of Turkestan would be known as Uzbeks, even though many had no Uzbek tribal heritage. The standard written language that was chosen for the new republic in 1924, however, despite the protests of Uzbek Bolsheviks such as Faizullah Khojaev, was not pre-revolutionary "Uzbek" but the "Sart" language of the Samarkand region. All three dialects continue to exist within modern, spoken Uzbek.

Number of speakers[link]

In the CIS countries, there are about 24.7 million people who speak dialects of Uzbek. In Uzbekistan, 21 million people speak Uzbek as their native language. There are about 1.2 million speakers in Tajikistan, 1 million in Afghanistan, 500,000 in Pakistan, 550,096 in Kyrgyzstan, 332,017 in Kazakhstan, and 317,333 in Turkmenistan. According to the 2004 census, about 14,5000^{[clarification needed]} people in Xinjiang in China speak Uzbek. Because the Uzbeks in Xinjiang are so close to the Uyghur people, who form an ethnic plurality there, Uzbeks are assimilated by Uyghurs.

Loan words[link]

The influence of Islam, and by extension, Arabic, is evident in Uzbek, as well as the residual influence of Russian, from the time when Uzbekistan was under tsarist and Soviet rule. Uzbek vocabulary has also been heavily influenced by the neighboring Modern Persian dialects of Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

Dialects[link]

The Uzbek language has many dialects, varying widely from region to region. However, there is a commonly understood dialect which is used in mass media and in most printed material.

Among the best known dialects are the Tashkent dialect; Afghan dialect; the Ferghana dialect; the Khorezm dialect; the Chimkent-Turkestan dialect; and the Surkhandarya dialect

Writing systems[link]

This article's factual accuracy is disputed. Please help to ensure that disputed facts are reliably sourced. See the relevant discussion on the talk page. (April 2012)

A page in Uzbek language Arabic script printed in Tashkant 1911

Before 1928, the Uzbek language, like most Central Asian languages, was written in various forms of the Arabic script (Yana imla) by the literate population. Between 1928 and 1940, as part of comprehensive programs to educate (and politically influence) Uzbek people, who for the first time now had their own cartographically delineated (administrative) region, Uzbek writing was switched to Latin script (Yanalif; a proposal for the latinization of Yana imla was already developed in 1924). The latinization of Uzbek was carried out in the context of latinization of all Turkic languages, and would not have happened if other Turkic languages had not been Latinized.^[3]

In 1940, Uzbek was switched to Cyrillic script under Joseph Stalin. Until 1992, Uzbek continued to be written using a Cyrillic alphabet almost everywhere, but now in Uzbekistan the Latin script has been officially re-introduced, although the use of Cyrillic is still widespread. The deadline in Uzbekistan for making this transition has been repeatedly changed. The latest deadline was 2005, but was shifted once again to provide a few more years.

Already education in many areas of Uzbekistan is in the Latin script,^[4] and in 2001 the Latin script began to be used for coins. Since 2004 some official websites have switched over to using the Latin script when writing in Uzbek.^[5] Most street signs are also in the new Latin script.

In the Xinjiang province of China, Uzbek has no official orthography. Some speakers write using the Cyrillic script, while others write using the Uyghur script^[which?], as that is the language they have used when they went to school.^{[citation needed]}

Table of Uzbek Cyrillic and Latin alphabets, and represented sounds^[6]

Notes

1. ^ Cyrillic "Е е" at the beginning of the word and after a vowel is "Ye ye" in Latin.
2. ^ Pronounced /o/ only in Russian loanwords.

Text sample[link]

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

See also[link]

Uzbek language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Chagatai language
• Sogdiana
• Uzbeks

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Mamatov, Jahangir; Horlick, Michael; Kadirova, Karamat: A Comprehensive Uzbek - English Dictionary (eds.) Hyattsville, Maryland, 2 vols. (2011)
• Lars Johanson (1998) The History of Turkic. In Lars Johanson & Éva Ágnes Csató (eds) The Turkic Languages. London, New York: Rouiden & London, 1934, pp. 175–6
• Yuri Bregel "The Sarts in the Khanate of Khiva" Journal of Asian History Vol.12 (1978) pp. 146–9
• András J. E. Bodrogligeti: Modern Literary Uzbek – A Manual for Intensive Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced Courses (Munich, Lincom 2002), 2 vols.
• William Fierman: Language planning and national development. The Uzbek experience (Berlin etc., de Gruyter 1991).
• Khayrulla Ismatulla: Modern literary Uzbek (Bloomington, Indiana University Press 1995).
• Karl A. Krippes: Uzbek–English dictionary (Kensington, Dunwoody 1996).
• Republic of Uzbekistan, Ministry of Higher and Middle Eductation (2004). Lotin yozuviga asoslangan o‘zbek alifbosi va imlosi (Latin writing based Uzbek alphabet and orthography), Tashken Finance Institute: Tashkent.
• Andrée F. Sjoberg: Uzbek Structural Grammar (The Hague, 1963).
• A. Shermatov "A New Stage in the Development of Uzbek Dialectology" Essays on Uzbek History, Culture and Language Ed. Bakhtiyar A. Nazarov & Denis Sinor (Bloomington, Indiana) 1993 pp. 101–9
• Natalie Waterson (ed.): Uzbek–English dictionary (Oxford etc., Oxford University Press 1980).

External links[link]

Wikibooks has more on the topic of Uzbek language

• Ethnologue: Uzbek, Northern, Uzbek, Southern
• Classification of Turkic Languages: [1]
• English-Uzbek online, wap translator http://tr2.uz
• Mark Dickens: Introduction to the Uzbek Language (Oxus Communications)
• Mark Dickens: Principal Orthographic Rules For The Uzbek Language, translation of Uzbekistan Cabinet of Minister's Resolution No. 339, of August 24, 1995
• Uzbek alphabet (Omniglot)
• Paul Rodrigues: Uzbek language Materials
• Uzbek Teachionary Word Sets
• Nigora Azimova: Language Materials/Teaching/Learning Uzbek
• English-Uzbek, Uzbek-English mobile dictionary http://tr2.uz/abc.jar
• Uzbek English online dictionary http://zangorikema.com
• Uzbek English online Dictionary http://www.ismanov.com
• Uzbek–Turkish online dictionary
• A short English Uzbek Japanese phrasebook(renewal) incl. sound file
• Uzbek Cyrillic–Latin converter
• Uzbek to Turkish Translation (Beta)

Sevara Nazarkhan (Uzbek: Sevara Nazarxon, Севара Назархон; Russian: Севара Назархан is an Uzbek singer, songwriter, and musician. Her musical style incorporates Uzbek folk and contemporary music. Nazarkhan has achieved worldwide fame and has collaborated with high-profile international artists.^[1] In 2004, Nazarkhan received the BBC Radio 3 World Music Award in the category "Best Asian Artist".^[1]

Life[link]

Nazarkhan was born into a family of musicians in 1978 in Andijan city, Uzbek SSR. Her father is a former editor at the State Radio Committee. Her mother taught how to play Uzbek traditional musical instruments at a musical school. Nazarkhan started her career in music as a doutar player in the Ensemble of the National TV and Radio Committee. Upon graduation from secondary school, she attended the Uzbek National Conservatory.

Work[link]

Nazarkhan started her solo career in 2000. In 2003, Sevara Nazarkhan released her critically acclaimed album Yol Bolsin on the UK label Real World Records. The album was produced by French producer Hector Zazou. Following the release, she extensively toured Europe and Asia with her band. She also was the support act in Peter Gabriel's Growing Up Tour 2004. The same year, she received the BBC Radio 3 World Music Award in the category "Best Asian Artist".

In 2004, Sevara recorded Gozal Dema - a collection of folk songs. It was a limited edition CD.

In 2007, Real World Records releases her album Sen. Most of the music of that album was composed by Sevara. She brought two producers to work on this album - Bruno Ellingham and Victor Sologoub.

In 2009, Sevara released a hit song titled "А Он Не Пришёл" in Russian, which became a major hit troughout the CIS countries.^[2]

Sevara's latest album, Tortadur - a collection of Uzbek traditional/classical songs - was released in the US on October 11, 2011, on her own record label, Sevaramusic. Sevara invited "the old school" instrumentalists for the live recording sessions. This album is not electronically treated.

Sevara Nazarkhan appears on the following tracks/albums:

1. Peace Song (Halla Bassam/Sevara Nazarxon) From the Album "Lullabies From The Axis Of Evil".

2. In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel), Peter Gabriel - Growing Up Live (2003) DVD

3. My Secret Bliss (Iarla Duet With Sevara Nazarxon) - AfroCelt Sound System. From the Album Volum5: Anatomic (2005)

4. Everything Comes From You (feat. Richard Evans, Joji Hirota, Sevara Nazarxon, Sinead O Connor, Guo Yue) - From the Album "Big Blue Ball" by Peter Gabriel.

Discography[link]

• Yo'l Bolsin (Where are you Headed?) (2003)
• Go'zal Dema (Don't Say I'm Beautiful) (2004)
• Sen (You) (2007)
• Tortadur (It Attracts) (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site
• Record label site
• Sevara Nazarkhan uzbek lyrics