I can read x as the ch of “loch”, not as ks, j as the j of “jam”, and y as the y of “yes”, tell q from k and h from x in writing, and recognize the letter gʻ by its sign.
q, gʻ, x, h — four sounds made far back
q, gʻ, x, h — four sounds made far back
q is a k made far back in the mouth, at the uvula (where you gargle): qalam, qiz, oq. Never “kw” as in “quiz”. k is like English k: kitob, kim, kun. They are different letters and different words: qoʻl — hand, koʻl — lake.
gʻ is made at the same place as q, but voiced and without closing, close to a French r: togʻ, bogʻ, oʻgʻil. g is the g of “go”: gul, gap. The sign of gʻ is the same as in oʻ, part of the letter, and you type it the same way: as any apostrophe, or leave it out.
x is the ch of Scottish “loch”, never ks as in “taxi”: xona, xat, yaxshi. h is a light breath, as when you fog up a glass, and it is always heard: ham, hafta, shahar. These are different words too: ham — too, xam — bent.
The checker tells q from k and x from h: k for q is a mistake. But the sign of gʻ, like that of oʻ, can be left out — so the spelling of gʻ is tested by choice.
Common mistakes:
• NOT ks — xona starts with the ch of “loch”.
• NOT kalam — qalam starts with q.
• NOT a silent h — rahmat has a breath in the middle.
Tricky letters
Read by the Uzbek rule, not by English habit.
| How it sounds | Letter | Words |
|---|---|---|
| a k made far back, at the uvula | q | qalam — pencil · qiz — girl · oq — white |
| an ordinary k | k | kitob — book · kim — who · kun — day |
| close to a French r | gʻ | togʻ — mountain · bogʻ — garden · oʻgʻil — son |
| the g of “go” | g | gul — flower · gap — talk |
| the ch of “loch”, never ks | x | xona — room · xat — letter · yaxshi — good |
| a light breath, the h of “hat” | h | ham — too · hafta — week · shahar — city |
| the j of “jam” | j | juma — Friday · javob — answer · joy — place |
| [j], y in “yes” | y | yil — year · yoʻq — no · uy — house |
| one sound, the ng of “singer” | ng | ming — thousand · yangi — new · singil — younger sister |
| sh and ch: one letter of two characters | sh, ch | shahar — city · besh — five · choy — tea · uch — three |
Lesson notes
q, gʻ, x, h — four sounds made far back
q is a k made far back in the mouth, at the uvula (where you gargle): qalam, qiz, oq. Never “kw” as in “quiz”. k is like English k: kitob, kim, kun. They are different letters and different words: qoʻl — hand, koʻl — lake.
gʻ is made at the same place as q, but voiced and without closing, close to a French r: togʻ, bogʻ, oʻgʻil. g is the g of “go”: gul, gap. The sign of gʻ is the same as in oʻ, part of the letter, and you type it the same way: as any apostrophe, or leave it out.
x is the ch of Scottish “loch”, never ks as in “taxi”: xona, xat, yaxshi. h is a light breath, as when you fog up a glass, and it is always heard: ham, hafta, shahar. These are different words too: ham — too, xam — bent.
The checker tells q from k and x from h: k for q is a mistake. But the sign of gʻ, like that of oʻ, can be left out — so the spelling of gʻ is tested by choice.
Common mistakes:
• NOT ks — xona starts with the ch of “loch”.
• NOT kalam — qalam starts with q.
• NOT a silent h — rahmat has a breath in the middle.
j, y, ng, and the two-character letters
j is the j of “jam”: juma, javob, joy. Only in a few borrowed words is it the s of “measure”: jurnal (magazine).
y is the y of “yes”, always a consonant, never a vowel as in “my”: yil, yoʻq, uy. The pairs ya, yo, yu, ye are two sounds: y and a vowel.
ng is one sound, as in English “long”: ming, yangi, singil. Say it as in “singer”, not as in “finger”: no g after it.
sh and ch are the sh of “shoe” and the ch of “church”: each is one letter of two characters — shahar, besh; choy, uch. The capitals are Sh and Ch. The word shahar has five letters: sh, a, h, a, r.
The names of the new letters, for spelling aloud: qe, gʻe, xe, he, je, ye, she, che, nge.
Common mistakes:
• NOT y as in “my” — in yil and uy, y is the y of “yes”.
• NOT n + g in yangi — ng is one sound, as in “singer”.