What is romanjam?

Romanization of Azerbaijani

Romanization of Azerbaijani refers to the conversion of the Azerbaijani language, which is primarily written in the Cyrillic script (historically also the Arabic script), into the Latin script. Several Latin alphabets have been used over time.

• History: The transition from Arabic to Latin and then to Cyrillic, and finally back to Latin, reflects the political and cultural shifts in Azerbaijan. Briefly, in 1929, the Unified Turkic Alphabet was adopted. Then the Cyrillic alphabet was enforced under Soviet rule. Following independence in 1991, the Latin alphabet was reinstated.

• Current Latin Alphabet: The current official Latin alphabet of Azerbaijan was adopted in 1991, and slightly modified in 2003. It is largely based on the Turkish alphabet, but includes some unique characters to represent Azerbaijani sounds.

• Different Romanization Systems: Throughout the 20th century, various romanization systems were used, leading to some inconsistencies in the transliteration of names and places. Different systems include the 1926 Jaŋalif and other ad-hoc methods.

• Importance: The adoption of the Latin script was seen as a step towards closer ties with the West and a break from Soviet influence. It also aimed to improve literacy and make the language more accessible to international audiences.

• Challenges: Switching between scripts has posed challenges for older generations and requires learning new typing skills. However, it has also opened up opportunities for Azerbaijani language resources to be more widely available online.