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 Persian-Arabic alphabet 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 Persian-Arabic alphabet, 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 the Latin alphabet by its 8.8 million native speakers in Azerbaijan, the rest of southern Caucasus, and Turkey. Azerbaijani is written in Persian-Arabic alphabet by its estimated 24 million speakers in Iran, and Iraq. 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 Persian-Arabic script!

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?

Sən necəsən?

Necəsən?

How are you? (formal)

Siz necəsiniz?;

Necəsiniz?

Fine, thank you.

Mən yaxşıyam

Good.

Yaxşi

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.

Tanışlığımıza şadam.

Please.

Zəhmət olmasa.

Mümkünsə

Thank you.

Təşəkkür edirəm.

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

Görüşëdëk

I can't speak Azerbaijani [well].

Mən Azərbaycanca [yaxşı] danışa bilmirəm.

I do not understand.

Başa düşmədim

Do you speak [English/French/Russian]?

Siz [İngiliscə/ fransızca/rusca] danışırsınız?

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.

Gün aydın.

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 _____ otelinin mehmanxanasını 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

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

çərşəmbə axşamı

Wednesday

çərşəmbə

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

rose

çəhrayı

Transportation

Nəqliyyat

Bus and train

Avtobus və Qatar

Direction

İstiqamət

Taxi

Taksi

Lodging

Rent - İcarə haqqı

Lease - Kirayə

Money

Pul

Eating

Bring us a menu.

(Bizə menu gətir'.)

What's our bill?

(Bizim hesabimiz nədir?)

Buy

Driving

Suruculuk