Azerbaijani Language Guide

Official language in
Azerbaijan
Also spoken in
Iran, Iraq, Türkiye, Uzbekistan
Script
Latin, Arabic

Where it's spoken

The Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan names Azerbaijani as the official language of the Republic of Azerbaijan and guarantees the free use and development of other languages spoken by the population.

Besides Azerbaijan, a University of Texas introductory course describes Azerbaijani as spoken natively in the surrounding areas of Iran, Iraq, Türkiye and Uzbekistan. Azerbaijani can generally be divided into two dialect groups: northern dialects in the Republic of Azerbaijan and southern dialects in Iran. The standard dialect in the Republic of Azerbaijan is based on the urban dialect of the capital, Baku, while the dialect of Tabriz, in north-west Iran, serves as the norm for Azerbaijani speakers in Iran.

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Script & pronunciation

Since independence from the Soviet Union, Azerbaijani in the Republic of Azerbaijan has been written in the Latin alphabet, while Azerbaijani in Iran has always been written in Arabic script. The current Latin-based alphabet is based on a slightly modified version of the modern Turkish alphabet; before it, Azerbaijani in Azerbaijan was written in the Arabic alphabet, then in a Soviet-introduced Latin alphabet, and then in Cyrillic. The same course notes that some store signs are written in Cyrillic, and this app's sign cards note that Russian often appears alongside Azerbaijani on signs in Baku.

The Peace Corps manual compares ə to the vowel in "man," as in Bəli ("Yes"); x to the "ch" in Scottish "loch," as in Xeyr ("No"); and ç to the "ch" in "check," as in Çörək ("Bread"). Undotted I ı and dotted İ i are separate letters, and this app's card GİRİŞ ("Entrance") draws attention to the dotted capital İ. The majority of words are stressed on the last syllable, and accent marks are not written in regular Azerbaijani text.

Some of this app's cards also show the text split with hyphens under the phrase, as in En-di-rim var-mı? for Endirim varmı? ("Is there a discount?").

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Grammar essentials

Azerbaijani is described as a subject–object–verb language: in Bunu alıram ("I will take this / I'll buy this"), the object Bunu ("this") comes before the verb. Grammatical functions are shown by adding suffixes to fixed stems. Azerbaijani has no articles, and it has no grammatical gender: a single pronoun covers "he," "she" and "it."

Suffix vowels follow vowel harmony: if the stem has one of the vowels a, ı, o, u, the suffix takes a vowel from that group, and if it has one of e, ə, i, ö, ü, the suffix takes a vowel from that group. Only the final vowel of a word decides the form. For example, the question suffix appears as mı in Endirim varmı? ("Is there a discount?") and as mi in Kredit kartı qəbul edirsinizmi? ("Do you accept credit cards?").

There are two ways to make a yes/no question: add a question mark in writing (with rising intonation in speech), as in Yaxşısınız? ("Are you OK?"), or add the question suffix to the end of the sentence, as in Endirim varmı?. The suffix is not required. The Peace Corps manual lists the question words Nə? ("What?"), Kim? ("Who?"), Nə vaxt? ("When?"), Necə? ("How?") and Niyə? ("Why?").

There are three ways to negate a sentence. Sentences with "to be" use the word deyil, as in Camaşırım təmiz deyil ("My laundry is not clean"). In sentences saying that something exists, var is replaced by yoxdur, as in Rezervasiyam var ("I have a reservation") and Rezervasiyam yoxdur ("I don't have a reservation"). Other verbs take a negative suffix placed between the verb and the tense suffix; in the present tense it is shortened to m, as in Başa düşmürəm ("I don't understand").

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Politeness & etiquette

Azerbaijani has two words for "you." The familiar one is used for one person you know well and are on familiar terms with, such as a family member, a friend or someone younger than you. Siz is used for more than one person, or for one person who is older than you or to whom you wish to show respect, such as an employee at a bank, store or restaurant. This app's card Siz gives it as "You (polite)" and notes that a traveler is always safe with it.

The verb ending shows which "you" is meant. The Peace Corps manual marks Necəsiniz? ("How are you?") as the formal way to ask, and this app's cards ask İngilis dilində danışırsınız? ("Do you speak English?") with the polite form. For requests to someone you address as Siz, a suffix is added to the command form, as in Zəhmət olmasa yavaş danışın ("Please speak slowly") and Zəhmət olmasa gözləyin ("Please wait"). This app's card Zəhmət olmasa ("Please") notes that it literally means "if it is no trouble."

Saying Salam ("Hello") when you meet people is described as very important for Azerbaijanis. For "yes" and "no," the manual lists Bəli ("Yes") and Xeyr ("No") as the formal words.

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