The ʻ and ʼ signs · Ipak

> ʻ in Oʻ and Gʻ, and the tutuq sign ʼ: how they differ, when to use which, the official rules.

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Guide

# ʻ and ʼ: how they differ and when to use which

ʻ is part of the letters Oʻ and Gʻ. ʼ is a separate sign, the tutuq, used in borrowed words. Neither is an apostrophe or a quotation mark.

## In short

ʻ · U+02BB

Oʻzbek Gʻalla

Part of a letter: only in Oʻ and Gʻ, set close to it.

O'zbek · O`zbek · O‘zbek

ʼ · U+02BC

maʼno sanʼat

A separate sign, the tutuq: after a vowel it lengthens it; between a consonant and a vowel it separates them.

ma'no · ma`no · ma’no

Apostrophes and quotation marks look similar, but they are punctuation: search and spell checkers may split the word at them.

## Which sign when

| Word | Sign | Why | Rule |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **oʻzbek** | ʻ | The letter Oʻ | 5 |
| **gʻalla** | ʻ | The letter Gʻ | 28 |
| **qoʻngʻiroq** | ʻ ʻ | the letters Oʻ and Gʻ, no tutuq | 5, 28 |
| **eʼlon, sheʼr, maʼno** | ʼ | after a vowel: the vowel is long | 32.1 |
| **sanʼat, masʼul, jurʼat** | ʼ | between a consonant and a vowel: the vowel is said separately | 32.2 |
| **Isʼhoq** | ʼ | s and h are two sounds, not sh | 17 |
| **moʻjiza** | only ʻ | no tutuq | 32.1 |
| **vaʼ-da** | ʼ | when splitting a word, ʼ stays on the first line | 75 |

The easy way to remember: if there is an “oʻ” or “gʻ” sound, use ʻ, right against the letter. If it is an Arabic or Persian borrowing with a long vowel or a “break” before a vowel, use ʼ.

## Official rules

The 5 items of the 1995 rules, with a translation

The main spelling rules were approved by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 339 of 24 August 1995. Below are the clauses about the two signs, word for word in Uzbek. There is no official translation of the rules; the translation on this page is our own, unofficial one. [lex.uz](https://lex.uz/docs/-1625271)

5

### The letter Oʻ

Oʻ oʻ harfi oʻt, oʻq, oʻzbek, oʻsimlik, doʻppi, boʻtakoʻz, semizoʻt, gulkoʻrpa, nooʻrin kabi soʻzlarda orqa qator oʻrta-keng unlini ifodalash uchun yoziladi.

unofficial translation The letter Oʻ oʻ is written in words such as oʻt, oʻq, oʻzbek, oʻsimlik, doʻppi, boʻtakoʻz, semizoʻt, gulkoʻrpa, nooʻrin and stands for a mid-open back vowel.

28

### The letter Gʻ

Gʻ gʻ harfi gʻoz, bagʻir, togʻ kabi soʻzlarda chuqur til orqa jarangli sirgʻaluvchi undoshni ifodalash uchun yoziladi.

unofficial translation The letter Gʻ gʻ is written in words such as gʻoz, bagʻir, togʻ and stands for a voiced fricative consonant formed deep at the back of the tongue.

32

### The tutuq sign

ʼ — tutuq belgisi: 1) aʼlo, baʼzan, maʼyus, taʼzim; raʼy, taʼb; eʼlon, eʼtibor, eʼtiqod, meʼmor, neʼmat, sheʼr, feʼl; Nuʼmon, shuʼla kabi oʻzlashma soʻzlarda unlidan keyin shu unli tovushning choʻziqroq aytilishini ifodalash uchun qoʻyiladi; moʻjiza, moʻtadil, moʻtabar kabi soʻzlarda oʻ unlisi choʻziqroq aytilsa ham, tutuq belgisi qoʻyilmaydi; 2) inʼom, sanʼat, qatʼiy, masʼul kabi oʻzlashma soʻzlarda unlidan oldin shu unli oldingi undosh tovushdan ajratib aytilishini ifodalash uchun qoʻyiladi.

unofficial translation ʼ — the tutuq sign: 1) is placed after a vowel in borrowed words such as aʼlo, baʼzan, maʼyus, taʼzim; raʼy, taʼb; eʼlon, eʼtibor, eʼtiqod, meʼmor, neʼmat, sheʼr, feʼl; Nuʼmon, shuʼla and shows that this vowel is pronounced long; in words such as moʻjiza, moʻtadil, moʻtabar the vowel oʻ is also long, but no tutuq is written; 2) is placed before a vowel in borrowed words such as inʼom, sanʼat, qatʼiy, masʼul and shows that this vowel is pronounced separately from the preceding consonant.

17

### Between s and h

Sh harflari ikki tovushni ifodalasa, ular orasiga ʼ tutuq belgisi qoʻyiladi: Isʼhoq, asʼhob kabi.

unofficial translation If the letters s and h stand for two separate sounds rather than the single sound sh, the tutuq sign ʼ is placed between them: Isʼhoq, asʼhob.

75

### Splitting words

Tutuq belgisi oldingi boʻgʻinda qoldiriladi: vaʼ-da, maʼ-rifat, mashʼ-al, inʼ-om kabi.

unofficial translation The tutuq sign stays in the preceding syllable: vaʼ-da, maʼ-rifat, mashʼ-al, inʼ-om.

The rules have no separate clause about the ʻ sign: it is mentioned only as part of the letters Oʻ and Gʻ. The rules do not define the shape of the signs either.

## Common mistakes

| Mistake | Wrong | Right |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Straight apostrophe or backtick | O'zbekiston, O`zbekiston, ma'lumot, E`lon | Oʻzbekiston, maʼlumot, eʼlon |
| Signs mixed up | Oʼzbekiston, ma‘qulladi | Oʻzbekiston, maʼqulladi |
| Cyrillic О instead of Latin O | Оʻzbek (О — kirill) | Oʻzbek |
| Tutuq missing or extra | mano, sanat, sher, moʻʼjiza | maʼno, sanʼat, sheʼr, moʻjiza |
| Sign detached from the letter | o ʻzbek, va-ʼda | oʻzbek, vaʼ-da |

Even official websites mix the signs: a single page can show up to five variants. Most often ‘ (U+2018) is used for Oʻ and Gʻ, and ’ (U+2019) for the tutuq. They look similar, but they are punctuation marks: search and spell checking may break the word at them.

## How to type

| Where | How to type |
| --- | --- |
| Word (Windows) | Type 02BB and press Alt+X; for the tutuq, 02BC and Alt+X. Windows has no built-in Uzbek Latin keyboard layout. |
| Windows | Character Map, or the “Copy” button on this page. |
| macOS | Unicode Hex Input source: hold Option and type 02BB or 02BC. macOS has no Uzbek Latin keyboard layout. |
| HTML | ʻ · ʼ |
| Ipak fonts | They show ʻ or ʼ on their own in place of a typed ' or ‘ in Uzbek text (see below). |

## The 2026 law

The 2026 law replaces Oʻ and Gʻ with Ö and Ğ (as well as Sh → Ş, Ch → Ç). The ʻ sign will then leave the letters, while the tutuq ʼ stays: the alphabet will have “28 letters and one apostrophe”.

The Senate approved the law on 10 September 2026. It takes effect once signed by the President and officially published. Until then, Oʻ and Gʻ are written with the ʻ sign.

## In Ipak fonts

Ipak fonts draw both signs, and they differ in shape: ʻ is heavier at the bottom, ʼ at the top. ʻ sits close to its letter, and the next letter keeps the usual spacing: the sign reads as part of Oʻ and Gʻ.

If you type ' or ‘ on the keyboard, Ipak fonts show ʻ or ʼ in text marked as Uzbek. The text itself keeps the typed character, so in documents and on websites it is safer to type U+02BB and U+02BC.

## Sources

Main spelling rules of the Uzbek language (Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 339, 24.08.1995): [lex.uz/docs/-1625271](https://lex.uz/docs/-1625271) · [Cyrillic](https://lex.uz/docs/1625271)

Law on introducing the Latin-based Uzbek alphabet (1993, as amended in 1995): [lex.uz/docs/-112286](https://lex.uz/docs/-112286)

The 2026 law: Senate, 10.09.2026: [kun.uz](https://kun.uz/news/2026/09/10/senat-alifboda-tortta-harfni-ozgartirishni-maqulladi) · [gazeta.uz](https://www.gazeta.uz/oz/2026/09/10/uzb-alphabet/)

Unicode NamesList (U+02BB, U+02BC): [unicode.org](https://www.unicode.org/Public/UCD/latest/ucd/NamesList.txt) · CLDR uz: [github.com/unicode-org/cldr](https://github.com/unicode-org/cldr/blob/main/common/main/uz.xml)

Microsoft: [entering Unicode characters](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/insert-ascii-or-unicode-latin-based-symbols-and-characters-d13f58d3-7bcb-44a7-a4d5-972ee12e50e0)

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