Orthography (spelling) is the set of rules for writing words correctly. Modern Uzbek spelling rests on the “Main Spelling Rules of the Uzbek Language” approved in 1995. Without uniform spelling, written language becomes confusing and disorderly: if everyone spells a word differently, dictionaries, search engines and readers all struggle. Exam tasks usually ask you to find a misspelt word or choose the correct variant. Memorising rules is not enough to solve them — you need to see how the word is built (root + suffix, compound word, phrase).
§1. Principles of spelling
Uzbek spelling rests on several principles:
The phonetic principle — a word is written as it sounds: bola, kitobxon; sound changes also show in writing: burni, yuragi, toqqa.
The morphological principle — the original form of a word and suffix is kept even when pronunciation changes: kitob [kitop], ketdi [ketti], tuzsiz [tussiz].
The historical-traditional principle — some words are written by tradition or close to the source language: doktor, avtobus, Yevropa.
Spelling is mainly phonetic, but where a change in pronunciation is not fixed by a rule, the morphological principle applies
So before writing a word, ask two questions: 1) is there a special rule for this change? 2) if not, what are the original parts of the word? For example, tog‘ + ga has a special rule — toqqa; ket + di has none — ketdi.
§2. Spelling of vowels
`o` and `a`: in native words o is pronounced clearly: bola, ota, ona, tog‘. In words borrowed through Russian an unstressed o sounds close to [a] but is written o as in the source: doktor, kombayn, avtobus.
`i` and `u` are written even when pronounced weakly and briefly: bilan, qishloq, kumush.
`o‘` and `u` distinguish meaning: ko‘l (lake) — kul (ash), o‘t (fire, grass) — ut (win).
`e` and `ye`: at the start of a word and after a vowel some Russian loanwords take ye: , ; native words: , , .
The tutuq sign’ is written in Arabic loanwords after a vowel (the vowel is lengthened) or after a consonant (a break in pronunciation): ma’no, ta’lim, e’lon, mas’ul, san’at, sur’at. It must not be replaced by the ‘ of o‘, g‘.
§3. Spelling of consonants
A voiced consonant at the end of a root is written even when pronounced voiceless:
kitob (not kitop), obod, ozod, barg, Ahmad, Samarqand
How to check: add a suffix beginning with a vowel — kitobi, obodi — and the voiced consonant is clearly heard. Final consonant clusters are written in full even when simplified in speech: do‘st, go‘sht, farzand, xursand, baland. `h` and `x` distinguish meaning: hol (state) — xol (mole on the skin), hayot, hamma, xalq, xabar. So do `q` and `k`, `g‘` and `g`: qo‘l — ko‘l, qul — kul, g‘oz — go‘zal. Double consonants are written as pronounced: katta, achchiq, , , , . A single letter can distort the word: there is no word , only .
Worked example
Farzan, kitop, ozod — which is spelt correctly?
Farzan — the final cluster nd must be written in full: farzand (check: farzandi).
Kitop — the voiced b has been written as voiceless; correct is kitob (check: kitobi).
Ozod — the voiced d is kept.
Answer: only ozod is spelt correctly.
§4. Writing as one word
Units that name one concept and have become a single word are written solid:
repeated and intensive forms: katta-katta, asta-asta, qip-qizil, ko‘m-ko‘k;
the particle -u, -yu: kecha-yu kunduz, Toshkent-u Samarqand;
ordinal numbers written in figures: 5-sinf, 2026-yil; no hyphen after Roman numerals: XXI asr.
Worked example
O‘qib chiqdi, o‘qibchiqdi, o‘qib-chiqdi — which is right?
o‘qib is a converb carrying the main meaning; chiqdi is an auxiliary verb showing completion.
This is neither a compound nor a paired word but a combination with an auxiliary verb.
Such combinations are written separately.
Answer: o‘qib chiqdi.
§6. Capital letters
Capital letters are used for:
the first word of a sentence;
proper nouns: personal names and pen names (Alisher Navoiy, Cho‘lpon), place names (Amudaryo, Orol dengizi), celestial bodies (Yer, Quyosh — in the astronomical sense);
in names of organisations, the first word and any proper nouns within: Toshkent davlat universiteti, O‘zbekiston Respublikasi Oliy Majlisi;
the first word of titles of works, newspapers and magazines: «O‘tkan kunlar», «Kecha va kunduz»;
the first word of holidays and commemorative dates: Mustaqillik kuni, Navro‘z, Xotira va qadrlash kuni.
Common nouns stay lower-case even inside the name of an organisation or place: davlat, universiteti, dengizi
Worked example
Which name of an organisation is spelt correctly: Toshkent Davlat Universiteti or Toshkent davlat universiteti?
In names of organisations only the first word and proper nouns are capitalised.
Toshkent is the first word and a proper noun; davlat and universiteti are common nouns.
Common nouns are written in lower case.
Answer: Toshkent davlat universiteti.
§7. Line breaks and abbreviations
Breaking a word that does not fit on a line is also governed by the spelling rules:
words are broken by syllables: mak-tab, kitob-xona;
a single letter is neither left at the end of a line nor carried over: ona, uka are not broken;
o‘, g‘ and sh, ch, ng standing for one sound are never split: qo‘-shiq, de-ngiz;
the tutuq sign stays with the letter before it: san’-at, ma’-no;
letter abbreviations are not divided: BMT, AQSH; a number in figures is not separated from the part attached to it: 5-sinf.
Line-break rules rest on syllable division, which is covered in detail in the topic “Syllables and stress”
Check yourself
Kitop or kitob?
How is hech kim written?
Why is uchburchak written as one word?
Why is ota-ona hyphenated?
How do hol and xol differ in meaning?
Olib keldi or olibkeldi?
How is och yashil written?
What is the sign ’ in ma’lumot?
Common mistakes
Spelling by pronunciation: wrong kitop, obot, farzan.