Southern Uzbek is written using the Arabic writing system called
Arab Yozuv عرب یازوو ("Arab Script"). The writing system is for the most part identical to
Perso-Arabic alphabet, with three additional letters. These include two vowels,
"اۉ / ۉ" and
"اې / ې" (optional in writing, and substitutable in practice by
"او / و" and
"ای / ی" respectively), which are meant to represent the sounds represented in Uzbek Latin Script with
"E e" and
"Oʻ oʻ". The alphabet also includes a combined consonant letter
"نگ", formerly (and currently in writing systems such as
Uyghur) shown with the letter "ڭ". This letter represents the sound /ŋ/, and represented in the Latin writing system with "-ng". This letter makes the
Voiced velar nasal sound, where in English one can for example hear when pronouncing the word "wi
ngman". Uzbek has six vowels, and it has lost its
vowel harmony rules, unlike other Turkic languages. Other than the additional combined letter
"نگ / -ng", the consonants of Uzbek Arabic Alphabet are identical to that of
Persian. Thus, there indeed is a case of various letters representing the same sound, as is the case in Persian. But the letters
"ث، ح، ذ، ژ، ص، ض، ط، ظ، ع" are not used for writing of native Uzbek words. They are solely used for writing of loanwords from Arabic, Persian, or any of the European languages. == See also ==