Editing Tuvan language (section)

=== Historic scripts ===

==== Traditional Mongolian script ====
From approximately the 17th and 18th centuries until the 1930s, Tuvans used the traditional [[Mongolian script]] for their written language. By the late 1920s less than 1.5% of the total Tuvan population was literate in the traditional [[Mongolian script]]. Mongolian literacy was mainly possessed by the feudal nobility and officials. The absolute majority of Tuvans (with the exception of residents of some areas of the south-eastern part of Tuva, where Tuvan-Mongolian bilingualism has been preserved to this day) did not know the Mongolian language, and had long spoken only their native language.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Бичелдей |first1=Каадыр-Оол |title=80 лет тувинской письменности: становление, развитие, перспективы |journal=Новые исследования Тувы |date=2010 |issue=4 |page=221 |url=https://nit.tuva.asia/nit/article/view/480 |access-date=2024-10-06 |language=ru |issn=2079-8482}}</ref>

==== Draft scripts ====

In 1926, the government of the Tuvan People's Republic asked Soviet scientists to develop a native Tuvan script. The first draft of a Tuvan alphabet based on Cyrillic was compiled by Roman Buzykaev (1875-1939) and B. Bryukhanov (Sotpa) in 1927. This alphabet contained the letters Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Дд, Ёё, Жж, Ӝӝ, Зз, Ии, Йй, Кк, Лл, Мм, Нн, Ҥҥ, Оо, Ӧӧ, Пп, Рр, Сс, Тт, Уу, Ӱӱ, Хх, Чч, Шш, Ыы. The first Tuvan primer was published using this alphabet, but this project was not developed further.

==== Tuvan Latin ====
[[File:Emblem of the Tuvan People's Republic (1933-1939).svg|thumb|Example of Latin-based alphabet on the Tuvan People's Republic coat of arms. It says "PYGY TELEGEJNIꞐ PROLETARLARЬ POLGAŞ TARLATKAN ARATTARЬ KATTЬƵЬꞐAR".]]
The Latin-based alphabet for Tuvan was devised in 1930 by a Tuvan Buddhist lama, Mongush [[Lopsang-Chinmit]] (a.k.a. Lubsan Zhigmed). This project was proposed based on the German alphabet, albeit with a modified letter order. In this proposed system, all vowels were placed first (10 letters), followed by consonants (18 letters). This order is characteristic of the classical Mongolian script. Moreover, the pronunciation of several letters underwent significant alteration.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Бичелдей |first1=Каадыр-Оол |title=80 лет тувинской письменности: становление, развитие, перспективы |journal=Новые исследования Тувы |date=2010 |issue=4 |page=221 |url=https://nit.tuva.asia/nit/article/view/480 |access-date=2024-10-06 |language=ru |issn=2079-8482}}</ref><ref>For an image of the alphabet, see article {{cite journal |last1=Доржу |first1=Зоя |last2=Монгуш |first2=Игорь |title=ТРАГИЧЕСКАЯ СУДЬБА УЧЕНОГО ЛАМЫ ЛОПСАН-ЧИНМИТА |journal=Социально-экономический и гуманитарный журнал Красноярского ГАУ |date=2023 |issue=4 |page=141 |url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/tragicheskaya-sudba-uchenogo-lamy-lopsan-chinmita |access-date=2024-10-06}}, Figure 1</ref>

A few books and newspapers, including primers intended to teach adults to read, were printed using this writing system. Lopsang-Chinmit was later executed in Stalinist purges on 31 December 1941.<ref>{{harvp|Mänchen-Helfen|1992|page=133n}}</ref>

In the USSR, Aleksandr Palmbach, [[Yevgeny Polivanov]], and [[Nicholas Poppe]] were engaged in the development of the Tuvan Latinized alphabet. These researchers utilized the so-called [[Yañalif|New Turkic Alphabet]] as a foundation for their work.  [[Yañalif|New Turkic Alphabet]] was designed with the intention of facilitating unification of writing systems among all Turkic peoples. In early 1930, the Tuvan alphabet was finalized and officially introduced on June 28, 1930, by a decree of the TPR government. The approved Tuvan alphabet was as follows: 

{| cellpadding="3" style="font-size:1.4em; border:1px solid black; border-collapse:collapse; background-color:#F8F8EF; text-align:center"
| style="width:3em"| A a
| style="width:3em"| B ʙ
| style="width:3em"| C c
| style="width:3em"| D d
| style="width:3em"| E e
| style="width:3em"| F f
| style="width:3em"| G g
| style="width:3em"| Ƣ ƣ
|-
| style="width:3em"| H h
| style="width:3em"| I i
| style="width:3em"| J j
| style="width:3em"| Ɉ ɉ
| style="width:3em"| K k
| style="width:3em"| L l
| style="width:3em"| M m
| style="width:3em"| N n
|-
| style="width:3em"| Ꞑ ꞑ
| style="width:3em"| O o
| style="width:3em"| Ө ө
| style="width:3em"| P p
| style="width:3em"| R r
| style="width:3em"| S s
| style="width:3em"| Ş ş
| style="width:3em"| T t
|-
| style="width:3em"| U u
| style="width:3em"| V v
| style="width:3em"| X x
| style="width:3em"| Y y
| style="width:3em"| Z z
| style="width:3em"| Ƶ ƶ
| style="width:3em"| Ь ь
|
|}
The letter Ɉ ɉ was excluded from the alphabet in 1931.