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The Chuvash alphabet uses the Cyrillic script plus extra letters: А and Е with caron (short vowels), У with umlaut (Ü), and Ç for a sound like the German Ich-Laut.
The Chuvash language has afficates [dZ] and [tS] (дж, ч), pronounced as in Turkish, and sounds without afficates as in Tatar (ж, ç).
Alphabet:
А Ӑ Б В Г Д Е Ё Ӗ Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Ҫ Т У Ӳ Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ь Э Ю Я а ӑ б в г д е ё ӗ ж з и й к л м н о п р с ҫ т у ӳ ф х ц ч ш щ ъ ы ь э ю яThere are two dialects of Chuvash: Viryal or Upper (pronouncing o) and Anatri or Lower (pronouncing u). The literary language is based on the Lower dialect. Both Tatar and Finnic languages have influenced the Chuvash language, and there are Russian, Mari, Arab and Farsi words in Chuvash.
The most ancient writing system was Runic, which disappeared after converting the Volga Bulgars to Islam. Later, Arabic was used. After the Mongol invasion, writing disappeared. The modern alphabet was created in 1873 by I. Ya. Yakovlev.
The additional letters used in Chuvash Cyrillic:
Ӑӑ Ӗӗ Ҫҫ Ӳӳ