Abkhaz Keyboard Online — Type in Abkhaz Free

Type Abkhaz in Its Extended Cyrillic Alphabet

Abkhaz (аԥсшәа) is written with a Cyrillic alphabet that has been stretched well beyond the Russian one it grew out of. To spell the language properly you need letters such as ҩ, ҧ, ҵ, ҟ, ә and ԥ — none of which is printed on a Russian or English keyboard. This online Abkhaz keyboard puts every one of them one tap away. Click the keys on screen or type on your physical keyboard, and the text builds up in the box above, where a live counter tracks its length and a single button copies the lot.

Abkhaz is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken in Abkhazia, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, and by a large diaspora abroad. It is famous among linguists for one of the biggest consonant inventories on earth set against only two vowel sounds — which is precisely why its alphabet needs so many modified letters.

Try it: Аԥсны — Abkhazia · Аԥсуа — the Abkhaz people and their language.

The Extra Abkhaz Letters and Where They Sit

Six modified letters do most of the work that sets the Abkhaz layout apart from a plain Russian one. Each takes a familiar Cyrillic base and adds a hook, a descender, or a stroke, and each has a fixed home on this keyboard. Two of the six replace Russian letters on the main rows; the other four line the strip on either side of the space bar — keys an ordinary Cyrillic keyboard simply does not have.

ҩ / Ҩ

Second key of the top letter row, in the spot Russian keeps for ц. Hold Shift for the capital Ҩ.

ҧ / Ҧ

Home row, fifth key — the place Russian uses for п. This is the pe written with a small hook.

ҵ / Ҵ

First key of the extra bottom strip, just to the left of the space bar.

ә / Ә

The schwa letter, second key of the bottom strip. Shift gives the capital Ә.

ҟ / Ҟ

First key to the right of the space bar — a k-shaped letter carrying a downward stroke.

ԥ / Ԥ

Far right of the bottom strip — the pe written with a descender, used in modern Abkhaz spelling.

Watch the two pe letters: ҧ (with a hook) lives on the home row, while ԥ (with a descender) sits on the bottom strip. They look nearly identical yet are separate Unicode characters, so choose the one your text or teacher uses — the layout provides both so you never have to swap one for the other.

How to Type Abkhaz Step by Step

1

Locate the Letter You Need

The full Abkhaz alphabet loads on screen. Everyday Cyrillic letters keep their usual positions, while the six special letters stand out on the main rows and along the strip beside the space bar.

2

Click or Type

Tap the on-screen keys with a mouse or finger, or click into the text box and press the matching keys on your physical keyboard. You can freely mix the two — click ҩ from the layout, then type the rest of the word by hand.

3

Reach Capitals with Shift

Hold Shift for capital letters — the А that opens Аԥсны, or Ә and Ҩ for headings. Shift also flips the number row to Russian-style punctuation such as № and the quotation mark.

4

Copy Your Abkhaz Text

When the passage is ready, press Copy to send it to the clipboard, then paste it into a message, document, or search box wherever you are writing.

Typed the wrong letter? Backspace removes the last character, and the Clear button empties the whole box so you can start the word fresh.

When an Abkhaz Keyboard Comes in Handy

Keeping in Touch

Message relatives in Abkhazia or the diaspora in their own script, with the right letters instead of a rough Latin transliteration.

Learning the Language

Practise spelling as you study Abkhaz, getting a feel for where ҩ, ҵ and ԥ belong in real words.

Names and Records

Write Abkhaz place names, personal names, and quotations accurately for essays, subtitles, captions, and citations.

The ЙЦУКЕН Base and How It Maps to QWERTY

This is not a QWERTY layout. It is built on the Russian ЙЦУКЕН arrangement, the standard for Cyrillic typing, so common letters land where Russian typists expect them — then several keys are swapped out for Abkhaz letters. If you are used to a Latin keyboard, the fastest route is usually to click the on-screen keys rather than guess where each sound hides. Here is how the rows line up against the physical QWERTY keys:

Top row (Q–]): ё ҩ у к е н г ш щ з х ъ — the physical Q key types ё and W types the Abkhaz ҩ where Russian would give ц.
Home row (A–'): ф ы в а ҧ р о л д ж э — the п position (physical G) now carries the hooked ҧ.
Bottom row (Z–/): я ч с м и т ь б ю . — this row matches the standard Russian arrangement key for key.
Extra strip by the space bar: ҵ ә to the left and ҟ ԥ to the right — four Abkhaz-only keys a Russian keyboard does not have at all.

The number row follows the Russian convention, not the English one: Shift+2 gives a quotation mark ("), Shift+3 the numero sign №, Shift+4 a semicolon, Shift+6 a colon, and Shift+7 a question mark.

Abkhaz Typing Questions

Where do I find letters like ҩ, ҵ and ԥ that aren't on a normal keyboard?

ҩ takes the ц position near the top-left of the letter block, and ҧ takes the п position on the home row. The remaining special letters — ҵ, ә, ҟ and ԥ — sit on the extra strip on either side of the space bar. Click them directly, or hold Shift for the capitals.

What is the difference between ҧ and ԥ, and which pe should I type?

Both are the letter pe, but ҧ carries a small hook and ԥ carries a descender, and they are distinct characters in Unicode. Modern Abkhaz spelling generally uses ԥ (on the bottom strip), while ҧ appears in older or alternate texts. Match whichever your source uses — this keyboard gives you both so you never have to substitute one for the other.

Is this just a Russian keyboard with a different name?

No. It shares the Russian ЙЦУКЕН foundation, so the common Cyrillic letters feel familiar, but several keys are reassigned — ё and ҩ open the top row and ҧ holds the home row — and a whole extra strip of Abkhaz letters runs along the space bar. A plain Russian layout cannot produce ҩ, ҵ, ҟ, ә or ԥ.

How do I type capital Abkhaz letters such as Ҩ or Ә?

Hold Shift as you press the key, exactly as you would for А or Б. Shift on the ә key gives Ә, Shift on the ҩ key gives Ҩ, and so on. Turn on CapsLock if you are writing a heading or an all-caps name.

Some Abkhaz letters show up as empty boxes — how do I fix that?

That is a font problem, not a typing mistake: the characters are correct, but the font in use has no glyph for the rarer Abkhaz letters. Most current system fonts on Windows, macOS, Android and iOS render the full alphabet. If boxes appear after you paste, switch the destination to a broad Unicode font such as one from the Noto or DejaVu families.