Pronunciation and spelling. Changing vowels

Pronunciation fixes how a word is said in speech, and spelling fixes how it is written. Uzbek spelling does not rely on sound alone; it also keeps the structure of the word visible. If everyone wrote a word just as they hear it, one word would take dozens of shapes and written communication would become difficult. The gap shows up mainly in two groups: loanwords in their base form and Uzbek words that change when a suffix is added. For example, javob (answer) is often said “javop”, but in javobim and javoblar the b returns, so b is always written. Some changes are shown in writing (tilak – tilagi), others are not (yopdi is pronounced “yopti”). When in doubt, one consults the spelling and pronunciation dictionaries.