Kazakhstan sets timeline for switch from Cyrillic to Latin alphabet

General discussion about learning languages
vonPeterhof
Blue Belt
Posts: 879
Joined: Sat Aug 08, 2015 1:55 am
Languages: Russian (N), English (C2), Japanese (~C1), German (~B2), Kazakh (~B1), Norwegian (~A2)
Studying: Kazakh, Mandarin, Coptic
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1237
x 2833
Contact:

Re: Kazakhstan sets timeline for switch from Cyrillic to Latin alphabet

Postby vonPeterhof » Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:14 pm

Now that the version of the Latin alphabet to be adopted has supposedly been finalized, I guess it's time for an update here. You can see here for a brief history of the versions that have been proposed, if not for the public reactions to each of them. The currently standing version seems to be fairly workable and have less of a "weirdness factor" in comparison to the first ("apostrophes") and the second ("acute accents") proposed versions, but at the same time missing opportunities to benefit from the international (or at least inter-Turkic) recognition of the Turkish-based variant or to resolve the diphthong issue of the Cyrillic alphabet by using the Qazaq Grammar variant.

Since only the first video I linked to has English subtitles I'll provide a brief explanation. Qazaq Grammar is a mostly social media-based group promoting the use of Kazakh in the public sphere, and they have their own proposed Latinization scheme version that has a small but dedicated fanbase. As the video demonstrates, their alphabet addresses a number of concerns from resolving phonetic ambiguities present in (but by no means inherent to) the current Cyrillic alphabet to balancing the number and style of diacritic signs so as to minimize the possibility of them overlapping between lines of text. Perhaps the most striking/counterintuitive feature of this alphabet is the use of the letter "c" to represent the phoneme /ʃ/, which the authors justify by the efficiency of employing an otherwise underutilized bare letter instead of an additional letter with a diacritic like "ş" or a digraph like "sh" (besides it doesn't look too odd if you're familiar with other Turkic languages, many of which have /t͡ʃ/ correspond to the Kazakh /ʃ/).

Either way, aside from strong supporters of the Turkish or the QG alphabets, my impression is that most people don't have strong feelings on the current official Latin alphabet, aside from finding it much more preferable to the government's previously proposed versions and thus settling on it so as not to make the perfect the enemy of the good. Unless QG members somehow pull off a coup at the Akhmet Baitursynov Institute of Linguistics or Turkey steps up its linguistic lobbying efforts I don't see the government changing course.

One thing I noticed when I moved to Kazakhstan back in November, and something you can see in the photos of the article I posted, is that a lot of the signage on buildings is already in Latin letters, but next to none of it in the current "final" version. The second, "acute" variant seems to predominate, followed by the "apostrophe" variant and more idiosyncratic ones. The impression I get is that a lot of establishments, both private and public, rushed to order Latin-lettered signage around the time the second variant was introduced, but once it got scrapped in favor of something closer to the current variant nobody was in a hurry to switch to it, as there was no guarantee that the government wouldn't end up picking something else entirely again. I'm guessing the latest announcement might have been at least partially intended to assuage such concerns.

Also, more on the subject of the video lichtrausch posted, it was interesting for me to note the differences in the use of Kazakh in public between Almaty in 2016 and in Astana now. When I last visited Almaty I noticed quite a lot more Kazakh spoken around me on the street and in stores compared to when I was growing up there a decade prior, but for the most part it seemed like the default language for addressing strangers on the street, regardless of their perceived ethnicity, was still Russian. In Astana right now there seems to be a much more symmetrical bilingualism, with lots of people trying to strike up conversations in Kazakh and service personnel in many places giving off a Montreal-style "Bonjour-hi!" vibe when approaching customers".
9 x

lichtrausch
Blue Belt
Posts: 511
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2015 3:21 pm
Languages: English (N), German, Japanese, Mandarin, Korean
x 1380

Re: Kazakhstan sets timeline for switch from Cyrillic to Latin alphabet

Postby lichtrausch » Wed Nov 15, 2023 2:18 am

In a symbolic gesture, Kazakh president Tokayev used Kazakh in front of the Russian delegation visiting his country.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1722701422045671832
3 x


Return to “General Language Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: nathancrow77 and 2 guests