The new Kazakh alphabet in Latin approved by the President. The barrier between generations: how the transition to the Latin alphabet will turn out for the Kazakh society

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in the second half of February signed a decree on a new version of the Kazakh alphabet based on the Latin alphabet. The first version of the alphabet, which Nazarbayev approved in October last year, was replete with numerous apostrophes that seriously hampered perception. After the work on the mistakes, which was carried out by three ministries at once - information and communications, culture, education and science, instead of apostrophes, strokes were added to the alphabet over the letters (acutes), as well as digraphs (sh, ch).

Judging by the feedback from visitors to numerous Kazakhstani forums and online media, the new version of the alphabet turned out to be more convenient than the original version.

It is likely that this model will be taken as a basis: it is from this model that the authorities of the republic will start when carrying out the reform. Already in 2021-2023, Kazakhstan will start issuing documents in Latin. And in 2024-2025, office work and the media will gradually be transferred to the Latin script.

Thus, the February decree of Nazarbayev on a new version of the alphabet was a significant step that the country took in resolving a sensitive and important humanitarian issue.

Despite the fact that this topic is, in general, an internal affair of Kazakhstan and does not directly affect Russia, it caused a wide public outcry in the Russian information space. The question of the position of the Russian language, the problem of maintaining Russian cultural influence in the post-Soviet space, is of concern to many Russian citizens.

The majority reacted to the Kazakh reform with understanding, with the realization that such decisions are the prerogative of the Kazakh authorities. This is the position, in general, taken by the official authorities of Russia.

But there are quite a few people who began to vigorously oppose this point of view. They believe that the alphabet reform initiated by Nazarbayev, consciously or not, is aimed at a gradual cultural and humanitarian break between Kazakhstan and Moscow and the "Russian world" as a whole. Also, critics of the alphabet reform believe that moving away from the Cyrillic script will weaken the position of the Russian language in Kazakhstan itself in the long run, making it difficult for interethnic communication and creating difficulties for Russian-speakers living in the republic.

Be that as it may, the reform of the alphabet in Kazakhstan is by no means a technical issue. It is closely connected with the need of the country's authorities to complete the current stage of nation-state building.

Not so long ago, Kazakhstan celebrated the 25th anniversary of gaining national independence. For a quarter of a century, the republic has achieved significant socio-economic success. The republic has gained weight in a variety of international organizations - political and economic, Western, Eurasian, Asian and Islamic.

However, without cultural self-identification, nation-state building will be half-hearted. The reform of the alphabet, according to the plan of the authorities, is designed to fill this gap.

The translation of the Kazakh language into the Latin alphabet also satisfies several ideological tasks. Firstly, it fits into the global modernization context, making the country a part of the modern digital world, which today is mainly written in Latin.

Secondly, Kazakhstan, being an integral part of the Eurasian space, in cultural and historical terms, is a state of the Turkic world. The letter in Latin has long been used by Turkey, the most influential and developed state of the Turkic world. Unlike some other states of Central Asia, which had disagreements with Ankara in different years, Kazakhstan maintained smooth and stable relations with Turkey in politics, economy, and culture.

As a matter of fact, the Latin alphabet is not something absolutely new for the Kazakh language. In the Soviet period of its history, in the late 1920s and early 1940s, the Kazakh language already used an alphabet based on the Latin alphabet. However, already in the early 1940s, Latinization was curtailed: the reverse process began - the return of the languages ​​\u200b\u200bof the peoples of the USSR to Cyrillic. Meanwhile, according to the opinion widespread among the linguists of the post-Soviet states, for the Turkic languages, due to the specifics of their phonetics, the Latin alphabet is more organic than the Cyrillic script.

Despite the fact that the transition to a new alphabet has its reasons and is strategically justified, the implementation of the reform is fraught with great difficulties. As the practice of transitions from Arabic writing to Latin, and from Latin to Cyrillic, which took place in the Soviet Union in the 1920-1940s, showed, culture suffered the greatest damage from such transformations. Such transitions, voluntarily or involuntarily, led to the "withdrawal" from everyday circulation of large cultural and historical layers of literature, information accumulated in the previous writing system.

A gap between generations can also become a problem, in which the young part of the population of the republic will more or less successfully and quickly switch to the Latin alphabet, while the older generation will experience everyday inconveniences and will actually remain in Cyrillic.

Under these conditions, the main task of the authorities of Kazakhstan is the consistency and thoroughness in carrying out the transformations. The task is not simple, requiring not only financial resources and impeccable diligence, but also competent management.

As for the profitability or disadvantageousness of the transition of Kazakhstan to the Latin alphabet for Russia, such a statement of the question is incorrect in itself. The era of the USSR has sunk into oblivion, and the logic of the development of independent states implies their political, economic and cultural self-sufficiency.

It is unlikely that the transition to the Latin alphabet will in any way affect the relations between Russia and Kazakhstan. Much more important for Moscow and Astana are other issues: political and economic cooperation, scientific cooperation, education of students from Kazakhstan in Russian universities, the preservation and development of millions of personal, business, family ties.

In addition, for Russia, it is not so much the transition of the Kazakh language to the Latin alphabet that matters, but the question of the role and positions of the Russian language, which is also important for the post-Soviet space as a language of interethnic, international communication. Russia, of course, is interested in the preservation and development of the Russian language and culture in the post-Soviet space, as well as in protecting the rights of Russian-speaking citizens in Kazakhstan and other CIS countries.

Sincere and benevolent attention to the problems and needs of the development of the Russian language, respect for the rights of the Russian-speaking population in Kazakhstan and other states of Central Asia will always remain one of the most significant manifestations of the policy of partnership and good neighborliness for the Russian authorities and society.

"These days the issue of

regarding the new alphabet of the Kazakh language.

Many people took part in this.

The idea of ​​switching to Latin script was born

ever since our independence.

The transition of Kazakh writing to the Latin alphabet

always remained under my special control"

Nursultan Nazarbaev

The President of Kazakhstan signed a decree on the transfer of the Kazakh alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin script. Latin Kazakhstan The new Kazakh alphabet, based on the Latin script, has been approved in Kazakhstan. The corresponding decree was signed on October 27 by the head of state Nursultan Nazarbayev.

“In order to ensure the translation of the alphabet of the Kazakh language from Cyrillic to Latin graphics, I decide:

1. Approve the attached alphabet of the Kazakh language, based on the Latin script. 2. To the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan: to form a national commission for the translation of the Kazakh alphabet into the Latin script; ensure a phased translation of the Kazakh alphabet into the Latin alphabet until 2025; take other measures to implement this decree, including organizational and legislative ones.

3. To impose control over the execution of this decree on the administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

4. This decree comes into force from the date of its publication,” the decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan says7

A day earlier, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan noted the active nature of the discussion of the latest version of the draft Kazakh alphabet in the Latin script and stressed the presence of public support for the proposed version. “It is necessary to issue a decree on the approval of the proposed project of the alphabet of the Kazakh language in the Latin script. The commission has completed its work. The latest version has been published. There is a consensus among scientists, linguists, politicians, youth, representatives of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan. In general, society supports,” the President of Kazakhstan said. Recall that the project of the Latin alphabet of the Kazakh language was presented on September 25 in the Mazhilis of the Parliament. On this occasion, parliamentary hearings were organized, in which all interested parties participated. Opening the meeting, Nurlan Nigmatulin, speaker of the lower house, then noted that the transition to the Latin alphabet "does not accept haste", but will be carried out "dynamically". According to him, a new alphabet of the Kazakh language based on the Latin alphabet has been developed over several years. And now it is necessary to deeply analyze each letter, each sign and each designation in order to avoid mistakes. “Every citizen of our country should know that the transition to the Latin alphabet is the main way to achieve world civilization. Since the Latin alphabet is one of the most powerful languages ​​in the development of mankind. This is the language of science and technology, the Internet and IT technologies in the 21st century, so we can say that we approached this crucial period with great readiness, as a lot of work has been done,” said Nurlan Nigmatulin. “Only in this way can we ensure the high-quality implementation of the instructions of the head of state and make Kazakhstan a model of successful language modernization,” the speaker added. The new Kazakh alphabet contains 25 characters in Latin letters instead of 42 characters in Cyrillic. “The creation of this project of the alphabet, first of all, took into account the sound system of the Kazakh language. As a result, the proposed alphabet consists of 25 characters. The following principle was taken as a basis: one letter - one sound, one letter - two sounds and one sound of the digraph system. To fully ensure the sound system of the Kazakh language, eight digraphs were included in the alphabet, denoting eight specific sounds, ”said Yerbol Tleshov, director of the Shayakhmetov Republican Coordinating and Methodological Center for the Development of Languages. The doctor of philological sciences emphasized that only native characters of the Latin alphabet were included in the new graphics. “Thus, mobile phones, smartphones and other means of writing are a means of writing and come to us from various countries where only 26 Latin sounds are used. If we introduce diacritics into the new Latin alphabet, then due to their rare use, we may lose the original sounds, the specific sounds of the Kazakh language,” said Yerbol Tleshov. The transition to the Latin alphabet in Kazakhstan will take place gradually. As Deputy Prime Minister Yerbolat Dosaev assured, “replacement of documents will take place sequentially. Those documents that are now on hand will be valid until the expiration date. He also emphasized that all processes will begin only after the approval of the plan for the transition to the Latin alphabet. “All processes will be held in accordance with international requirements. As part of our action plan, a number of organizational changes are envisaged,” added the Deputy Prime Minister. As for the financial costs for switching to the Latin alphabet, then, as Finance Minister Bakhyt Sultanov reported, all calculations will be made after the approval of the alphabet. According to him, the budget included only 250 million tenge to study the issue and develop a draft alphabet.

The President emphasized that the reform should not harm the development of other languages ​​and violate the rights of citizens. "The transition of the Kazakh language to the Latin alphabet in no way affects the rights of the Russian-speaking, Russian and other languages. The use of the Russian language in Cyrillic remains unchanged. It will also continue to function. The transition to a new alphabet will facilitate the study of the Kazakh language," he said.

Nursultan Nazarbayev believes that the transition to the Latin alphabet is a very complex process, the purpose of which is to create conditions for the further development of the Kazakh language and its inclusion in the global information space. Nursultan Nazarbayev pointed out the need to train teachers and the methodological framework for introducing the new alphabet into the education system and instructed the Government to develop a plan for its phased introduction. He thanked all Kazakhstanis, scientists and linguists for their support and active participation in the implementation of the reform of the Kazakh alphabet.

In general, I support the main directions of the ongoing work. During the implementation of the project, world experience was taken into account. It is very important. It is necessary to continue the information and explanatory work regarding the process of transition of the Kazakh alphabet to the Latin script",

Temirtau қalasy аkіmdіgі

"No. 13 "Ship" balabakshasy" MKKK

Report on the topic:

« Otranslation of the Kazakh alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin script» .

Prepared by: Kazakh language teacher

Kabdymanova R.T.

Temirtau 2017

Kazakhstan is on the verge of another reform. This time, linguistic, or rather, linguistic. From this year, a smooth transition of the Kazakh language from Cyrillic to Latin script will start in our country. The issue of changing the script has been raised in the republic more than once. However, this time the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, instructed the Government to draw up a schedule of work in this direction by the end of 2017, and scientists to develop a new alphabet. The statement of the head of state excited the Kazakh society, a discussion immediately opened in the ranks of linguists, political scientists, cultural figures and ordinary citizens. Some believe that after the transition to the new script, the Kazakh language will gain a "second wind", and the country will get more opportunities in the international field. Others fear that the change in writing may cause the younger generation to be cut off from fiction and non-fiction written in Cyrillic. YK-news.kz listened to both sides and at the same time analyzed how the process of changing schedules went in other countries.

The quieter you go, the further you'll get

It must be admitted that Kazakhstan approaches the "written question" "with feeling, with sense, with balance." Scientists first spoke about the need to switch to the Latin script back in the 90s of the last century. Just during this period, several post-Soviet countries abandoned the Cyrillic alphabet. Years later, it became clear that the former fraternal republics were too hasty with the reform.

In Kazakhstan, they were in no hurry and began to carefully study the issue. In 2006, at a session of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev reminded that changes are not far off. The next time the head of state paid special attention to this issue in 2012, in the strategy "Kazakhstan 2050". Then the deadlines were also outlined: by 2025, all residents of the country and organizations should use the Latin alphabet when writing in the state language.

“By 2025, we will start publishing paperwork, periodicals, textbooks and everything else in the Latin alphabet,” the official website of the President reports. “Now we will begin preparations. The government needs to have a clear timetable for the transition of the Kazakh language to the Latin alphabet. it is necessary, with the help of scientists and the general public, to adopt a single standard version of the Kazakh alphabet in the new script. From 2018, begin training for teaching the new alphabet and preparing textbooks for secondary schools. Of course, during the period of adaptation, the Cyrillic alphabet will also work for a certain time."

Hurry up slowly

The Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerlan Sagadiyev hastened to assure teachers, students and their parents that the transition to the new graphics will not be sudden. In an interview with the republican media, the country's chief teacher noted that domestic specialists would carefully study foreign experience, develop textbooks, and only then take up practice.

- It is necessary to send delegations to Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, - Yerlan Sagadiyev said. - Conduct qualitative research, find out what went well in these countries (with the introduction of the Latin alphabet - author's note), and what did not go well, find out what mistakes they made. First of all, analytical work should be carried out. I think that this process is very long, everything should be approached carefully.

Note that it is not yet known what funds will be required to translate the Kazakh language into Latin. Perhaps by the end of 2017, officials will make calculations and announce the amount that will be allocated from the treasury for these purposes.

Forward to the future!

A number of scientists and political scientists are confident that the Latin script opens up new prospects for the development of the state language and the country as a whole.

- The transition to the Latin alphabet was planned for a long time, - Yerlan Karin, a well-known domestic political scientist, spoke out. — Everything is going according to plan and nothing unexpected happened. The transition to the Latin alphabet is a civilized choice in favor of a global and open world. No politics or geopolitics has anything to do with this.

Linguists are convinced that the Kazakh language will only benefit from the change of graphics.

– Unfortunately, over the years of using the Cyrillic alphabet, such a stereotype has developed: words borrowed from the Russian language into the Kazakh language pass unchanged both in writing and in oral speech, – notes Anar Fazylzhanova, deputy director of the Baitursynov Institute of Linguistics. — Whereas in any language, borrowings must adapt according to the rules of the recipient's language. If a language wants to be viable and not lose its originality, then it must have a powerful mechanism for adapting foreign borrowings. I think that the change of graphics will help us overcome the consequences and future threats from this stereotype "to write and pronounce foreign words in Russian" and preserve the originality and originality of the sound system of the Kazakh language.

letter by letter

So, Kazakhstan is switching to Latin script. What will the new alphabet be like? This question is asked not only by philologists, but also by programmers. A significant part of techies is of the opinion that the appearance of new specific letters in the Kazakh language is too much of a luxury. Like, because of this, you will have to spend money on replacing the keyboard layout.

- In such cases, we answer that it is not the language that should adapt to the computer, but the computer - to the language, - says Anar Fazylzhanova. “A general type of alphabet has already been created, in which the principle is strictly observed: one sound in a language should be denoted by one letter. And it is right. That is, in the Kazakh alphabet in Latin there will be no letter consisting of a combination of two or three graphemes. Based on these developments, they will form a draft alphabet.

Linguists also talk about the need to change the keyboard layout.

“There is a lot of work to be done in this case.” — It is not enough just to add new letters to the layout. Please note that on the keyboard, all letters are placed depending on how often their combinations occur in the language. In this case, it is convenient for the user to type text. Everyone will agree that today's Kazakh keyboard layout is very inconvenient. So that the situation does not repeat itself with the new alphabet, it is necessary to make a layout taking into account the Kazakh vocabulary.

As long as it doesn't disappear

Despite the optimistic assurances of the authorities, the transition to the new graphics raises a number of questions for many scientists.

– In my opinion, Cyrillic is one of the most advanced graphic systems, and it suits the Kazakh language better than Latin, – Associate Professor of EKSU named after S. Amanzholov Alma Dzhilkibaeva is convinced. — For example, the sound "sh" is quite common in Kazakh words. In Cyrillic there is a letter "sh", in Latin - no. The only thing is that in the Kazakh Cyrillic alphabet there are letters that are not used in the Kazakh language, that is, they are superfluous. An example is the letter "f" or "soft sign". In my opinion, it was possible to simply exclude graphemes that are not needed and not change the graphics.

It is worth noting that other linguists who advocate the preservation of the Cyrillic alphabet adhere to a similar position. Linguists, based on many studies, have compiled a list of Cyrillic letters that can be safely removed from the Kazakh alphabet.

Specialists are also concerned about the technical side of the reform.

“The use of the Latin script in Kazakhstan is not a problem in itself,” Alma Dzhilkibaeva argues. - I think each of us received SMS messages in Russian or Kazakh, written in Latin. We manage to read them without any problems. Another thing worries me - the Kazakh people have created a rich stock of fiction and scientific literature written in Cyrillic. If this literature is not transliterated into the Latin script in a timely manner, then there is a risk that the younger generation will remain cut off from the cultural heritage of their ancestors.

Other philologists are puzzled by similar questions.

- For transliteration of literature, you will have to create a special computer program, - says translator and philologist Anatoly Chernousov. - It should be noted that a significant part of the sources is not digitized. Many digitized ones are in the format of photographic documents, that is, they have to recognize text. Technical devices often do not fully recognize the text, which means that proofreaders are needed to bring it back to its original form. All this will require financial costs, the involvement of many specialists and, of course, time.

Meanwhile, other linguists are sure that the cultural heritage of the Kazakh people has nothing to fear.

— Over the years of independence, experienced personnel have been trained in Kazakhstan, including programmers who will be able to transliterate Kazakh literature from Cyrillic to Latin, — Mrs. Fazylzhanova is convinced.

Repeat with caution

In many ways, the concerns of scientists and public figures are caused by the fact that in some post-Soviet countries the transition to the Latin alphabet has resulted in repeated alteration of the alphabet, at great expense. And the general confusion at the exit, when part of the population owns one script, and part - another. Let us consider in more detail how the reform took place on the territory of the former USSR.

Turkmenistan. Year of transition 1992. The alphabet was approved three times. The first was adopted in August 1992, but it proved to be inconvenient to use. In April 1993, a new alphabet was approved, which suffered the same fate. The system, which pleased both scientists and citizens, was created only in 2000.

Since the reform was proceeding at an accelerated pace, a real theater of the absurd was going on in the schools of the republic. For one year, the children learned Turkmen using textbooks with Latin script, and for the second year, using textbooks with Cyrillic alphabet. This educational mess lasted for several years.

Uzbekistan. Year of transition 1993. Already in May 1995, the newly created alphabet had to be replaced with a new one. However, the "double-two" was also unsuccessful. In it, all the specific sounds of the language in writing were indicated by a combination of letters, which made writing and reading very difficult. Uzbekistan was supposed to completely switch to the new schedule by 2000, then the deadline was postponed to 2005. However, to date, the process has not been completed.

In the republic, textbooks are printed in Latin, signs in public places and full houses are written in the same graphics. On television, credits and commercials use two writing formats. Most newspapers and magazines are published in Cyrillic.

Azerbaijan. Year of transition 2001. Successful example of written reform. The country was thoroughly preparing for the transition and in advance compiled a list of books that first of all need to be transliterated from one script to another. Also, textbooks were published in advance for all classes using the new alphabet. Thanks to a lot of preliminary work in the Transcaucasian Republic, the transition went smoothly.

Elena Balova

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October 27, 2017 President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev signed a decree on the phased translation of the alphabet of the Kazakh language into latin graphics. The head of state also named specific terms for the language reform - until the end 2017 years to develop an alphabet standard, with 2018 -go - start training relevant specialists, and the country should completely abandon the Cyrillic alphabet 2025 year.

According to the Kazakh leader, the new alphabet will make it possible to more effectively modernize society, facilitate communication with the outside world, and help children learn English faster.

To the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan: to form a national commission for the translation of the Kazakh alphabet into the Latin script; to ensure a phased translation of the Kazakh alphabet into Latin script until 2025, the text of the document says.

In order to ensure the translation of the Kazakh alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin script, Nazarbayev decided to approve the attached alphabet of the Kazakh language, based on the Latin script and consisting of 32 letters.

In the Kazakh language there is no "u", "yu", "ya", "b". Using these letters, we distort the Kazakh language, so [with the introduction of the Latin alphabet] we come to the basis. This is the most important event. But here it is impossible to rush, we will gradually and thoughtfully approach,” Nazarbayev said.

Children will begin to learn, I think it will happen quickly, because today all children learn English, and there is Latin,” the head of state said.

In Kazakhstan, as well as among the Kazakhs living in the republics of the former USSR, the Kazakh Cyrillic alphabet is now used. The Latin alphabet is used by some Kazakh diasporas abroad - in particular, in Turkey. AT PRC and a number of other countries, Kazakh communities use the Arabic script. The intention of the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to translate the Kazakh alphabet into the Latin alphabet has received many different interpretations: both as the republic’s exit from the cultural field of Russia, and as a kind of “civilizational choice”, and simply as a desire for at least some changes. The President of the Republic emphasized:

PTranslation into the Latin alphabet will not only serve the development of the Kazakh language, but also turn it into the language of modern information.

Political scientist Yerlan Karin, who previously headed the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies, explained:

The transition to the Latin alphabet is a civilizational choice. A choice in favor of an open and global world,” said Karin.

The translation of the language into Latin script is by no means Astana's know-how, Kazakhstani ideologists use the Soviet experience here. The Turkic languages ​​of the USSR were transferred to the Latin basis in 1920s years, for which it was even created All-Union Central Committee of the New Turkic Alphabet. The Bolsheviks wanted to Latinize the Russian language as well - for example, the People's Commissar of Education advocated for this Anatoly Lunacharsky.

Despite the slogan

There are no fortresses that the Bolsheviks could not take,

By the 1930s, the Soviet authorities were convinced that reality was not entirely amenable to experiments. The languages ​​of the Soviet republics could not function as full-fledged communication systems. In the department of agitation and propaganda of the Central Committee, they complained about the poor quality of dictionaries and books, the lack of protocols, and errors in translating the statements of the classics of Marxism and party leaders into local languages. And in the early 40s, the Turkic languages ​​were translated into Cyrillic.

Of course, part of the intelligentsia of Kazakhstan is happy to perceive romanization as a symbolic exit from the cultural space of Russia and "decolonization". And yet, most of the debate about the change of writing in Kazakhstan is rendered meaningless by the fact that in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan alphabets have already been romanized. It is difficult to judge what this has done for Turkmenistan due to the closed nature of the country, but the situation in the other two former Soviet republics is clear. In Uzbekistan, it was not possible to completely translate even state office work into the Latin alphabet. The language reform was criticized in 2016 by one of the country's presidential candidates, the leader of the Democratic Party Sarvar Otamuratov. The experience of Azerbaijan is considered more positive, but critics note that total romanization has led to the fact that citizens began to read less - even for an educated person, slowing down the reading process complicates the perception of texts, which will affect the state of the intellectual sphere in the country.

Supporters of romanization consider these problems insignificant. For example, in response to the question of how much it would cost to transfer the country to a new script, the lower house of parliament answered:

Torg is inappropriate here. To go out on the road to the civilized world is always more expensive, but then you go out into the world, -declared deputyAzat Peruashev .

In 2013, after the publication of the thesis on the transition to the Latin alphabet, a group of Kazakh writers addressed the president and government with an open letter:

To this day, almost a million titles of books, scientific works on the ancient and subsequent history of the people have been published in the republic (...). It is clear that with the transition to the Latin alphabet, our young generation will be cut off from the history of their ancestors, the appeal says.

The authors of the letter drew attention to the fact that there is generally a problem of mastering the Kazakh language in the country and in these conditions it is unreasonable to carry out radical reforms. According to experts, the change in writing will affect only the Kazakh society, or its Kazakh-speaking part (ethnic Kazakhs speak not only Kazakh). Russian officials practically do not speak out on this issue, Kazakh officials insistently emphasize that the language reform will not affect relations in any way. Moscow and Astana.

At the same time, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev promised that the citizens of the republic would use the Cyrillic alphabet and would not forget the Russian language and Russian culture:

We will not move away from the Cyrillic alphabet. We will not forget Russian culture and Russian language. Through the Russian language, we studied world culture and it will always remain with us. Our neighbor is always there and we will always cooperate. The translation of the Kazakh language into Latin script is not a whim, it is a trend of the times,” Nazarbayev said.

According to lenta.ru

The new version of the Kazakh alphabet based on Latin script, which abandoned complex and cumbersome apostrophes in favor of much more accurate acutes (a figurative stroke over a letter that is used in Greek, Romanesque, Slavic and many other languages), fell in love with the public. Nevertheless, there are still many questions about the new alphabet. It is not clear where the letters "ya", "e", "yu" have gone, and how, for example, now to write the word "Uyat". I decided to find out how easy it is to start typing using the new alphabet.

Earlier, during a press conference at the CCS, Advisor to the Minister of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan Gariffola Yesim called on everyone to start using the new alphabet today. For example, start writing on it the names of relatives and friends. If there are no problems with writing by hand, then with electronic printing the situation is more complicated. To the usual Latin alphabet, which is used, for example, in English, several letters with the same acutes were added. Among them are specific letters of the Kazakh alphabet: "ә" (á), "ғ" (ǵ), "қ" (ќ), "ң" (ń), "ө" (ó), "u" (ý), " ү" (ủ). Do you know how we were able to insert these characters into the text? By selection through the "Symbol" menu in MS Word. It is difficult to even imagine what kind of torment someone who tries to write at least a small Kazakh poem in this way will have to go through.

It will be a little easier for those who want to type text on their smartphone. If you briefly hold down the key "a", "z", "n", "c", "s", "e" or "o", then a context menu will appear, where variations of these letters with acutes will be presented, but this is not enough. The letters "ғ", "қ", "ү" are still out of work. Although the letter "ý" can be typed if you install a Polish keyboard on your computer or smartphone. There are also akuts in Croatian, Turkish and other languages, but they do not have a complete set of symbols necessary for printing in Kazakh. You can install them, but this will not completely solve the problem.

Alimkhan Zhunisbek, chief researcher at the Institute of Linguistics, believes that it is not so difficult to make keyboards suitable for the new version of the alphabet.

"In general, this issue is simply solved. On the right side of the keyboard, where the English letters end, there are auxiliary keys ("z", "x", "g", "e", "b", "u" in the Russian layout - Approx. author) that can be used for Kazakh letters. It will be easier to do this for phones,” said Alimkhan Zhunisbek.

The linguist also gave an assessment to the new version of the alphabet.

In his opinion, "Latin 3.0" is the most optimal solution of all that were presented. But this option also needs to be improved.

"This option is the most correct compared to the previous ones. But I think that it is not final either. There are moments where there are contradictions between sounds and their designations. From the point of view of Kazakh morphology, grammar, phonetics. For example, one sign means "and " and "y". This is no good. In the Kazakh language there is a vowel sound, a very frequent "ү", it was marked with a sign for consonants "ủ". And a consonant sign cannot indicate a vowel sound. Such moments will need to be corrected. the alphabet is normal, the principle "one sound - one sign" is maintained there, - added Alimkhan Zhunisbek.

As for such letters as "c", "u", "e", "yu", "ya", then they will remain in everyday life. Yerden Kazhybek, director of the Baitursynov Institute of Linguistics, told about this the day before in an interview with KTK TV channel.

"The fact is that there are sounds of the Kazakh language. The sounds of the Kazakh language must be identified. There are only 28 of them. Why do we have 32 letters? Because we added several sounds that did not exist in the native Kazakh language, but now they are present, because we often use these sounds. Sounds like "yu", "ya" are diphthongs. What is "ya"? It's "y" and "a". "Yagni" we will write "ya" - this is quite normal" - said Kazhybek.

Earlier, the Minister of Information and Communications of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Dauren Abayev, during a government meeting, explained why in the new version of the Kazakh alphabet in Latin from apostrophes.

You can read the chronology of the transition of the Kazakh language to the alphabet based on Latin graphics.