NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part in an official meeting dedicated to the transition of the Kazakh alphabet into Latin script Nov. 9, reported Akorda Press.
Photo credit: Akorda Press.
Minister of Culture and Sports Aktoty Raimkulova presented the project on the new and improved Kazakh alphabet. The alphabet complies with the one sound – one letter principle used in the Kazakh language. No digraphs are used. The alphabet includes symbols representing all 28 sounds of the Kazakh language.
The President said that it is necessary to develop a draft alphabet with scientists and submit it for consideration to the National Commission for the transition of the Kazakh alphabet into Latin script. The government will submit a draft decree on the alphabet to the President’s Administration following on the results of the work of this commission.
Minister of Culture and Sports Aktoty Raimkulova. Photo credit: Akorda Press.
“Developing a new alphabet is not an easy task. The new alphabet cannot be developed in one day or even in one year. This is not just a transition from Cyrillic to Latin script, this is a large-scale reform of the Kazakh language. Financing should also be considered. The Latin script will be introduced gradually. It has already been developed for younger generations. They will enjoy its benefits. Due to this, the transition should be systematic and gradual,” said Tokayev.
The President said that the Minister of Culture and Sports and the Minister of Education and Science and the Minister of Information and Social Development should conduct explanatory work among people about the necessity of introducing the new alphabet in cooperation with scientists and experts.
Kazakhstan’s First President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree on the phased transition of the Kazakh alphabet from Cyrillic into Latin script by 2025 in October 2017.
Kazakh people used Arabic script from the 10th-20th centuries. The Kazakh language was based on a Latin script in 1929-1940. The transition to the Cyrillic alphabet took place in 1940.
