We generally don't think about the use of an alphabet as a political statement. In fact for many people, a language using a particular writing system seems more like a given than anything else. It seems obvious that Bulgarian uses Cyrillic and Korean uses Hangul - that's what tradition calls for and inertia keeps in place.
For many countries though, alphabets and writing systems can and do change and very often the choice can carry a lot of political weight to it.
If we include then Nazarbayev's proposed switch back to the Latin alphabet, it means that Kazakh will have changed out writing systems three times in the last 100 years. And while that seems like a lot it actually puts the Kazakh language in the same club of other Central Asian languages that have followed nearly identical paths.
Azeri, Turkmen and Uzbek all switched from Arabic to Latin to Cyrillic. Azeri was the first to change over to Latin script in 1991 while Turkmen and Uzbek followed two years later.
We'll never know exactly what the exact reasoning behind this degree was and the government has given multiple reasons, citing that the change will
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| I'll use any excuse to show Korean script |
For many countries though, alphabets and writing systems can and do change and very often the choice can carry a lot of political weight to it.
Kazakhstan and the trend of Central Asia
In 2017, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan at the time signed a decree that pledged to switch the Kazakh language form the Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet. The transition plan is meant to be completed by 2025. This will not be first time for Kazakh to take on a new alphabet. In fact it would be the third time in less than 100 years.
The written form of Kazakhstan has taken a rather circuitous path when it comes to alphabets. The first system used to write Kazakh was the Arabic alphabet. At the time, the Arabic alphabet was poorly suited for writing Kazakh vowels and literacy was reserved for the elite. In the 1929, Soviet authorities introduced a modified version of the Latin alphabet. This only last a short while as Soviet authorities then introduced a version of the Cyrillic alphabet that's been used until today.
If we include then Nazarbayev's proposed switch back to the Latin alphabet, it means that Kazakh will have changed out writing systems three times in the last 100 years. And while that seems like a lot it actually puts the Kazakh language in the same club of other Central Asian languages that have followed nearly identical paths.
Azeri, Turkmen and Uzbek all switched from Arabic to Latin to Cyrillic. Azeri was the first to change over to Latin script in 1991 while Turkmen and Uzbek followed two years later.
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| Azerbaijan in its several historical scripts |
- Help with IT and learn English
- Make a more Kazakh state
- Unite the global Kazakh diaspora
Alphabets as Part of National Identity
I think that the justifications to really notice is the desire to "make a more Kazakh state." You might wonder what alphabets have to do with national identity and as you might expect that answer is complicated.
Changing over to new alphabet has been a tool to create a sense of national identity for numerous countries. In term of political discourse, adopting a new writing system is often framed as a rejection of past practices and part of a nation's progress as Atatürk declared when adopted the Latin alphabet for Turkish. This transition was coupled with his rhetoric of modernising the country and 'looking westwards.'
This same eyes to the future mindset can be seen with Vietnam's adoption of the Latin alphabet. Previously, Vietnamese was written in adapted Chinese characters called chữ nôm. After French colonization, the Vietnamese independence movement gave great preference to the Latin alphabet (quốc ngữ). The fact that it was the the alphabet of the former French colonizers didn't detract from its appeal.
On a practical level, the Latin alphabet was a better option for both Turkish and Vietnamese (as well as Kazakh). It was easier for people to learn and better suited to the languages specific phonological and grammatical needs. At the same time it was something of a symbol for the fledgling nations that meant forging their own identity. Although the Latin alphabet come from Europe, it's widespread enough to not be seen as a capitulation to any one country. Instead of being a protectorate of China or a colony of France, Vietnam wanted had it's own position in the world and a Latin-based alphabet to match.
Changing over to new alphabet has been a tool to create a sense of national identity for numerous countries. In term of political discourse, adopting a new writing system is often framed as a rejection of past practices and part of a nation's progress as Atatürk declared when adopted the Latin alphabet for Turkish. This transition was coupled with his rhetoric of modernising the country and 'looking westwards.'
This same eyes to the future mindset can be seen with Vietnam's adoption of the Latin alphabet. Previously, Vietnamese was written in adapted Chinese characters called chữ nôm. After French colonization, the Vietnamese independence movement gave great preference to the Latin alphabet (quốc ngữ). The fact that it was the the alphabet of the former French colonizers didn't detract from its appeal.
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| Many found the Latin script designed for the language much easier |
On a practical level, the Latin alphabet was a better option for both Turkish and Vietnamese (as well as Kazakh). It was easier for people to learn and better suited to the languages specific phonological and grammatical needs. At the same time it was something of a symbol for the fledgling nations that meant forging their own identity. Although the Latin alphabet come from Europe, it's widespread enough to not be seen as a capitulation to any one country. Instead of being a protectorate of China or a colony of France, Vietnam wanted had it's own position in the world and a Latin-based alphabet to match.
Back to Central Asia
Changing alphabets can be a political act in numerous ways. In can announce something about national identity and it can also announce who you want to associate with. In the case of Turkmen and Azeri, the switch to Latin script also had a subtext of looking westward and associating more with Europe as a whole.
So why is Kazakhstan changing it's alphabet? We very well may never know, but I still think there's something to Nazarbayev's idea of making a more Kazakh state. Today more people in Kazakhstan speak Russian than they do Kazakh and using the same alphabet for both languages make it even easier for Russian loanwords to slip into the language. No matter what happens in 2025, Russian will remain an important language in Kazakhstan. However, with it's own script ,the idea might be to have Kazakh become even more important there than it is now.
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