Language Research

The issue of languages is a politicized and contentious one in Kazakstan. The instability of this issue has been increased by Russia's controversial proposals, beginning in 1993, that Kazakstan's Russians should be granted dual citizenship. Although President Nazarbayev rejected such a policy, the language controversy prompted him to postpone deadlines for implementation of laws making Kazakh the sole official language.

Updated (February 2007)

PRESIDENT RAISES THE QUESTION OF ALPHABET CHANGE

Addressing the Assembly of Peoples of Kazakhstan, President Nursultan Nazarbayev has raised the issue of switching the Kazakh alphabet to Latin. Following his comments, a commission was set up to look into alphabet change. Its goal is to investigate the problems Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan encountered when they switched to Latin alphabet and also to come up with some proposals. Professor Kobey Khusayn, Director of the Academy of Sciences' Institute of Linguistics and a member of the commission, agreed that research is needed, adding that the institute has been given 7.5 million Tenge¹ ($60,000 USD) for it.

The idea of changing the alphabet is not new. Kazakhstan agreed to make the switch back in the early 1990s, along with the four other former Soviet Turkic republics (Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan). While of these countries were quick to adopt Latin script, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan delayed the switchover, and both still use Cyrillic.

If Kazakhstan now undergoes the change, it will mark the fourth alphabet used in the country during the past century. In the early 20th century, Arabic was used. In 1929, a modified Latin script was introduced, as Soviet officials wanted to make a break with the country's Muslim past. After just over a decade in use, however, Latin alphabet was supplanted by Cyrillic in 1940 due to the Soviet policy: to have a common alphabet for all republics.

At present, the re-emergence of the alphabet issue is linked to Kazakhstan's modernization drive, some observers believe. Furthermore, supporters of the idea assert that the reasons for adopting Latin are both practical and ideological. In regard to practical reasons, computer compatibility is often cited. Layla Yermenbayeva, a Kazakh-language instructor at the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research, is among those advocating the switch for this reason. She says Cyrillic complicates the use of the Internet for educational purposes. However, there could be a reverse effect: Kazakhstan's Russian speakers might perceive a switch as an obstacle to learning Kazakh. They are the people who most need to learn Kazakh.

Ideologically, the switch could be interpreted as a move away from the Russian sphere of influence: it is a move likely to appeal to ethnic Kazakhs as the country seeks to reposition itself in the post-Soviet space. Some commentators suggest that it could lead to a closer cooperation of Turkic peoples.

Nevertheless, the switch would affect the young and the old in different ways. The older generation would be disadvantaged as they usually do not speak any Western language, and they would hardly adapt to the new alphabet. The younger generation would presumably have less difficulty in learning the new script. At the same time, they might find themselves cut off, at least temporarily, from their literary and cultural heritage, as the vast majority of literature in Kazakh is printed in Cyrillic.

"I don't think it will be hard for the younger generation, nor for the middle-aged. They have all learned languages and know the Latin alphabet. It will probably be hard for pensioners and the inhabitants of rural areas," says Yermenbayeva. The reason is that inhabitants of rural areas have limited access to computers and the Internet and therefore have less exposure to the Latin alphabet.

The introduction of the Latin script followed similar patterns in Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, with the script first introduced in schools and then in newspapers printed with parallel texts in Cyrillic and Latin. In all three countries, the pace of the introduction proved to be slower than expected.

The huge costs involved in reprinting everything from textbooks and official forms to street and shop signs also proved to be a factor hampering the adoption of the new script.

Source: OGMIOS (Foundation for Endangered Languages), Newsletter No.31: Winter - 31 January 2007 http://www.ogmios.org/313.htm

1. Tenge – monetary unit in Kazakhstan

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