Kazakh alphabets

Kazakh Cyrillic alphabet

The Kazakh Cyrillic alphabet is used in Kazakhstan and the Bayan-Ölgiy Province in Mongolia. It is also used by Kazakh populations in Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as diasporas in other countries of the former USSR. It was introduced during the Russian Empire period in the 1800s, and then adapted by the Soviet Union in 1940.[2]

In the nineteenth century, Ibrahim Altynsarin, a prominent Kazakh educator, first introduced a Cyrillic alphabet for transcribing Kazakh. Russian missionary activity, as well as Russian-sponsored schools, further encouraged the use of Cyrillic in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The alphabet was reworked by Sarsen Amanzholov and accepted in its current form in 1940. It contains 42 letters: 33 from the Russian alphabet with 9 additional letters for sounds of the Kazakh language: Ә, Ғ, Қ, Ң, Ө, Ұ, Ү, Һ, І (until 1951 Ӯ was used instead of Ұ). Initially, Kazakh letters came after letters from the Russian alphabet, but now they are placed after Russian letters similar in sound or shape.

The letters В, Ё (since 1957), Ф, Ц, Ч, Ъ, Ь and Э are not used in native Kazakh words. Of these, Ё, Ц, Ч, Ъ, Ь, Э, are used only in words borrowed from Russian or through the Russian language which are written according to Russian orthographic rules. The letter E makes the similar sound as Э(Екібастуз(Kazakh)- Экибастуз(Russian) . The letter Ж makes the sound J(ДЖ in Russian). The letter Х is pronounced like a wheezing h (hard h). The letter Һ is frequently used in Arabic-Persian borrowings and is often pronounced like an unvoiced Х (as /h/, soft h or a voiceless glottal fricative). In the conversation the letter Қ(Q) can pronounce like X(if Қ is in the middle of a word and after Қ comes a consonant) or like Ғ. The letter Щ is used for the long Ш sound in three native words (ащы 'bitter', тұщы 'saltless', кеще 'stupid') with derivatives and in loanwords.

The letter И represents the tense vowel [i] obtained from the combinations ЫЙ /əj/ and ІЙ /ɪj/. The letter У represents /w/ and the tense vowel [u] obtained from the combinations ҰУ /ʊw/, ҮУ /ʉw/, ЫУ /əw/ and ІУ /ɪw/. Additionally, И and У are retained in words borrowed from Russian, where they represent the simple vowels [i] and [u] respectively.

Keyboard

The standard Windows keyboard layout used for Cyrillic Kazakh in Kazakhstan is a modification of the standard Russian keyboard, with characters found in Kazakh but not in Russian located on the number keys.

The Kazakh keyboard.

A Kazakh newspaper Socialist Kazakhstan (Социалды Қазағыстан) in Latin script (1937)

Selected works of Mao Zedong (Мау Зыдоң Таңдамалы Шығармалары) in Latin-script Kazakh, published in Beijing in 1977

A number of Latin alphabets are in use to write the Kazakh language. A variant based on the Turkish alphabet is unofficially used by the Kazakh diaspora in Turkey and in Western countries and Kazakhstan. As with other Central Asian Turkic languages, a Latin alphabet, the Yañalif, was introduced by the Soviets and used from 1929 to 1940 when it was replaced with Cyrillic.[2][5] Moreover, a Latin alphabet was used for the Kazakh language for Kazakhs in China during 1964–84. Later, the use of the Kazakh Arabic alphabet was restored in China.[6]

1929 Latin alphabet (Çaꞑalip)

1938 Latin alphabet (Çaꞑalip)

As part of a modernization program, the presidential decree No. 569 signed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev ordered the replacement of the Cyrillic script with a Latin script by 2025.[2][7][8] In 2007, Nazarbayev said the transformation of the Kazakh alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin should not be rushed, as he noted: "For 70 years, the Kazakhstanis read and wrote in Cyrillic. More than 100 nationalities live in our state. Thus we need stability and peace. We should be in no hurry in the issue of alphabet transformation".[9]

In 2015, the Minister of Culture and Sports Arystanbek Muhamediuly announced that a transition plan was underway, with specialists working on the orthography to accommodate the phonological aspects of the language.[10] On April 12, 2017, President Nazarbayev published an article in state newspaper Egemen Qazaqstan announcing a switchover to the Latin alphabet by 2025,[5][10] a decision implemented by decree.[7]

Nazarbayev argued that the "Kazakh language and culture have been devastated" during the period of Soviet rule, and that ending the use of Cyrillic is useful in re-asserting national identity.[5] The new Latin alphabet is also a step to weaken the traditional Russian influence on the country, as the Russian language is the country's second official language.[11] The initial proposed Latin alphabet tried to avoid digraphs (such as "sh", "ch") and diacritics (such as "ä" or "ç"). In fact, President Nazarbayev had expressly stated that the new alphabet should contain "no hooks or superfluous dots".[12] Instead, the new alphabet, which is based on a transliteration of Cyrillic into Latin letters, would have used apostrophes to denote those Kazakh letters where there was no direct Latin equivalent. It is similar to the Karakalpak Latin alphabet and the Uzbek alphabet.

A revised version of the 2017 Latin alphabet was announced in February 2018. Presidential Decree 637 of 19 February 2018 amends the 2017 decree and the use of apostrophes was discontinued and replaced with diacritics and digraphs.[13][14] Notably, the new alphabet uses the acute accent. A few web applications and sites were launched to facilitate the switch to the Latin-based alphabet. One of them is a new web-based portal, Qazlatyn.kz, that uses the new Latin alphabet to report news and other information about Kazakhstan.[15]

In April 2021, the Latin script for the Kazakh language was presented to the public; it was well received. Elementary schools will start using only the new Latin script from 2023. The transition is expected to be completed by 2031.[16]

Kazakh Arabic Script as developed by the father of Kazakh linguistics, Akhmet Baitursynov.

The Arabic script is the official alphabet for Kazakhs in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region[6] of China. It was first introduced to the territory of Kazakhstan in the eleventh century and was traditionally used to write Kazakh until the introduction of a Latin alphabet in 1929. In 1924, Kazakh intellectual Akhmet Baitursynov attempted to reform the Arabic script to better suit Kazakh. The letters ۆ‎, گ‎, ڭ‎, پ‎ and چ‎ are used to represent sounds not found in the Arabic language.

A modified Arabic script is also used in Iran and Afghanistan, based on the alphabet used for Kazakh before 1929.

The Kazakh Arabic alphabet contains 29 letters and one digit, the 'upper hamza' used at the beginnings of words to create front vowels throughout the word. The direction the alphabet is written in is right to left. Unlike the original Arabic script, which is an abjad, the Kazakh Arabic script functions more like a true alphabet, as each sound has its own letter and every sound in each word is spelt out in the written form of the language. The reform of the Arabic script from an abjad to an alphabet was carried out by the early 20th-century linguist Akhmet Baitursynov.

Kazakhs living now in China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and other countries of the Middle East use the Arabic script.

Correspondence chart of official and most widespread writing scripts

Symbols in parentheses are for bi-directional transliteration only. See Menıñ Qazaqstanym.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:[31]

• Kazakh alphabet (in Russian)
• Kazakh language, alphabet and pronunciation
• Kazakh Cyrillic–Arabic–Latin converter
• ALASH Cyrillic–Latin–Arabic–Runic online converter
• Cyrillic–Latin 2018 online converter
• Official Kazakh version (in Arabic script) of the People's Daily Online