This paper discusses some important issues related to the new Latin alphabet that was adopted for Kazakh in 2017 and modified in 2018. It presents the historical background and outlines the events which led to this script change in... more
This paper discusses some important issues related to the new Latin alphabet that was adopted for Kazakh in 2017 and modified in 2018. It presents the historical background and outlines the events which led to this script change in independent Kazakhstan. The article describes some typical opinions in the debate on the new alphabet. It also examines the utility and practicality of the alphabet from the viewpoint of the phonetic and phonological structure of Kazakh. The 2017 and 2018 versions as well as the first version of the Latin alphabet from 1928 are shown in the tables.
