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Latinizing the Alphabet in Kazakhstan

Rationale, Legal Foundation, and possible Impact on the Status of the Russian Language

In: European Yearbook of Minority Issues Online
Authors:
Mariya Riekkinen Dr. Mariya Riekkinen, Åbo Akademi University, University of Tyumen

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,
Aizhan Zhatkanbayeva Prof. Aizhan Zhatkanbayeva, al- Farabi Kazakh National University

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Kanat Kozhabek Dr. Kanat Kozhabek, al- Farabi Kazakh National University

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Gulnar Aigarinova Dr. Gulnar Aigarinova, al- Farabi Kazakh National University

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Online Publication Date:
01 Jun 2021
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Upon acquisition of independence in 1991, Kazakhstan was the only post- Soviet state where the titular nation did not have an overwhelming majority, the number of Kazakhs being fewer than the number of ethnic Russians. This explains to a certain extent why the Russian language, unlike other minority languages, has, to date, enjoyed a position of lingua franca in Kazakhstan and is used on equal grounds with Kazakh. Our contribution attempts to study the possible impact on the status of the Russian language of a 2017 project known as the ‘trinity of languages’— Kazakh, Russian and English— which includes a reform to Latinize the Kazakh alphabet. It will consider the possible polarization in the society with the younger generation probably choosing English and the older generation preferring the language as they know it.

Title:
Latinizing the Alphabet in Kazakhstan
Article Type:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/22116117_01801010
Language:
English
Pages:
203–236
Keywords:
Language rights; language policy; intellectual capital; Russian minority in Kazakhstan; Latinization; trinity of languages
In:
European Yearbook of Minority Issues Online
In:
Volume 18: Issue 1
Publisher:
Brill | Nijhoff
E-ISSN:
2211-6117
Subjects:
International Law: General Interest, International Law, Minority & Group Rights, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law

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