President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree on a new version of the alphabet in the second half of February Kazakh language based on Latin. The first version of the alphabet, which Nazarbayev approved in October last year, was replete with numerous apostrophes that seriously hampered perception. After the work on the mistakes, which was carried out by three ministries at once - information and communications, culture, education and science, instead of apostrophes, strokes were added to the alphabet over the letters (acutes), as well as digraphs (sh, ch).

Judging by the feedback from visitors to numerous Kazakhstani forums and online media, the new version of the alphabet turned out to be more convenient than the original version.

It is likely that this model will be taken as a basis: it is from this model that the authorities of the republic will start when carrying out the reform. Already in 2021-2023, Kazakhstan will start issuing documents in Latin. And in 2024-2025, office work and the media will gradually be transferred to the Latin script.

Thus, the February decree of Nazarbayev on a new version of the alphabet was a significant step that the country took in resolving a sensitive and important humanitarian issue.

Although this topic is generally internal affairs Kazakhstan and does not directly affect Russia, it caused a wide public outcry in the Russian information space. The question of the position of the Russian language, the problem of maintaining Russian cultural influence in the post-Soviet space, is of concern to many Russian citizens.

The majority reacted to the Kazakh reform with understanding, with the realization that such decisions are the prerogative of the Kazakh authorities. This is the position generally taken by official authorities Russia.

But there are quite a few people who began to vigorously oppose this point of view. They believe that the alphabet reform initiated by Nazarbayev, consciously or not, is aimed at a gradual cultural and humanitarian break between Kazakhstan and Moscow and the "Russian world" as a whole. Also, according to critics of the alphabet reform, moving away from the Cyrillic script will weaken the position of the Russian language in Kazakhstan itself in the long run, making it difficult for interethnic communication and creating difficulties for Russian-speakers living in the republic.

Be that as it may, the reform of the alphabet in Kazakhstan is by no means a technical issue. It is closely connected with the need of the country's authorities to complete the current stage of nation-state building.

Not so long ago, Kazakhstan celebrated the 25th anniversary of gaining national independence. For a quarter of a century, the republic has achieved significant socio-economic success. The republic has gained weight in a variety of international organizations - political and economic, Western, Eurasian, Asian and Islamic.

However, without cultural self-identification, nation-state building will be half-hearted. The reform of the alphabet, according to the plan of the authorities, is designed to fill this gap.

The translation of the Kazakh language into the Latin alphabet also satisfies several ideological tasks. Firstly, it fits into the global modernization context, making the country a part of the modern digital world, which today is mainly written in Latin.

Secondly, Kazakhstan, being an integral part of the Eurasian space, in cultural and historical terms, is a state of the Turkic world. The letter in Latin has long been used by Turkey, the most influential and developed state of the Turkic world. Unlike some other states of Central Asia, which had different years disagreements with Ankara, Kazakhstan maintained smooth and stable relations with Turkey in politics, economy, and culture.

As a matter of fact, the Latin alphabet is not something absolutely new for the Kazakh language. In the Soviet period of its history, in the late 1920s and early 1940s, the Kazakh language already used an alphabet based on the Latin alphabet. However, already in the early 1940s, romanization was curtailed: reverse process- return of the languages ​​of the peoples of the USSR to the Cyrillic alphabet. Meanwhile, according to the opinion widespread among the linguists of the post-Soviet states, for the Turkic languages, due to the specifics of their phonetics, the Latin alphabet is more organic than the Cyrillic alphabet.

Despite the fact that the transition to a new alphabet has its reasons and is strategically justified, the implementation of the reform is fraught with great difficulties. As the practice of transitions from Arabic writing to Latin, and from Latin to Cyrillic, which took place in the Soviet Union in the 1920-1940s, showed, culture suffered the greatest damage from such transformations. Such transitions, voluntarily or involuntarily, led to the "withdrawal" from everyday circulation of large cultural and historical layers of literature, information accumulated in the previous writing system.

A gap between generations can also become a problem, in which the young part of the population of the republic will more or less successfully and quickly switch to the Latin alphabet, while the older generation will experience everyday inconveniences and will actually remain in Cyrillic.

Under these conditions, the main task of the authorities of Kazakhstan is the consistency and thoroughness in carrying out the transformations. The task is not simple, requiring not only financial resources and impeccable diligence, but also competent management.

As for the profitability or disadvantageousness of the transition of Kazakhstan to the Latin alphabet for Russia, such a statement of the question is incorrect in itself. The era of the USSR has sunk into oblivion, and the logic of development independent states implies their political, economic and cultural self-sufficiency.

It is unlikely that the transition to the Latin alphabet will in any way affect the relations between Russia and Kazakhstan. Much more important for Moscow and Astana are other issues: political and economic cooperation, scientific cooperation, education of students from Kazakhstan in Russian universities, preservation and development of millions of personal, business, family ties.

In addition, it is not so much the transition of the Kazakh language to the Latin alphabet that matters for Russia, but the question of the role and positions of the Russian language, which is also important for the post-Soviet space as a language of interethnic, international communication. Russia, of course, is interested in the preservation and development of the Russian language and culture in the post-Soviet space, as well as in protecting the rights of Russian-speaking citizens in Kazakhstan and other CIS countries.

Sincere and benevolent attention to the problems and needs of the development of the Russian language, respect for the rights of the Russian-speaking population in Kazakhstan and other states of Central Asia will always remain one of the most significant manifestations of the policy of partnership and good neighborliness for the Russian authorities and society.

Enter text in Russian letters:

Translate Clear

How will it be in Latin letters:

Why translate Russian letters into Latin?

Since Russia is not yet a very rich country in our country and most companies cannot afford to organize the distribution of free samples to advertise their product, at the moment most of the freebie offers come from abroad.

Since the most common language is English, the order forms for free samples are often in English.

Address information and full name of the recipient in such forms must be filled in Latin. Since both our postmen and those companies that distribute freebies will understand the Latin alphabet.

If you write in Russian, then there is a risk that the organizers of the action simply do not want to spend time translating and understanding what is written there.

If you write in English, then our postmen will not understand to whom and where to deliver.

The best option is to write the freebie delivery address and the full name of the freebie recipient in Latin.

Now the Internet is full of different translators, but most of them are either not convenient, or they need to be searched for a long time.

We offer to constantly use our free translator of Russian text into Latin.

When you order a freebie through forms written in English, then write the delivery address and full name in Latin.

Translate Russian text into Latin will allow our free, simple and convenient service. When we order samples from foreign sites, we always do this and it's a freebie, not always of course :-), but it comes. So the way is correct.

Why in the 1920s were the languages ​​of most peoples of the USSR translated into the Latin alphabet, and in the 1930s into the Cyrillic alphabet? Who wanted to romanize the Russian alphabet and why? How did the confrontation between Stalin and Trotsky affect this issue? Why are many post-Soviet states now abandoning the Cyrillic alphabet, and is it ever possible for the Russian language to switch to the Latin script? Doctor of Philology, Corresponding Member, Director of the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Alpatov spoke about this.

Good idea

Lenta.ru: How did the idea of ​​romanizing the Russian alphabet come about in the late 1920s?

Alpatov: This idea was in line with a conscious language policy Soviet power in the first years after the revolution. In contrast to the Russification carried out by the tsarist government, the new government set a course for the national development of all the peoples inhabiting the USSR, including their languages. But some nations did not have their own script at all, and the Muslim population used Arabic script, which was then considered unsuitable.

Because it was associated with a religious tradition, with the Koran. In the 1920s, they still believed in the imminent victory of the world revolution, which, sooner or later, was to lead to the creation of world language for communication of workers from different countries and continents. The Cyrillic alphabet was not suitable for this, since it was associated with the hated royal system. Only the Latin alphabet remained, which then did not correlate with any specific language - it was often called the "alphabet of the revolution." There was another important argument: in 1928, Kemalist Turkey, friendly to the USSR, switched to the Latin alphabet, which in those years carried out a forced Europeanization of all spheres of public life.

Therefore, all the languages ​​​​of the Muslim and Buddhist peoples of the USSR and those who had not previously had their own written language were first translated into Latin. The Yakut language and the Komi language, which had previously used Cyrillic, even fell under latinization. As the philologist, the author of the idea of ​​switching to the Latin script, wrote at the beginning of 1930, “the territory occupied by the Russian language within the Union remains a relic of the Russification activity of the tsarist missionaries - the spreaders of Orthodoxy (...). The territory of the Russian alphabet is currently a kind of wedge hammered between countries where the Latin alphabet is adopted. October revolution, and countries Western Europe, where we have national-bourgeois alphabets on the same basis. Thus, at the stage of building socialism, the Russian alphabet existing in the USSR is an unconditional anachronism, a kind of graphic barrier that separates the most numerous group of the peoples of the Union from both the revolutionary East and the working masses and the proletariat of the West.

Was one of the goals of the Latinization of the Russian language the desire of the Bolsheviks to break with the old cultural tradition and make it as difficult as possible for Soviet people to access literature published before the revolution?

It was not about breaking with the entire previous written tradition, but only about overcoming the legacy religious culture and rapprochement with the world proletariat. But no one set the task of forgetting Pushkin or Tolstoy...

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev instructed the government of the country to draw up a schedule for the transition of the Kazakh alphabet to the Latin alphabet. Why was this necessary and what are the possible consequences?

Kazakhstan chooses between Russia and Turkey?

Nazarbayev's author's article in "Egemen Kazakhstan" ("Independent Kazakhstan") states that "before the end of 2017, after consultations with scientists and members of the public, a single standard for the new Kazakh alphabet and graphics in Latin should be developed."

"From 2018, it is necessary to train specialists to teach the new alphabet and publish textbooks for high school. In the next two years, it is necessary to carry out organizational and methodical works", - added the head of state. At the same time, Nazarbayev assured that at first, along with the Latin alphabet, the Cyrillic alphabet would also be used.

Professor, Doctor of Philology, Head of the Laboratory of Linguistic Conflictology at the National Research University Higher School of Economics Maxim Krongauz explained why Kazakhstan is switching to the Latin alphabet. According to the expert, there are political reasons for translating the alphabet: in this way, Kazakhstan seeks to get closer to Turkey. "This is a matter of the political choice of the country and rapprochement with this or that civilization. In this case, the choice of the Latin alphabet means rapprochement with other Turkic languages. First of all, it is Turkish," the scientist told the National News Service.

Previously, experts spoke about other aspects of the problem that are typical for many post-Soviet states, including Kazakhstan.

Eg, Head of the Department of Diaspora and Migration of the Institute of CIS Countries Alexandra Dokuchaeva believes that all post-Soviet states build their independence as independence from Russia. "We, adults, remember that no external prerequisites, no national liberation struggle of peoples Soviet Union didn't exist. So, there were no real reasons for the collapse of the country. But independence must be justified. And the justification for independence is built everywhere on the anti-Russian platform," she told Pravda.Ru.

Speaking, Alexandra Dokuchaeva noted that "the departure of the Russians continues, and it is quite obvious that the reason for the departure is the concern of the Russians about their situation in connection with the attack on the Russian language." Recall that Russian speakers live in the majority in the northern regions of Kazakhstan, bordering on Russia.

“Parents of Russian-speaking children note, for example, that Russian schools are much more dense than Kazakh ones, that is, the conditions for learning are more difficult. education, the need for Russian schools is closing," she said.

"Throughout the entire post-Soviet space, processes of consolidation of ultra-liberal and nationalist forces are underway. These are ultra-liberal forces that adhere to Western views, and nationalists who adhere not only to an anti-Russian position, but in general to exalt their titular nationality. The leadership of Kazakhstan is trying to achieve some kind of balance, although nationalists , especially in intellectual circles, the liberals are trying very successfully to promote their ideas," he noted in an interview with Pravda.Ru. expert Russian Institute Strategic Research Dmitry Alexandrov.

. "The period of Kazakhstan being a part of the first Russian Empire, and then the Soviet Union is assessed in the new textbooks of sovereign Kazakhstan as a period of colonial oppression," Alexandra Dokuchaeva noted earlier in an interview with Pravda.Ru.

However, it is worth noting that attempts to switch to the Latin alphabet were also made in Russia itself, and more precisely, in Tatarstan. In 1999, the republic adopted a law on the transition to the Latin alphabet. The transition was to start in 2001 and last ten years.

However, the Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation on Nationalities in December 2000 came to the following conclusion: "The study of the problem shows that there are no linguistic or pedagogical grounds for this reform of graphics. Modern Tatar literary language develops successfully using the Cyrillic-based alphabet. As for entering the Latin written Turkic world, such an orientation may lead to the isolation of the Republic of Tatarstan from the multinational Turkic-speaking population living in various subjects of Russia, including ethnic Tatars using the Cyrillic script, and ultimately to possible interethnic conflicts.

As a result, in November 2004, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation issued a verdict, which rejected the attempts of the Tatarstan authorities to translate the alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin. On December 28, 2004, the decision of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan satisfied the application of the prosecutor of the Republic of Tatarstan to recognize law No. 2352 "On the restoration of the Tatar alphabet based on the Latin script" as invalid.

But the story didn't end there. In December 2012, the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan adopted the law 1-ZRT "On the use Tatar language How state language Republic of Tatarstan". According to the law, the Cyrillic-based alphabet is considered the official alphabet, but the use of Latin or Arabic letters when citizens apply to government agencies is allowed. Cyrillic is used in official responses from government agencies, but it is also possible to duplicate the Cyrillic text in Latin or Arabic. So it cannot be said that attempts to "legitimize" the Latin alphabet have been abandoned in Tatarstan.

On February 27, 2020, teachers of the Denisovsky District Language Training Center held the “I Learn Languages” campaign with employees of the district statistics department. The teacher of the state language stopped at the project “Transition of the Kazakh alphabet to the Latin script”. Completing tasks in Kazakh and English increased the desire of the participants of the action to learn languages.

On February 24, 2020, a collegium of the Language Development Department of the Akimat of the Denisovsky district was held. During the event, the akim of the Krasnoarmeisky rural district of the Denisovsky district, Khlebnikov Alexander Konstantinovich, provided information on the language situation of the named district.

On February 19, 2020, an hour of entertaining dialogue on the topic “Abu Nasyr al-Farabi babamyzga 1150 zhyl” was held among the students of the state language courses at the Language Training Center of the Denisovsky District. During the event, the teacher focused on the project "Translation of the Kazakh alphabet into Latin graphics" and spoke in detail about the great scientist. The students completed the tasks and improved their knowledge.

On February 13, 2020, the librarian of the Denisovskaya Central District Library held an information hour "Latyn alіpbiіne koshu - Ruhani zhangyru talaby" for ninth grade students of Denisovskaya secondary school No. 2.

During the event, the librarian explained the main stages and benefits of the transition of the Kazakh language to the Latin alphabet, as well as the latest trends and concepts scientific research Kazakh scientists.

In accordance with the instruction of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to improve the alphabet of the Kazakh language based on the Latin alphabet and the "Action Plan for improving the alphabet of the Kazakh language based on the Latin alphabet for 2020-2025", approved by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan B.M. Saparbayev, on February 14 of the current year in the Denisovsky district an open republican discussion was held. This event was attended by civil servants, teachers of the Kazakh language and literature of the schools of the district, representatives of the intelligentsia, who expressed their suggestions and opinions about the two proposed alphabets.

On February 12, 2020, the Denisovsky District Language Training Center held an event to discuss improved versions of the Kazakh alphabet based on the Latin script. The discussion was attended by civil servants, employees budget organizations and teachers of the Kazakh language and literature of the schools of the district, who made their suggestions and feedback on the two proposed versions of the alphabets

From January 29, 2020, the department of Kazakh literature of the Denisov Central Regional Library has been operating book exhibition“Step-by-step transition of the Kazakh language to the Latin script”, dedicated to topical issues of translating the Kazakh language alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin script.

The exhibition presents literature that reflects and explains the benefits of the transition of the Kazakh alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin script, which will allow the future generation to expand the circle of communication, increase access to information, and facilitate the study of international languages.

The language training center of the akimat of the Denisovsky district held practical seminar on the topic "Basic methods and techniques of teaching the state language." The event was attended by teachers of the Center for Language Education. From February 3, courses on the study of the state and English languages ​​will begin. Teachers received learning programs on levels A1-elementary, A2-basic, B1-intermediate, B2-above average based on the KAZTEST system for teaching the Kazakh language according to the Kaztest system and on levels A1-Beginner, A2-Elementary for teaching English language. Information was given on the ongoing work on the project "Translation of the Kazakh alphabet into Latin script"

December 9, 2019 for senior students of the Pokrovskaya secondary school, the librarian Pokrovskaya rural library held an information hour “Latyn alіpbiі zhana koshke bastar keruenbasy”.

The purpose of the event: to explain the importance of Kazakhstan's transition to the Latin alphabet, to instill interest in knowing the state language, a sense of patriotism, hard work, love and pride in the future of their country.

The event discussed the main reasons and prospects for the transition of Kazakh writing from Cyrillic to Latin script. The librarian explained the importance and phasing of the transition, introduced the history of the Latin alphabet.

On December 6, 2019, as part of the implementation of the Ruhani Zhangyru program of the project on the transition of the state language to the Latin alphabet for students of the 3rd grade of the Frunze secondary school, the librarian of the Frunze rural library conducted a lesson-game "I will learn ...".

During the event, students were given information about the gradual transition of the state language to the Latin script, about the Latin alphabet and its significance. Then the guys played a game that consisted of four rounds. In each of the tours they performed interesting tasks, actively participated in linguistic games. The team that scored large quantity tokens. The children's desire for knowledge showed that they will quickly master the new alphabet. Present: 16 people.

On November 28, in the Nekrasovskaya rural library, a review of the periodicals “The Latin alphabet is the key to the future” was held for library readers.

The librarian introduced the audience to articles on the transition of the Kazakh language to the Latin alphabet from the local newspaper Nashe Vremya, the regional newspaper Kostanai News, and also from the republican newspaper Kazakhstanskaya Pravda.

There were 13 people present.

On December 3, 2019, the librarian of the Prirechensk model library for students in grades 10-11 of the Prirechensk secondary school held an information hour "Ana tili-zhurek uni".

The librarian told the readers about the importance of the translation of the Kazakh language into Latin for the further development of the country, about the prospects for the development of our state, associated with the transition to the Latin alphabet. The book exhibition "Transition of the Kazakh language to the Latin alphabet" is presented to the readers' attention.

There were 15 people present.

On December 3, 2019, the librarian of the Zhaltyrkol rural library held a talk “The Future with the Latin Alphabet” for employees and students of the 11th grade of the Batala secondary school.

During the conversation, the librarian spoke about the main stages of the transition of the Kazakh language to the Latin alphabet, noted the relevance and importance of the topic under consideration, drew attention to the sequence and gradual transition to the Latin alphabet.