The law on the updated alphabet will come into force on April 22, 2027
The law on the new version of the Uzbek alphabet will enter into force in six months. Documents, national currency, and securities issued before this date remain valid. The symbols of state bodies, signboards, and signs are allowed to be used until they become unusable or until a deadline set by the government.
Law on updated alphabet to take effect on April 22, 2027
The law on the new version of the Uzbek alphabet based on the Latin script, which the President of Uzbekistan signed on October 21, will enter into force in six months — from April 22, 2027, according to the document.
It is specified that the presence of letters from the current version of the alphabet in documents issued before this, as well as on the national currency and securities, "does not prevent their validity and circulation."
Symbols and other attributes of state bodies and organizations, relief images of the state coat of arms placed on their buildings, signs and direction posts with names of geographical objects, as well as other objects and sources defined by the Cabinet of Ministers that contain letters from the current version of the alphabet, are allowed to be used until they become unusable or until the deadline established in the program of measures to implement the law.
The government has been instructed to develop and adopt this program within two months.
As reported by Gazeta, the new version of the alphabet contains 28 letters and an apostrophe instead of a hard sign (previously 26 letters and 3 letter combinations). Instead of the combinations Sh, Ch, Oʻ, and Gʻ, the letters Ş, Ç, Ö, and Ğ are introduced, while Ng is excluded.
In 1993, the alphabet was approved with 33 letters and an apostrophe. It used symbols with diacritical marks Ş, Ç, Õ, Ğ, Ĵ (for the sound "zh", distinct from "dzh"), and Ń (for the sound "ng"), as well as C (for the sound "ts").
In 1995, the letters with diacritical marks were replaced with the combinations Sh, Ch, Oʻ, Gʻ, and Ng, while C was excluded.
It was expected that the full transition from Cyrillic to the Latin script would be completed by 2000. However, in practice, two versions of the alphabet — Cyrillic and Latin — continue to be used in the country to this day.
In October 2020, the president signed a decree on the development of the Uzbek language and the improvement of language policy in the country. It provided for completing the full transition to the Latin script.