“The use of a single alphabet will be strictly established”: Senate approves the law on introducing changes to the alphabet

“Strict use of a single alphabet is established”: Senate approves law on amending the alphabet

Today, September 10, the Senate approved the law on amending the Uzbek alphabet based on the Latin script.

According to the document, instead of 26 letters and three letter combinations, the alphabet will consist of 28 letters and one apostrophe. Senator Ohunjon Mamatkarimov noted that this corresponds to the one-sound, one-letter principle.

“The complexity and inconvenience associated with certain letters in the Uzbek alphabet have been scientifically proven. In particular, writing just the letters Oʻ and Gʻ on a computer requires performing six actions. In practice, more than 10 variations of these letters are used. Modern information technologies do not recognize words containing these letters as a single word. As a result, serious problems arise in creating various programs and dictionaries, and in general, in the digitalization of the Uzbek language. Specifically, the current Uzbek alphabet is very inconvenient for computer keyboards, smartphones, and search engines. Internet search engines cannot fully index Uzbek letters due to the different codes used for the Oʻ and Gʻ symbols. Also, the letters Sh and Ch are active sounds in the Uzbek language, and they are used 3 to 5 times more in our native language than in English. Difficulties arise in writing and reading the consecutive letters Sh and Ch in words like tinch, xushchaqchaq, shoshilinch, achchiqtosh. These letters also cause some confusion in spelling. Cases of incorrectly writing and reading words like Isʼhoq and Asʼhob as Ishoq and Ashob are observed. This also affects the literacy of the population,” the senator said.

In order to take into account the rights and interests of citizens and organizations during the transition to the newly revised alphabet, it is established that documents, national currency, and securities issued on the basis of the current alphabet before the law comes into force will not be restricted from circulation. Certain symbolic signs, signboards, and indicators of state bodies and organizations will be allowed to be used until they become unusable or until a specified period.

According to the senators, the adoption of this Law will serve to improve the Uzbek alphabet and spelling rules based on the Latin script, expand the possibilities of using the state language, as well as develop the processes of digitalizing the Uzbek language. Based on the Law, the strict use of a single alphabet is established. At the end of the discussion, the senators approved the Law. The Law will come into force six months after the date of its adoption.