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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/26/kazakhstan-switch-official-alphabet-cyrillic-latin
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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| Alphabet soup as Kazakh leader orders switch from Cyrillic to Latin letters | Alphabet soup as Kazakh leader orders switch from Cyrillic to Latin letters |
| (17 days later) | |
| Kazakhstan is to change its official alphabet for the third time in less than 100 years in what is seen in part as a symbolic move to underline its independence. | Kazakhstan is to change its official alphabet for the third time in less than 100 years in what is seen in part as a symbolic move to underline its independence. |
| President Nursultan Nazarbayev ordered his office on Thursday to prepare for a switch to a Latin-based alphabet from a Cyrillic one, distancing itself, at least graphically, from Russia. | President Nursultan Nazarbayev ordered his office on Thursday to prepare for a switch to a Latin-based alphabet from a Cyrillic one, distancing itself, at least graphically, from Russia. |
| The oil-rich former Soviet republic of 18 million has close ties with Moscow, its main trading partner, but is wary of Russia’s ambitions to maintain its political influence throughout the region. | The oil-rich former Soviet republic of 18 million has close ties with Moscow, its main trading partner, but is wary of Russia’s ambitions to maintain its political influence throughout the region. |
| Kazakh, a Turkic language, used to be written in Arabic script until the 1920s when the Soviet Union briefly introduced a Latin alphabet. | Kazakh, a Turkic language, used to be written in Arabic script until the 1920s when the Soviet Union briefly introduced a Latin alphabet. |
| This was later replaced by a Cyrillic one in 1940, based on the Russian alphabet. | This was later replaced by a Cyrillic one in 1940, based on the Russian alphabet. |
| Part of the latest switch relates to modern technology. The Cyrillic alphabet has 42 symbols, making it cumbersome to use with digital devices – a standard Kazakh keyboard utilises almost all number keys in addition to letter and punctuation keys. | Part of the latest switch relates to modern technology. The Cyrillic alphabet has 42 symbols, making it cumbersome to use with digital devices – a standard Kazakh keyboard utilises almost all number keys in addition to letter and punctuation keys. |
| The new proposed Latin alphabet works around that by using apostrophe signs to modify letters. The country’s official name would thus be spelled as Qazaqstan Respy’blikasy. | The new proposed Latin alphabet works around that by using apostrophe signs to modify letters. The country’s official name would thus be spelled as Qazaqstan Respy’blikasy. |
| According to a statement published by Nazarbayev’s office, he has ordered his chief of staff to draft an executive order introducing the new alphabet. The switch will be gradual, it said. | According to a statement published by Nazarbayev’s office, he has ordered his chief of staff to draft an executive order introducing the new alphabet. The switch will be gradual, it said. |
| Although Kazakh has been the state language since Kazakhstan became independent in 1991, 62% of the population said they were fluent in both written and spoken Kazakh during the most recent national census in 2009. | Although Kazakh has been the state language since Kazakhstan became independent in 1991, 62% of the population said they were fluent in both written and spoken Kazakh during the most recent national census in 2009. |
| Russian is more widespread, with 85% claiming fluency in the same census. Russian is recognised as an official language in Kazakhstan. | Russian is more widespread, with 85% claiming fluency in the same census. Russian is recognised as an official language in Kazakhstan. |
| Several other Turkic nations, including Turkey and the former Soviet states Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, have also switched to Latin alphabets. | Several other Turkic nations, including Turkey and the former Soviet states Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, have also switched to Latin alphabets. |