Draft of new Latin-based Kazakh alphabet revealed

ASTANA. KAZINFORM The draft of the Latin-script Kazakh alphabet has been presented at parliamentary hearings, Kazinform correspondent reports.

According to the Director of the Shayakhmetov Republican Coordination and Methodological Center for the Development of Languages, Yerbol Tleshov, the alphabet proposed by scientists consists of 25 letters.

To ensure fullness of the Kazakh language sound system, the scientists included 8 digraphs, combinations of two letters pronounced as one sound. They designate eight specific sounds.

The scientists rejected the idea of introducing diacritical marks (glyphs added to a letter, or basic glyphs) as they suppose that because of rare use, the specific sounds of the Kazakh language can disappear.

Recall that during the parliamentary hearings, Nurlan Nigmatulin, the Majilis Speaker, announced the start of a nationwide discussion of the new standard of the alphabet.