Emergence of the Latin Alphabet in Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus: A Brief History

Abstract

This chapter is primarily based on a review of relevant literature, and it aims to look into the historical background of introducing the Latin alphabet in Central Asian republics (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan) and in the Caucasus (specifically Azerbaijan) in the first half of the twentieth century. A total alphabet shift in these newly formed Soviet republics at that time was a fundamental change, which could be compared to the similar one in the Republic of Turkey in the 1920s yet with its own specifics. A particular emphasis is given to the process of shifting from national scripts to the common New Turkic Alphabet in the 1920s and 1930s, before it was finally substituted by the Cyrillic script. It should be noted that within this historically short period of time, the adapted Latin alphabet played an important role in nation building and elimination of illiteracy in each country. This chapter also focuses on the challenges and realities that every country involved had to face while implementing those changes.