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                                                                                                                                                                        President Nazarbayev sets the task to have the Kazakh language transit to the Latin alphabet by 2025                                            </h1>
                                                <div class="">Sunday, 16.12.2012, 23:00</div>
                                                
                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                
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                                                                                                    <img src="http://en.tengrinews.kz/userdata/news_en/news_15282/thumb_b/photo_23285.jpg" alt="President Nazarbayev sets the task to have the Kazakh language transit to the Latin alphabet by 2025" title="Photo courtesy of master-y.ru">
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                                                                                <div class="">Photo courtesy of <a href="http://master-y.ru">master-y.ru</a></div>
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                                                                                                                <h2 class="">Continued at</h2>
                                                                                                                <ul class=""><li><a href="http://en.tengrinews.kz/politics_sub/Kazakh-strongman-backs-switch-to-Latin-alphabet--15314/">Kazakh strongman backs switch to Latin alphabet </a></li></ul>
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                                                                                                                                                                                                                        When speaking at a solemn meeting to 
celebrate the 21st anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence December 14,
 President Nursultan Nazarbayev tasked the Government to start prep 
works to transit to the Latin alphabet by 2025. <br>
Currently Kazakh language relies on the Cyrillic alphabet.<br>
<br>
Earlier President Nazarbayev’s Advisor on political issues Ermukhamet 
Ertysbayev said that shifting to the Latin alphabet is inevitable. 
According to him, the process may take up to 10 years.<br>
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“In the era of globalization when Kazakhstan has intensified relations 
with other nations (…) shifting to the Latin alphabet is an acute 
issue”, he stressed. <br>
Tengrinews.kz reported in June 2011 the then Culture Minister of 
Kazakhstan Mukhtar Kul-Mukhamed had spoken in favor of shifting to the 
Latin alphabet. <br>
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According to him, the Kazakh alphabet consists of 41 letters, the 
Russian alphabet of 33 letters, whereas Latin alphabet only consists of 
25-26 letters, which is more convenient. The Minister believed at that 
time the Latin alphabet is - among other things - more user-friendly 
when it comes to mobile phones, tablets and PCs.<span id="ctrlcopy"><br><br>For more information see: <a href="http://en.tengrinews.kz/politics_sub/President-Nazarbayev-sets-the-task-to-have-the-Kazakh-language-transit-to-the-15282/">http://en.tengrinews.kz/politics_sub/President-Nazarbayev-sets-the-task-to-have-the-Kazakh-language-transit-to-the-15282/</a><br>
<br><br><br clear="all"></span><br>-- <br>=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies                     <br>
University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone:  (215) 898-7475<br>Fax:  (215) 573-2138                                      <br><br>Email:  <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br>
<a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a>    <br><br>-------------------------------------------------
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