Asel translates and summarizes remarks by Tashboo Jumagulov (Ташбоо Жумагулов), chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s state language commission, and Kyrgyz legislator Zainidin Kurmanov (Зайнидин Курманов) on the possibility of Kyrgyzstan switching from the Cyrillic to the Roman alphabet, which was recently discussed in the Kyrgyz parliament.
Both Jumagulov and Kurmanov seem to regard the switch as inevitable, though the latter voiced concern that the switch is done carefully and not rushed.
Kyrgyzstan is not to be confused with its neighbor, Kazakhstan, which has been seesawing on its own proposed switch to the Roman alphabet.
sources:
- Cyrillic vs Roman?, New Eurasia, February 14, 2008
- Зайнидин Курманов: «Если у других стран для перехода на латиницу есть необходимые условия: газ, нефть и свободные средства, то у нас ничего этого нет», Bishkek Press Club, February 14, 2008
On Kazakhstan’s proposed switch:
- Kazakhstan backtracks on move from Cyrillic to Roman alphabet?, Pinyin News, December 14, 2007
- Kazakhstan plans switch to Latin alphabet, Pinyin News, November 18, 2007
This is strange, Kazakh at least has a romanization system in place (though I think apart from pure dislike of ethnic of ethnic Russians, all the reasons I’ve seen for turkic script change from Cyrillic to Roman verge on the simple-minded and wrongheaded). AFAIK there’s no real Kyrgyz romanization system.
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