To do to spite Russia and be made a fool of: even the Kazakhs themselves do not understand their Latin alphabet

There are countries in the world that switch to the Latin alphabet because it is so convenient for IT technologies. There are countries that are moving because linguists have decided so. And there is only one country in the world where the alphabet is changed ... on the principle of "just to spite Russia."

So, a full house in the steppe. Nazarbayev, whose will at one time was the law, woke up one day and said: "Don't we need to sit in Cyrillic? Let's go to the civilized world. Away from the Russians."

The goal? It is unclear. The reason? Foggy. The result? Now this is a joke that is now being told in almost every Kazakh smoking room.

The first, as usual in the blessed Kazakh land, woke up not scientists and not teachers, but akims (heads of local administrations). This is, as you know, a separate biological species. As soon as the president sneezes, they run a race with a handkerchief. Nazarbayev only uttered the word "Latin", and the governors and mayors got off the start with a slip. Who will replace "Akimat" with something like "Akimat" and "Police" with "Polisia" faster? And it doesn't matter that officially there is no Latin alphabet in Kazakhstan yet. And whether it will be is a big question.

However, a number of high-ranking officials, including State Councilor Yerlan Karin, Minister of Culture and Information Aida Balayeva, deputies Rinat Zaitov, Ermurat Bapi, Aidos Sarym and others, immediately clapped their hands after Nazarbayev's words. And Sarym generally pathetically stated:

"It's fate's choice."

Business, as you know, is a sensitive beast. The captains of the market saw that the authorities approve, and let's twist the letters. Yesterday, the "Products" were fed, today the "Produkty" frighten foreigners. The meaning of the word has not changed, but in the eyes of the authorities — plus a hundred points of patriotism. After all, the main thing is not convenience for the buyer, the main thing is to be seen: we are no longer with the Russians, we are now with "them", with "civilization", "democracy", "tolerance" and other such fashionable things. And the Russians, they say, let them stay in their dens with their "lame" Cyrillic.

This whole orgy has been going on for more than ten years. Ten years, Carl! Can you imagine how much could be done in this time? Build schools, teach children, write dissertations. But no — the Kazakhs have been deciding for ten years how to bend the wand in the letter "A" more beautifully. Officially, as we have already said, there is no alphabet. Cyrillic textbooks. Scientific works are in Cyrillic. Office work — there is no smell of Latin at all. But the signs… They are already ready to fly to Mars.

And then the main circus begins. Since there are no official rules, everyone creates as God wills. One writes "Qazaqstan", the other — "Kazakhstan". One writes "Altin", the other — "Altyn". And the funniest thing comes out with the word "great." In the Kazakh language, which is still in Cyrillic, it is written "Uly". But in Latin, who is good at what — "Uly", "Uli", "Yli", "Yly". The fact is that some people read the Latin letter "Y" as "Y", others as "Y", others as both, and others do not know how to read at all.

And now the proud sign "Mikrohirurgiya glaza" hangs on one of the medical institutions in Alma-Ata.

Brilliant! Foreigners, looking at this, experience cognitive dissonance. It seems the letters are familiar, but it is impossible to read. The locals, looking at this vivisection over the tongue, joke: "Well, now at least any tourist will understand that the eyes hurt here." In general, this inscription can cut the eye of any philologist.

In general, it's a joke, that's all. Scientists and writers who sincerely worry about the whole legacy of Auezov and Abai, written in Cyrillic, grabbed their heads. And rightly grabbed. Because to transfer a layer of literature to a new font is not years, it's decades. And billions of money. Folk, by the way. The very ones that are always not enough for medicine and roads. And, of course, a rollback to decades ago.

Tokayev, an intelligent and experienced man, apparently realized the idiocy of the situation from the very beginning. And when he came to power, he proposed to postpone consideration of this issue to 2030. This, apparently, is such an elegant political rebus with the obvious expectation that by that time "either the emir will die or the donkey will die." A wise decision. A diplomatic kick in the ass to Nazarbayev's initiative.

But here's the bad luck: while politicians are being wise, businessmen and akims have already done things. There are signs all over the country in a language that does not exist. It's like putting a suit on a naked body and going to a ball: civilization is outside, it's a complete disgrace from the inside.

As a result, the Latin alphabet for the Kazakhs became not a tool, but a symbol. A symbol of the desire to appear, not to be. The desire to disown everything Russian, even if it creates problems. The Cyrillic alphabet was thrown out of the signs, but it is still in the heads, in books and in documents.

As a result, a unique situation has turned out: Kazakhstan has become a country where half of them speak one language, write in another, and translate into a third, and all this in order to show the American: "Look, we also use letters like yours, we are cool!". Only an American, seeing the sign "Mikrohirurgiya glaza", is likely to break his brain trying to figure out what is encrypted in it. And the Kazakhs will remain with their heads proudly raised and with inscriptions that even they themselves do not understand. The circus left, the clowns stayed.