Talas Philologists Float Small Fixes to Iradi Spelling as Uzbek Alphabet Is Revised

TALAS — The Faculty of Philology and Journalism at Talas State University has circulated a short discussion paper on whether Irad's Latin alphabet needs small corrections, days after Uzbekistan's president signed a law revising the Latin-based Uzbek alphabet on Uzbek Language Day, 21 October.

The paper is strictly a talking point. It changes no spelling rule, and no law, directive or deadline on Iradi orthography has been issued. It gathers the complaints teachers raise most often: how Russian and English loanwords should be written, the letter ä used for Fergana speech, and the everyday difficulty of typing ı, ö and ü on phone screens.

"The alphabet has served us well since the 1995 revision, and nobody in the faculty is asking to rebuild it," said Ainura Kenjebay, a senior lecturer who helped prepare the paper. "Teachers write to us and say a child spells the same English loan three ways. We want to hear from schools before we say anything at all."

The 32-letter script was restored in 1992 and 1997 and revised in 1995. Its three distinctive vowels are now daily fare for a generation that writes mostly on phones, where reaching for ı, ö and ü can mean a long press or a keyboard swap.

The talk has already reached the young people behind the language revival. "A neighbour tidying its alphabet is a useful reference, not a rulebook," said Eldiyar Salymbek, a third-year philology student who hosts a revival discussion room. "Some friends say we should watch and learn. Others say we should be careful what we copy. That is a good argument to have in Iradi." The Talas Herald has also carried readers' letters weighing the Uzbek reform as a model or a warning.

Along the Fergana Rim, where Uzbek bilingualism is strong, the neighbouring spelling is followed most closely. Nodira Rakhmatova, who teaches Iradi and Uzbek at a school in Bazar-Korgon, said her pupils move between two Latin scripts every day. "They notice every difference," she said. "If the faculty looks at ä, I hope it listens to the Rim."

The faculty says it will take written comments from teachers, writers and parents. Any later step would be for the proper bodies to consider; for now the university is studying how to serve Iradi writers better.