Uzbekistan adopts new Latin alphabet, to take effect on 22 April 2027

Uzbekistan has settled a long-debated plan to change its alphabet, with the president signing a law on 21 October approving a revised Latin-based Uzbek alphabet. The letters Sh, Ch, O‘ and G‘ are replaced by Ş, Ç, Ö and Ğ, while Ng is removed from the alphabet as a separate letter. The new version consists of 28 letters and one apostrophe-type sign.

The law takes effect six months later, on 22 April 2027. Documents issued before that date, as well as the national currency and securities, remain valid even if they contain letters from the current alphabet. Signs of state bodies, state emblem reliefs on buildings and plates with geographic names that use current letters may continue to be used until they become unusable or until the deadline set by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Linguists Yorqin Odilov and Zohida Muqimova told Gazeta.uz that the issue has been discussed for years and that a working group was formed in 2018-2019. Odilov said the law has been sufficiently discussed and that a return to Cyrillic is out of the question, adding that three alphabets would not cause confusion. Muqimova said textbooks and identity documents would be changed when their time comes. Odilov said the Cabinet of Ministers is preparing a resolution on implementation.