Kazakh language

Kazakh belongs to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic languages; its closest relatives are Nogai and Karakalpak. It is the state language of Kazakhstan and is also spoken by Kazakhs in China, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Russia.

For centuries it was written in Arabic script; in the early 20th century the linguist Akhmet Baitursynuly adapted the Arabic alphabet to Kazakh sounds (Tote Zhazu). The language switched to Latin in 1929 and to Cyrillic in 1940.

In 2017 Kazakhstan decided to return to the Latin script; the new alphabet was revised in 2021 and the transition is proceeding in stages. A rich oral literature — epics, aitys and proverbs — has preserved the strength of the language.