Towards Orthographic Unity In The Turkic World: Historical Attempts At A Common Written Language And The Contemporary Role Of The 34-Letter Common Turkic Latin Alphabet

This article examines the historical evolution and contemporary significance of efforts to establish linguistic unity among Turkic peoples, focusing particularly on the question of a shared alphabet and the viability of a common written language. The study argues that the most urgent task today is the widespread adoption of the 34-letter Common Turkic Latin Alphabet across all Turkic written languages, followed by a reasoned discussion on whether any single Turkic written language can serve as a common medium of supra-national communication. Rather than advocating an unrealistic unified Turkic written language, the article highlights the pragmatic goal of increasing shared terminology among existing Turkic languages. Historically, two major initiatives shaped the discourse on linguistic unification: İsmail Gaspıralı’s late nineteenth-century vision of a single Turkic written language for all Turkic peoples, and Mustafa Chokay’s early twentieth-century project for a unified written language exclusive to the peoples of Turkistan. While both movements left deep intellectual and cultural imprints, the Soviet reorganization of Turkic linguistic space—first through transitional Arabic and Latin alphabets, and later through the imposition of distinct Cyrillic alphabets—fragmented previously shared written traditions rooted in Göktürk, Karakhanid, and Chagatai heritage. Through a historical-comparative analysis, the article demonstrates how political interventions, alphabet reforms, and emerging local identities facilitated the proliferation of separate written languages among Turkic communities. The study concludes that, despite this diversity, orthographic convergence through a common Latin alphabet remains both feasible and essential for enhancing linguistic compatibility, cultural cohesion, and interregional communication in the twenty-first century

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