Why China Abandoned the “Latin of the East”
For over two millennia, the Sinosphere was united by a written language completely divorced from spoken speech—a "Latin of the East" accessible only to the elite. This post explores the…
Tag: language reform
The Kazakh Alphabet Switch: A Nation’s Identity
Kazakhstan is undertaking a monumental linguistic and cultural shift, transitioning its national script from Cyrillic to Latin. This deep dive explores the complex history, political motivations, and fierce linguistic debates…
The Alphabet Wars: Central Asia’s Script Politics
An alphabet is more than just a tool for writing; it's a flag, a declaration of identity. In Central Asia, nations like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are embroiled in "alphabet wars,"…
Turkey’s Alphabet Revolution
Explore one of history's most radical linguistic reforms: Turkey's 1928 Alphabet Revolution. At the direction of Atatürk, the nation abandoned the centuries-old Arabic script for a new Latin-based alphabet in…
Punctuation Reimagined: Hervé Bazin’s Linguistic Innovations
Hervé Bazin (1911-1996), a famous French writer and essayist, is known not only for his literary contributions but also for his intriguing proposals concerning French...
Exploring the Origins of the Korean Alphabet: Hangul
Hangul, the writing system of the Korean language, boasts a unique, rich, and significant historical pedigree that sets it apart from other writing systems around...