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,"…
Tag: central asia
One Nation, One Hundred Languages: The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union’s Grand Linguistic Experiment
The Soviet Union's language policy was a dramatic paradox, beginning with the revolutionary promotion of over 100 minority languages through the *korenizatsiya* (indigenization) program. This ambitious project, which created new…
The Whispering Road: How Sogdian Became the Lingua Franca of the Silk Road
Long before English dominated global trade, the language of the Sogdians, an Iranian people from Central Asia, connected the great empires of the East and West. This is the story…