Kyrgyz Parliament Speaker Calls for Dubbing Cartoons into Kyrgyz and Urges Preservation of the Language
During a session of the Kyrgyz Parliament, Speaker Nurlanbek Shakyev emphasized the need to dub cartoons into the Kyrgyz language, alongside Russian and English, to preserve the Kyrgyz language.
“All the cartoons that children watch on their phones are in Russian or English. There are no cartoons in Kyrgyz. It is necessary to dub cartoons into Russian and English to preserve our language. If we don’t start working on it from today, it will be too late tomorrow, and our language will be lost,” he stated.
Shakyev also urged lawmakers to use the Kyrgyz language in their speeches and to encourage the use of Kyrgyz names, as many words have been borrowed and altered through Arabicization.
“Even when naming children, many Arabic names are used (…). We have many beautiful Kyrgyz names, and we should pay attention to this. We should not only preserve the language but also distinguish Kyrgyz names from others,” Shakyev remarked.
The Kyrgyz language holds official status in Kyrgyzstan, alongside Russian.
This is not the first time the Speaker of the Kyrgyz Parliament has raised this issue. In December 2022, he refused to allow Minister of Natural Resources Dinara Kutmanova to make a statement in any language other than Kyrgyz. Additionally, he demanded that all names in Bishkek districts be changed to Kyrgyz as soon as possible.
