The 2026 reform
In 2026 Uzbekistan reformed its Latin alphabet: the 1995 digraphs and apostrophe-letters became single letters.
Letter changes
Sh shŞ ş
Ch chÇ ç
Gʻ gʻĞ ğ
Oʻ oʻÖ ö
Ts tsC c
Letter by letter
sh ş
The digraph sh becomes the single letter ş.
shahar → şaharishlash → işlaş
ch ç
The digraph ch becomes the single letter ç.
choy → çoykecha → keça
gʻ ğ
The apostrophe-letter gʻ becomes ğ.
gʻalaba → ğalababogʻ → boğ
oʻ ö
The apostrophe-letter oʻ becomes ö.
oʻzbek → özbekkoʻl → köl
ts c
In loanwords, ts becomes c.
tsirk → cirktsex → cex
Adopted 7 July 2026. The alphabet now has 28 letters and one apostrophe sign (was 26 letters and 3 letter combinations).
Single letters remove clumsy digraphs and apostrophes — which broke software, URLs, and search — and align Uzbek with other Turkic Latin alphabets.
Frequently asked questions
- What changed in the 2026 Uzbek alphabet reform?
- Uzbekistan replaced the 1995 digraphs and apostrophe-letters with single letters: sh→ş, ch→ç, gʻ→ğ, oʻ→ö, and the loanword ts→c. The alphabet now has 28 letters and one apostrophe sign.
- How many letters are in the new alphabet?
- 28 letters and one apostrophe sign (tutuq belgisi). Previously there were 26 letters and 3 letter combinations.
- When was the reform adopted?
- It was adopted on 7 July 2026.
- Which letters changed?
- Five: sh→ş, ch→ç, gʻ→ğ, oʻ→ö, and ts→c in loanwords.
- Why did the alphabet change?
- The 1995 digraphs and apostrophes broke software, URLs, and search, and made Uzbek inconsistent with other Turkic Latin alphabets. Single letters remove that friction.
- How do I convert Cyrillic or old Latin to the new Latin?
- Use the Alfavit converter — paste your text and it converts instantly, on your device.
- Does Alfavit store or upload my text?
- No. Conversion happens entirely in your browser; nothing is uploaded, stored, or tracked.
- Is Alfavit free?
- Yes — the web converter, the Telegram bot, and the public API are all free.