The Uzbek Language
The Uzbek language is an Eastern Turkic language and is part of the Altaic family. Much of its vocabulary is Persian rather than Turkish due to the influence of Tajik (Persian) speakers which have long been prominent in the country.
The Uzbek language was originally written in Arabic script. This was replaced by the Roman alphabet in 1927 and then again by the Cyrillic alphabet in 1940. More recently, an attempt to return to the Latin alphabet is underway.
The Uzbek language is spoken by about 15 million people. The Uzbek language is primarily spoken in Uzbekistan. Speakers are also found in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. Emigrant communities can be found in the USA, Australia and Germany.
