New Uzbek Alphabet 2026: Ö, Ğ, Ş, Ç — What Changed and When It Takes Effect

Short answer

On 21 October 2026, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed Law No. O'RQ-1184, which changes four letters of the Uzbek Latin alphabet:

Oʻ → Ö, Gʻ → Ğ, Sh → Ş, Ch → Ç
The alphabet will have 28 letters and 1 tutuq (apostrophe) sign (ʼ)
Ng is dropped as a separate letter
The law enters into force on 22 April 2027 (six months after official publication)
Current passports, documents, banknotes and securities remain valid

You can practise typing the new letters right now: [New alphabet typing test →](/en/yangi-alifbo)

When and how the law was adopted

Stage	Date
Adopted by the Legislative Chamber	7 July 2026
Approved by the Senate	10 September 2026
Signed by the President	21 October 2026 (Uzbek Language Day)
Enters into force	22 April 2027

The law amends the 1993 Law No. 931-XII on introducing the Latin-based Uzbek alphabet. The official text is published on lex.uz.

Article 4 of the law states (translated from Uzbek):

"This Law enters into force six months after the day of its official publication."

Which letters changed

Current	New	Example
Oʻ oʻ	Ö ö	oʻzbek → özbek
Gʻ gʻ	Ğ ğ	bogʻ → boğ
Sh sh	Ş ş	shahar → şahar
Ch ch	Ç ç	choy → çoy

All other letters stay the same. The same sentence in both spellings:

Now: Oʻzbekiston — goʻzal oʻlka, shaharlari choyxonalari bilan mashhur.
New: Özbekiston — gözal ölka, şaharlari çoyxonalari bilan maşhur.

The full new alphabet

Article 1 of the law lists the letters in this order:

A, B, D, E, F, G, Ğ, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, Ö, P, Q, R, S, Ş, Ç, T, U, V, X, Y, Z plus the tutuq sign ʼ.

That is 28 letters. The current alphabet has 26 letters and 3 letter combinations (sh, ch, ng).

What happens to Ng and the apostrophe

Ng. No longer a separate unit of the alphabet. Gazeta.uz gives two reasons: it is a combination of two letters, and it never starts an Uzbek word. It is still written in words like tong, ming and keng; its rules are set by the spelling rules.

The tutuq sign (ʼ). Stays. It is still used in words like maʼno, taʼlim and sheʼr — the latter becomes şeʼr, because only the sh changes.

Why the alphabet changed

The official reasons were given in parliament:

Typing effort. According to Senator Odiljon Mamatkarimov, typing Oʻ and Gʻ on a computer can take up to six steps, and more than 10 spelling variants of them are used in practice (Gazeta.uz).
Unicode. According to UzDaily, the main technical reason is that "oʻ" and "gʻ" have no single-character position in the Unicode standard. Systems read them as two symbols, which causes errors in payment systems, translators and dictionaries.
Search and devices. Search engines may index Uzbek content incompletely because of these encoding differences (Gazeta.uz).
Sh/Ch ambiguity. When the same letters meet, reading and writing get harder — for example in names like Is'hoq.

Ö, Ğ, Ş and Ç are already used in other languages, so every modern keyboard layout and font supports them.

Documents, passports and money

Under Article 2, the old letter forms in documents, national currency and securities issued before the law takes effect do not affect their validity:

You don't need to replace your passport or ID
Banknotes and securities in circulation stay valid
State symbols, signboards and place-name plates can stay until they wear out or until a set deadline

The transition period

The Cabinet of Ministers must draft and approve an implementation programme within two months (Article 3).
Textbooks. According to Daryo, school textbooks are planned to fully switch by 2031. That date is not in the law; the exact schedule is expected in the Cabinet's programme.

How to type Ö, Ğ, Ş, Ç

Most keyboards have no dedicated keys yet. Three options:

UzbekType's practice mode. In the new alphabet test, type the old way: o' → ö, g' → ğ, sh → ş, ch → ç are swapped automatically.
On a computer. The Turkish Q keyboard layout has keys for Ö, Ğ, Ş and Ç.
On a phone. Many keyboards show extra characters when you hold a letter — for example, hold o to pick ö.

To convert existing text, use the converter on the same page.

Common misconceptions

"The new alphabet is already in force." No. 7 July 2026 is only when the Legislative Chamber adopted it. It takes effect on 22 April 2027.
"The apostrophe was removed entirely." No. Only the mark in Oʻ and Gʻ goes away; the tutuq sign (ʼ) stays.
"Old passports become invalid." No. Article 2 explicitly rules that out.
"Ng disappears from words." No. It is no longer a letter of the alphabet, but tong and ming are spelled as before.

Frequently asked questions

When does the new Uzbek alphabet take effect?

On 22 April 2027 — six months after the law's official publication.

How many letters does the new alphabet have?

28 letters and 1 tutuq sign.

Which letters changed?

Oʻ → Ö, Gʻ → Ğ, Sh → Ş, Ch → Ç. The rest stay the same.

Do I need a new passport?

No. Documents in the old alphabet remain valid.

Where can I practise typing the new alphabet?

On UzbekType's new alphabet typing test — free, no sign-up.

Sources

Summary

The new Uzbek alphabet has 28 letters plus the tutuq sign. Four multi-character letters (Oʻ, Gʻ, Sh, Ch) become the single characters Ö, Ğ, Ş, Ç. The law takes effect on 22 April 2027, and old documents stay valid.

Get ready early: [try typing in the new alphabet now →](/en/yangi-alifbo)