ABSTRACT
In October 1989, Uzbekistan’s Supreme Soviet adopted a law ‘On the State Language of the Uzbek SSR’. The LSL was drafted in March or April 1989, and reviewed on 18 May by Uzbekistan’s Supreme Soviet presidium; this body adopted a decree requiring publication of the draft as the beginning of a republic-wide discussion. The Law on the State Language of the Uzbek SSR consists of a preamble and thirty articles. The 21 October 1989 resolution of the Uzbekistan Supreme Soviet ‘On the Procedure for Implementing the Law “On the State Language of the UzSSR” ’ obliged the republic’s Council of Ministers to adopt a state program on the law’s realization within six months. Although Uzbekistan’s Law on the State Language is important as a legal document, it is only one of many factors affecting language processes in Uzbekistan. This chapter examines some of the constraints on fuller implementation of the LSL, in particular, on the greater use of Uzbek.
