In a post from 2011 titled ‘Uzbek, “the penguin of Turkic languages”’ by Asya Pereltsvaig29 Uzbek is described as the ‘odd man out’ among the four major Turkic languages in Central Asia (Kazakh, Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Turkmen)30 and ‘the least Turkic-like of the Central Asian Turkic languages’ because ‘In Standard Uzbek . . . vowel harmony does not apply, and the front/back distinctions are not maintained [at all]’.
