Wiki Languages: Kirghiz language (Кыргызча)
Language: Kirghiz (Kirghiz language) | Local name: Кыргызча |
Language code: ky | Display language: English (en)|
Speak area: Kyrgyzstan | Classification: Turkic |
Country: Kyrgyzstan | Second language: |
Usage: national | Wiki language for Kirghiz language |
Dictionary for Kirghiz (Кыргызча) in English
English | Kirghiz |
Кыргызча | English |
Kyrgyz | |
---|---|
Кыргыз тили, قیرغیزچا | |
Pronunciation | [qɯɾʁɯzˈtʃɑ] |
Native to | Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Xinjiang |
Ethnicity | Kyrgyz |
Native speakers | 4.5 million (2009 census)[1] |
Language family | Turkic
|
Writing system | Kyrgyz alphabets (Cyrillic script, Perso-Arabic script, Kyrgyz Braille) |
Official status | |
Official language in | Kyrgyzstan China
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 |
|
ISO 639-2 |
|
ISO 639-3 | kir |
Glottolog | kirg1245 |
Linguasphere | 44-AAB-cd |
Kyrgyz (English: /ˈkɪərɡɪzˌ kərˈɡiːz/;[2]autonym:Кыргыз тили, tr.Kyrgyz tili, [qɯɾʁɯz tili]) is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch spoken in Central Asia. Kyrgyz is the official language of Kyrgyzstan and a significant minority language in the Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, China and in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan. There is a very high level of mutual intelligibility between Kyrgyz, Kazakh, and Altay. A dialect of Kyrgyz known as Pamiri Kyrgyz is spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Kyrgyz is also spoken by many ethnic Kyrgyz through the former Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Turkey, parts of northern Pakistan, and Russia.
Kyrgyz was originally written in Göktürk script,[3] gradually replaced by the Perso-Arabic alphabet (in use until 1928 in the USSR, still in use in China). Between 1928 and 1940 a Latin-script alphabet, the Uniform Turkic Alphabet, was used. In 1940, Soviet authorities replaced the Latin script with the Cyrillic alphabet for all Turkic countries. When Kyrgyzstan became independent following the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, a plan to adopt the Latin alphabet became popular. Although the plan has not been implemented, it remains in occasional discussion.[4]
Classification
Kyrgyz is a Common Turkic language belonging to the Kipchak branch of the family. It is considered to be an East Kipchak language, forming a subfamily with the Southern Altai language within the greater Kipchak branch. Internally, Kyrgyz has three distinct varieties; Northern and Southern Kyrgyz.[5]
History
It is highly likely that the Yenisei Kyrgyz spoke a language close to modern Khakas, which belongs to the Siberian sub-branch of Common Turkic.[citation needed] In 925 when the Liao dynasty defeated the Yenisei Kyrgyz and expelled them from the Mongolian steppes, some Ancient Kyrgyz elites settled in Altai and Xinjiang where they mixed with the local Kipchaks, resulting in a language shift.
After the Mongol conquest in 1207 and a series of revolts against the Yuan dynasty, Kyrgyz-speaking tribes started to migrate to Tian Shan, which was already populated by various Turco-Mongol tribes. As Chaghatai Ulus subjects, the Kyrgyz converted to Islam. Persian and Arabic vocabulary loaned to the Kyrgyz language, but to a much lesser extent than Kazakh, Uzbek and Uighur.
Phonology
Front | Back | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |
Close | i | y | ɯ | u |
Mid | e | ø | o | |
Open | (a) | ɑ |
/a/ appears only in borrowings from Persian or when followed by a front vowel later in the word (regressive assimilation), e.g. /ajdøʃ/ 'sloping' instead of */ɑjdøʃ/.[7] Note that in most dialects, its status as a vowel distinct from /ɑ/ is questionable.[8]
Left Shift (<) | Right Shift (>) | Shift Direction |
---|---|---|
а | ы | Straight Across Left-Right Shift |
о | у | ("y" Left-shifts up-diagonally to "a") |
е | и | Straight Across Left-Right Shift |
ө (э) | ү | Straight Across Left-Right Shift |
The United States Peace Corps trains its volunteers using a "Left-Right Shift" method when carrying out language training in the Kyrgyzstan.
Labial | Dental/ alveolar | Post- alveolar | Dorsal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||
Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | |
voiced | b | d | ɡ | ||
Affricate | voiceless | t͡s[a] | t͡ʃ | ||
voiced | d͡ʒ | ||||
Fricative | voiceless | f[a] | s | ʃ | x[a] |
voiced | v[a] | z | |||
Approximant | l | j | |||
Trill | r |
- ^ abcd/f, v, t͡s, x/ occur only in foreign borrowings from Russian, Arabic and English.[9]
Writing system
The Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan use a Cyrillic alphabet, which uses all the Russian letters plus ң, ө and ү.
In Xinjiang of China, an Arabic alphabet is used.
Between 1928 and 1940 a Latin alphabet was used for many minority languages in the USSR, including Kyrgyz. There have been attempts after 1990 to introduce other Latin alphabets which are closer to the Turkish alphabet, e.g. the Common Turkic Alphabet.
Cyrillic | Perso-Arabic | Latin | IPA | English |
Бардык адамдар өз беделинде жана укуктарында эркин жана тең укуктуу болуп жаралат. Алардын аң-сезими менен абийири бар жана бири-бирине бир туугандык мамиле кылууга тийиш. | باردیق ادامدار ۅز بەدەلينده جانا وُقوُقتاریندا ەرکین جانا تهڭ ۇقۇقتۇۇ بولۇپ جارالات. الاردین اڭ-سەزیمی مەنەن ابئییری بار جانا بئرى-بئرینه بئر توُوُعاندیق مامئلە قیلوُوُغا تئییش. | Bardıq adamdar öz bedelinde jana uquqtarında erkin jana teŋ uquqtuu bolup jaralat. Alardın aŋ-sezimi menen abiyiri bar jana biri-birine bir tuuğandıq mamile qıluuğa tiyiş. | bɑrdɯq ɑdɑmdɑr øz bedelinde d͡ʒɑnɑ uquqtɑrɯndɑ erkin d͡ʒɑnɑ teŋ uquqtuː boɫup d͡ʒɑrɑɫɑt ‖ ɑɫɑrdɯn ɑɴsezimi menen ɑbijiri bɑr d͡ʒɑnɑ biribirine bir tuːʁɑndɯq mɑmile qɯɫuːʁɑ tijiʃ | All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. |
Morphology and syntax
Case
Nouns in Kyrgyz take a number of case endings that change based on vowel harmony and the sort of consonant they follow (see the section on phonology).
Case | Underlying form | Possible forms | "boat" | "air" | "bucket" | "hand" | "head" | "salt" | "eye" |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | — | кеме | аба | челек | кол | баш | туз | көз | |
Genitive | -NIn | -нын, -нин, -дын, -дин, -тын, -тин, -нун, -нүн, -дун, -дүн, -тун, -түн | кеменин | абанын | челектин | колдун | баштын | туздун | көздүн |
Dative | -GA | -га, -ка, -ге, -ке, -го, -ко, -гө, -кө | кемеге | абага | челекке | колго | башка | тузга | көзгө |
Accusative | -NI | -ны, -ни, -ды, -ди, -ты, -ти, -ну, -нү, -ду, -дү, -ту, -тү | кемени | абаны | челекти | колду | башты | тузду | көздү |
Locative | -DA | -да, -де, -та, -те, -до, -дө, -то, -тө | кемеде | абада | челекте | колдо | башта | тузда | көздө |
Ablative | -DAn | -дан, -ден, -тан, -тен, -дон, -дөн, -тон, -төн | кемеден | абадан | челектен | колдон | баштан | туздан | көздөн |
Normally the decision between the velar ([ɡ ~ ɣ], [k]) and uvular ([ɢ ~ ʁ] and [χ ~ q]) pronunciation of ⟨г⟩ and ⟨к⟩ is based on the backness of the following vowel—i.e. back vowels imply a uvular rendering and front vowels imply a velar rendering—and the vowel in suffixes is decided based on the preceding vowel in the word. However, with the dative suffix in Kyrgyz, the vowel is decided normally, but the decision between velars and uvulars can be decided based on a contacting consonant, for example банк /bank/ 'bank' + GA yields банкка /bankka/, not /bankqa/ as predicted by the following vowel.
Pronouns
Kyrgyz has eight personal pronouns:
singular | plural | ||
---|---|---|---|
1st person | Мен (Men) | Биз (Biz) | |
2nd person | informal | Сен (Sen) | Силер (Siler) |
formal | Сиз (Siz) | Сиздер (Sizder) | |
3rd person | Ал (Al) | Алар (Alar) |
The declension of the pronouns is outlined in the following chart. Singular pronouns (with the exception of сиз, which used to be plural) exhibit irregularities, while plural pronouns don't. Irregular forms are highlighted in bold.
Singular | Plural | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | 2nd inf | 2nd frm | 3rd | 1st | 2nd inf | 2nd frm | 3rd | |
Nom | мен | сен | сиз | ал | биз | силер | сиздер | алар |
Acc | мени | сени | сизди | аны | бизди | силерди | сиздерди | аларды |
Gen | менин | сенин | сиздин | анын | биздин | силердин | сиздердин | алардын |
Dat | мага | сага | сизге | ага | бизге | силерге | сиздерге | аларга |
Loc | менде | сенде | сизде | анда | бизде | силерде | сиздерде | аларда |
Abl | менден | сенден | сизден | андан | бизден | силерден | сиздерден | алардан |
In addition to the pronouns, there are several more sets of morphemes dealing with person.
pronouns | copulas | present tense | possessive endings | past/conditional | imperative | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st sg | мен | -mIn | -mIn | -(I)m | -(I)m | -AyIN | |
2nd sg | informal | сен | -sIŋ | -sIŋ | -(I)ŋ | -(I)ŋ | —, -GIn |
formal | сиз | -sIz | -sIz | -(I)ŋIz | -(I)ŋIz | -GIlA | |
3rd sg | ал | — | -t | -(s)I(n) | — | -sIn | |
1st pl | биз | -BIz | -BIz | -(I)bIz | -(I)K | -AyIK | |
2nd pl | informal | силер | -sIŋAr | -sIŋAr | -(I)ŋAr | -(I)ŋAr | |
formal | сиздер | -sIzdAr | -sIzdAr | -(I)ŋIzdAr | -(I)nIzdAr | ||
3rd pl | алар | — | -(I)şAt | -(s)I(n) | — | -sIn, -IşsIn |
Verbs
Verbs are conjugated by analyzing the root verb: 1) determine whether the end letter is a vowel or consonant 2) add appropriate suffix while following vowel-harmony/shift rules.
Per. Pronoun | Vowel | Consonant | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1st sg | Мен | -м | -м | |
2nd pl | informal | Сен | -йс<ң | -йс<ң |
formal | Сиз | -йс<з | -йс<з | |
3rd sg | Ал | -йт | -йт | |
1st pl | Биз | -йб>з | -<б>з | |
2nd pl | informal | Силер | ||
formal | Сизлер | |||
3rd pl | Алар |
Subordinate clauses
To form complement clauses, Kyrgyz nominalises verb phrases. For example, "I don't know what I saw" would be rendered as:
Мен
Men
I
эмнени
emneni
what-ACC.DEF
көргөнүмдү
körgönümdü
see-ing-1SG-ACC.DEF
билбейм
bilbeym
know-NEG-1SG
roughly "I don't know my having seen what," where the verb phrase "I saw what" is treated as a nominal object of the verb "to know."
The sentence above is also an excellent example of Kyrgyz vowel harmony; notice that all the vowel sounds are front vowels.
Several nominalisation strategies are used depending on the temporal properties of the relativised verb phrase: -GAn(dIK) for general past tense, -AAr for future/potential unrealised events, and -A turgan(dɯq) for non-perfective events are the most common. The copula has an irregular relativised form экен(дик) which may be used equivalently to forms of the verb бол- be (болгон(дук), болоор). Relativised verb forms may, and often do, take nominal possessive endings as well as case endings.
See also
- BGN/PCGN romanization of Kyrgyz
- Kyrgyz people
- Romanization of Kyrgyz
Notes and references
- ^Kyrgyz at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^"Kyrgyz".
- ^Кызласов И. Л., Рунические письменности евразийских степей (Kyzlasov I.L. Runic scripts of Eurasian steppes), Восточная литература (Eastern Literature), Moscow, 1994, pp. 80 on, ISBN 978-5-02-017741-3, with further bibliography.
- ^Altynbayev, By Kanat. "Kyrgyzstan considers switch to Latin alphabet from Cyrillic". Caravanserai. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
- ^"Glottolog 4.3 - Kirghiz". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ^Kara (2003:10)
- ^Washington (2007:11)
- ^Washington (2006b:2)
- ^ abKara (2003:11)
Bibliography
- Kara, Dávid Somfai (2003), Kyrgyz, Lincom Europa, ISBN 978-3-89586-843-6
- Krippes, Karl A. (1998). Kyrgyz: Kyrgyz-English/English-Kyrgyz: Glossary of Terms. Hippocrene Books, New York. ISBN 978-0-7818-0641-1.
- Library of Congress, Country Studies, Kyrgyzstan.
- Comrie, Bernard. 1983. The languages of the Soviet Union. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Beckwith, Christopher I. 1987/1993. "The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia." Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Tchoroev, Tyntchtykbek. 2003. The Kyrgyz.; in: The History of Civilisations of Central Asia, Vol. 5, Development in contrast: from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century /Editors: Ch. Adle and Irfan Habib. Co-editor: Karl M. Baipakov. – UNESCO Publishing. Multiple History Series. Paris. – Chapter 4, p. 109–125. (ISBN 978-92-3-103876-1).
- Washington, Jonathan North (2006b), Root Vowels and Affix Vowels: Height Effects in Kyrgyz Vowel Harmony(PDF), archived from the original(PDF) on 2007-01-13, retrieved 2007-04-12
- Washington, Jonathan North (2007), Phonetic and Phonological Problems in Kyrgyz: A Fulbrighter's plans for gathering data in the field(PDF), archived from the original(PDF) on 2016-01-13, retrieved 2015-06-29
External links
- El-Sozduk – English-Kyrgyz online dictionary, phrasebook, Android app
- [1] Ferdinand, S. & Komlósi, F. 2016. Vitality of the Kyrgyz Language in Bishkek. IJORS, 5/2, pp. 210–226.
- Kyrgyz language
- Root Vowels and Affix Vowels: Height Effects in Kyrgyz Vowel Harmony
- (in Japanese) "事前学習補助教材Кыргыз тили (キルギス語)" (Kyrgyz exercises; Archive) - Japan International Cooperation Agency
- The Talking Kyrgyz Phrasebook
- Кыргыз тили – Kyrgyz language resources (in Russian)
- Кербен Translit - Easy Kyrgyz-Cyrillic–Latin converter
- Kyrgyz Cyrillic–Arabic–Latin converter
- Kyrgyz–Russian–English Dictionary
- Kyrgyz Latin Alphabet
- Kyrgyz-Turkish Dictionary
- Kyrgyz<>Turkish dictionary (Pamukkale University)
- Russian-Kyrgyz Kyrgyz-Russian Dictionary
- Kyrgyz - Apertium