Kyrgyz language

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
Кыргыз тили, قیرغیزچا
Kyrgyz in Cyrillic and Arabic scripts.
Pronunciation[qɯɾʁɯzˈtʃɑ]
Native toKyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Xinjiang
EthnicityKyrgyz
Native speakers
4.5 million (2009 census)[1]
Turkic
  • Common Turkic
    • Kipchak
      • Kyrgyz–Kipchak
        • Kyrgyz
Kyrgyz alphabets (Cyrillic script, Perso-Arabic script, Kyrgyz Braille)
Official status
Official language in
Kyrgyzstan

China

  • Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture
Organisations:
  • Organization of Turkic States
    Collective Security Treaty Organization
Language codes
ISO 639-1ky
ISO 639-2kir
ISO 639-3kir
Glottologkirg1245
Linguasphere44-AAB-cd

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. 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
Kyrgyz vowel phonemes[6]
Front Back
unroundedrounded unroundedrounded
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]

Vowel Harmony (Peace Corps Method)
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.

Kyrgyz consonant phonemes[9]
Labial Dental/
alveolar		 Post-
alveolar		 Dorsal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b d ɡ
Affricate voiceless t͡s[lower-alpha 1] t͡ʃ
voiced d͡ʒ
Fricative voiceless f[lower-alpha 1] s ʃ x[lower-alpha 1]
voiced v[lower-alpha 1] z
Approximant l j
Trill r
  1. /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 tijiʃAll 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 — кемеабачелекколбаштузкөз
Genitive -NIn -нын, -нин, -дын, -дин, -тын, -тин, -нун, -нүн, -дун, -дүн, -тун, -түн кеменинабанынчелектинколдунбаштынтуздункөздүн
Dative -GA -га, -ка, -ге, -ке, -го, -ко, -гө, -кө кемегеабагачелеккеколгобашкатузгакөзгө
Accusative -NI -ны, -ни, -ды, -ди, -ты, -ти, -ну, -нү, -ду, -дү, -ту, -тү кемениабанычелектиколдубаштытуздукөздү
Locative -DA -да, -де, -та, -те, -до, -дө, -то, -тө кемедеабадачелектеколдобаштатуздакөздө
Ablative -DAn -дан, -ден, -тан, -тен, -дон, -дөн, -тон, -төн кемеденабаданчелектенколдонбаштантузданкөздөн

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:

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.

Declension of pronouns
Singular Plural
1st2nd inf2nd frm3rd1st2nd inf2nd frm3rd
Nom менсенсизалбизсилерсиздералар
Acc менисенисиздианыбиздисилердисиздердиаларды
Gen менинсенинсиздинанынбиздинсилердинсиздердиналардын
Dat магасагасизгеагабизгесилергесиздергеаларга
Loc мендесендесиздеандабиздесилердесиздердеаларда
Abl менденсенденсизденанданбизденсилерденсиздерденалардан

In addition to the pronouns, there are several more sets of morphemes dealing with person.

Morphemes indicating person
pronounscopulaspresent tensepossessive endingspast/conditionalimperative
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.

Simple-Present Tense Conjugations (Peace Corps)
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

Мен эмнени көргөнүмдү билбейм

Men emneni körgönümdü bilbeym

I what-ACC.DEF see-ing-1SG-ACC.DEF 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
  1. Kyrgyz at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. "Kyrgyz".
  3. 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.
  4. Altynbayev, By Kanat. "Kyrgyzstan considers switch to Latin alphabet from Cyrillic". Caravanserai. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  5. "Glottolog 4.3 - Kirghiz". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  6. Kara (2003:10)
  7. Washington (2007:11)
  8. Washington (2006b:2)
  9. Kara (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
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