Kyrgyz language

Not to be confused with Fuyu Kyrgyz language.

Кyrgyz
кыргызча/قىرعىزچا,kyrgyzcha or кыргыз тили/قىرعىز تىلى,kyrgyz tili
Pronunciation	[qɯɾʁɯzʧɑ], [qɯɾʁɯz tili]
Region	Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Xinjiang (China), Tajikistan, Russia, Pakistan
Native speakers	4.3 million (2009 census)
Language family	Turkic Kipchak Kyrgyz–Kipchak Кyrgyz
Writing system	Kyrgyz alphabets (Cyrillic script, Perso-Arabic script, formerly Latin, Kyrgyz Braille)
Official status
Official language in	Kyrgyzstan
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ky
ISO 639-2	kir
ISO 639-3	kir
Glottolog	kirg1245

Kyrgyz or Kirghiz /kɪərˈɡiːz/ (natively кыргызча/قىرعىزچا, pronounced [qɯɾʁɯzʧɑ] or кыргыз тили/قىرعىز تىلى, pronounced [qɯɾʁɯz tili]) is a Turkic language spoken by about four million people in Kyrgyzstan as well as China, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Russia. Kyrgyz is a member of the Kyrgyz–Kipchak subgroup of the Kypchak languages, and modern-day language convergence has resulted in an increasing degree of mutual intelligibility between Kyrgyz and Kazakh.

Kyrgyz was originally written in the Turkic runes, gradually replaced by an Arabic alphabet (in use until 1928 in USSR, still in use in China). Between 1928 and 1940, the Latin-based Uniform Turkic Alphabet was used. In 1940 due to general Soviet policy, a Cyrillic alphabet eventually became common and has remained so to this day, though some Kyrgyz still use the Arabic alphabet. When Kyrgyzstan became independent following the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, there was a popular idea among some Kyrgyz people to make transition to the Latin alphabet (taking in mind a version closer to the Turkish alphabet, not the original alphabet of 1928–1940), but the plan has not been implemented yet.

History

Pre-historic roots

The first people known certainly by the name Kyrgyz are mentioned in early medieval Chinese sources as northern neighbors and sometime subjects of the Turkic steppe empire based in the area of Mongolia. The Kyrgyz people were involved in the international trade route system popularly known as the Silk Road no later than the late eighth century. By the time of the destruction of the Uighur Empire in 840 CE, they spoke a Turkic language little different from Old Turkic, and wrote it in the same runic script. After their victory over the Uyghurs the Kyrgyz did not occupy the Mongolian steppe, and their history for several centuries after this period is little known, though they are mentioned in medieval geographical works as living not far from their present location.

Colonization

In the period of tsarist administration (1876–1917), the Kazakhs and the Kyrgyz both were called Kyrgyz, with what are now the Kyrgyz subdenominated when necessary as Kara-Kyrgyz "black Kyrgyz" (alternatively known as "The Great Kyrgyz").The modern Kyrgyz language did not have a standard written form until 1923, at which time an Arabic alphabet was introduced. That was changed to a Latin alphabet, developed by Kasym Tynystanov in 1928 and to a Cyrillic alphabet in 1940. In the years immediately following independence, another change of alphabet was discussed, but the issue does not seem to generate the same passions in Kyrgyzstan that it does in other former Soviet republics, perhaps because the Kyrgyz Cyrillic alphabet is relatively simple and is particularly well-suited to the language. Josip Broz Tito learned to speak Kyrgyz perfectly.

Post-Soviet dynamics

In the early 1990s, the Akayev government pursued an aggressive policy of introducing Kyrgyz as the official language, forcing the remaining European population to use Kyrgyz in most public situations. Public pressure to enforce this change was sufficiently strong that a Russian member of President Akayev's staff created a public scandal in 1992 by threatening to resign to dramatize the pressure for "Kyrgyzification" of the non-native population. A 1992 law called for the conduct of all public business to be converted fully to Kyrgyz by 1997. But in March 1996, Kyrgyzstan's parliament adopted a resolution making Russian an official language alongside Kyrgyz and marking a reversal of earlier sentiment. Substantial pressure from Russia was a strong factor in this change, which was part of a general rapprochement with Russia urged by Akayev.

Phonology

Main article: Kyrgyz phonology

Kyrgyz vowel phonemes

	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/. Note that in most dialects, its status as a vowel distinct from /ɑ/ is questionable.

Kyrgyz consonant phonemes

		Labial	Dental/ alveolar	Post- alveolar	Dorsal
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k
	voiced	b	d		ɡ
Affricate	voiceless		(t͡s)	t͡ʃ
	voiced			d͡ʒ
Fricative	voiceless	(f)	s	ʃ	(x)
	voiced	(v)	z
Approximant			l		j
Trill			r

• /f, v, t͡s, x/ occur only in foreign borrowings.

Writing system

Main article: Kyrgyz alphabet

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.

Cyrillic	Arabic	Transliteration	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.	باردىق ادامدار ۅز بەدەلىندە جانا ۇقۇقتارىندا ەركىن جانا تەڭ ۇقۇقتۇۇ بولۇپ جارالات.۔ الاردىن اڭ-سەزىمى مەنەن ابئيىرى بار جانا بئرى-بئرىنە بئر تۇۇعاندىق مامئلە قىلۇۇعا تئيىش.	Bardyk adamdar öz bedelinde jana ukuktarynda erkin jana teng ukuktuu bolup jaralat. Alardyn ang-sezimi menen abiyiri bar jana biri-birine bir tuugandyk mamile kyluuga tiyish.	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:

Personal pronouns

Singular		Plural
Kyrgyz (transliteration)	English	Kyrgyz (transliteration)	English
Мен (Men)	I	Биз (Biz)	We
Сен (Sen)	You (singular informal)	Силер (Siler)	You (plural informal)
Сиз (Siz)	You (singular formal)	Сиздер (Sizder)	You (plural formal)
Ал (Al)	He/She/It	Алар (Alar)	They

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
	1st	2nd inf	2nd frm	3rd	1sg	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.

Morphemes indicating person

	pronouns	copulas	present tense	possessive endings	past/conditional	imperative
1st sg	мен	-mIn	-mIn	-(I)m	-(I)m	-AyIN
2nd sg	сен	-sIŋ	-sIŋ	-(I)ŋ	-(I)ŋ	—, -GIn
2nd formal sg	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	силер	-sIŋAr	-sIŋAr	-(I)ŋAr	-(I)ŋAr
2nd formal pl	сиздер	-sIzdAr	-sIzdAr	-(I)ŋIzdAr	-(I)nIzdAr
3rd pl	алар	—	-(I)şAt	-(s)I(n)	—	-sIn, -IşsIn

Subordinate clauses

To form complement clauses, Kyrgyz nominalises verb phrases. For example, "I don't know what I saw" would be rendered as "Мен эмнени көргөнүмдү билбейм" (Men emneni körgönümdü bilbeym): I what-ACC.DEF see-ing-1st.SG-ACC.DEF know-NEG-1st.SG, or 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

Bibliography

• Krippes, Karl A. (1998). Kyrgyz: Kyrgyz-English/English-Kyrgyz: Glossary of Terms. Hippocrene Books, New York. ISBN 0-7818-0641-0.
• 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 92-3-103876-1).

External links

• Kyrgyz language
• Root Vowels and Affix Vowels: Height Effects in Kyrgyz Vowel Harmony
• (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