Kyrgyz language 84933 225176866 2008-07-12T08:30:35Z Mohsenkazempur 7236020 {{language |name=Kyrgyz |nativename={{lang|ky|кыргыз тили}}, قىرعىز ٴتىلى |region=[[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Pakistan]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Xinjiang]] ([[China]]) |speakers=3,136,733 (1993) |familycolor=Altaic |fam1=[[Altaic languages|Altaic]]<ref>"[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=90009] Ethnologue"</ref> ([[Altaic language#Controversy|controversial]]) |fam2=[[Turkic languages|Turkic]] |fam3=Eastern Turkic |fam3=[[Kyrgyz-Altay group]]<br>or [[Kyrgyz-Kypchak group]] |nation=[[Kyrgyzstan]] |iso1=ky|iso2=kir|iso3=kir}} '''Kyrgyz''' or '''Kirghiz''' (Кыргыз тили, ''Kyrgyz tili'', قىرعىز ٴتىلى) is a [[Turkic languages|Turkic language]], and, together with [[Russian language|Russian]], an official language of [[Kyrgyzstan]]. It is most closely related to [[Altay language|Altay]], and more distantly so to [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]]. Kyrgyz is spoken by about 4 million people in [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[China]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Turkey]] (Asia), [[Uzbekistan]], [[Pakistan]] ([[Chitral District|Chitral]]) and [[Russia]]. Kyrgyz is written in modified [[Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic]] (Kyrgyzstan) and modified [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]] ([[China]]) scripts. A [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] script was used between [[1928]] and [[1940]] in Kyrgyzstan. After Kyrgyzstan gained independence in [[1991]], there was a popular idea among some of the Kyrgyz politicians to return Kyrgyz language back to the [[Latin alphabet]], but this plan has never been implemented. ==History== {{Unreferencedsection|date=November 2007}} === Pre-historic roots=== {{mergeto|Haplogroup_R1a#Distribution_Overview|Talk:Kyrgyz_language#Pre-historic roots|date=December 2007}} 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 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 their 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. The forebears of the present-day Kyrgyz are believed by some to have been either southern Samoyed or Yeniseyan tribes who came into contact with Turkic culture after they conquered the Uygurs and settled the Orkhon area, site of the oldest recorded Turkic language, in the [[ninth century]]. The discovery of the [[Pazyryk]] and [[Tashtyk culture]]s show them as a blend of Turkic and Iranian nomadic tribes. Chinese and Muslim sources of the 7th–12th centuries AD describe the Kyrgyz as red-haired with fair complexion and green (blue) eyes. The descent of the [[Kyrgyz]] from the autochthonous [[Siberian]] population is confirmed on the other hand by the recent genetic studies<ref>[http://hpgl.stanford.edu/publications/PNAS_2001_v98_p10244.pdf The Eurasian Heartland: A continental perspective on Y-chromosome diversity (pdf)]</ref>. Remarkably, 63% of the modern Kyrgyz men share [[Haplogroup R1a1 (Y-DNA)]] with [[Tajiks]] (64%), [[Ukrainians]] (54%), [[Poles]] (56%) and even [[Icelanders]] (25%). [[Haplogroup R1a1 (Y-DNA)]] is believed to be a marker of the [[Proto-Indo-European language]] speakers. This might explain the reportedly fair complexion and green or blue eyes of early Kyrgyz. If descended from the Samoyed tribes of [[Siberia]], the Kyrgyz would have spoken a language in the [[Uralic]] linguistic subfamily when they arrived in the Orkhon region; if descended from Yeniseyan tribes, they would have descended from a people of the same name who began to move into the area of present-day Kyrgyzstan from the [[Yenisey River]] region of central Siberia in the [[tenth century]], after the Kyrgyz conquest of the Uygurs to the east in the preceding century. However, ethnographers dispute the Yeniseyan origin theory because of the very close cultural and linguistic connections between the Kyrgyz and the Kazaks. However, the earliest descriptions of the Kyrgyz in Chinese sources say they have 'red hair and green eyes', typical characteristics of caucasoid Indo-European speaking people of that time, many of whom still lived in Central Eurasia. Moreover, there does not seem to be any specifically linguistic reason to connect the Kyrgyz with either the Uralic or the Yeniseyan language families. It is uncertain if the Kyrgyz of modern times are actually the direct descendants of the early medieval Kyrgyz. === Colonisation === In the period of tsarist administration (1876-1917), the Kazaks and the Kyrgyz both were called Kyrgyz, with what are now the Kyrgyz subdenominated when necessary as Kara-Kyrgyz "black Kyrgyz" (Turkic groups often used colour terms to show division of the same group based on geography; black referred to southern groups{{Facts|date=November 2007}}). Although the Kyrgyz language is genetically part of the same branch as Altay and other languages to the northeast of Kyrgyzstan, due to convergence with Kazak in recent times the modern language is somewhat similar to Kazak and both are sometimes considered to be part of the [[Nogai]] group of the [[Kipchak]] division of the Turkic languages. Nevertheless, despite the Kazak influence, Kyrgyz remains much closer to Altay than to Kazak. The modern Kyrgyz language did not have a standard written form until 1923, at which time an [[Arabic-based alphabet]] was introduced. That was changed to a [[Latin-based alphabet]], developed by [[Kasym Tynystanov]] in 1928 and to a [[Cyrillic]]-based one 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 [[Republics of the Soviet Union|Soviet republic]]s, perhaps because the Kyrgyz Cyrillic alphabet is relatively simple and is particularly well-suited to the language. === Post-Soviet dynamics === One important difference between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan is that the Kyrgyz people's mastery of their own language is almost universal, whereas the linguistic phase of national identity is not as clear in the much larger area and population of Kazakhstan. As in Kazakhstan, mastery of the "titular" language among the resident Europeans of Kyrgyzstan is very rare. In the early 1990s, the [[Askar Akayev|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== ===Vowels=== {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! rowspan=2| !colspan=2 | [[Front vowel|Front]] !colspan=2 | [[Back vowel|Back]] |- style="vertical-align: center; font-size: x-small; height: 3em" !unrounded !rounded !unrounded !rounded |- ![[Close vowel|Close]] |{{IPA|i}} |{{IPA|y}} |{{IPA|ɯ}} |{{IPA|u}} |- ![[Mid vowel|Mid]] |{{IPA|e}} |{{IPA|ø}} | |{{IPA|o}} |- ![[Open vowel|Open]] | | |{{IPA|ɑ}} |- |} ===Consonants=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! ![[Labial consonant|Labial]] ![[dental consonant|Dental/<br>alveolar]] ![[postalveolar consonant|Post-<br>alveolar]] ![[palatal consonant|Palatal]] ![[velar consonant|Velar]]/<br>[[uvular consonant|Uvular]] |- ![[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] |{{IPA|m}} |{{IPA|n}} | | |{{IPA|ŋ}}/{{IPA|ɴ}} |- ![[Plosive consonant|Plosive]] |{{IPA|p b}} |{{IPA|t d}} | | |{{IPA|k/q g/ʁ}} |- ![[Affricate consonant|Affricate]] | | |{{IPA|tʃ dʒ}} | | |- ![[Fricative consonant|Fricative]] |{{IPA|f v}} |{{IPA|s z}} |{{IPA|ʃ}} | | |- ![[Lateral consonant|Lateral]] | |{{IPA|l}}/{{IPA|ɫ}} | | | |- ![[Trill consonant|Trill]] | |{{IPA|r}} | | | |- ![[Approximant consonant|Approximant]] | | | |{{IPA|j}} | |- |} The consonant phonemes /k/, /g/, and /ŋ/ have uvular realisations ([q], [ɢ], and [ɴ] respectively) in back vowel contexts (before back vowels). In front-vowel environments, /g/ is fricativised between continuants (to [ɣ]), and in back vowel environments both /k/ and /g/ fricativise (to [χ] and [ʁ] respectively). Additionally, the liquid /l/ is realised as a dorsal /ɫ/ in back vowel contexts. Other consonants have slightly different realisations in front- versus back-vowel contexts and when between continuants or not, but these are the clearest examples. === Desonorisation and devoicing === In Kyrgyz, suffixes beginning with /n/ show desonorisation of the /n/ to [d] after consonants (including /j/), and devoicing to [t] after voiceless consonants; e.g. the definite accusative suffix -NI patterns like this: кеме'''ни''' ''the boat'', ай'''ды''' ''the month'', тор'''ду''' ''the net'', кол'''ду''' ''the hand'', таң'''ды''' ''the dawn'', көз'''дү''' ''the eye'', баш'''ты''' ''the head''. Suffixes beginning with /l/ also show desonorisation and devoicing, though only after consonants of equal or lower sonority than /l/, e.g. the plural suffix -LAr patterns like this: кеме'''лер''' ''boats'', ай'''лар''' ''months'', тор'''лор''' ''nets'', кол'''дор''' ''hands'', таң'''дар''' ''dawns'', көз'''дөр''' ''eyes'', баш'''тар''' ''heads''. Other /l/-initial suffixes, such as -LA, a denominal verbal suffix, and -LUU, a denominal adjectival suffix, may surface either with /l/ or /d/ after /r/; e.g. тор'''до'''-/тор'''ло'''- ''to net/weave'', түр'''дүү'''/түр'''лүү''' ''various''. See [[#Case|the section below on case]] for more examples. ==Writing system== {{main|Kyrgyz alphabet}} The Kyrgyz in [[Kyrgyzstan]] use a modified Cyrillic alphabet which uses all the Russian letters as well as these additions: ң, ү, ө {| class="wikitable" |- !Letter ! Name ! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] !Letter ! Name ! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] |- | А а | а | {{IPA|/a/}} | П п | пe | {{IPA|/p/}} |- | Б б | бе | {{IPA|/b/}}, [w], [v] | Р р | эр | {{IPA|/r/}} |- | В в | ве | {{IPA|/v/}} | С с | эс | {{IPA|/s/}} |- | Г г | ге | {{IPA|/g/}}, [ʁ] | Т т | те | {{IPA|/t/}} |- | Д д | де | {{IPA|/d/}} | У у | у | {{IPA|/u/}} |- | Е е | e | {{IPA|/je/, /e/}} | Ү ү | ү | {{IPA|/y/}} |- | Ё ё | ё | {{IPA|/jo/}} | Ф ф | эф | {{IPA|/ɸ/}} |- | Ж ж | же | {{IPA|/dʒ/}} | Х х | ха | {{IPA|/χ/}} (=/k/) |- | З з | зе | {{IPA|/z/}} | Ц ц | це | {{IPA|/ts/}} |- | И и | и | {{IPA|/i/}} | Ч ч | че | {{IPA|/tʃ/}} |- | Й й | й | {{IPA|/j/}} | Ш ш | ша | {{IPA|/ʃ/}} |- | К к | кa | {{IPA|/k/}}, [q], [χ] | Щ щ | ща | {{IPA|/ʃtʃ/}} |- | Л л | эл | {{IPA|/l/}}, [ɫ] | Ъ ъ | ажыратуу белгиси | (no phonemic value; only found in borrowings) |- | М м | эм | {{IPA|/n/}} | Ы ы | ы | {{IPA|/ɯ/}} |- | Н н | эн | {{IPA|/n/}} | Ь ь | ичкертүү белгиси | (no phonemic value; only found in borrowings) |- | Ң ң | ың | {{IPA|/ŋ/}}, [ɴ] | Э э | э | {{IPA|/e/}} |- | О о | о | {{IPA|/o/}} | Ю ю | ю | {{IPA|/ju/}} |- | Ө ө | ө | {{IPA|/ø/}} | Я я | я | {{IPA|/ja/}} |} In [[Xinjiang]], a modified [[Arabic alphabet]] is used. ==Morphology and Syntax== {{Unreferencedsection|date=January 2008}} ===Case=== Nouns in Kyrgyz take a number of [[declension|case]] endings that change based on vowel harmony and the sort of [[consonant]] they follow (see [[#Phonology|the section on phonology]]). {|class="wikitable" !Case !Underlying form !Possible forms !"''boat''"||"''air''"||"''bucket''"||"''hand''"||"''head''"||"''salt''"||"''eye''" |- !Nominative |colspan="2" align="center" | — |кеме||аба||челек||кол||баш||туз||көз |- !Genitive | -NIn | -нын, -нин, -дын, -дин, -тын, -тин, -нун, -нүн, -дун, -дүн, -тун, -түн |кеме'''нин''' ||аба'''нын''' ||челек'''тин''' ||кол'''дун''' ||баш'''тын''' ||туз'''дун''' ||көз'''дүн''' |-\ !Dative | -GA | -га, -ка, -ге, -ке, -го, -ко, -гө, -кө |кеме'''ге''' ||аба'''га''' ||челек'''ке''' ||кол'''го''' ||баш'''ка''' ||туз'''га''' ||көз'''гө''' |- !Accusative | -NI | -ны, -ни, -ды, -ди, -ты, -ти, -ну, -нү, -ду, -дү, -ту, -тү |кеме'''ни''' ||аба'''ны''' ||челек'''ти''' ||кол'''ду''' ||баш'''ты''' ||туз'''ду''' ||көз'''дү''' |- !Locative | -DA | -да, -де, -та, -те, -до, -дө, -то, -тө |кеме'''де''' ||аба'''да''' ||челек'''те''' ||кол'''до''' ||баш'''та''' ||туз'''да''' ||көз'''дө''' |- !Ablative | -DAn | -дан, -ден, -тан, -тен, -дон, -дөн, -тон, -төн |кеме'''ден''' ||аба'''дан''' ||челек'''тен''' ||кол'''дон''' ||баш'''тан''' ||туз'''дан''' ||көз'''дөн''' |} Normally the decision between the [[velar consonant|velar]] ([{{IPA|g}}], [{{IPA|k}}]) and [[uvular consonant|uvular]] ([{{IPA|ʀ}}] and [{{IPA|q}}]) pronunciation of /г/ and /к/ is based on the backness of the following vowel—i.e. [[back vowel]]s imply a uvular rendering and [[front vowel]]s 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 /{{IPA|bankka}}/, not /{{IPA|bankqa}}/ as predicted by the following vowel. === Pronouns === Kyrgyz has eight personal pronouns: {|class="wikitable" |+Personal pronouns !colspan="2"|Singular !colspan="2"|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. {|class="wikitable" |+Declension of pronouns !| !colspan="4"|Singular !colspan="4"|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. {|class="wikitable" |+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 |} === Relative Clauses === To form [[relative clause]]s, Kyrgyz nominalises verb phrases. For example, "I don't know what I saw" would be rendered as "Мен эмнени көргөнүмдү билбейм": 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." 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== {{InterWiki|code=ky}} *[[Kyrgyz]] *[[Romanization of Kyrgyz]] ==External links== *[http://jnw.name/papers/2006wi-kgvowels.pdf Root Vowels and Affix Vowels: Height Effects in Kyrgyz Vowel Harmony] *[http://www.intorussian.com/kyrgyzwiki/index.php?title=Main_Page Kyrgyz Wiki] *[http://www.jica.go.jp/branch/hiro/jigyo/pdf/study_kyr.pdf Kyrgyz exercises] (in Japanese) *[http://www.sras.org/english_kyrgyz_phrasebook The Talking Kyrgyz Phrasebook] *[http://kyrgyz.lugovsa.net/index.htm Кыргыз тили] - Kyrgyz language resources (in Russian) ==References== {{reflist}} ==Sources== * 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." 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