# Kyrgyz language

Kyrgyz 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 north-eastern Afghanistan and northern 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, 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 languages on its territory. 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.

## 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.
Language should not be confused with Old Kyrgyz (Yenisei Kyrgyz) language which classified as a member of the South Siberian branch of Turkic languages. The successor of the Yenisei Kyrgyz language today are the Khakas in Russian Federation and Fuyu Kyrgyz in Northeastern China.

## History

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 Uyghur.

## Dialects

Kyrgyz is divided into two main dialects, Northern and Southern. Northern having more Mongolian loanwords and Southern having more Uzbek ones. Standard Kyrgyz is based on Northern Kyrgyz. There is also a third smaller dialect called Pamiri Kyrgyz.

## Phonology

Kyrgyz vowel phonemes :
| | Front | Front | Back | 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/. In most dialects, its status as a vowel distinct from /ɑ/ is questionable.
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 (э) | и | Straight Across Left-Right Shift |
| ө | 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 Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyz consonant phonemes :
| | | Labial | Dental/ alveolar | Post- alveolar | Dorsal |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | | ŋ |
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | | k |
| Plosive | voiced | b | d | | ɡ |
| Affricate | voiceless | | t͡s | t͡ʃ | |
| Affricate | voiced | | | d͡ʒ | |
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | x |
| Fricative | voiced | v | z | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | | l | | j |
| Trill | Trill | | r | | |
* 1 2 3 4 /f, v, t͡s, x/ occur only in foreign borrowings from Russian, Arabic and English.

## Lexicon

Kyrgyz has spent centuries in contact with numerous other languages, and as such has borrowed extensively from them. These languages include: Uzbek, Oirat, Mongolian, Russian, and Arabic.

## Orthography

Historically the Old Turkic Script was the first script used to write Kyrgyz.
The Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan use a Cyrillic alphabet, which uses all the Russian letters plus ң, ө and ү. Though in the Xinjiang region 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. There are political shades to the Cyrillic-Latin debate. In April 2023, Russia suspended dairy exports to Kyrgyzstan after a proposal by the chairman of Kyrgyzstan's National Commission for the State Language and Language Policies, Kanybek Osmonaliev, to change the alphabet from Cyrillic to Latin to bring the country in line with other Turkic nations. Osmonaliev was reprimanded by President Sadyr Japarov, who later clarified that Kyrgyzstan had no plans to replace the Cyrillic alphabet.
Comparison of Kyrgyz alphabets :
| Cyrillic | Braille | Arabic | Latin (1928–⁠1938) |
| А а | ⠁ | ا | A a |
| Б б | ⠃ | ب | B ʙ |
| В в | ⠺ | ۋ | V v |
| Г г | ⠛ | گ ع* | G g, Ƣ ƣ |
| Д д | ⠙ | د | D d |
| Е е | ⠑ | ە | E e |
| Ё ё | ⠡ | ي+و(يو) | Jo jo |
| Ж ж | ⠚ | ج | Cc (Ƶ ƶ from 1938) |
| З з | ⠵ | ز | Z z |
| И и | ⠊ | ئ | I i |
| Й й | ⠯ | ي | J j |
| К к | ⠅ | ك ق* | K k, Q q |
| Л л | ⠇ | ل | L l |
| М м | ⠍ | م | M m |
| Н н | ⠝ | ن | N n |
| Ң ң | ⠽ | ڭ | Ꞑ ꞑ |
| О о | ⠕ | و | O o |
| Ө ө | ⠌ | ۅ | Ɵ ɵ |
| П п | ⠏ | پ | P p |
| Р р | ⠗ | ر | R r |
| С с | ⠎ | س | S s |
| Т т | ⠞ | ت | T t |
| У у | ⠥ | ۇ | U u |
| Ү ү | ⠧ | ۉ | Y y |
| Ф ф | ⠋ | ف | F f |
| Х х | ⠓ | ح | H h |
| Ц ц | ⠉ | (ت+س (تس | Ts ts |
| Ч ч | ⠟ | چ | Ç ç |
| Ш ш | ⠱ | ش | Ş ş |
| Щ щ | ⠭ | - | ŞÇ şç |
| Ъ ъ | ⠷ | - | - |
| Ы ы | ⠮ | ى | Ь ь |
| Ь ь | ⠾ | - | - |
| Э э | ⠪ | ە | E e |
| Ю ю | ⠳ | ي+ۇ(يۇ) | Ju ju |
| Я я | ⠫ | ي+ا(يا) | Ja ja |

## Morphology and syntax

Kyrgyz follows a subject-object-verb word order, Kyrgyz also has no grammatical gender with gender being implied through context. Kyrgyz lacks several analytic grammatical features that english has, these include: auxiliary verbs (ex: to have), definite articles (ex: the), indefinite articles (ex: a/an), and modal verbs (ex: should; will), dependent clauses, and subordinating conjugations (ex: that; before; while). Kyrgyz instead replaces these with various synthetic grammatical substutes.

### 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 |
| 1st person | 1st person | Мен (Men) | Биз (Biz) |
| 2nd person | informal | Сен (Sen) | Силер (Siler) |
| 2nd person | formal | Сиз (Siz) | Сиздер (Sizder) |
| 3rd person | 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 | Singular | Singular | Singular | Plural | Plural | Plural | Plural |
| | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd |
| | 1st | informal | formal | 3rd | 1st | informal | formal | 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 | 1st sg | мен | -mIn | -mIn | -(I)m | -(I)m | -AyIN |
| 2nd sg | informal | сен | -sIŋ | -sIŋ | -(I)ŋ | -(I)ŋ | —, -GIn |
| 2nd sg | formal | сиз | -sIz | -sIz | -(I)ŋIz | -(I)ŋIz | -GIlA |
| 3rd sg | 3rd sg | ал | — | -t | -(s)I(n) | — | -sIn |
| 1st pl | 1st pl | биз | -BIz | -BIz | -(I)bIz | -(I)K | -AyIK |
| 2nd pl | informal | силер | -sIŋAr | -sIŋAr | -(I)ŋAr | -(I)ŋAr | |
| 2nd pl | formal | сиздер | -sIzdAr | -sIzdAr | -(I)ŋIzdAr | -(I)nIzdAr | |
| 3rd pl | 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 | 1st sg | Мен | -м | -м |
| 2nd pl | informal | Сен | -йс<ң | -йс<ң |
| 2nd pl | formal | Сиз | -йс<з | -йс<з |
| 3rd sg | 3rd sg | Ал | -йт | -йт |
| 1st pl | 1st pl | Биз | -йб>з | -<б>з |
| 2nd pl | informal | Силер | | |
| 2nd pl | formal | Сиздер | | |
| 3rd pl | 3rd pl | Алар | | |

#### Subordinate clauses

To form complement clauses, Kyrgyz nominalises verb phrases. For example, "I don't know what I saw" would be:
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), болор). Relativised verb forms may, and often do, take nominal possessive endings as well as case endings.

## Sample text

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

### Cyrillic script

    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.

### Arabic script

    باردىق ادامدار ۅز بەدەلينده جانا وُقوُقتارىندا ەرکین جانا تەڭ ۇقۇقتۇۇ بولۇپ جارالات. الاردىن اڭ-سەزیمی مەنەن ابئییری بار جانا بئرى-بئرینه بئر توُوُعاندىق مامئلە قىلوُوُعا تئییش.

### Latin script

    Bardyk adamdar öz bedelinde jana ukuktarynda erkin jana teng ukuktuu bolup jaralat. Alardyn ang-sezimi menen abiiri bar jana biri-birine bir tuugandyk mamile kyluuga tiish.

### IPA transcription

    [bɑɾˈdɯq ɑdɑmˈdɑɾ øz bedelɪnˈde d͡ʒɑˈnɑ uquqtɑɾɯnˈdɑ eɾˈkin d͡ʒɑˈnɑ teŋ uquqˈtuː boˈɫup d͡ʒɑɾɑˈɫɑt ‖ ɑɫɑɾˈdɯn ɑɴ‿seziˈmi meˈnen ɑβijiˈɾi bɑr d͡ʒɑˈnɑ biɾi‿βiɾiˈne biɾ tuːʁɑnˈdɯq mamiˈle qɯɫuːˈʁɑ tiˈjiɕ ‖]

### English translation

    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.