Lesson 4

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## Consonants and consonant assimilation - melody of Kazakh language

   There are 26 consonants in Kazakh language, which can be divided in several ways.

* place of articulation (labial, alveolar, palatal, velar, uvular, glottal, etc.)
* phonation = voicing (voiced, unvoiced)
* manner of articulation (stops, fricatives, sonorants, etc.)

The main 3 groups of consonants that are important to know for learning Kazakh are:

* voiced - vocal cords vibrate during articulation
* unvoiced - vocal cords don't vibrate during articulation
* sonorants  (which are usually voiced) - continuous, non-turbulent airflow in the vocal tract (vowels are also sonorants, the difference between vowel and sonorant consonants are possibility to create syllable) - many sonorants are called approximants (i.e. vowel-like sounds)

Most unvoiced consonants are paired with their voiced equivalent (e.g. p - b, t - d, k - g).
In Kazakh there are:

* 7 sonorants: й, л, м, н, ң, р, у
* 8 voiced consonants: б, в,г, ғ, д, ж, з, һ
* 11 unvoiced consonants: к, қ, п, с, т, ф, х, ц, ч, ш, щ

### Consonant harmony / Consonant assimilation

There are 2 ways consonant assimilation work:

* forward - progressive consonant assimilation (determine suffixes)

* backward - regressice consonant assimilation (may change the last sound of a word, usually in voicing, and usually it happens without changing the spelling)

#### Progressive consonant assimilation (Ілгерінді ықпал)

The suffixes change their form depending on the last consonant of the word. Which means that letters alternate based on the phonetic properties of nearby sounds. They are adjusted depending on the following features of haromny: voicing, sonority, and backness.
Typical patterns of consonant variatioin in suffixes (don't give up, just read through, do not worry if you don't understand it fully, it will come with time and further explanations):

* **Қ (Q)** - 2-way variation: **қ (q) or к (k)** - variable backness (more back / hard - uvular *vs* more front / soft - velar )
* **Д (D)** - 2-way variation: **д (d) or т (t)** - variable voicing (voiced and its unvoiced equivalent)
* **Н (N)** - 3-way variation: **н (n), д (d), or т (t)** - all those consonants have the same backness (alveolar ), variable is voicing (voiced д, unvoiced т) and resonance, creating nasal sonorant  (nasal н) *vs* plosive (д and т) - the shape of mouth and tongue remains the same
* **М (M)** - 3-way variation: **м (m), б (b), or п (p)** - it is similar situation as above, but all consonants are more frontal than previous three - those consonants are bilablial , the consonants differ between each other in nasal sonorant  (м) *vs* plosive (п, б), and in voicing (voiced б, unvoiced п)
* **Л (L)** - 3-way variation: **л (l), д (d), or т (t)** - the same backness (alveolar ), different voicing, instead of nasality like in Н (N) - 3 way variation with н (n), we move in direction towards vowels, by creating liquid  sonorant  л (l)
* **Г (G)** - 4-way variation: **г (g), к (k), ғ (ǵ), or қ (q)** - variable voicing (voiced and its unvoiced equivalent) as well as variable backness (more back / hard - uvular *vs* more front / soft - velar )

General rules of progressive consonant assimilation:

* use suffix starting with **unvoiced consonant**, when it follow: any of 11 unvoiced consonants (к, қ, п, с, т, ф, х, ц, ч, ш, щ) or one of these 4 voiced consonants (б, в, г, д)
* use suffix starting with **voiced consonant**, when word ends with voiced **ж** or **з**
* suffixes containing sonorant or voiced consonant may follow vowel, sonorant, or one of other voiced consonants (ғ and һ, but also sometimes б, в,г, д)

#### Regressive consonant assimilation (Кейінді ықпал)

    It is effect of added suffix (or word) affecting and changing the final sound of the preceding word. It usually changes the pronunciation without changing the spelling.

The spelling changes in the following situation:

* word ends on **unvoiced consonant п, к,** or **қ** and added suffix starts with **vowel** - in this situation unvoiced consonant changes to its voiced variant:
	+ **п** --> **б**
	+ **к** --> **г**
	+ **қ** --> **ғ**
* when adding possessive ending, vowel **ы** or **і**  in last syllable drop out (only about 20 words)

#### Examples

* кіта**п** (kita**p** - book) --> оның кіта**б**ы (onyń kita**b**y - his book) - voicing п (p) to б (b), as we add suffix starting with vowel ы (-ы / -y)
* кө**к** (kó**k** - blue) --> кө**г**ілдір (kó**g**ildir - light blue / cyan) - voicing к (k) to г (g), as we add suffix starting with vowel i (-ілдір / -ildir)
* мысы**қ** (mysy**q** - cat) --> сенің мысығың (ceniń mysy**ǵ**yń) - voicing қ (q) to ғ (ǵ), as we add suffix starting with vowel ы (-ың / -yń)
* көр**і**к (kór**i**k - beauty) --> сенің көркің (ceniń kórkiń - your beauty) - dropping out i (i) in the last syllable -рік (-rik) as we add suffix indicating possessive ending your - ің (-iń)