kazakh
General Notes
Kazakh exhibets both consonant assimilation and vowel harmony. Meaning that some consonants in suffixes will change quality (ex. М to Б) depending on the last letter of the root word. Similarly, some vowels will change based on quality of vowels in the root. This is illustrated below by representing the letters that experience consonant assimilation or vowel harmony as capitals. For example, +МА will different for both the consnant and vowel depending on what it is attached to.
Consonant Assimilation
From RW pg. 285
Suffix variants
standard | vowels | р,й | л,м,н,ң | voiced C | unvoiced C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
М | м | м | м or б | б | п |
Н | н | д | н or д | д | т |
Л | л | л | д | д | т |
Other pairs with specific distributions are г/ғ, к/қ, and д/т.
Vowel Harmony
Standard vowels also change based on the vowel that occurs in the last syllable of the root. There are two main variations:
- а (back vowels) and е (front vowels)
- ы (back vowels) and і (front vowels)
back vowels | front vowels |
---|---|
ы,а,о,ұ | і,ә,ө,ү,е |
й tends to be lumped with the liquid consonant р, as seen above in consonant assimiliation.
Nouns
Accusative (+НІ)
The accusative is used to mark the direct object of a verb. Besides the standard +НІ, the accusative has a non-standard form when following the possessive, +н.LC Lesson 2
Dative (+ГА)
The dative is used to mark the indirect object of a verb. It has 4 variations:
when root ends in this... | use this |
---|---|
stem-final vowel | ға |
voiced consonant | ге |
voiceless consonant (back vowel) | қа |
voiceless consonant (front vowel) | ке |
There is a non-standard form when following the possessive: +нА.RW 226
Genitive (+НІң)
The genetive is used when indicating possession. It marks the owner of the object, ex. library-GEN book-POSS, meaning the library's book.
Locative (+ДА)
The locative is used to mark the location of clause or action. It has 4 variations:
when root ends in this... | use this |
---|---|
stem-final vowel | да |
voiced consonant | те |
voiceless consonant (back vowel) | да |
voiceless consonant (front vowel) | те |
Instrumental (+Мен)
The instrumental marks the item with which the action was performed. Note that it is a lowercase е: this ending does not exhibit vowel harmoy.
Possessive
The possessive marks the object which is possessed. It varies by person and number of the possessor.
possessor | ending |
---|---|
1sg | +(І)м |
2sg (fam.) | +(І)ң |
2sg (pol.) | +(І)ңІз |
3sg | +(с)І |
1pl | +(І)мІз |
2pl | +ЛАр(І)ң |
3pl | +ЛАрл |
Pronouns
Kazakh pronouns are not gender marked.
case | 1sg | 2sg | 3sg | 1pl | 2pl (fam.) | 2pl (pol.) | 3pl |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NOM | мен | сен | ол | біз | Сіз | Сіздер | олар |
GEN | менің | сенің | оның | біздің | Сіздің | Сіздердің | олардің |
DAT | маған | саған | оған | бізге | Сізге | Сіздерге | оларға |
ACC | мені | сені | оны | бізді | Сізді | Сіздерді | оларды |
LOC | менде | сенде | онда | бізде | Сізде | Сіздерде | оларда |
ABL | менден | сенден | ондан | бізден | Сізден | Сіздерден | олардан |
Verbs
Present Tense
The present tense is used for presently occuring or future actions. For more information see RM 165. To conjugate the present tense:
- drop у from the verbal noun
- add a matching vowel from the table below
- add an ending that matches in person and number
For example:
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Matching Vowels
when root ends in this... | use this |
---|---|
a vowel | й |
қ or double consonant | и |
ю | я |
consonant and last vowel is a front vowel | е |
consonant and last vowel is a back vowel | а |
Person and Number Endings
subject | ending |
---|---|
1sg | +МІн |
2sg (fam.) | +сІң |
2sg (pol.) | +сІз |
3sg | +∅/ДІ |
1pl | +МІз |
2pl (fam.) | +сІңдАр |
2pl (pol.) | +сІз(дАр) |
3pl | +∅/ДІ |
Imperative
The imparative is formed by removing у from the verbal noun (aka dictionary form). The 2nd person singualr imparative (You do this!) is the default, unmarked form.
2sg | 2pl (fam.) | 2pl (pol.) |
---|---|---|
+∅ | +(І)ңдАр | +(І)ңІз |
It is negated with +МА.
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Verbal Negative
Verbas are negated by putting +МА in front of the matching vowel.
For example, түсінбеймін (I don't understand):
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Converb
Converbs are markers at the end of the main verb of the clause that indicate items such as aspect and mood will be modified by auxilaries. Converbs and their auxiliaries are prevalent throughout Kazakh - this section will continue to grow as I encounter more.
For the time being, it is enough to mention there are two main types of converb: А and (І)п.
- А follows vowel harmony, except when the final letter is a vowel, then it is й.
- (І)п follows vowel harmony, except when the final letter is a vowel, then it is just п.
Last Updated: 2017-08-27 15:49:43