View source for Social:Kazakh language

{{Short description|Turkic language mostly spoken in Kazakhstan}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Kazakh
| altname          = Qazaq
| nativename       = {{lang|kk|қазақша}} or {{lang|kk|қазақ тілі}}<br/>{{lang|kk-Arab|قازاقشا}} or {{lang|kk-Arab|قازاق ٴتىلى}}<br/>{{lang|kk-Latn|qazaqşa}} or {{lang|kk-Latn|qazaq tılı}}
| image            = Kazakh language.png
| imagecaption     = Kazakh in Cyrillic, Latin, and Perso-Arabic scripts.
| pronunciation    = {{IPA-kk|qɑzɑqˈʃɑ|}}<br/>{{IPA-kk|qɑˈzɑq tɪˈlɪ}}
| states           = Kazakhstan, {{wipe|China}}, Mongolia, {{wipe|Russia}}, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
| region           = Central Asia<br/>([[Place:Turkestan|Turkestan]])
| speakers         = {{sigfig|17.382990|2}} million
| date             = 2021 census
| ethnicity        = Kazakhs
| ref              = e26
| familycolor      = Altaic
| fam1             = [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic]]
| fam2             = [[Social:Common Turkic languages|Common Turkic]]
| fam3             = [[Social:Kipchak languages|Kipchak]]
| fam4             = Kipchak–Nogai
| script           = [[Social:Kazakh alphabets|Kazakh alphabets]] ([[Social:Cyrillic script|Cyrillic script]], Latin script, Arabic script, Kazakh Braille)
| nation           = Kazakhstan<br/>{{wipe|Russia}}
*[[Place:Altai Republic|Altai Republic]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://base.garant.ru/32100423/1b93c134b90c6071b4dc3f495464b753/|title=Статья 4. Правовое положение языков &#124; ГАРАНТ}}</ref>
{{wipe|China}}
*Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
*Barköl Kazakh Autonomous County
*Mori Kazakh Autonomous County
*Aksay Kazakh Autonomous County
<br/>{{Collapsible list|titlestyle=font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left;|title=Organisations:|[[Organization:Organization of Turkic States|Organization of Turkic States]]<br/>Collective Security Treaty Organization
}}
| agency           = Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan
| iso1             = kk
| iso2             = kaz
| iso3             = kaz
| lingua           = 44-AAB-cc
| map              = Idioma kazajo.png
| mapcaption       = The Kazakh-speaking world: {{Legend|#0080FF|regions where Kazakh is the language of the majority}} {{Legend|#88C4FF|regions where Kazakh is the language of a significant minority}}
| notice           = IPA
| glotto           = kaza1248
| glottorefname    = Kazakh
}}
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Yernur speaking Kazakh.webm|thumb|A Kazakh speaker, recorded in Taiwan]]
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Mereinur speaking Kazakh.webm|thumb|A Kazakh speaker, recorded in Kazakhstan]]

'''Kazakh''' or '''Qazaq'''{{Efn|{{bulleted list|Latin script: qazaqşa or qazaq tılı|[[Social:Cyrillic script|Cyrillic script]]: қазақша or қазақ тілі|Arabic script: قازاقشا or قازاق ٴتىلى}}}} ({{IPA-kk|qɑzɑqˈʃɑ|pron}}, {{IPA-kk|qɑˈzɑq tɪˈlɪ|}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kaz-tili.kz/su_fonetika.htm|title=Произношение букв – kazaktili.kz|publisher=kazaktili.kz|access-date=12 December 2022|language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://omniglot.com/writing/kazakh.htm|title=Kazakh (Қазақ тілі / Qazaq tili / قازاق ٴتىلى) – Omniglot|access-date=12 December 2022|language=en}}</ref>) is a [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic language]] of the [[Social:Kipchak languages|Kipchak]] branch spoken in Central Asia by Kazakhs. It is closely related to [[Social:Nogai language|Nogai]], [[Social:Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]] and [[Social:Karakalpak language|Karakalpak]]. It is the official language of Kazakhstan and a significant minority language in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in [[Place:Xinjiang|Xinjiang]], north-western China and in the Bayan-Ölgii Province of western Mongolia. The language is also spoken by many ethnic Kazakhs throughout the former [[Place:Soviet Union|Soviet Union]] (some 472,000 in Russia according to the 2010 Russian census), Germany, and Turkey.

Like other Turkic languages, Kazakh is an [[Social:Agglutinative language|agglutinative language]] and employs [[Social:Vowel harmony|vowel harmony]]. ''[[Social:Ethnologue|Ethnologue]]'' recognizes three mutually intelligible dialect groups, Northeastern Kazakh, the most widely spoken variety which also serves as the basis for the standard language, Southern Kazakh and Western Kazakh. The language shares a degree of mutual intelligibility with closely related Karakalpak while its Western dialects maintain limited mutual intelligibility with [[Social:Altai languages|Altai languages]].

In October 2017, Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev decreed that the writing system would change from using [[Social:Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]] to Latin script by 2025. The proposed Latin alphabet has been revised several times and as of January 2021 is close to the inventory of the [[Social:Turkish alphabet|Turkish alphabet]], though lacking the letters C and Ç and having four additional letters: Ä, Ñ, Q and Ū (though other letters such as Y have different values in the two languages). It is scheduled to be phased in from 2023 to 2031.

==Geographic distribution==
Speakers of Kazakh (mainly Kazakhs) are spread over a vast territory from the Tian Shan to the western shore of the Caspian Sea. Kazakh is the official state language of Kazakhstan, with nearly 10 million speakers (based on information from the CIA World Factbook<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/kazakhstan/|title = Central Asia: Kazakhstan|date = 26 October 2017|access-date = 31 October 2017|work = The 2017 World Factbook|publisher = Central Intelligence Agency}}</ref> on population and proportion of Kazakh speakers).<ref>{{Cite web |title=TITUS Didactica: Language Map: Turkic languages: Map frame |url=https://titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de/didact/karten/turk/turklm.htm |access-date=2023-08-03 |website=titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de}}</ref>

In China, nearly two million ethnic Kazakhs and Kazakh speakers reside in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang.

==History==

The [[Social:Kipchak languages|Kipchak]] branch of Turkic languages, which Kazakh is borne out of, was mainly solidified during the reign of the [[Place:Golden Horde|Golden Horde]].  The modern Kazakh language is said to have originated in approximately 1465 AD during the formation of the [[Place:Kazakh Khanate|Kazakh Khanate]].  Modern Kazakh is likely a descendant of both Chagatay Turkic as spoken by the Timurids and [[Social:Kipchak languages|Kipchak Turkic]] as spoken in the Golden Horde.

Kazakh uses a high volume of loanwords from [[Social:Persian language|Persian]] and [[Social:Arabic language|Arabic]] due to the frequent historical interactions between Kazakhs and Iranian ethnic groups to the south.  Additionally, Persian was a ''lingua franca'' in the [[Place:Kazakh Khanate|Kazakh Khanate]], which allowed Kazakhs to mix Persian words into their own spoken and written vernacular.  Meanwhile, Arabic was used by Kazakhs in mosques and mausoleums, serving as a language exclusively for religious contexts similar to how [[Social:Latin|Latin]] served as a liturgical language in the European cultural sphere.

The Kazakhs used the Arabic script to write their language until approximately 1929.  In the early 1900s, Kazakh activist Akhmet Baitursynuly reformed the Kazakh-Arabic alphabet, but his work was largely overshadowed by the Soviet presence in Central Asia.  At that point, the new Soviet regime forced the Kazakhs to use a Latin script, and then a Cyrillic script in the 1940s.  Today, Kazakhs use the Cyrillic and Latin scripts to write their language.

== Phonology and orthography ==
Kazakh exhibits tongue-root [[Social:Vowel harmony|vowel harmony]], with some words of recent foreign origin (usually of Russian or Arabic origin) as exceptions. There is also a system of rounding harmony which resembles that of Kyrgyz, but which does not apply as strongly and is not reflected in the orthography. This system only applies to the open vowels {{IPA|/e/, /ɪ/, /ʏ/}} and not {{IPA|/ɑ/}}, and happens in the next syllables.<ref name="kaz-tili">{{Cite web |title=Произношение букв {{!}} kaz-tili.kz |url=https://kaz-tili.kz/su_fonetika.htm |access-date=2023-08-03 |website=kaz-tili.kz}}</ref> Thus, (in Latin script) {{lang|kk|jūldyz}} 'star', {{lang|kk|bügın}} 'today', and {{lang|kk|ülken}} 'big' are actually pronounced as ''jūldūz'', ''bügün'', ''ülkön''.

===Consonants===
The following chart depicts the consonant inventory of standard Kazakh;<ref>Some variations occur in the different regions where Kazakh is spoken, including outside Kazakhstan; e. g. ж / ج (where a Perso-Arabic script similar to the current [[Social:Uyghur language#Writing system|Uyghur alphabet]] is used) is read {{IPA|[ʑ]}} in standard Kazakh, but {{IPA|[d͡ʑ]}} in some places.</ref> many of the sounds, however, are allophones of other sounds or appear only in recent loan-words. The 18 consonant phonemes listed by Vajda are without parentheses—since these are phonemes, their listed place and manner of articulation are very general, and will vary from what is shown. ({{IPA|/t͡s/}} rarely appears in normal speech.) Kazakh has 19 native consonant phonemes; these are the stops {{IPA|/p, b, t, d, k, ɡ, q/}}, fricatives {{IPA|/s, z, ɕ, ʑ, ʁ/}}, nasals {{IPA|/m, n, ŋ/}}, liquids {{IPA|/ɾ, l/}}, and two glides {{IPA|/w, j/}}.<ref name="Ozcelik">{{cite thesis |last=Öner |first=Özçelik |title=Kazakh phonology |publisher=Cambridge University |url=https://oozcelik.pages.iu.edu/papers/Kazakh%20phonology.pdf}}</ref> The sounds {{IPA|/f, v, χ, h, t͡s, t͡ɕ/}} are found only in loanwords. {{IPA|/ʑ/}} is heard as an alveolopalatal affricate {{IPA|[d͡ʑ]}} in the Kazakh dialects of Uzbekistan and Xinjiang, China. The sounds {{IPA|[q]}} and {{IPA|[ʁ]}} may be analyzed as allophones of {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} in words with back vowels, but exceptions occur in loanwords.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ caption |Kazakh consonant phonemes<ref name="Vajda">{{citation
|last=Vajda
|first=Edward
|editor-last1=Kaplan
|editor-first1=E.
|editor-last2=Whisenhunt
|editor-first2=D.
|year=1994
|chapter=Kazakh phonology
|title=Essays presented in honor of Henry Schwarz
|place=Washington
|publisher=Western Washington
|pages=603–650
}}</ref>
|-
! colspan="2" |
! Labials
! Alveolar
! (Alveolo-)<br />palatal
! Velar
!Uvular
|-
! colspan="2" | Nasal
| {{IPA link|m}} {{angbr|м/m}}
| {{IPA link|n}} {{angbr|н/n}}
|
| colspan="2" | {{IPA link|ŋ}} {{angbr|ң/ñ}}
|-
! rowspan="2" | Stop
! {{small|voiceless}}
| {{IPA link|p}} {{angbr|п/p}}
| {{IPA link|t}} {{angbr|т/t}}
|
| {{IPA link|k}} {{angbr|к/k}}
|{{IPA link|q}} {{angbr|қ/q}}
|-
! {{small|voiced}}
| {{IPA link|b}} {{angbr|б/b}}
| {{IPA link|d}} {{angbr|д/d}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɡ}} {{angbr|г/g}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | Fricative
! {{small|voiceless}}
|
| {{IPA link|s}} {{angbr|с/s}}
| {{IPA link|ɕ}} {{angbr|ш/ş}}
|
|({{IPA link|χ}}) {{angbr|х/h}}
|-
! {{small|voiced}}
|
| {{IPA link|z}} {{angbr|з/z}}
| {{IPA link|ʑ}} {{angbr|ж/j}}
|
|({{IPA link|ʁ}}) {{angbr|ғ/ğ}}
|-
! colspan="2" | Approximant
|
| {{IPA link|l}} {{angbr|л/l}}
| {{IPA link|j}} {{angbr|й/i}}
| {{IPA link|w}} {{angbr|у/u}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" | Tap
|
| {{IPA link|ɾ}} {{angbr|р/r}}
|
|
|
|}

* All the phonemes in the table are their pronunciation in front vowels environment. Consonants {{IPA|[k]}}, {{IPA|[ɡ]}}, {{IPA|[ɕ]}}, {{IPA|[ʑ]}} also have back allophones {{IPA|[q]}}, {{IPA|[ʁ]}}, {{IPA|[ʃ]}}, {{IPA|[ʒ]}} correspondingly.   
* All nasals agree in place of articulation with the proceeding plosives.
* Voicing distinction only exists word internally.
* The chart does not include loan sounds such as {{IPA|/f/}}, {{IPA|/t͡s/}}, {{IPA|/x/}} etc. that are substituted in native speech.
* Voiced obstruents syllable-finally become devoiced.<ref name="kaz-tili" />

===Vowels===
Kazakh has a system of 12 phonemic vowels, 3 of which are diphthongs. The rounding contrast and {{IPA|/æ/}} generally only occur as phonemes in the first syllable of a word, but do occur later allophonically; see the section on harmony below for more information. Moreover, the {{IPA|/æ/}} sound has been included artificially due to the influence of Arabic, Persian and, later, Tatar languages during the Islamic period.<ref name="slaviccenters">{{Cite book|url=https://slaviccenters.duke.edu/sites/slaviccenters.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/kazakh-grammar.pdf|title=A Grammar of Kazakh|last1=Wagner|first1=John Doyle|last2=Dotton|first2=Zura |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326024834/https://slaviccenters.duke.edu/sites/slaviccenters.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/kazakh-grammar.pdf |archive-date=Mar 26, 2023}}</ref>

According to Vajda, the front/back quality of vowels is actually one of neutral versus retracted tongue root.<ref name="Vajda"/>

Phonetic values are paired with the corresponding character in Kazakh's Cyrillic and current Latin alphabets.

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+Kazakh vowel phonemes
!
!Front<br />(Advanced tongue root)
!Central<br />(Relaxed tongue root)
!Back<br />(Retracted tongue root)
|-
! Close
| {{IPAlink|ɪ̞}} {{angle bracket|і/ı}}
| {{IPAlink|ʉ}} {{angle bracket|ү/ü}}
| {{IPAlink|o̙}} {{angle bracket|ұ/ū}}
|-
! Diphthong
| {{IPA|je̘}} {{angle bracket|е/e}}
| {{IPA|əj}} {{angle bracket|и/i}}
| {{IPA|ʊw}} {{angle bracket|у/u}}
|-
! Mid
| {{IPAlink|e}} {{angle bracket|э/e}} 
| {{IPAlink|ə}} {{angle bracket|ы/y}}
| {{IPA|o̞}} {{angle bracket|о/o}}
|-
! Open
| {{IPAlink|æ̝}} {{angle bracket|ә/ä}}
| {{IPA|ɵ}} {{angle bracket|ө/ö}}
| {{IPAlink|ɑ̝}} {{angle bracket|а/a}}
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Kazakh vowels by their pronunciation
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |Front and central
! colspan="2" |Back
|-
!{{small|unrounded}}
!{{small|rounded}}
!{{small|unrounded}}
!{{small|rounded}}
|-
!Close
|{{IPAlink|ɪ̞}} {{angle bracket|і/ı}}
|{{IPAlink|ʏ̞}} {{angle bracket|ү/ü}}
|{{IPAlink|ə}} {{angle bracket|ы/y}}
|{{IPAlink|o̙}} {{angle bracket|ұ/ū}}
|-
!Open
|{{IPA|je̘}} {{angle bracket|е/e}} / {{IPAlink|æ}} {{angle bracket|ә/ä}}
|{{IPA link|ɵ}} {{angle bracket|ө/ö}}
|{{IPAlink|ɑ̝}} {{angle bracket|а/a}}
|{{IPAlink|o̞}} {{angle bracket|о/o}}
|}
* There is a severe debate over Kazakh vowel phoneme chart, but all the analysis agree on 8 vowel system with {{IPA|[æ]}} being artificially added due to Arab and Persian influence.
* The vowel {{IPA|/e̞/}} is often pronounced {{IPA|/je̞/}} at the beginning of the word, with exceptional root e-. Urban Kazakh tend to palatalize all the {{IPA|/e̞/}} caused by Russian influence.<ref name="Muhamedowa">{{Cite book |last=Muhamedowa |first=Raihan |title=Kazakh: A Comprehensive Grammar |date=2016-09-24 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-138-82863-6 |edition=1st |location=London New York |language=English}}</ref>

=== Vowel harmony ===
Kazakh exhibits tongue-root [[Social:Vowel harmony|vowel harmony]] (also called soft-hard harmony), and arguably weakened rounding harmony which is implied in the first syllable of the word. All vowels after the first rounded syllable are the subject to this harmony with exception {{IPA|/ɑ/}}, and happens in the next syllables, e.g. өмір {{IPA|[ø̞mʏr]}}, қосы {{IPA|[qɒso]}}. Notably urban Kazak tend to violate rounding harmony, as well as Russian borrowings being pronounced against the rules.<ref name="Muhamedowa"/>

=== Stress ===
Most words in Kazakh are stressed in the last syllable, except:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kaz-tili.kz/gl05.htm|title=Ударение|website=Казахский ясык|access-date=24 January 2022}}</ref>
* When counting objects, numbers are stressed in the first syllable, but stressed in the last syllable in collective numbers suffixed by ''-eu'' (''bıreu''',''''' ''altau'' from ''bır'', ''alty''):
:''bır'', e''kı'', üş, ''tört'', ''bes'', a''lty'', jetı, ...
:one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, ...
* Definite and negative pronouns are stressed in the first syllable:
:''bärıne''  eş''kımge'' 
:to everyone, to no one

=== Orthography ===

Cyrillic script was created to better merge the Kazakh language with other languages of the USSR, hence it has some controversial letter readings.

The letter 'У' after a consonant represents a combination of sounds і {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, ү {{IPA|/ʏ/}}, ы {{IPA|/ɤ̞/}}, ұ {{IPA|/o̞/}} with glide {{IPA|/w/}},<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Произношение букв {{!}} kaz-tili.kz |url=https://kaz-tili.kz/su_fonetika.htm |access-date=2023-07-10 |website=kaz-tili.kz}}</ref> e.g. кіру {{IPA|[kɪɾɪw]}}, су {{IPA|[so̞w]}}, көру {{IPA|[kø̞ɾʏw]}}, атысу {{IPA|[ɑtɤ̞sɤ̞w]}}. 'Ю' undergo the same process but with {{IPA|/j/}} at the beginning.

The letter 'И' represents a combination of sounds i {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, ы {{IPA|/ɤ̞/}} + glide {{IPA|/j/}},<ref name=":0" /> e.g. тиіс {{IPA|/tɪjɪs/}}, оқиды {{IPA|/ɒqɤ̞jdɤ̞/}}

The letter 'Я' and ofter digraph 'ЙЯ' represent two sounds {{IPA|/jɑ/}} and {{IPA|/jæ/}} depending on the harmony.

The letter 'Щ' represent {{IPA|/ʃ.ʃ/}} in words of Turkic origin, e.g. ащы {{IPA|/ɑʃ.ʃɤ̞/}}

Meanwhile, letters 'В', 'Ё', 'Ф', 'Х', 'Һ', 'Ц', 'Ч', 'ъ', 'ь', 'Э' are only used in loan words, mostly Russian. They are often substituted in spoken Kazakh.

== Articles ==
Kazakh accusative affixes: -(X)n; -y/-ı; -ğy/-gı; -ny/-nı; -dy/-dı; -ty/-tı can be used as the definite articles:
tıl "language" > tılı "the language",
äke "father" > äkegı; äkenı "the father",
Qazaqstanda "in Kazakhstan" > Qazaqstandağy "in the Kazakhstan",
dosy "of friend" > dosyn "of the friend".

Kazakh: bır, bıreu "a/an, one, some, any" can be used as an indefinite articles:
bır adam "a human",
bır alma "an apple",
bırler "ones",
bıreu "some",
bıreuler "some ones".

== Grammar ==
Kazakh is generally verb-final, though various permutations on [[Social:Subject–object–verb|SOV]] (subject–object–verb) word order can be used, for example, due to topicalization.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Центр |url=http://www.beltranslations.com/Languages/Kaz-EN.html |access-date=2023-08-03 |website=www.beltranslations.com |language=ru}}</ref> [[Social:Inflection|Inflection]]al and [[Social:Morphological derivation|derivational]] [[Social:Morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], both verbal and nominal, in Kazakh, exists almost exclusively in the form of agglutinative suffixes. Kazakh is a nominative-accusative, head-final, left-branching, dependent-marking language.<ref name=mukh>{{Cite book|last=Mukhamedova|first=Raikhangul |title=Kazakh: A Comprehensive Grammar|year=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317573081}}</ref>

=== Nouns ===
Kazakh has no noun class or gender system. Nouns are declined for number (singular or plural) and one of 7 cases:

* Nominative 
* Accusative 
* Genitive 
* Dative
* Locative 
* Ablative
* Instrumental<ref name="slaviccenters" />

The suffix for case is placed before the suffix for number.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Declension of nouns for case<ref name="mukh" />
!Case
!Morpheme
!Possible forms
!keme "''ship''"||aua "''air''"||şelek "''bucket''"||säbız "''carrot''"||bas "''head''"||tūz "''salt''"||qan "''blood''"||kün "''day''"
|-
!Nom
| —||—||keme||aua||şelek||säbız||bas||tūz||qan||kün
|-
!Acc
| -ny||-nı, -ny, -dı, -dy, -tı, -ty ||keme'''nı'''||aua'''ny'''||şelek'''tı'''||säbız'''dı'''||bas'''ty'''||tūz'''dy'''||qan'''dy'''||kün'''dı'''
|-
!Gen
| -nyñ||-nıñ, -nyñ, -dıñ, -dyñ, -tıñ, -tyñ||keme'''nıñ'''||aua'''nyñ'''||şelek'''tıñ'''||säbız'''dıñ'''||bas'''tyñ'''||tūz'''dyñ'''||qan'''nyñ'''||kün'''nıñ'''
|-
!Dat
| -ga||-ge, -ğa, -ke, -qa||keme'''ge'''||aua'''ğa'''||şelek'''ke'''||säbız'''ge'''||bas'''qa'''||tūz'''ğa'''||qan'''ğa'''||kün'''ge'''
|-
!Loc
| -da||-de, -da, -te, -ta||keme'''de'''||aua'''da'''||şelek'''te'''||säbız'''de'''||bas'''ta'''||tūz'''da'''||qan'''da'''||kün'''de'''
|-
!Abl
| -dan||-den, -dan, -ten, -tan, -nen, -nan||keme'''den'''||aua'''dan'''||şelek'''ten'''||säbız'''den'''||bas'''tan'''||tūz'''dan'''||qan'''nan'''||kün'''nen'''
|-
!Inst
| -men||-men(en), -ben(en), -pen(en)||keme'''men'''||aua'''men'''||şelek'''pen'''||säbız'''ben'''||bas'''pen'''||tūz'''ben'''||qan'''men'''||kün'''men'''
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Declension of nouns for number<ref name="slaviccenters" />
!
!Morpheme
!Possible
Forms
!bala 
"child"
!kirpi
"hedgehog"
!qazaq
"Kazakh"
!mektep
"school"
!adam
"person"
!gül
"flower"
!sö''z''
"word"
|-
!singular
| –
| –
|bala
|kirpi
|qazaq
|mektep
|adam
|gül
|söz
|-
!plural
| -lar
| -lar,-ler,-ter,-tar,-der,-dar
|bala'''lar'''
|kirpi'''ler'''
|qazaq'''tar'''
|mektep'''ter'''
|adam'''dar'''
|gül'''der'''
|söz'''der'''
|}

=== Pronouns ===

There are eight personal pronouns in Kazakh:

{|class="wikitable"
|+Personal pronouns<ref name=mukh/>
! colspan="2" | 
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! colspan="2" | 1st person
| men
| bız
|-
! rowspan="2" | 2nd person
! {{small|informal}}
| sen
| sender
|-
! {{small|formal}}
| sız
| sızder
|-
! colspan="2" | 3rd person
| ol
| olar
|}

The declension of the pronouns is outlined in the following chart. Singular pronouns exhibit irregularities, while plural pronouns do not. Irregular forms are highlighted in bold.<ref name=mukh/>

{| class="wikitable"
! Number !! colspan="4" | Singular !! colspan="4" | Plural
|-
! rowspan="2" | Person !! rowspan="2" | 1st !! colspan="2" | 2nd !! rowspan="2" | 3rd !! rowspan="2" | 1st !! colspan="2" | 2nd !! rowspan="2" | 3rd
|-
! Familiar !! Polite !! Familiar !! Polite
|-
! Nominative
| men || sen || sız || ol || bız || sender || sızder || olar
|-
! Genitive
|'''menıñ'''||'''senıñ'''|| sızdıñ ||'''onyñ''' || bızdıñ || senderdıñ || sızderdıñ || olardyñ
|-
! Dative
| '''mağan''' || '''sağan''' || sızge ||'''oğan''' || bızge || senderge || sızderge || olarğa
|-
! Accusative
| '''menı''' || '''senı''' || sızdı ||'''ony''' || bızdı || senderdı || sızderdı || olardy
|-
! Locative
| mende || sende || sızde || onda || bızde || senderde || sızderde || olarda
|-
! Ablative
| '''menen''' || '''senen''' || sızden ||'''odan''' || bızden || senderden || sızderden || olardan
|-
! Instrumental
| '''menımen''' || '''senımen''' || sızben ||'''onymen''' || bızben || sendermen || sızdermen || olarmen
|}

In addition to the pronouns, there are several more sets of morphemes dealing with person.<ref name=mukh/>

{|class="wikitable"
|+Morphemes indicating person<ref name=mukh/>
!||Pronouns||Copulas||Possessive endings||Past/Conditional
|-
!1st sg
|men||-mın/-myn||-(ı)m/-(y)m||-(ı)m/-(y)m
|-
!2nd sg
|sen||-sıñ/-syñ||-(ı)ñ/-(y)ñ||-(ı)ñ
|-
!2nd sg formal
|sız||-sız/-syz||-(ı)ñız/-(y)ñyz||-(ı)ñız/-(y)ñyz
|-
!3rd sg
|ol||-||-(s)ı/-(s)y||—
|-
!1st pl
|bız||-mız/-myz||-(ı)mız/-(y)myz||-(ı)k/-(y)q
|-
!2nd pl
|sender||-sıñder/-syñdar||-laryñ/-lerıñ ||-(ı)ñder/-(y)ñdar
|-
!2nd pl formal
| sızder || -sızder/-syzdar|| -(ı)ñız/-(y)ñyz ||-(ı)ñızder/-(y)ñyzdar
|-
!3rd pl
|olar||-||-lary/-lerı||—
|}

=== Adjectives ===
Adjectives in Kazakh are not declined for any grammatical category of the modified noun. Being a head-final language, adjectives are always placed before the noun that they modify. Kazakh has two varieties of adjectives:

* '''Qualitative''' – used to describe properties of the noun, such as color
* '''Relational''' – adjectives formed from words from other parts of speech<ref name="slaviccenters"/>

==== Comparative ====
The comparative form can be created by appending the suffix -(y)raq/-(ı)rek or -tau/-teu/-dau/-dau to an adjective.

==== Superlative ====
The superlative form can be created by placing the morpheme "eñ" before the adjective.<ref name="slaviccenters" />

===Verbs===
Kazakh may express different combinations of [[Social:Grammatical tense|tense]], aspect and mood through the use of various verbal morphology or through a system of auxiliary verbs, many of which might better be considered light verbs. The present tense is a prime example of this; progressive tense in Kazakh is formed with one of four possible auxiliaries. These auxiliaries "otyr" (sit), "tūr" (stand), "jür" (go) and "jat" (lie), encode various shades of meaning of how the action is carried out and also interact with the lexical semantics of the root verb: telic and non-telic actions, semelfactives, durative and non-durative, punctual, etc. There are selectional restrictions on auxiliaries: motion verbs, such as бару (go) and келу (come) may not combine with "otyr". Any verb, however, can combine with "jat" (lie) to get a progressive tense meaning.<ref name=mukh/>
{|class="wikitable"
|+Progressive aspect in the present tense<ref name=mukh/>
|-
!Kazakh||Aspect||English translation
|-
|''Men jüzemın''||non-progressive||"I (will) swim [every day]."
|-
|''Men jüzıp jatyrmyn''||progressive||"I am swimming [right now]."
|-
|''Men jüzıp otyrmyn''||progressive/durative||"I am [sitting and] swimming." / "I have been swimming."
|-
|''Men jüzıp tūrmyn''||progressive/punctual||"I am [in the middle of] swimming [this very minute]."
|-
|''Men jüzıp jürmın''||habitual||"I swim [frequently/regularly]"
|}
While it is possible to think that different categories of aspect govern the choice of auxiliary, it is not so straightforward in Kazakh. Auxiliaries are internally sensitive to the lexical semantics of predicates, for example, verbs describing motion:<ref name=mukh/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Selectional restrictions on Kazakh auxiliaries<ref name=mukh/>
|-
!width=50%|Sentence
!width=50%|Auxiliary Used
|-
|{{interlinear|Suda balyq jüzedı|water-LOC fish swim-PRES-3|"Fish swim in water" (general statement)}}
|∅ (present/future tense used)
|-
|{{interlinear|Suda balyq jüzıp jatyr|water-LOC fish swim-CVB AUX.3|"The/A fish is swimming in the water"}}
|'''jat'''－ to lie, general marker for progressive aspect.
|-
|{{interlinear|Suda balyq jüzıp jür|water-LOC fish swim-CVB AUX.3|"The fish is swimming [as it always does] in the water"}}
|'''jür''' – "go", dynamic/habitual/iterative
|-
|{{interlinear|Suda balyq jüzıp tūr|water-LOC fish swim-CVB AUX.3|"The fish is swimming in the water"}}
|'''tūr''' – "stand", progressive marker to show the swimming is punctual
|-
|{{interlinear|* Suda balyq jüzıp otyr|{} water-LOC fish swim-CVB AUX.3|*The fish has been swimming}}
''Not a possible sentence of Kazakh''
|'''otyr''' – "sit", '''ungrammatical''' in this sentence, '''otyr''' can only be used for verbs that are ''stative'' in nature
|}

In addition to the complexities of the progressive tense, there are many auxiliary-converb pairs that encode a range of aspectual, modal, volitional, evidential and action- modificational meanings''.'' For example, the pattern verb + köru, with the auxiliary verb ''köru'' (see), indicates that the subject of the verb attempted or tried to do something (compare the Japanese てみる ''temiru'' construction).<ref name=mukh/>

== Annotated text with gloss ==
From the first stanza of "Menıñ Qazaqstanym" ("My Kazakhstan"), the national anthem of Kazakhstan:
{| class="wikitable"
!Менің Қазақстаным 
!''Men-ıŋ Qazaqstan-ym''
|-
|{{interlinear|Altyn kün aspan-y|gold sun sky-3.POSS|Golden sun of the sky}}
|-
|{{interlinear|Altyn dän dala-sy|gold grain steppe-3.POSS|Golden grain of the steppe}}
|-
|{{interlinear|Erlık-tıñ dastan-y|{courage legend-GEN} epic-3.POSS-NOM|The legend of courage}}
|-
|{{interlinear|El-ım-e qara-şy|country-1SG.ACC look-IMP|Look at my country!}}
|-
|{{interlinear|Ejel-den er de-gen|antiquity-ABL hero say-PTCP.PST|Called heroes since ancient times}}
|-
|{{interlinear|Dañq-ymyz şyq-ty ğoi|glory-1PL.POSS.NOM emerge-PST.3 EMPH|Our glory emerged!}}
|-
|{{interlinear|Namys-yn ber-me-gen|honor-3.POSS-ACC give-NEG-PTCP.PST|They did not give up their honor}}
|-
|{{interlinear|Qazağ-ym myqty ğoi|Kazakh-1SG.POSS strong EMPH|My Kazakhs are mighty!}}
|-
|{{interlinear|Men-ıñ el-ım, menıñ el-ım|1SG.GEN country-1SG.NOM 1SG.GEN country-1SG.NOM|My country, my country}}
|-
|{{interlinear|Gül-üñ bol-up, eg-ıl-e-mın|flower-2SG.NOM be-CVB, root-PASS-PRES-1SG|As your flower, I am rooted in you}}
|-
|{{interlinear|Jyr-yñ bol-up, tög-ül-e-mın, el-ım|song-2SG.NOM be-CVB, sing-PASS-PRES-1SG, country-1SG.POSS.NOM|As your song, I shall be sung abound}}
|-
|{{interlinear|Tu-ğan jer-ım menıñ – Qazaqstan-ym|birth-PTCP-PST place-1SG.POSS.NOM 1SG.GEN – Kazakhstan-1SG.POSS.NOM|My native land – My Kazakhstan}}
|}

==See also==
* BGN/PCGN romanization of Kazakh
* [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic languages]]
* Kazakh literature
* Languages of Kazakhstan
* Kazakh Sign Language
* Help:IPA for Kazakh

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation
|last=Kara
|first=Dävid Somfai
|title=Kazak
|year=2002
|publisher=Lincom Europa
|isbn=9783895864704
}}
* Mark Kirchner: "Kazakh and Karakalpak". In: ''The Turkic languages''. Ed. by Lars Johanson and É. Á. Csató. London [u.a.] : Routledge, 1998. (Routledge language family descriptions). S.318–332.
*{{Cite JIPA|author1=McCollum, Adam G. |author2=Chen, Si|title=Kazakh|volume=51|issue=2|pages=276–298|doi=10.1017/S0025100319000185|printdate=2021-08|soundfiles=yes}}{{refend}}

==External links==
{{InterWiki|code=kk}}
{{Wikivoyage|Kazakh phrasebook|Kazakh|a phrasebook}}
*[http://www.transliteration.kpr.eu/kk/kk-2017.php Kazakh Cyrillic–Latin (new) converter]
*[http://www.transliteration.kpr.eu/kk/ Kazakh Cyrillic–Latin (old)–Arabic converter]
*[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/kazakh.htm Kazakh language, alphabet and pronunciation]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110709223643/http://www.und.edu/dept/linguistics/theses/2003Kuzhabekova.PDF Aliya S. Kuzhabekova, "Past, Present and Future of Language Policy in Kazakhstan"] (M.A. thesis, [[Organization:University of North Dakota|University of North Dakota]], 2003)
*[http://cadensa.bl.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=vTGjtKlWAs/WORKS-FILE/156000023/5/0 Kazakh language recordings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220623103547/http://cadensa.bl.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=vTGjtKlWAs/WORKS-FILE/156000023/5/0 |date=23 June 2022 }}, British Library
*[http://wiki.apertium.org/wiki/Kazakh Kazakh – Apertium]
*[http://pauctle.com/kztr Kazakh<>Turkish Dictionary]
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/kazakhstan/ Kazakhstan] in the CIA World Factbook
* [http://www.highlandsun.com/hyc/Kazakh/ US Peace Corps Kazakh Language Courses] transcribed to HTML

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kazakh Language}}
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{{Sourceattribution|Kazakh language}}