Phonetics in the Kyrgyz Language. Part - 2
Main Features of the Grammatical Structure in the Kyrgyz Language
For centuries, speakers of the language have used various forms of writing. The ancient Kyrgyz were familiar with the ancient Turkic runic script, as evidenced by written monuments found in the upper reaches of the Yenisei, Northern Mongolia, and in Talas. The distribution area of the monuments of runic writing coincides with the settlements of the Kyrgyz in ancient times and in the modern period. The affiliation of the monuments of the Orkhon-Yenisei script to the ancient Kyrgyz has been proven by V. V. Radlov, P. M. Melioransky, S. E. Malov, P. A. Baskakov, V. Thomsen, and many other prominent Turkologists. The first Kyrgyz writing was represented by the monuments of the Orkhon-Yenisei (ancient Turkic) script and monuments of subsequent eras. Samples of ancient Turkic writing have been preserved on burial monuments from the 6th to the 9th centuries AD. In addition, there are monuments created based on various graphic systems, as evidenced by texts in Arabic script, Russian graphics, Chagatai language, and others.
Starting from the 10th century, along with Islamization, the Kyrgyz, like other Turkic peoples, began to use Arabic script. The first national writing was created in 1924 based on the Arabic alphabet. The Arabic alphabet was replaced by Latin script in 1928. In 1941, the Kyrgyz switched to a new alphabet based on the Russian graphic system. This alphabet is still used by the Kyrgyz today. It includes 33 letters of the Russian alphabet and 3 Kyrgyz letters - ө, ү, ң.
Main Features of the Grammatical Structure
Phonetics. In the Kyrgyz language, there are short (a, o, ө, u, ү, э (е), i, ы) and long (аа, оо, өө, уу, үү, ээ) vowels.
The length of vowels has semantic significance: бор (bor - chalk) - боор (boor - liver), жан (zhan - soul) - жаан (zhaan - rain).
Vowel sounds are characterized by the position of the tongue (back, front), by the participation of the lips (labial, non-labial), and by the degree of mouth opening (wide, narrow).
Classification based on the characteristics of hardness and softness, rounding and unrounding is also applicable:
The language has 22 consonants, of which в, ф, х, ц, щ are mainly used in borrowed words.
Stress is usually fixed and falls on the last syllable, except for borrowed words. If Kyrgyz affixes are added to foreign words, the stress shifts to these affixes as well: филолог-филологдор (philologists), химия-химиялык (chemical), цикл-циклдүү (cyclical). In roots with long vowels, the stress is fixed on the syllable with the long vowel: аалам (aalam - universe), күүгүм (küügüm - twilight), оорулуу (ooruluu - sick). In polysyllabic words, the stress is double: strong on the last syllable, weak in the root of the word.
The language has a law of vowel harmony (singharmonism). All derivational and inflectional affixes are subject to the law of singharmonism. The law of harmony consists of the similarity of the vowels of the roots and the attached affixes based on hardness and softness, rounding and unrounding: адам-дар-ы-быз-дын (of our people), китеп-тер-ден (from books), оку-түү-чу-лук (teaching or profession of a teacher), үй-лөр-дө (in houses). The vowel of the last syllable of the root (base) determines all subsequent vowels in the attached affixes.
Consonant sounds are also subject to assimilation - after root voiceless consonants, voiceless consonants are used, and after soft consonants, soft ones: сез-дөр (words), мектеп-тер-де (in schools). The law of singharmonism is violated in borrowed words (логика, мугалим) and in some compound words: белбоо - бел (lower back, waist), боо (rope, tie, shoelace). The choice of affixes depends on the preceding vowels and consonant sounds: логикалык (logical), мугалим-дерге (to teachers).
Kyrgyz Language
