Kyrgyz Language Guide

Official language in
Kyrgyzstan
Also spoken in
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan
Script
Cyrillic

Where it's spoken

Under Article 13 of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyz is the state language, and Russian is used as the official language. A Peace Corps language manual from Bishkek, published in the late twentieth century, says that Kyrgyz is also spoken by groups of Kyrgyz living in neighboring Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and that large numbers of Kyrgyz live in Xinjiang (northwest China) and Türkiye. The manual places Kyrgyz in the Turkic language family.

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Script & pronunciation

Kyrgyz is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, which replaced a Latin alphabet in the first half of the twentieth century and adds three letters for sounds that do not exist in Russian: ө, ү and ң. The manual's pronunciation guide compares ө to German ö, ү to German ü, and ң to the ng in English "hunger"; ж is like the dj in "jam", ч like the ch in "change", and ы like the i in "pit" but short. The letters ж, ө, ү and ң appear in this app's cards Жок ("No"), Түшүндүм ("I understand"), Күтө туруңуз ("Please wait") and Кош болуңуз ("Goodbye (formal)"). The letters ц and щ, and the hard and soft signs, occur only in Russian loanwords. Each card also gives a romanization in Latin letters, such as Sa-la-mat-syz-by for Саламатсызбы ("Hello (formal greeting)").

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Grammar essentials

The basic Kyrgyz word order is subject–object–predicate, and the predicate, whether a noun or a verb, stands at the end of the sentence. In Мен кыргызча сүйлөй албайм (Men kyr-gyz-cha süy-löy al-baym, "I can't speak Kyrgyz"), Мен is "I", кыргызча is "in Kyrgyz", and сүйлөй албайм ("cannot speak") comes last.

Kyrgyz builds words by adding suffixes to a stem, and these suffixes express ideas such as plural, case and possession. The predicate includes the person: Жакшымын ("I'm fine / I'm well") is Жакшы ("good / well") plus мын ("I am"). In a Kyrgyz word, only front vowels or only back vowels occur, and the stem vowel determines the vowels of the suffixes. The manual lists the polite ending for adjectives in four forms: -сыз, -сиз, -суз and -сүз.

A verb is made negative with the suffix -ба/-бе, which is added directly to the verb stem. In албайм from the card above, the card explains that ал- expresses ability and алба- is its negation.

The greeting Саламатсызбы ends in бы, which the card glosses as a question suffix; the manual's examples likewise translate polite forms ending in бы as questions, such as "Are you fine (health)?".

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Politeness & etiquette

This app's card Сиз ("You (polite)") describes сиз as the polite pronoun for the other person, and сен as the informal form for friends and children; the card Сиз англисче сүйлөйсүзбү? ("Do you speak English?") advises asking with the polite pronoun.

The manual calls polite endings very important and says they are used when speaking to older people, to a teacher, to a superior and to a new acquaintance. A polite ending can be added to a verb to make a polite request, as in the manual's "go please" and "listen please". The card Кош бол! ("Bye") is a casual goodbye, and its note says to use the polite Кош болуңуз with an elder. The manual also notes that although direct imperative forms exist, Kyrgyz often avoids them in polite speech.

For greetings, the manual lists Салам! as "Hi!" and Саламатсызбы? as "Hello". This app's card Салам (Sa-lam, "Hi / Hello (informal)") is for friends or peers, and Саламатсызбы (Sa-la-mat-syz-by, "Hello (formal greeting)") is for elders or strangers.

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