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Below, you will find several useful phrases and words. To the left is the English and to the above right is an English transliteration of the Kyrgyz translation. Below the English transliteration is a Russian transliteration.
In the center of each row is a play button that will play a recorded file of the English and Kyrgyz words. (In “Counting,” the audio files have been grouped into three sets.)
Briefly About Kyrgyz
Kyrgyz is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch. It is related to Turkic and most other languages of Central Asia.
Kyrgyz is one of two official languages in Kyrgyzstan, along with Russian. Both official languages are written in Cyrillic script. Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan is spoken in dialects, with Northern and Southern being the two major divisions. “Standard Kyrgyz” is based on the Northern dialect.
Kyrgyz is spoken by about 7.3 million people worldwide. There are significant immigrant populations of Kyrgyz abroad, where they often live and work in order to send money back to Kyrgyzstan to support their families. As of 2018, there were about 640,000 Kyrgyz in Russia – equal to about a tenth of the population of Kyrgyzstan itself. There were also major populations in Kazakhstan (35,000), Turkey (30,000), and the US (15,000).
Kyrgyz is closely related to Kazakh, the language of Kyrgyzstan’s larger, richer neighbor. It is also closely related to Altai, spoken in the Altai republic in southern Russia. All three languages share a high degree of mutual intelligibility.
Pamiri Kyrgyz is a dialect spoken in Afghanistan and there are also Kyrgyz-speaking populations native to western China and eastern Tajikistan. The wide geographic spread of the language is a testament of the traditionally nomadic nature of the Kyrgyz people and Central Asian cultures in general.
Facts About Krygyz Grammar
Kyrgyz has no grammatical gender. The Kyrgyz pronoun “ал” can mean “he,” “she,” or “it.”
Kyrgyz uses six grammatical cases: nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, locative, and ablative. These cases affect the endings of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives.
Kyrgyz is an agglutinative language, which means that grammatical information is primarily conveyed through the addition of suffixes to root words. These suffixes represent various grammatical features, such as tense, mood, aspect, and case.
Kyrgyz uses honorifics, as are common in many Turkic and Asian languages. These do have gender. Generally, any woman older than you will be “eje.” Men older than you will be “baike.” Teachers are generally referred to as “agai.” These can be used on their own, or, if you know the person’s name, as a suffix attached to the name. This system is also embedded in verb forms and pronoun usage.
Kyrgyz typically follows an SOV word order, which means that the subject comes first, followed by the object, and then the verb. This is in contrast to English, which follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) word order.
Kyrgyz uses postpositions, rather than prepositions like in English. Postpositions are attached to the noun phrases and indicate relationships such as location, direction, and possession.
Survival Basics for Kyrgyz
| Hello! | Salamatsyzby! (Саламатсызбы!) |
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| Yes | Ooba (Ооба) |
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| No | Jok (Жок) |
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| Good morning! | Kutmanduu tangyngyz menen! (Кутмандуу таныныз менен!) |
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| Good evening! | Kutmanduu kechingiz menen! (Кутмандуу кечиниз менен!) |
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| What’s up? | Emne jangylyk? (Эмне жанылык?) |
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| What’s up? | Emne boldu? (Эмне болду?) |
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| How are you? | Kandaysiz? (Кандайсыз?) |
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| Good, thanks, and you? | Jakshy, rahmat, ozunguz? (Жакшы, рахмат, озунуз?) |
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| Good bye! | Kosh kalyng! (Кош калын!) |
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| See you later! | Korushkoncho! (Корушкончо!) |
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| Sorry! | Kechirip koyunguz! (Кечирип коюнуз!) |
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| Open/closed | Achyk/jabyk (Ачык/жабык) |
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| Pull/push | Tart/turt (Тарт/турт) |
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| Small/big | Kichine/chong (Кичине/чон) |
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| Do you speak English? | Siz Anglische suyloy alasyzby? (Сиз Англисче суйлой аласызбы?) |
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| I don’t speak English. | Men Anglische suyloy albaym. (Мен англисче суйлой албайм.) |
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| I only speak a little Kyrgyz. | Men bir az Kyrgyzscha suyloy alam. (Мен бир аз Кыргызсча суйлой алам.) |
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| I understand. | Men tushunom. (Мен тушуном.) |
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| I don’t understand. | Men tushunboym. (Мен тушунбойм.) |
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| Thank you! | Rahmat! (Рахмат!) |
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| Thank you very much! | Chong rahmat! (Чон рахмат!) |
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| Very well, thanks! | Oto jakshy, rahmat! (Ото жакшы, рахмат!) |
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| Good | Jakshy (Жакшы) |
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| Please | Suranych (Сураныч) |
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| Please | Otunuch (Отунуч) |
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| You’re welcome! | Echteke emes! (Эчтеке эмес) |
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| Excuse me! | Kechiresiz! (Кечиресиз!) |
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| A little | Bir az (Бир аз) |
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| Could you speak more slowly? | Bir az jayiraak suylonguzchu! (Бир аз жайыраак суйлонузчу!) |
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| Could you write that down? | Jazyp beresizbi? (Жазып бересизби?) |
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| My bag/wallet/passport was stolen | Men sumkamdy/kapchigimdi/pasportumdu uurdatip jiberdim (Мен сумкамды/капчыгымды/паспортумду уурдатып жибердим) |
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| I need a doctor! | Maga dogdurdu chakyrgyla! (Мага догдурду чакыргыла!) |
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| Call the police! | Militsiyaga konguro kylyngyzchy! (Милицияга конгуроо кылынызчы!) |
Introductions in Kyrgyz
Asking Directions
Shopping
| How much does that cost? | Tetigi kancha turat? Тээтиги канча турат? |
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| The menu, please! | Menunu berip koyunguzchu! Менюну берип коюнузчу? |
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| I’d like a beer, please | Maga syra alyp kelingizchi! Мага сыра алып келинизчи? no file |
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| I would like to pay. | Men tologonu jatam. Мен тологону жатам. |
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| Do you accept credit cards? | Kredit kartochka menen tolosom bolobu? Кредит карточка менен толосом болобу? |
Counting
| 0 | nol’ ноль |
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| 1 | bir бир |
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| 2 | eki еки |
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| 3 | uch уч |
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| 4 | tort торт |
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| 5 | besh беш |
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| 6 | alty алтй |
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| 7 | jeti жети |
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| 8 | segiz сегиз |
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| 9 | toguz тогуз |
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| 10 | (Count 1-10) | on он |
| 11 | on bir он бир |
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| 12 | on eki он еки |
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| 13 | on uch он уч |
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| 14 | on tort он торт |
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| 15 | on besh он беш |
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| 16 | on alty он алтй |
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| 17 | on jeti он жети |
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| 18 | on segiz он сергиз |
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| 19 | (Count 11-19) | on toguz он тогуз |
| 20 | jiyirma жийирма |
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| 21 | zhyiyrma bir жыйырма бир |
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| 22 | zhyiyrma eki жыйырма эки |
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| 30 | otuz отуз |
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| 40 | kyrk кырк |
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| 50 | elu елу |
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| 60 | altymysh алтымыш |
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| 70 | jetimish жетимиш |
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| 80 | seksen сексен |
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| 90 | tokson токсон |
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| 100 | juz жуз |
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| 111 | juz on bir жуз он бир |
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| 125 | juz zhyiyrma besh жуз жыйырма беш |
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| 200 | (Count 20-200) | eki juz эки жуз |
More About the Kyrgyz
Kattama, Qatlama: Central Asia’s Swirled Buttery Pastry
Kattama is a traditional Turkic pastry. It is buttery, flaky, layered and fried or baked to perfection! The dough is rolled thin, slathered in butter and other filling, and then layered and folded, creating beautiful flaky layers that are both crisp and soft. It can be found throughout Mongol and Turkic cultures in various forms. […]
Home Sweet Yurt
Yurts are felt-covered, portable housing that have long been used throughout Central Asia. Although the region is urbanizing, the Kyrgyz still know and follow the traditional customs that surround the traditional yurt. Hospitality is revered in the traditionally poor country of Kyrgyzstan. As soon as they see a new arrival, neighbors will come to meet […]
Beshbarmak (Norin; Narin): The Rich, Meaty Pasta from Central Asia
Beshbarmak (Бешбармак) is a dish enjoyed throughout Central Asia as well as regions of Russia and China. It consists of boiled meat served on a bed of thick, flat noodles and covered in an onion sauce called tuzdyk (туздык). A meal both hearty and delicious, beshbarmak is particularly popular in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan where it holds […]
Ramadan and Eid in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Ramadan is the Muslim holy month when followers are expected to fast, not drinking or eating from sunrise to sunset. During this month, daily life is molded around the fast. Ramadan ends with Eid al-Fitr, a feast and celebration. Kyrgyzstan is a majority Muslim nation and Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr are major parts of the […]
The Talking Kyrgyz Phrasebook
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