Kazakh phrasebook
Kazakh or Kazak (qazaqşa / қазақша / قازاقشا) is an official language of Kazakhstan, as well as in parts of the Dzungarian region of Xinjiang and Gansu in China. It is also widely spoken in Kazakh regions of Bayan-Ulgii in Mongolia. There are an estimated 13 million speakers worldwide, with 10 million in Kazakhstan, 1 million in China, 560,000 in Russia, over 100,000 in Mongolia, and the remainder spread throughout Central Asia. It belongs to the Turkic languages of languages along with Kyrgyz, Turkish, Uzbek, etc. Within the Turkic group the most closely related languages are Bashkir, Karakalpak, Kyrgyz, Nogai, and Volga Tatar.
Whether or not travellers need to learn Kazakh is debatable, as nearly all citizens of Kazakhstan are also able to speak Russian, and the ethnic Kazakhs of China are usually able to speak Mandarin. That said, you are virtually guaranteed to get a particularly warm welcome from the locals if you attempt to speak the language.
Pronunciation guideThe Kazakh Cyrillic Alphabet has 42 letters and is an expanded version of the Russian Cyrillic Alphabet. It used in for the written Kazakh language in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Mongolia.
GrammarKazakh has 8 pronouns. When speaking directly to someone (2nd person), use "сен" (syen) when they are the same age or younger, and "сіз" (siz) when they are older.
Phrase listYou should use one to twelve in most cases, unless there it is necessary to be absolutely precise.
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Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Kazakh phrasebook" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0