Want to learn the Kazakh alphabet in the easiest way possible? Look no further, this article is made especially for you!
Let’s learn together to understand the correct pronunciation of each letter in the Kazakh alphabet and explore some tips to help you become proficient before moving on to the next topic.
A Brief Overview Of The Kazakh Alphabet
Kazakh, the official language of Kazakhstan, currently uses the Cyrillic script. The Kazakh alphabet consists of 42 Cyrillic letters, of which 33 are borrowed from Russian, and only nine are unique to Kazakh. These nine letters represent sounds not found in Russian and are used exclusively in Kazakh words.
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Let’s explore the Kazakh alphabet in both uppercase and lowercase letters and see how each letter is pronounced.
| Kazakh Letters | IPA Pronunciation | Example In English |
|---|---|---|
| A а | a | ’a’ as in father |
| Ә ә | æ | ’ä’ as in Apple |
| Б б | b | ’b’ as in bat |
| B в | v | ’b’ as in very |
| Г г | g | ’g’ as in go |
| Ғ ғ | ʁ (French r) | ğ or gh (no English equivalent) |
| Д д | d | ’d’ as in day |
| Е е | e or ye | ’e’ in yes (pronounce it as if there’s ‘y’ before e) |
| Ë ë | jo | yo (only used in Russian words) |
| Ж ж | ʒ | ’s’ or ‘zh’ as in measure |
| З з | z | ’z’ like in zoo |
| И и | ï | sounds like ‘ee’ like in see or feet |
| Й й | y | only used with vowels, like in ray. |
| К к | k | like in kind |
| Қ қ | q (glottal sound) | deep ‘k’ or ‘q’ sound |
| Л л | a little hard ‘l’ sound | like in element or lamp |
| М м | m | like in man |
| Н н | n | like in pen |
| Ң ң | ñ | like an element or lamp |
| О о | o | as in more |
| Ө ө | French eu or German ë sound | like in early |
| П п | p | as in pen |
| Р р | r | rolled r sound (similar to Spanish ‘r’) as in |
| С с | s | as in sun or miss |
| Т т | t | like in ten |
| У у | ʊw (long ‘u’ sound) | ’u’ sound as in put or full |
| Ұ ұ | short ‘u’ sound | like ‘oo’ sound in the word ‘book’ |
| Ү ү | ü | pronounce it by raising the tongue’s tip as high as possible, while mouth is half closed |
| Ф ф | f | ’f’ sounds like in four or fun |
| Х х | kh (uvular sound) | like in Spanish ‘loch’ or Urdu ‘khan’ (it doesn’t sound like English ‘X’) |
| Һ һ | h | like in hat |
| Ц ц | c or ts sound | as in cats or its |
| Ч ч | ch sound | as in chess or check |
| Ш ш | ʃ | sh sound like in ship |
| Щ щ | softer, but long ‘sh’ sound | like in she or passion |
| Ъ ъ | (“) {used as a hard mark punctuation in Russian words only} | sounds like ‘porch’ in Kazakh as ‘pod”ezd’ |
| Ы ы | sounds like Turkish ı | ’i’ sound with tongue rolled back, but with less tension (no English equivalent) |
| І і | i | ’i’ sound as in bit |
| Ь ь | (‘) { used as a punctuation mark in Russian words only} | like al’fa (alpha) |
| Э э | e | as in red or end |
| Ю ю | yu | like ‘you’ sound in the English word ‘youth’ |
| Я я | ya | ’ya’ sound as in ‘yard’ or ‘yah’ |
Vowel Harmony In The Kazakh Alphabet
Vowel harmony is a major part of the Kazakh language. Do you know what vowel harmony is?
It means that the vowels in a word must match as either front vowels or back vowels.
- Front Kazakh vowels are Ә, Ө, Ү, І, and Е. We pronounce them by bringing the tongue to the front of the mouth. For example, the word for beautiful is körikti (көрікті).
- Back Kazakh vowels are А, О, Ұ, Ы, and У. We pronounce them by pulling the tongue toward the back of the mouth, as in the word qala (қала), which means city.
You can practice pronouncing these vowels easily with the Ling app’s real native audio.
According to vowel harmony, suffixes change depending on the vowels in the root word. If the root word has a back vowel, the suffix should also have a back vowel, and the same goes for front vowels. For instance:
- The word qala (қала) contains the back vowel ‘a’, so we add the corresponding back vowel suffix gha (ға), making it qalagha (қалаға), which means ‘to the city’.
- The word köz (көз), meaning eye, takes the front vowel suffix ge (ге), forming közge (көзге), which means ‘to the eye’.
- Writing the back vowel suffix gha (ға) with the front vowel word köz (көз) is incorrect. When forming words, vowels in suffixes must match the front or back vowels of the root word.
- Always add suffixes according to the root word, especially when forming native Kazakh words.
This is the main trick for forming words, and it is the key point to remember when learning the Kazakh alphabet.
Pro tip: Check the first vowel of a word and match the rest of the vowels in the word accordingly.
Voiced And Voiceless Consonants In The Kazakh Alphabet
Now comes the Kazakh consonants. These are of two types:
- Voiced consonants: When pronouncing them, you will feel a vibration in your vocal cords, as in the word zaman (заман), which means ‘era’.
- Voiceless consonants: These are the opposite, and you will not feel a vibration in your throat. For example, tau (тау), which means ‘mountain’.
See, when pronouncing z (З) in zaman (заман), our vocal cords vibrate, but they do not when pronouncing t (Т) in tau (тау).
Understanding this difference between the consonants is essential as it affects the pronunciation and word building in Kazakh.
Additionally, when forming words with consonants, the sound of the last consonant may sometimes change depending on the following vowel or consonant.
For instance, we have the word ‘book’ – kitap (кітап).
- If we make it plural as ‘books’ – kitaptar (кітаптар), it remains voiceless because of the voiceless consonant ‘т’
- If we say ‘my books’, kitabım (кітабым), the word kitap (кітап) changes to kitab (кітаб) with a voiced consonant б.
This is the main difference between the Kazakh vowels and consonants. We always maintain the vowel harmony by matching the vowels throughout the word, but the last consonants in Kazakh words may sometimes change.
How Do You Say The Word ‘Alphabet’ In Kazakh?
The word for Alphabet in Kazakh is eh-lip-bee (Әліпби). So, if you want to say ‘the Kazakh alphabet’ in Kazakh, say: Qazaq eh-lip-bee (Қазақ әліпбиі).
Other Essential Vocabulary Related To The Kazakh Alphabet
Here is some more Kazakh vocabulary that will help you master the Kazakh alphabet, as you will encounter these words most often during your learning journey.
| English | Kazakh | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Letter | Әріп | eh-rip |
| Word | Сөз | suhz |
| Syllable | Буын | boo-uhn |
| Sound | Дыбыс | duh-bus |
| Read | Оқу | oh-koo |
| Write | Жазу | jah-zoo |
| Book | Кітаn | kee-tap |
| Understand | Түсіну | tü-si-nü |
| Exercise/ practice | Жаттығу | jat-ty-ghoo |
| Sentence | Сөйлем | söy-lem |
Tips For Easily Mastering The Kazakh Alphabet
It is time to look at some useful tips to help you overcome any language hurdles you encounter while mastering the Kazakh alphabet or the language as a whole.
- Start small. Don’t rush the learning. Begin with the alphabet; having English equivalents, they are comparatively easier.
- Practice it out loud and listen to your voice. It will help you improve your pronunciation as you become your own teacher.
- Use flashcards, as they greatly help in learning new vocabulary. For this, you can try language apps that use flashcards for practicing vocabulary in distinct intervals.
- Repeat Often. With consistent practice, you can easily master the Kazakh alphabet and confidently start making words with it.
Frequently Asked Questions About The Kazakh Alphabet
What Script Does The Kazakh Language Follow?
At present, the Kazakh alphabet is written in the Cyrillic script. Before this, Kazakhs used the Arabic writing system. For some time, Kazakh speakers in Iran, China, and Afghanistan used the Arabic script, while people in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Mongolia used the Cyrillic alphabet. Now, there are official orders to adopt the Latin alphabet. With this change, understanding Kazakh will become even easier.
Why Are There Proposals To Change The Cyrillic Kazakh Alphabet To Latin?
The Kazakh government wants to change Kazakh Cyrillic letters to Latin letters, primarily to facilitate easier global interaction, given the widespread use of the Latin script, as Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan already use the Latin-based alphabet.
Additionally, the goal is to move away from Russian influence and strengthen national identity. And, another reason is modernization, as modern education and several digital platforms have already adopted Latin.
Is It Difficult To Learn The Kazakh Language?
Learning Kazakh isn’t very difficult, but it is a bit different from other languages because of its unique script. However, as I said, it isn’t very challenging because its grammar is comparatively easy.
For example, while learning Kazakh, you don’t have to worry about the gendered nouns as there aren’t any, you don’t have to agree adjectives with nouns, and most importantly, Kazakh only has regular verbs. And, when the grammar of any language is easy, nothing feels much difficult, not even the script, right?
Crack The Kazakh Language With Its Alphabet
We all know that the first step to truly understanding and speaking any language fluently is learning its alphabet. The same is true for the Kazakh language. Fortunately, with this article, you have already started mastering the Kazakh alphabet. Don’t worry if you need more time. Just keep practicing, follow the tips mentioned, and you will soon be able to pronounce the Kazakh alphabet accurately.
To make learning easier, I have also included some related vocabulary that will help you strengthen your understanding of the Kazakh alphabet. If you want to practice the alphabet in context, you can do this while learning basic Kazakh phrases, such as saying hello in Kazakh.
Ling Makes Learning Kazakh Easy And Engaging!
If you ask me for my top recommendation on the best app to learn Kazakh, I would say the Ling app, even if it’s the thousandth time! Yes, I am serious.
Its bite-sized, structured lessons keep you engaged, gamified practice exercises keep you motivated, and equal focus on different language skills, such as listening and speaking, ensures you only finish a lesson once you have mastered the basic conversational skills.
The Ling app also provides a private space to practice speaking the language confidently through its dialogue feature, helps you identify your mistakes, and supports mastering accurate pronunciation with its speech-recognition tool. Furthermore, the spaced-repetition technique and review feature make sure you don’t forget previous lessons as you progress in your language learning journey.
A great deal, right? Download the Ling app now and try it for yourself. Ling also offers a 7-day free trial for new learners, so sign up, subscribe, and start learning Kazakh in no time!
