Monday, June 24, 2013

1.1 Kyrgyz Alphabet

If you're familiar with the Russian alphabet, the Kyrgyz alphabet is a breeze, almost everything is the same except for the addition of three letters:  Ң, Ө, Ү.   The last two are similar to German Umlauts, and the first is an NG.   There are also glottal versions of K and G, and Ж is closer to J than Zh.  The most difficult part is vowel pronunciation/tone, which Russians tend to miss.  You'll also notice double vowels, such as Ооба (Yes).  These generally just lengthen the sound.  

Кыргыз тамгулары

Аа--ah       soft short a as in arm
Бб--beh     slighty smaller mouth than English B
Вв--vuh    again, slighty softer than English V, I've heard a slight B shift sometimes, as is common in Spanish
Гг--guh      As the first g in gague, OR sometimes deep glottal G closer to Arabic (with hard vowels)
Дд--duh     slightly softer than English
Ее--yeay     "eh"  as in egg
Ёё--yo        as in yo-yo
Жж--juh    Closer to an English J (as in Giraffe) than a Russian Ж.
Зз--zuh       shorter than American Z
Ии--ee       slightly more vertical than American long E
Йй--ee-uh?   Usually found in a dipthong "ai" as in dry.  In Russian words, formed by rounding the tongue and pushing air over the top with an "ee" sound.      
Кк--kay        same as English K, sometimes strong glottal KH (With hard vowels)
                     In Northern Kyrgyz Pronunciation, soft K's are more than halfway to G, similar to gum.
Лл--el           significantly softer than English
Мм--em       about the same as English M
Нн--en         English N, softer
Ңң--ng         Like English ng, but with a stop at the end
Oo--oh         Round soft O
Өө--oo        Like German umlaut Ö.  Strong round O/EW
Пп--peh     softer and more forward than English P
Рр--ruh       rolled, but only once (a tap)
Сс--suh       like s in soul
Тт--teh        softer than English
Уу--ooh      like oo in noodle
Үү--oeyh    German umlaut Ü--Ooh with a little Ew in it, very round.
Фф--ef        like English F, just slightly softer    
Хх--huh      glottal h
Цц--tsuh     TS  (with a sharp T)
Чч--chuh     like English CH
Шш--shuh   like English sh
Щщ--shch   like English sh that changes midway to ch, Russian pronunciation seems to vary
Ыы--ooey   oo combined with ee.  one of the harder Russian sounds, VERY common in Kyrgyz.
Ээ--eh         schwa.  English E as in bed
Юю--yu       as in You or Yugoslavia
Яя--ya         like German Ja, mostly in Russian words.

This is the only video I could find, it's not the greatest, the first lady is a Russian speaker (Kyrgyz may or may not be her first language), and the second guy has a very distinct American accent, neither sound extremely Kyrgyz:

http://kyrgyz.peacecorps.gov/public_ftp/kyrgyz_alphabet.mp4


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