FAQ

Answers to questions often asked of me.

Linguistics

"What do you do?"

See my home page for a description of what I do.

"What is linguistics?"

See wikipedia's article on linguistics.

"What is phonology?"

See wikipedia's article on phonology.

Kazakhstan

"Why have you gone to Kazakhstan / Central Asia?"

This question is often asked by both my American and Kazakh friends.

Сен қазақ болсаң, Қазақстан неге қызық жер екенін білмесең, нағыз қазақ емессің ғой! Қазақ тілі неге қызық екенін білмесең, лингвистика түсінбейсің - ал мына мәселе емес ;) Биік оқы.

As a linguist, all languages interest me. In particular, I've become fascinated by Turkic languages (and more generally in Altaic languages). After this interested originally developed, I was invited to spend the summer in Almaty, so I did, with the idea in mind to learn as much Kazakh as I could. It began to sink in that Kazakh is a really neat language from a linguistic point of view, with lots and lots of material which has yet to be studied in the framework of theoretical linguistics (see above). So I go back to Kazakhstan (and Kyrgyzstan) when I can, to better learn Kazakh (and Kyrgyz) and conduct research. I also like to spend time with the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz in general (the local Russians and other peoples aren't bad either;), and have lots of friends in Central Asia now.

"Where's Kazakhstan?"

This question is often asked by my American friends. Lots of information can be found in wikipedia's article on Kazakhstan.

"Қазақша білесің бе не?"

Жаңа қазақ таныстарым менен бұл сұрақ өдетте сұрады.

Жауап аздап биік.

Views

"What do you think about Borat?" / "Борат жек көреміз, сенші?"

Everyone has different views about the "Borat" craze. Since I study Kazakhstan, and am one of few Americans to have some understanding of Kazakhstan from within Kazakh society, I feel that I should comment on this for my American friends. Қазақша сөйлейтін қазақ әлеуметі жөне дөстүрлері түшінетін америкалықтай, қазақ достарым үшін ойларымды беруім қажет екен.