Turkic sound changes

Also see Turkic Sonority Constraints#Words that changed due to sonority

proto-Altaic to pre-proto-Turkic:

• ʒ, dʒ, d?, n? > j / #_ (?)

pre-proto-Turkic to proto-Turkic:

• no n, m, ŋ, l, r, z, š / #_
• p > ɸ > h
• lenis/fortis merger
  • g > k
  • d > t
• j, di, nʲ > j / #_
• si > š / #_

Old Turkic phonology

Old Turkic has nine vowel qualities—a /a/, e /æ/, ė /e/, i /i/, ï /ɯ/, o /o/, ö /ø/, u /u/, ü /y/—distinct only in the first syllable of a word, collapsed into four classes elsewhere—a, e, ï, i.

The consonantal system distinguishes between unvoiced, voiced (with fricative variants) and nasal:

labial: p, v (β), m;

dental: t, d (δ), n;

palatal: č, y, ń;

velar: k (q, χ), g (γ), ŋ;

sibilant: s, š, z;

liquid: r, l.

proto-Turkic to proto-Kypchak:

• nʲ > j
• G > K / _#
• d > t / _#
• d > t / #_ (kind of, since most later borrowings did this, but later ones from Mongolic, esp. in Kazakh; proto-Tc didn't have #d)
• V > [-rd] / []σ_
• b > v / V _
• v > w
• gm > mg
• Vg/b changes:
  • aG > aw
  • ub > uw
  • ɯG > ɯ(? sometimes uː in Kg)
  • oG > uw
  • eb/æb > yj
• æ > e (more æ added by Persian loans)
• d > ð > j / V_
• øg > øj
• s > tʃ / _Vtʃ
• a > æ / _ X V[-back]
• f > p

proto-Kypchak to Kazakh:

• æ > e / #[]σ_
• mg > ŋb
• ʃ > s
• tʃ > ʃ
• j > dʒ / #_
• dʒ > ʒ
• CC > CIC / _]σ (sometimes)
• h,x > q / σ[_
• h > ∅ / _]σ
• ʕ > G
• K > G / l_
• ∅ > O / #_{r}
• æw > ew
• f > w / _]σ

Kazakh phonology

Kazakh consonant phonemes

	Bilabial		Labio- dental		Dental/ Alveolar		Post- alveolar		Palatal		Velar/ Uvular		Glottal
Plosives	p	b			t	d					k	ɡ
Nasals	m				n						ŋ
Fricatives			(f)	(v)	s	z	ʃ	ʒ	(ɕ)		(x)		h
Affricates									(ʨ)
Tap					ɾ
Approximant	w								j
Lateral approximants					l

Kazakh vowel phonemes

	Front		Back
	Unrounded	Rounded	Unrounded	Rounded
High	ɪ	ʉ	ə	ʊ
Diphthongal	i̯ɪ	u̯ʉ		u̯ʊ
Low	æ		ɑ

proto-Kypchak to Kyrgyz:

• jI > I (sometimes?)
• b > m / V_V (sometimes?)
• monophthongisation
  • ɯw/uw > uː
  • iw/yw > yː
  • aw > oː
  • ew, æw > øː
• æ > Aː
• j > dʒ / #_
• Vh > Vː
• h > ∅
• x > q
• ʕ > ∅
• G > ∅ / V_V
• nj > jn
• ∅ > U / #_{l,r}
• eg > ig

Kyrgyz phonology

Vowels

	front		central1	back
	unrounded	rounded		unrounded	rounded
Close	и [i]	ү [y]		ы [ɯ]	у [u] ю [ju]
mid	э [e] е [je]	ө [ø]			о [o] ё [jo]
open				а [ɑ] я [jɑ]

Consonants

Kirghiz consonant phonemes:

	Bilabial	Dental/ alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar/ uvular
plosive	п б [p] [b]	т д [t] [d]			к г [k]/[q] [g]/[ʁ]
nasal	м [m]	н [n]			ң [ŋ]
trill		р [r]
fricative	(ф) (в) ([f]) ([v])	с з [s] [z]	ш [ʃ]		х [χ]
affricate			ч ж [t​͡ʃ] [d​͡ʒ]
approximant		л [l]		й [j]