Kazakh a~ɯ problem

Surface vs written forms

The following words I've heard pronounced in the following ways:

• jaqsı [ʒɑχsɑ]
• balıqşı [bɑlɯqʃɑ]
• Kg: taraza [tɑrɑzɯ]
• Kz: "Sol durıssız ba?" [sʷʊl dʊˈrɑsɯz̥ pɑ]

Cognates

Vocab

• Kk: qattı 'strong'; Uz: qatta 'big' (<- Uz: katta 'big', not *qatta, probably Uz: qattiq 'strong, tough, hard')
• Kk: injir 'fig'; Uz: änjir 'fig'
• Kk: pikir 'poor'; fakir 'beggar'
• Kk: sayasat 'politics'; siyasät
• Kk: ustara 'razor'; ustura; Ky/Uz: ustara
• Kk: qaya; Tt: qıya
• Kk: ara 'bee, wasp'; Ky: aarı (but Kk: ara 'saw'; Ky: araa)
• Kk: jı(l)mıy- ‘smile’; Ky: jılmay-; Uz: jilmay- (iljay-)
• Kk: janat ‘raccoon’; Ky: janut
• Ky: qoşuna ‘neighbour’; Uz: qoshni; Uy xoshna/qoshna
• Kk: suwıq ‘cold’; Ky: suuq; Uy-qsh: soğaq; Uy: soğuq; Tr: soğuk
• Ky: buğu; Uy: bugha 'deer, antelope, elk' (all dialects?); Uz: bug'u;
• Uy (Kashgar): o(l)turaş ‘party’; Uy (standard): olturuş (see #Kashgari Uyghur '-ish' and '-ip' forms below); Ky: o(l)turuş ‘a sitting’

Functional Morphemes

• Question Particle:
  • Kz: MA
  • Kg: -BI
  • Uz: -mi
  • Uy: -mu (but Kashgar dial. '-ma', trad. interpreted as '-mu' + '-a' [emph. part.])
  • Tk: -mI
  • (PrTk, most other Turkic: -mI)
• 1st person singular copula / present-tense verbal "agreement":
  • Kk: -MIn
  • Kg: -MIn
  • Kaa: -MAn
  • Uz: -man
  • (*män~bän)
• 2nd person singular copula / present-tense verbal "agreement":
  • Kk: -sIŋ
  • Kg: -sIŋ
  • Kaa: -sAn(?)
  • Uz: -san
  • (*sän)
• "What about..?" particle:
  • Kk: -şI, -şe (with pronouns)?
  • Ky: -çI
  • Uy: -chu

Kashgari Uyghur '-ish' and '-ip' forms

Kashgar dialect has '-Ash' forms only for rounded stems, i.e. only where standard Uyghur has '-Ush'. All other (consonant-final) stems take '-ish' in both dialects, including those stems whose final syllable contains /a/ or /e/, which gives the curious impression that in Kashgar dialect the vowels internal to the form which attaches to [+round] roots are not themselves rounded.

One might be tempted to see if (C){a/e}C stems also take the '-Ash' forms; they don't. However the whole business is complicated by the fact that /a/ and /e/ in the last syllable of the root reduce to /é/ (in monosyllabic roots) and /i/ (in polysyllabic roots) when their verb takes this ending (and a few others). Not sure what to make of this right now, but I'm half-remembering a paper Bert Vaux wrote on cyclical rule ordering and harmony in Uyghur that may or may not have something in it on this (most of the paper was about reduction and A-type harmony in standard Uyghur). More later.

I think this happens with '-Ip' adverbials too.

Russian vs. Kazakh

Kazakh/Russian versions of the same words (toponyms, mostly):

• Kz: Qarağandı, Ru: Karagandá
• Kz: Almatı, Ru: Almatá/Almatý
• Kz: Jambıl/Jambal??, Ru: Jambýl