Kazakh Syntax Topics

These are things that I was surprised to find attested (and common!) in Kazakh, or things that are linguistically odd in some way.

3rd Person in unquoted quoted speech

• Кім екенін мен білмейді деп ойлай ма?
• who ~being-ACC I know-NEG-PresPART-3rd ~as think-PresPART Q?
• Does she think I don't know who it is?

Possession not mandatory for inalienable(?) things

• "біздің қораның" instead of "біздің қорамыздың" ("our barn")

Possessed things as adjectives

• "шашы ұзын қыз" - "long haired girl"
• compare:
  • қызыл түсті зат - red coloured thing
  • түсі қызыл зат - its-colour red thing

бар possession problem

• ит бар адам
• dog COP man
• the man who has a/the dog

Nom/Gen variation with certain verb forms

• "Мен(ің) тамақ ішкім келеді" - I want to eat.
• "Ол мен(ің) нені көргенімді білмейді" - S/he doesn't know what I saw.