Kazakh : a comprehensive grammar

324 Pages·2016·1.346 MB·English

by  Raihan Muhamedowa

Kazakh
A Comprehensive Grammar
Kazakh: A Comprehensive Grammar is the fi rst thorough analysis of
Kazakh to be published in English. The volume is systematically organized
to enable users to fi nd information quickly and easily, and it provides a
thorough understanding of Kazakh grammar, with special emphasis given
to syntax.
Features of this book include: descriptions of phonology, morphology and
syntax; examples of contemporary usage; tables summarizing discussions,
for reference; a bibliography of works relating to Kazakh.
Kazakh: A Comprehensive Grammar refl ects the richness of the language,
focusing on spoken and written varieties in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. It is an
essential purchase for all linguists and scholars interested in Kazakh or in
Turkic languages, as well as for advanced learners of Kazakh.
Raihan Muhamedowa is assistant professor of Turkish studies (W issen-
schaftliche Mitarbeiterin ) at Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Germany.
Routledge Comprehensive Grammars
Comprehensive Grammars are available for the following languages:
Bengali
Cantonese
Chinese
Catalan
Danish
Dutch
Greek
Indonesian
Japanese
Kazakh
Modern Welsh
Modern Written Arabic
Polish
Slovene
Swedish
Turkish
Ukrainian
Kazakh
A Comprehensive Grammar
Raihan Muhamedowa
A project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Raihan Muhamedowa
The right of Raihan Muhamedowa to be identifi ed as author of this
work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or
other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Muhamedowa, Raihan, author.
Kazakh : a comprehensive grammar / Raihan Muhamedowa.
pages cm. — (Routledge Comprehensive Grammars)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Kazakh language—Grammar—Study and teaching. 2. Kazakh
language—Textbooks for foreign speakers—English. I. Title.
PL76.1.M85 2016
494′.34582421—dc23
2015009246
ISBN: 978-1-138-82864-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-82863-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-73823-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon and Gill Sans
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To my son, Joseph Muchtar, the most important result of
this project.
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Contents
List of abbreviations xv
The Kazakh alphabet xvii
Main properties of Kazakh xviii
1 Syntax 1
1.1 Simple sentence 1
1.1.1 Nominal sentences 1
Linking sentences 2
Existential sentences 4
1.1.2 Verbal sentences 6
1.1.3 The syntax of voice 7
1.2 Constituent order 8
1.2.1 The immediately preverbal position 9
1.2.2 The topic position 11
1.2.3 The extraposition of whole phrases and adverbs 14
1.2.4 The postverbal position of the particle ɣoy and the
modal words šïɣar, sekildi, siyaqtï 15
1.2.5 The position of other frequently used particles and
modal words 16
1.3 Functional sentence types 16
1.3.1 Declarative sentences 16
1.3.2 Interrogative sentences 17
Yes/no questions 17
Alternative interrogatives 18
Tag questions 18
Questions formed by the clitics -šI and -še 19
Wh- questions 20
Multiple occurrence of wh- elements 21
vviiii
Contents Declarative questions 21
Echo questions 21
1.3.3 The use of interrogative sentences for expressing
emotions 22
1.3.4 Exclamatory sentences 24
1.3.5 Imperative sentences 25
The use of the auxiliaries b ol- and kör- in
imperative sentences 27
Other means of expressing orders 27
1.4 Direct speech 28
1.5 Complex sentence. Noun clauses 31
1.5.1 Finite and nonfi nite noun clauses 31
1.5.2 Extraposition of noun clauses 32
1.5.3 Indirect statements 32
1.5.4 Indirect questions 34
1.6 Basic characteristics of relative clauses 36
1.6.1 Subject and object relatives 39
1.6.2 Personal pronouns as the head noun 42
1.6.3 Headless relative clauses 42
1.7 Causal clauses 43
1.7.1 Finite causal clauses 43
Subordinators that introduce the effect:
Sondïqtan , sol üšin, sol sebepti and poetomu 44
Subordinators that introduce the cause:
öytkeni , sebebi and potomu čto 46
1.7.2 Nonfi nite causal clauses 47
1.8 Temporal clauses 48
1.8.1 - GAndA 48
1.8.2 - GAn kezde 51
1.8.3 - (A)rdA 51
1.8.4 - GAnnAn soŋ, -GAnnAn keyin 52
1.8.5 - GAnGA deyin 53
1.8.6 - (A)r aldïnda, -(A)rdAn burïn 53
1.8.7 - GAlI 54
1.8.8 - GAnnAn beri 55
1.8.9 - GAnšA 55
1.8.10 - IsImen 55
1.8.11 - GAn sayïn 56
1.9 Conditional clauses 56
1.9.1 Real conditions 57
viii 1.9.2 Unreal conditions 58
1.9.3 Other ways of expressing conditional Contents
relations 59
1.10 Concessive clauses 59
1.11 Purposive clauses 60
1.12 Coordination 61
1.12.1 Copulative coordination 61
1.12.2 Adversative coordination 63
1.12.3 Disjunctive coordination 65
1.13 Syntax of noun phrases. Internal structure of
noun phrases 66
1.13.1 Items that can function as the head
of a noun phrase 66
1.13.2 Items that can function as modifi ers 67
1.13.3 Compounds 68
Bare compounds 68
-(s)I compounds 70
Conjoined compounds 74
Multilayered compounds 74
Coordinative compounds (twin words) 76
Adjective-noun compounds 76
Noun-verb compounds 79
Verb-verb compounds 79
1.13.4 Apposition 80
1.13.5 Genitive-possessive constructions 80
1.13.6 Dative-governed noun phrases 83
1.13.7 Noun phrases with clausal modifi ers 84
1.13.8 The use of the determinative ö z in
noun phrases 85
1.13.9 Coordination in noun phrases 86
1.13.10 Left-headed noun phrases 88
1.13.11 Stump compounds 90
1.13.12 Compounds with English nouns 90
1.14 Syntax of verb phrases. Internal structure of
verb phrases 91
1.14.1 Changing transitivity 94
1 .14.2 Complements of the verb 94
Direct object 94
Indirect object 96
DATIVE-MARKED INDIRECT OBJECT 96
ABLATIVE-MARKED INDIRECT OBJECT 96
INSTRUMENTAL-MARKED INDIRECT OBJECT 96 ix