Colloquial Kazakh

Zaure Batayeva

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317305224
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Colloquial Kazakh provides a step-by-step course in Kazakh as it is written and spoken today. Combining a user-friendly approach with a thorough treatment of the language, it equips learners with the essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively in Kazakh in a broad range of situations. No prior knowledge of the language is required.

Key features include:

• progressive coverage of speaking, listening, reading and writing skills
• structured, jargon-free explanations of grammar
• an extensive range of focused and stimulating exercises
• realistic and entertaining dialogues covering a broad variety of scenarios
• useful vocabulary lists throughout the text
• an overview of the sounds and alphabet of Kazakh
• additional resources available at the back of the book, including a full answer key, a grammar summary, bilingual glossaries and English translations of dialogues.

Balanced, comprehensive and rewarding, Colloquial Kazakh will be an indispensable resource both for independent learners and for students taking courses in Kazakh.

Audio material to accompany the course is available to download free in MP3 format from www.routledge.com/cw/colloquials. Recorded by native speakers, the audio material features the dialogues and texts from the book and will help develop your listening and pronunciation skills.

Unit One

Танысқаныма қуаныштымын!

Glad to meet you!

In this unit you will learn how to:

• greet others

• introduce yourself or others

• use pronouns and personal endings

• use the negative word емес

• ask and answer yes/no questions

Dialogue 1

Аты-жөніңіз кім болады? What is your name? (Audio 1:6)

Stacy enters her office in Almaty for the first time. Aigul, the secretary, is sitting at her desk.

стэйси	Сәлеметсіз бе!
Aйгүл	Aмансыз ба! Бұйымтайыңыз бар ма?
стэйси	Менің атым Стэйси. Мен осы компанияның жаңа инженерімін.
Aйгүл	Кешіріңіз, толық аты-жөніңіз кім болады?
стэйси	Cтэйси Брук.
Aйгүл	Қош келдіңіз, Стэйси! Мен Айгүлмін, осы компанияның хатшысымын.
STACY	How do you do?
AIGUL	How do you do? Can I help you?
STACY	My name is Stacy. I’m the new engineer.
ALGUL	I’m sorry, what is your full name?
STACY	Stacy Brooke.
AIGUL	Welcome, Stacy! I’m Aigul, the secretary.

Vocabulary

бұйымтайыңыз бар ма?	can I help you?
менің атым	my name
осы	this
жаңа	new
кешіріңіз	excuse me, sorry
толық аты-жөні	full name
хатшы	secretary
инженер	engineer

Dialogue 2

Таныс болыңыз Let me introduce you (Audio 1:7)

The manager enters the room.

Aйгүл	Ерлан Ахмет-ұлы, таныс болыңыз, Стэйси Брук, жаңа инженер.
ерлан	Ерлан Ахмет-ұлы – бөлім бастығы. Танысқаныма қуаныштымын. Қош келдің!
стэйси	Cәлеметсіз бе, Ерлан Ахмет-ұлы!
AIGUL	Erlan Akhmet-uly, please meet Stacy Brooke, the new engineer.
ERLAN	Erlan Akhmet-uly, the manager of our division. Nice to meet you. Welcome!
STACY	How do you do, Erlan Akhmet-uly?

Vocabulary

таныс болыңыз	please meet
бөлім бастығы	manager of the division
қош келдің	welcome

Dialogue 3

Менің атым Қанат My name is Kanat (Audio 1:8)

Kanat, a young employee, comes in.

KAHAT	Cәлем! Таныс болайық, менің атым Қанат.
стэйси	Cәлем! Танысқаныма қуаныштымын!
KANAT	Hi! Let us be acquainted, my name is Kanat.
STACY	Hi! Nice to meet you.

Cultural point

When you greet someone in Kazakh, you can do so with the formal сәлеметсіз бе or with the informal сәлем. Kazakh culture is hierarchical: older people and people of a higher rank should be addressed with the formal greeting. You can also use the formal greeting when you meet someone for the first time. In Dialogue 1, for example, Stacy, upon entering her new workplace, greets Aigul, the secretary, by saying сәлеметсіз бе. This phrase literally means ‘are you in good health?’ but you can use it as a greeting whenever you are in a new or formal situation.

However, when Kanat, another employee, greets Stacy, he chooses the informal greeting сәлем. He could have chosen the formal greeting but instead opts for the less formal alternative, because he sees that he and Stacy belong to the same age group.

In Kazakh culture, older or higher-ranking people should never be addr...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• The sounds of Kazakh
• 1 Glad to meet you!
• 2 Where are you from?
• 3 Is your family big?
• 4 I am from Italy, but I now live in Almaty
• 5 Have a nice trip!
• 6 Business trip
• 7 It is raining in Almaty
• 8 Happy Nowruz!
• 9 Please come and visit our home
• 10 Ready to serve
• 11 It is not my size
• 12 The city we lived in
• 13 Everything used to be different
• 14 I fell sick
• Grammar summary
• Key to exercises
• Translations of dialogues
• Kazakh-English glossary
• English-Kazakh glossary
• Index