kazakhtiliқазақ тілі

Lesson

Alphabet: the shared letters

The other thirty letters, shared with Russian — tap each card to hear how it is spoken in Kazakh. Vowels come first, then the consonants. Three letters are left out on purpose: ъ and ь are silent signs and ё appears only in Russian loanwords.

30 words · 3 sentences

Words 30

Tap a card to hear it
  • а
    open back 'a', as in 'father'
    example: алма — apple
  • е
    'ye' at the start of a word, 'e' elsewhere
    example: екі — two
  • и
    long 'ee' as in 'see'
    example: ит — dog
  • о
    'o' as in 'more'
    example: он — ten
  • у
    'oo' — or 'w' next to a vowel
    example: су — water
  • ы
    short muffled 'uh', a back vowel
    example: қыс — winter
  • э
    'e' as in 'end' — loanwords only
    example: экран — screen
  • ю
    'yu'
    example: аю — bear
  • я
    'ya'
    example: қоян — rabbit
  • б
    'b'
    example: бала — child
  • в
    'v' — mostly loanwords
    example: вагон — wagon
  • г
    'g' as in 'go'
    example: гүл — flower
  • д
    'd'
    example: дос — friend
  • ж
    'zh', like the s in 'pleasure'
    example: жыл — year
  • з
    'z'
    example: қаз — goose
  • й
    'y' as in 'boy'
    example: шай — tea
  • к
    'k' — the front k
    example: кітап — book
  • л
    'l'
    example: көл — lake
  • м
    'm'
    example: мысық — cat
  • н
    'n'
    example: нан — bread
  • п
    'p'
    example: апа — older sister
  • р
    rolled 'r'
    example: бір — one
  • с
    's'
    example: сүт — milk
  • т
    't'
    example: тау — mountain
  • ф
    'f' — loanwords
    example: футбол — football
  • х
    harsh 'kh', like Scottish 'loch'
    example: хат — letter (mail)
  • ц
    'ts' — loanwords
    example: цирк — circus
  • ч
    'ch' — loanwords
    example: чемодан — suitcase
  • ш
    'sh'
    example: шам — lamp
  • щ
    long soft 'shch' — rare
    example: ащы — bitter

Sentences 3

  • Бала нан жейді.
    The child eats bread.
  • Мысық сүт ішеді.
    The cat drinks milk.
  • Мен қазақ тілін үйренемін.
    I am learning the Kazakh language.