I can choose -лар or -лер by the last syllable of a word and put the stress on the last syllable.
Vowel harmony: hard words and soft words
Vowel harmony: hard words and soft words
Vowel harmony is the main rule of a Kazakh word: its vowels are usually all hard (а, о, ұ, ы) or all soft (ә, ө, ү, і, е). English has nothing like it. Қала (city) is a hard word, үй (house) a soft one.
An ending matches the word. The plural ending (“many”) is -лар after a hard word and -лер after a soft one.
• қала → қалалар — “cities”
• аға → ағалар — “older brothers”
• үй → үйлер — “houses”
• дәрігер → дәрігерлер — “doctors”
Some words, many of them borrowed, mix hard and soft vowels. Then the LAST syllable decides: дәріхана (pharmacy) → дәріханалар, қызметкер (employee) → қызметкерлер. The letters и and у don't decide on their own — look at the other vowels: кино → кинолар.
Today: only words ending in a vowel or in р, й, у. After other consonants the first letter of the ending changes — that is lesson 4.
The checker tells -лар from -лер: the wrong form is a mistake.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “дәріханалер” — look at the last syllable (на), not the first.
• NOT “үйлар” — a soft word takes a soft ending too.
The ending matches the word
| The word's vowels | Word | Many |
|---|---|---|
| hard | қала — city | қалалар — cities |
| hard | аға — older brother | ағалар — older brothers |
| soft | үй — house | үйлер — houses |
| soft | дәрігер — doctor | дәрігерлер — doctors |
Mixed vowels: the last syllable decides
| Word | Last syllable | Many |
|---|---|---|
| кино | но — hard | кинолар |
| метро | ро — hard | метролар |
| дәріхана — pharmacy | на — hard | дәріханалар |
| қызметкер — employee | кер — soft | қызметкерлер |
Lesson notes
Vowel harmony: hard words and soft words
Vowel harmony is the main rule of a Kazakh word: its vowels are usually all hard (а, о, ұ, ы) or all soft (ә, ө, ү, і, е). English has nothing like it. Қала (city) is a hard word, үй (house) a soft one.
An ending matches the word. The plural ending (“many”) is -лар after a hard word and -лер after a soft one.
• қала → қалалар — “cities”
• аға → ағалар — “older brothers”
• үй → үйлер — “houses”
• дәрігер → дәрігерлер — “doctors”
Some words, many of them borrowed, mix hard and soft vowels. Then the LAST syllable decides: дәріхана (pharmacy) → дәріханалар, қызметкер (employee) → қызметкерлер. The letters и and у don't decide on their own — look at the other vowels: кино → кинолар.
Today: only words ending in a vowel or in р, й, у. After other consonants the first letter of the ending changes — that is lesson 4.
The checker tells -лар from -лер: the wrong form is a mistake.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “дәріханалер” — look at the last syllable (на), not the first.
• NOT “үйлар” — a soft word takes a soft ending too.
Stress on the last syllable
A Kazakh word is usually stressed on the last syllable: қа-ла — the stressed syllable is ла. Unlike in English, unstressed vowels keep their full sound: no “uh”.
When -лар or -лер is added, the stress moves onto the ending: қа-ла-лар — the stressed syllable is лар; дә-рі-гер-лер — the stressed syllable is лер.
Kazakh writes no stress mark: we name the stressed syllable in words.
Some endings take no stress; we'll point them out when they come up.
Words from Russian keep their own stress: компьютер on the second syllable, метро on the last.
Common mistakes:
• NOT the stress on the first syllable, as English habit suggests — in қала the stress is on ла.