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100 EXPERIENCES OF KAZAKHSTAN
KAZAKH LANGUAGE Salem (Hello)
Sau-bol (Goodbye)
Rakhmet (Thank you)
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The Kazakh language belongs to the Kypchak group of Turkic languages. The group includes the Tatar, Bashkir, Karachai-Balkarian, Kumykian, Karaimian, Crimean-Tatar, Karakalpakian and Nogay languages. The ones closest to Kazakh are Karakalpakian and Nogay. Nowadays the Kazakhs use Cyrillic characters from the Russian alphabet with 9 specific letters added. But it wasn’t always that way: Arabic characters were in use until 1929 and the Roman alphabet - between 1929 and 1940. The debate about returning to Arabic characters or the Roman alphabet has been raging since Kazakhstan became an independent state. At the moment, taking into account the latest political statements, the Roman alphabet seems the most probable scenario. Few Russians speak the Kazakh language and even the Kazakh people themselves don’t always know it. The authorities try to introduce Kazakh language into public life, but it hasn’t taken off yet. Right now you will definitely survive without Kazakh in Almaty or Astana, but visit a small village somewhere in South Kazakhstan and you will realise that just a few words are useful. Try to start with a couple of words and repeat them. “Salem” (hello), “sau-bol” (goodbye) or “rakhmet” (thank you) will open the hearts of local people even more.