Филологические науки

PECULIARITIES OF THE SYLLABIC STRUCTURE OF THE KAZAKH AND TURKISH LANGUAGES

ABDULKHAKOV O. B.

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This article deals with the peculiarities of the syllabic structure of the Kazakh and Turkish languages.

В статье рассматриваются особенности слоговой структуры казахского и турецкого языков.

Key words: syllable, prevocalic consonant, Kazakh, syllabic structure, Turkish.

It is generally known that speech is a continuum of sounds. However, it can be broken into minimal pronounceable units into which sounds show a tendency to cluster or group themselves. These smallest phonetic groups are generally known as syllables. Being the smallest pronounceable units, when used together syllables form higher language units, such as morphemes, words and phrases. These units are characterized by certain syllabic structures [1].

The study of the syllable, syllabic structure, syllable formation and syllable division is of paramount importance in general linguistics both theoretically and practically.

a) Peculiarities of the Syllabic Structure of the Kazakh Language

There are different views on the number of syllable types found in the Kazakh language.

According to K. Jubanov a syllable can be divided into six types according to K. Jubanov. N. Sauranbaev divides it into four, and Kenesbaev S. into three types [7]. In modern Kazakh, a syllable is divided into open and closed syllables. Open syllables can be further subdivided into:

1. Fully open syllables (V). For instance, а-на (mother), ә-же (grandmother) and е-не (mother-in-law).

2. Covered open syllables.

Covered open syllables have three subtypes:

the CV subtype, where a consonant precedes a vowel. For instance, ба-ла (child),

не (what) and да-ла (field).

b) the CCV subtype, where two consonants precede a vowel. For

example, ста-нок (machine-tool), сти-мул (stimulus) гра-фа (section) and ста-кан (glass). The above-mentioned words are borrowed from other languages including Russian. All words which begin with at least two consonants are borrowed words.

с) the CCCV subtype, where three consonants precede a vowel. For instance, стра-тегия (strategy), стра-тосфера (stratosphere) and стратификация (stratification).

Closed syllables can be further subdivided into:

1. Closed uncovered syllables.

Closed uncovered syllables have the following two subtypes:

the VC subtype where one consonant follows a vowel. For instance, ат (horse),

ой (thought), ол (he) and ал (v. take).

b) the VCC subtype, where a vowel precedes two consonants. For example, ант (oath) and акт (act).

2. Fully closed syllables.

Fully closed syllables have the following seven subtypes:

the CVC subtype, where one consonant occurs before a vowel and one consonant

follows the vowel [7].

For example, бас (head), тас (stone), дос (friend) and доп (ball),

the CVCC subtype, where one consonant precedes a vowel and two consonants

occur after it. For instance, қант (sugar), танк (tank) and қарт (old man).

c) the CVCCC subtype where one consonant precedes a vowel and three consonants follow it. For instance, пункт (point), текст (text) and фильтр (filter).

d) the CCVC subtype, where two consonants precede a vowel and one consonant occurs after it. For instance, шкаф (cupboard), хлор (chlorine), крем (cream) and граф (count).

e) the CCVCC subtype, where two consonants precede a vowel and two consonants follow the vowel. For example, спорт (sport), старт (start), штамп (stamp) and крест (cross).

f) the CCVCCC subtype, where two consonants precede a vowel and three consonants follow it. For instance, спектр (spectrum).

g) the CCCVC subtype, where three consonants precede a vowel and one consonant follows it. For example, штрих (stroke) and шприц (syringe) [7].

These are the peculiarities of the syllabic structure of the Kazakh language:

1. Vowels are always syllabic.

2. A syllable may contain only one vowel sound.

3. A single vowel sound can form a syllable.

4. Two consonant clusters never occur in the initial position in native Kazakh words. However in borrowed words two consonant clusters occur in the same position.

5. A syllable rarely begins with a vowel in the middle position of a word. In this position, mostly covered open syllables are used.

b) Peculiarities of the Syllabic Structure of the Turkish Language

The syllabic structure of Turkish has some peculiarities. They are as follows:

As to the type of sounds constituting the syllable, there exist 10 syllable structures in Turkish.

Four syllable types have been distinguished in Turkish:

1. V type: fully open, the syllable that consists of one vowel. For example, ayı (bear), a-da (island), a-cı (bitter, sour)

2. Covered open syllables. Covered open syllables have three subtypes:

a) the CV subtype, where a consonant precedes a vowel. For instance:

a) CV: ha-va (air) ni-ne (grandmother), ba-ba (father), de-de (grandmother). These words occur in borrowed words only.

b) CCV: tren (train), grup (group), blok (block).

c) CCCV: stra-teji (strategy) in one borrowed word only.

The latter two subtypes: a) and c) occur in borrowed words, as for the subtype c) CCCV only one borrowed word was discovered in the word-stock of the Turkish language.

Closed syllables. They can be further subdivided into:

1. Closed uncovered syllables. They have the following two subtypes:

a) the VC subtype, where one consonant follows a vowel. For instance, at (horse), ak (white), ok (bullet), it (dog).

b) the VCC subtype, where a vowel precedes 2 consonants For example, ilk (first), alt (beneath), üst (top, surface), aşk (love)

2. Fully closed syllables.

They have the following 4 subtypes:

a) the CVC subtype, where one consonant occurs before a vowel and one consonant follows the vowel.

For example, baş (head), taş (stone), top (ball), süt (milk)

b) the CVCC subtype, where one consonant precedes a vowel and 2 consonants occur after it. For instance, genç (young), dost (friend), renk (colour), sert (hard), yurt (province)

c) the CCVC subtype, where 2 consonants precede a vowel and one consonant follows it. For instance, CVCC: spor (sport), grup (group), dram (drama), gram (grammar) in borrowed words.

d) the CCVCC subtype, where two consonants precede a vowel and two consonants follow the vowel. For example: CCVCC: bronz (bronze), start (start), stand (exhibition) in borrowed words only.

The fundamental syllable type in Turkish is the open syllable, CV type. The following syllabic structures: V, VC, CV, VCC, CVC, CVCC are frequently used in the Turkish language.

Comparative analysis of the syllabic structure of the Kazakh and Turkish languages

Comparative analysis of the syllabic structure of the Kazakh and Turkish languages revealed several notable differences and similarities. The Kazakh and Turkish languages have four types of syllables:

1. Fully open (V),

2. Fully closed (CVC),

3. Initially covered (CV) and

4. Finally covered (VC).

1. In Kazakh the number of subtypes is 13. In Turkish, the number of structural subtypes is 10.

2. One initial consonant occurs in both languages.

3. The number of initial prevocalic consonants is only seen in Kazakh in words that are borrowed from other languages.

4. Two consonants in word-initial position may occur in the Kazakh and Turkish languages. Two consonant clusters never occur in the initial position in Kazakh. But in many borrowed words, however, two or three initial consonant clusters are used [6, 7].

5. Three consonants in word-initial position may occur in Kazakh and Turkish. In native Kazakh words, three initial consonants never occur in the above-mentioned position (only in borrowed words).

6. Four initial consonants cannot be occurred in the Kazakh and Turkish languages.

7. In Kazakh and Turkish syllables, all consonants are used as one final consonant [7].

8. Two final consonants are used in both two languages (Kazakh and Turkish).

9. The Turkish language has not words which have three consonants in the final position, but in some borrowed words in Kazakh three final consonants are also used [7].

These differences in the Kazakh and Turkish languages can be explained by the fact that the Kazakh language had borrowed some words from other languages although the Kazakh and Turkish languages belong to Turkic languages.

A comparative analysis of the two languages shows that the Kazakh and Turkish languages have more identical features.

Conclusion

1. Analysis of the syllabic structure of the Kazakh and Turkish languages shows that all compared languages have four types of syllables: fully open, fully closed, initially covered, finally covered.

2. Two or three consonant clusters in word-initial position may occur only in Kazakh.

3. All words which begin with two consonant or three consonant clusters are borrowed words in Kazakh.

4. One final consonant (in a word) occurs in the Kazakh and Turkish languages.

5. Two consonant clusters in word-final position may occur in both two languages (Kazakh and Turkish).

8. Three consonant clusters in the word-final position may occur only in Kazakh, while it never occurs in Turkish.

References:

1. Соколова М.А., Гинтовт К.П., Тихонова Р.М. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. М., 1991. стр. 94

2. Торсуев Г.П., Вопросы фонетической структуры слова. Москва – Ленинград. 1962. стр. 5-132.

3. Бондарко Л.В., Звуковой строй современного русского языка. М., 1977. стр. 126.

4. Қазақ тілі (Энциклопедия). Алматы., 1998. 74 бет.

5. Borisova L. V., Metlyuk A. A. Theoretical Phonetics. – Minsk, 1980. pp. 51-52.

6. “Türkçe Sözlük”, Istanbul. 1992.

7. Мырзабеков С. Қазақ тілінің фонетикасы. Алматы, 1993. 44 бет.