Kazakh

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Facts

Introduction

Kazakh is the official language and principle native language of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is also spoken in southern Siberia, northwestern China (Xinjiang-Uighur) and northwestern Mongolia. It is one of the most widely spoken Turkic languages in central Asia.

An estimated 8 million people speak Kazakh: 6.5 million in Kazakhstan (of which 98 percent speak it as a first language); 1.2 million in China; and 100,000 in Mongolia. Smaller groups of speakers can also be found in Iran and Afghanistan, as well as in expatriate communities in Turkey and Germany, and, to a lesser extent, throughout Europe (Grimes 1992).

Forty percent of Kazakhstan's total population (17.1 million) are ethnic Kazakhs, 38 percent are Russian, and most of the rest are Slavs or Germans (CIA 1993).

It should be noted that there is some terminological confusion in the literature about Kazakh and Kyrgyz. Kazakh at times has been called Kirghiz, Kirghiz-Kaisak, or Kazakh-Kirghiz (and similar designations) especially prior to 1917. Kazakh and Kyrgyz are now the current standard references for the languages and peoples of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan respectively.

Language sample
Click play below to hear a greeting in Kazakh 

Turkish

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Facts

Introduction
About 56 million people speak Turkish. Most of them live in Turkey where Turkish is the official language and 90 percent of the population speak it as a first language. Turkish is also the language spoken at home by people who live in the areas that were governed by the Ottoman Empire. For instance, in Bulgaria there are about 850,000 speakers (Grimes 1992). About 37,000 Turkish speakers live in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan. In Cyprus, Turkish is a co-official language (with Greek) where it is spoken as a first language by 19 percent of the population (Comrie 1990). Over a million speakers are found in Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Greece; over 1.5 million speakers live in Germany (and other northern European countries) where Turks have for many years been "guest workers." About 24,000 Turkish speakers live in the United States (Grimes 1992).

Language sample
Click play below to hear a greeting in Turkish