Kazakh Family and Kinship

Kazakh grammar for beginners · Lineages, generational ties, and reciprocal kinship

Kazakh names a sibling only once two things are settled: whether the person is older or younger than you, and, for the younger ones, whether a man or a woman is speaking. Nothing here leaves all that open the way kardeş does in Turkish.

Parents and children

otbasy отбасы

family · Turkish: aile

äke әке

father · Turkish: baba

ana ана

mother · Turkish: anne, ana

şeşe шеше

mother · Turkish: anne, ana

ana (ана) and şeşe (шеше) are both ordinary words for a mother.

äke-şeşe әке-шеше

parents · Turkish: anne baba, ana baba

Literally "father-mother". ata-ana (ата-ана) says the same thing.

ūl ұл

son, boy · Turkish: oğul

qyz қыз

daughter, girl · Turkish: kız

bala бала

child · Turkish: çocuk

The elder ones have words of their own

An older brother and an older sister each get a word that says so, and it stays the same whoever is speaking.

ağa аға

elder brother · Turkish: ağabey, abi

Also used respectfully for paternal uncles (Turkish amca) and older male relatives in general. Maternal uncles are specifically nağaşy ağa (нағашы аға) (Turkish dayı).

äpke әпке

elder sister · Turkish: abla

Also used respectfully for aunts (Turkish hala, teyze) and senior female relatives (dialectally täte (тәте)).

apa апа

elder sister · Turkish: abla

A second word for the same relation, also used for aunts and senior women in general. Maternal aunts are specifically nağaşy apa (нағашы апа) (Turkish teyze).

For a younger one, the speaker decides the word

ını (іні) and bauyr (бауыр) are both a younger brother; qaryndas (қарындас) and sıñlı (сіңлі) are both a younger sister. What decides between each pair is the sex of the person speaking, not of the sibling.

ını іні

younger brother · Turkish: erkek kardeş

A man speaking.

bauyr бауыр

younger brother · Turkish: erkek kardeş

A woman speaking. The same word covers blood relatives in general.

qaryndas қарындас

younger sister · Turkish: kız kardeş

A man speaking. Turkish kardeş is the same word and covers any sibling, either sex and any age.

sıñlı сіңлі

younger sister · Turkish: kız kardeş

A woman speaking.

Ancestors and descendants across generations

ata ата

grandfather · Turkish: dede

Turkish ata is the same word widened out to any ancestor; the everyday grandfather is dede.

äje әже

grandmother · Turkish: nine, büyükanne

nemere немере

grandchild · Turkish: torun

Specifically a son’s child or grandchild in general.

şöbere шөбере

great-grandchild · Turkish: torun çocuğu

The generation following nemere (немере).

The maternal realm: nağaşy jūrty (нағашы жұрты)

Kazakh traditionally divides one’s relations into three realms (üş jūrt (үш жұрт)): own paternal clan (öz jūrty (өз жұрты)), mother’s clan (nağaşy jūrty (нағашы жұрты)), and in-laws (qaiyn jūrty (қайын жұрты)). Maternal relatives, cousins, and nieces have dedicated terms.

While a sister’s child is jien (жиен) to her maternal relatives (maternal uncles and aunts), a brother’s child belongs to the same paternal clan (öz jūrty (өз жұрты)) and is called ınımnıñ balasy (інімнің баласы) or ağamnyñ balasy (ағамның баласы). Children of brothers are paternal cousins (nemere ağa (немере аға), nemere ını (немере іні), nemere qaryndas (немере қарындас)), sharing the same grandfather (atalas (аталас)).

nağaşy нағашы

maternal relative · Turkish: anne tarafı

Refers to maternal relatives collectively, or specifically maternal uncles and aunts.

böle бөле

cousin (maternal aunt’s child) · Turkish: kuzen (teyze çocuğu)

Children of sisters are böle (бөле) to each other; Turkish uses the general word kuzen.

jien жиен

nephew, niece (sister’s child) · Turkish: yeğen (kız kardeş çocuğu)

To maternal uncles, aunts, and grandparents (nağaşy (нағашы)), their sister’s or daughter’s children are their jien (жиен).

In-laws and marital relations: qaiyn jūrt (қайын жұрт)

Kazakh distinguishes in-laws (qaiyn jūrt (қайын жұрт)) according to which spouse’s side they belong to and relative seniority, with dedicated terms for marital and clan ties.

küieu күйеу

husband · Turkish: koca, eş

Turkish güvey is the bridegroom; Kazakh küieu (күйеу) is the husband (and küieu bala (күйеу бала) is the son-in-law).

äiel әйел

wife · Turkish: karı, eş

Also the general word for a woman.

qaiyn ata қайын ата

father-in-law · Turkish: kaynata, kayınpeder

Literally "in-law father", also contracted as qainata (қайната).

qaiyn ene қайын ене

mother-in-law · Turkish: kaynana, kayınvalide

Literally "in-law mother", also contracted as qainene (қайнене).

qaiyn ağa қайын аға

elder brother-in-law · Turkish: kayınbirader (büyük), kayın

Elder brother of a husband or wife (contracted as qainağa (қайнаға)).

qaiyn ını қайын іні

younger brother-in-law · Turkish: kayınbirader (küçük), kayın

Younger brother of a husband (contracted as qainy (қайны)). Turkish kayın is the same word contracted.

qaiyn apa қайын апа

elder sister-in-law · Turkish: görümce (büyük)

Elder sister of a husband (contracted as qainapa (қайнапа); Turkish görümce).

qaiyn sıñlı қайын сіңлі

younger sister-in-law · Turkish: görümce (küçük)

Younger sister of a husband (Turkish görümce).

baldyz балдыз

younger sibling-in-law · Turkish: baldız, kayınbirader (küçük)

A wife’s younger brother or sister to her husband. Turkish baldız is the same word narrowed to sisters.

kelın келін

daughter-in-law · Turkish: gelin

Wife of a son or younger brother. Turkish gelin is the same word.

küieu bala күйеу бала

son-in-law · Turkish: damat

Husband of a daughter or younger sister.

jeñge жеңге

sister-in-law · Turkish: yenge

Wife of an elder brother or uncle. Turkish yenge is the same word.

jezde жезде

brother-in-law · Turkish: enişte

Husband of an elder sister or aunt.

abysyn абысын

sister-in-law · Turkish: elti

The relationship between wives of brothers, exactly like Turkish elti.

baja бажа

brother-in-law · Turkish: bacanak

The relationship between husbands of sisters, cognate with Turkish bacanak.

qūda құда

in-law (male) · Turkish: dünür (erkek)

The fathers or male relatives of a married couple to each other.

qūdağyi құдағый

in-law (female) · Turkish: dünür (kadın)

The mothers or female relatives of a married couple to each other. Modern standard orthography also writes qūdaği (құдағи).

törkın төркін

wife’s natal family · Turkish: kız evi, baba ocağı

A married woman’s original family home and maternal/paternal kin.

My mother, my elder brother

Kin terms take the possessive ending like any other noun.

anam анам

my mother · Turkish: annem

ağam ағам

my elder brother · Turkish: ağabeyim

äpkem әпкем

my elder sister · Turkish: ablam

atam атам

my grandfather · Turkish: dedem

ūlym ұлым

my son · Turkish: oğlum

A consonant at the end of the stem, so a linking vowel comes first.

qyzym қызым

my daughter · Turkish: kızım

Keep going

← Possessive · The Copula →

All Kazakh lessons

The Alphabet — Read Kazakh without learning Cyrillic
How the Letters Behave — The things spelling does not tell you
Turkish ↔ Kazakh Sound Laws — Six rules that unlock hundreds of words for free
Vowel Harmony — The same system as Turkish — with one simplification
Numbers — One to a thousand, and what a number does to the word after it
Days of the Week — Saturday, and the days counted off it
Months — Twelve names to learn outright
Seasons — The four, and the weather that comes with them
The Plural — One suffix, six written shapes
Body Parts — From the top of the head to the sole of the foot, and the organs in between
Personal Pronouns — Four ways to say "you", one word for "he" and "she"
Possessive — The ending goes on the thing owned
The Copula — Saying "I am a teacher" with no verb at all
Saying What Something Is Not — One extra word, and the personal ending moves onto it
Asking a Question — One small word at the end, and nothing else moves
Having and Not Having — No verb "to have" — only "there is" and "there is not"
Where: the Locative — Location and time: one ending
Where to: the Dative — Direction, destination, recipient, and purpose
Where from: the Ablative — Starting points, origins, and standards of comparison
Whose: the Genitive — Possession, definite noun phrases, and relationships
What: the Accusative — The thing an action is done to — marked only when it is a particular one
With: the Instrumental — Who you did it with, and what you did it with
All Seven Together — What each ending marks, and every shape it takes
Spatial Postpositions and Relational Nouns — Expressing position, direction and time with postpositions and relational nouns
Verbs, Infinitives and Commands — From dictionary forms in {{-у}} to bare stems, commands and polite requests
Simple Present Tense — Habitual actions, general facts and future intentions in {{-а / -е / -й}}
Simple Past Tense — Witnessed and completed past actions in {{-ды / -ді / -ты / -ті}}
Distant Past and Past Participle — Experienced past actions in {{-ған / -ген}} and conversational negation with {{жоқ}}
Habitual Past and the "Used-To" Aspect — Expressing past routines in {{-атын / -етін / -йтын / -йтін}} and habitual participles
Reported and Narrative Past — Hearsay, indirect evidence and surprise discoveries in {{-ыпты / -іпті / -пты / -пті}}
The Present Continuous Tense — Ongoing actions and the four auxiliary verbs of physical stance
Future Tenses — Definite intentions in {{-мақ / -мек}} and probable futures in {{-ар / -ер / -р}}
Desires, Intentions and Optatives — Expressing wishes in {{-ғым келеді}} and making proposals in {{-айын / -айық}}
Ability and Inability — Expressing "can" and "cannot" using converbs in {{-а / -е / -й}} and {{алу}}
Conditionals and "If" Clauses — Real and hypothetical conditions in {{-са / -се}} and counterfactuals with {{еді}}
Sequential Converbs and Action Chains — Linking consecutive actions in {{-ып / -іп / -п}} without repeating conjunctions
Causative, Passive and Reflexive Verb Voices — Grammatical voice derivations in {{-дыр / -қыз / -т}}, {{-ыл / -іл}} and {{-ыс / -іс}}
Necessity, Obligation and Possibility — Expressing "must", "need to" and "might" with {{керек}}, {{қажет}} and {{мүмкін}}
Verb Differences & False Friends — How common Kazakh and Turkish verbs parted ways over time

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