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Turkmen
Türkmençe, Türkmen dili, Түркменче, Түркмен дили, تورکمن ﺗﻴلی, تورکمنچه
Spoken in	Turkmenistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Stavropol krai (Russia)
Native speakers	ca. 4 million  (1998)[1]
Language family	Turkic Oghuz Eastern Oghuz Turkmen
Official status
Official language in	Turkmenistan
Language codes
ISO 639-1	tk
ISO 639-2	tuk
ISO 639-3	tuk
Linguasphere	part of 44-AAB-a
This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

Turkmen (türkmençe, türkmen dili, Cyrillic: түркменче, түркмен дили, Persian: تورکمن ﺗﻴﻠی, تورکمنچه) is the national language of Turkmenistan. It is spoken by approximately 7,000,000 people in Turkmenistan, and by an additional approximately 380,000 in northwestern Afghanistan and 500,000 in northeastern Iran.^[1][2]

Classification, related languages and dialects[link]

Turkmen is in the Turkic Language Family. It is a member of the southwestern Turkic sub-branch, more specifically the East Oghuz group. This group also includes Khorasani Turkic. Turkmen is closely related to Turkish and Azerbaijani, with which it is for the most part mutually intelligible.

Turkmen has vowel harmony, is agglutinative, and has no grammatical gender or irregular verbs. Word order is subject–object–verb.

Written Turkmen today is based on the Teke (Tekke) dialect. The other dialects are Nohurly, Yomud, Änewli, Hasarly, Nerezim, Gökleň, Salyr, Saryk, Ärsary and Çowdur. The Teke dialect is sometimes (especially in Afghanistan) referred to as "Chagatai", but like all Turkmen dialects it reflects only a limited influence from classical Chagatai.

Writing system[link]

Officially, Turkmen currently is rendered in the “Täze Elipbiý”, or “New Alphabet”, which is based on the Latin alphabet. However, the old "Soviet" Cyrillic alphabet is still in wide use. Many political parties in opposition to the authoritarian rule of President Niyazov continued to use the Cyrillic alphabet on websites and publications, most likely to distance themselves from the alphabet that Niyazov created.

Before 1929, Turkmen was written in an Arabic alphabet. In 1929–1938 a Latin alphabet replaced it, and then the Cyrillic alphabet was used from 1938 to 1991. In 1991, the current Latin alphabet was introduced, although the transition to it has been rather slow. It originally contained some rather unusual letters, such as the pound, dollar, yen, and cent signs, but these were later replaced by more orthodox letter symbols.

Sounds[link]

The following phonemes are present in the Turkmen language:

Vowels[link]

Turkmen contains both short and long vowels. Doubling the duration of sound for a short vowel is generally how its long vowel counterpart is pronounced. Turkmen employs vowel harmony, a principle that is common in fellow Turkic languages. Vowels and their sounds are as follows:

1. For purposes of vowel harmony (see below) the central vowel [a] is considered back.

Consonants[link]

Turkmen consonant phonemes (shown in Turkmen alphabet):

Grammar[link]

Vowel harmony[link]

Like other Turkic languages, Turkmen is characterized by vowel harmony. In general, words of native origin consist either entirely of front vowels (inçe çekimli sesler) or entirely of back vowels (ýogyn çekimli sesler). Prefixes and suffixes reflect this harmony, taking different forms depending on the word to which they are attached.

The infinitive form of a verb determines whether it will follow a front vowel harmony or back vowel harmony. Words of foreign origin, mainly Russian, Persian, or Arabic, do not follow vowel harmony.

Verbs[link]

Verbs are conjugated for singular and plural number and first, second, and third persons. There are 11 verb tenses: present comprehensive (long and short form), present perfect (regular and negative), future certain, future indefinite, conditional, past definite, obligatory, imperative, and intentional.

There are two types of verbs in Turkmen, distinguished by their infinitive forms: those ending in the suffix "-mak" and those ending in "-mek". -Mak verbs follow back vowel harmony, whereas -mek verbs follow front vowel harmony.

Evidentiality[link]

Evidentiality is determined by four markers, roughly:
-dY (Direct Evidence)
-Yp-dYr (Hearsay)
-dYr-mY-näm (Indirect Evidence)
-mAlY (Must Have Been..)
Some independent particles may be said to convey evidentiality: on such word is the particle eken.

1. Aman syrkawla-p-dyr.

          Aman become sick-EV-COP
           (I heard that) Aman is sick.(information is "hearsay")

Compare 1 with 2.a and 2.b:

2.a. Aman syrkawla-dy.

              Aman  become sick-3sPAST

2.b. Aman syrkaw.

             Aman sick.
                Aman is sick. (speaker has spoken with Aman)

3. Maral Aşgabat-dan gel-ip-dir.

            Maral Ashgabat-ABL come-EV-COP
               (I heard that) Maral came from Ashgabat.

The Evidentiality of Unlicensed Baked Good Consumption or Verbal Affixes Denoting a Lack of Direct Knowledge

4. Ben iý-di sen-iň köke-ler-iň-i.

   Ben eat-3spast  you-GEN  cookie-pl-2sPOSS-ACC
     Ben ate your cookies.

i. The speaker saw Ben eat the cookies (direct evidence).

ii. Ben told the speaker that he ate the cookies.

5. Ben sen-iň köke-ler-iň-i iý-ip-dir.

   Ben you-GEN cookie-pl-2sPOSS-ACC eat-EV-COP
      Ben ate your cookies.

i. The speaker heard from someone else that Ben ate the cookies (hearsay).

ii. Generally, the speaker learned through means other than 4.i and 4.ii that Ben ate the cookies.

6.a. Ben iý-ip-dir-mikä(n) sen-iň köke-ler-iň-i.

   Ben eat-EV-COP-EV you-GEN cookie-pl-2sPOSS-ACC
        Ben ate your cookies, or more loosely: I wonder if Ben ate your cookies.

i. The speaker saw evidence of the action, i.e. crumbs, and "made the connection." (informant's account)

ii. The speaker "doesn't concretely know [Ben] ate them." (informant's account)

iii. In the words of the informant: "I am questioning myself. But it's not a question."

iv. In other words: a deduction from indirect evidence, a suspicion

6.b. Men (...) iý-ip-dir-in-mikäm?

      I    (...)   eat-EV-1sPRES(?)-EV
          Did I eat something?

i. The speaker questions whether or not s/he has performed an action.

ii. Evidence of the particular action may be direct, however the nature of its complement (i.e. an item of food) may be in doubt.

7. Ben iý-en bol-maly sen-iň köke-ler-iň-i.

   Ben eat-PART be-OBLG you-GEN cookie-PL-2sPOSS-ACC
      Ben must be the one who ate your cookies.

i. The action is a logical inference from indirect evidence, similar to in the English gloss.

• Note the emphatic word order (SVO as opposed to canonical SOV) in 4.

• Note the postposed complement in 7. A tree of 7 would look something like {(Ben [{(the one who ate [ti])} must be]) [your cookies]i } using different brackets only in order to make the nesting more obvious.

• In 6.a., the verb appears in the form iý-ip-dir-minäm. I've analyzed the final two syllables as one evidential particle, glossed as EV. This follows partly from the intuitions of the informant, and partly from the consistence: it always appears as -minäm. Nonetheless, it could also be glossed as ...eat-EV-COP-INT-what..., something like, literally, Did Ben eat your cookies, or what?'

Negation[link]

One way to express negation in Turkmen is with the negative verb ýok.^{[citation needed]} This verb does not inflect for person or number.

Onuň maşyny ýok.

3sg car-GEN NEGV

'He does not have a car.'

Öýde Amandan başga adam ýok.

houseLOC AmanINST except person NEGV

'There is no one but Aman in the house.'

The phonetically similar suffix -ok is another option: it attaches to the verb which it negates. It comes after the stem and before the tense suffix. -Ok does not modify its form due to vowel harmony. In addition to -ok there is another suffix -me or -ma. It appears -mV is used when dealing with one event, -ok for more habitual or lasting states:

Men bilemok. 'I don't know.'

Men bilemokdym. 'I didn't know (for a long time).'

Men bilmedim. 'I didn't know (on one occasion).'

(these correspond to the positive forms 'Men bilyärin', 'Men bilyärdim', and 'Men bildim.'

Ol ajyganok.

3sg to hunger-GERUND-NEG

Literally *'He is not hungering'; in grammatical English, 'He is not hungry.' (compare to däl construction below)

Speakers of Eastern dialects of Turkmen, influenced by Uzbek, are less likely to utilize the -ok suffix.

Yet another way of expressing negation is by the negative particle däl.

Men şu kitaby okamaly däl.

1sg this book-ACC read-OBLIG NEG

I do not have to read this book. or, I should not read this book. (sentence was elicited for the latter meaning)

Ol aç däl.

3sg hungry NEG (note the lack of copula)

He is not hungry.

Kofe gyzgyn bolup biler.

The coffee might be hot.

Kofe gyzgyn däl bolup biler.

The coffee might not be hot.

Kofe gyzgyn dälmi?

Isn't the coffee hot?

There is not an equivalent in Turkmen to the English prefix 'un-'. That is, one can't simply attach an affix to a verb to indicate the opposite action, as in wrap the present --> unwrap the present.

It appears that different tenses use different forms of negation, as in the following sentences:

Men ylgamok.

I am not running. (present)

Men ylgamadym.

I did not run. (past)

Men ylgajak däl.

I will not run. (definite future)

Turkmen Case System

Turkmen has six cases: Accusative, Dative, Genitive, Instrumental, Locative, and Nominative.

Back Vowels: The noun sygyr "cow" declined in the six Turkmen cases, with Jenneta's examples of how it would be used for each:

Front Vowels: The proper noun Jeren (a woman's name) declined in the six Turkmen cases, with examples of how it would be used for each:

Suffixes[link]

Suffixes, or "goşulmalar", form a very important part of Turkmen. They can mark possession, or change a verb.

• To make a verb passive: -yl/-il; -ul/-ül; -l
• To make a verb reflexive: -yn/-in; -un/-ün; -n
• To make a verb reciprocal: -yş/-iş; -uş/-üş; -ş
• To make a verb causative: -dyr/-dir; -dur/-dür; -yr/-ir; -ur/-ür; -uz/-üz; -ar/-er; -der/-dar; -t

Suffixes reflect vowel harmony.

Literature[link]

The leading Turkmen poet is Magtymguly Pyragy, who wrote in the eighteenth century. His language represents a transitional stage between Chagatai and spoken Turkmen.

Vocabulary[link]

numbers[link]

0.nol 1.bir 2.iki 3.üç 4.dört 5.bäş 6.alty 7.ýedi 8.sekiz 9.dokuz 10.on. For 11-19, it is just like saying 'ten one, ten two, ten three' and so on. 20.ýigrimi 30.otuz 40.kyrk 50.elli 60.altmyş 70.ýetmiş 80.segsen 90.togsan 100.ýüz 1000.müň

colours[link]

black - gara | blue - gök | brown - goňur, mele | grey - çal | green - ýaşyl | orange - narynç, mämişi | pink - gülgün | purple - benewşe, melewşe | red - gyzyl | white - ak | yellow -sary

basic expressions[link]

yes - hawa | no - ýok | goodbye - sag boluň, hoş | good morning - ertiriňiz haýyrly bolsun | good evening - agşamyňyz haýyrly bolsun | good night - gijäňiz rahat bolsun | please - baş üstüne | thank you - sag boluň

language difficulties[link]

Do you speak English? - Siz iňlisçe gepleýärsiňizmi? | I don't speak Turkmen - Men türkmençe geplemeýärin | What does it mean? - munuň manysy näme?

References[link]

• Garrett, Jon, Meena Pallipamu, and Greg Lastowka (1996). “Turkmen Grammar”. www.chaihana.com.

External links[link]

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of Turkmen

Turkmen language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Turkmen grammar and orthography rules (Turkmen)
• Turkmen - English / English - Turkmen Dictionary
• Turkmen - English Dictionary
• Turkmen - English / English - Turkmen Dictionary (Freelang)
• Turkmen entry in the Ethnologue
• Omniglot page on Turkmen
• Turkmen language online transliteration
• Ajapsozluk.com Ever-growing dictionary of Turkmen language

Metin Kazak (Bulgarian: Метин Казак; born 29 July 1972) is a Bulgarian politician and Member of European Parliament. He is a member of Movement for Rights and Freedoms. He was first elected to the European Parliament in 2007, and re-elected in 2009.

External links[link]

• European Parliament profile

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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (November 2007)

Kristiina Ojuland in 2011.

Kristiina Ojuland (born 17 December 1966 in Kohtla-Järve, Estonia) was the foreign minister of Estonia from 2002 through 2005. In June 2004 she ran for the post of secretary-general of the Council of Europe, but was defeated, receiving 51 of 299 votes. She is a member of the Estonian Reform Party and since 2009 she serves as 1 of the 6 Estonian MEPs in the European parliament.

She is a member of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group.^[1]

Education[link]

1993: Vienna School of International Studies, special program

1992: Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, special program.

1992: Graduated from the Estonian School of Diplomacy in Tallinn.

1990: LL.B, Law Faculty, University of Tartu

Career[link]

2009–: Member of European Parliament (ALDE)

2007–: Vice President of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR), member of the ELDR Bureau

2007–: Vice-chair of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, ALDE-PACE Group

2007–2009: First vice-speaker of Riigikogu

2004–2007: Chair of the European Affairs Committee of Riigikogu

2002–2005: Minister of Foreign Affairs

1994–2002: Member of Riigikogu (parliament), member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, chair of the Estonian French parliamentary friendship group (1996 2002)

1996–2002: Head of the Estonian Parliamentary Delegation to PACE; Vice President of the PACE, Member of the Bureau

1999–2002: Leader of the PACE LDR Group

1999–2002: Vice President of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR), member of the ELDR Bureau

1995–2002: Foreign Secretary of the Estonian Reform Party

1994–1996: Director of the Estonian Broadcasting Association

1993–1994: Permanent Representative of Estonia to the Council of Europe

1992–1993: Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responsible for Council of Europe

1990–1992: Estonian Ministry of Justice, Draft Legislation Department ^[2]

Kristiina Ojuland in 2004.

Decorations[link]

• Commander of the Legion of Honour (France)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Infante D. Henrique (Portugal)
• The Order of the National Coat of Arms 5th class (Estonia)
• Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria (Austria)

Personal life[link]

From 1987 to 2000, Ojuland was married to Erik Siigur.^[3] Her current partner of seven years is Estonian businessman Raimo Kägu.^[4]

References[link]

• BBC report on sacking