ABSTRACT
Kirghiz belongs to the East Kipchak subgroup of the Kipchak Turkic languages. Though it shares features with South Siberian Turkic, it is unclear whether modern Kirghiz is a direct successor of Old Turkic Kirghiz as documented in inscriptions of the Yenisei Valley. In the Soviet period, a standard Kirghiz based on the northern dialects was developed under strong Russian influence. Standard Kirghiz has 14 vowel types, 8 short and 6 long, realized in the prime syllables. The Noghay lexicon includes many lexical items copied from Arabic or Persian. The use of such elements is a particular characteristic of the cultural vocabulary before the Soviet era. Today, copies of Russian items dominate. The Noghay lexicon also includes many lexical items copied from Mongolic.
