Editing Kyrgyz language (section)

==Phonology==
{{main|Kyrgyz phonology}}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Kyrgyz vowel phonemes<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Kara|2003|p=10}}</ref>
! rowspan=2|
!colspan=2 | [[Front vowel|Front]]
!colspan=2 | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|- style="vertical-align: center; font-size: x-small; height: 3em"
!unrounded || rounded
!unrounded || rounded
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA link|i}}
|{{IPA link|y}}
|{{IPA link|ɯ}}
|{{IPA link|u}}
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|{{IPA link|e̞|e}}
|{{IPA link|ø̞|ø}}
|
|{{IPA link|o̞|o}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|({{IPA link|a}})
|
|{{IPA link|ɑ}}
|
|}
{{IPA|/a/}} appears only in borrowings from Persian or when followed by a front vowel later in the word (regressive assimilation), e.g. {{IPA|/ajdøʃ/}} 'sloping' instead of {{IPA|*/ɑjdøʃ/}}.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Washington|2007|p=11}}</ref> In most dialects, its status as a vowel distinct from {{IPA|/ɑ/}} is questionable.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Washington|2006b|p=2}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Vowel Harmony (Peace Corps Method)
!Left Shift (<)
!Right Shift (>) 
!Shift Direction
|-
|а 
|ы
|Straight Across Left-Right Shift
|-
|о 
|у
|("y" Left-shifts up-diagonally to "a")
|-
|е (э)
|и
|Straight Across Left-Right Shift
|-
|ө
|ү
|Straight Across Left-Right Shift
|}
The United States [[Peace Corps]] trains its volunteers using a "Left-Right Shift" method when carrying out language training in Kyrgyzstan.
{|class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+Kyrgyz consonant phonemes<ref name="kara11">{{Harvcoltxt|Kara|2003|p=11}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]/<br />[[Alveolar consonant|alveolar]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br />alveolar]]
! [[Dorsal consonant|Dorsal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Plosive]]
! {{small|[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t̪|t}}
|
| {{IPA link|k}}
|-
! {{small|[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d̪|d}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Affricate]]
! {{small|[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|t̪͡s̪|t͡s}}{{efn|name=borrowings|{{IPA|/f, v, t͡s, x/}} occur only in foreign borrowings from Russian, Arabic and English.<ref name="kara11"/>}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}
|
|-
! {{small|[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| ||
| {{IPA link|d͡ʒ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
! {{small|[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|f}}{{efn|name=borrowings}}
| {{IPA link|s̪|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
| {{IPA link|x}}{{efn|name=borrowings}}
|-
! {{small|[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|v}}{{efn|name=borrowings}}
| {{IPA link|z̪|z}}
| ||
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
|
| {{IPA link|l}}
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|{{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|}
{{notelist}}