Kazakh Nouns and Adjectives Denoting Age

Gulayhan Aqtay

doi:10.35765/pk.2025.5003.05

Gulayhan Aqtay Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3258-6520

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2025.5003.05

Keywords: Kazakh, nouns, agjectives, age

Abstract

The aim of this article is to examine Kazakh words that denote age. These include nouns, adjectives, and words that can function as both. Adjectives denoting age are considered to be one of the primary semantic classes of adjectives. This study is limited to words which define or designate animate beings. Four stages of human life are distinguished: infancy, youth, adulthood, and old age. The article discusses semantic and pragmatic features of the words in question, while considering, where relevant, aspects of word-formation, etymology, and morphology. In a few instances, parallels to some other Turkic languages are drawn. The analysis is framed within Dixon’s model. In addition, the article identifies which adjectives of the analyzed semantic class are present on the Swadesh and Haspelmath-Tadmor lists of basic vocabulary.

Author Biography

Gulayhan Aqtay, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

Obtained her PhD in 2007 at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland. She is Assistant Professor at the Department of Central Asia, Institute of Oriental Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University. She is the author of Eliyahu ben Yosef Qılcı’s anthology of Crimean Karaim and Turkish literature. Critical edition with introduction, indexes and facsimile (2009, a Turkish edition in 2021) and co-author of a few books, e.g., A Crimean Karaim-English Dictionary (2015) and The Crimean Karaim Bible. Vol. 1: Critical edition of the Pentateuch, Five Scrolls, Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah. Vol. 2: Translation (2019). At the university, she teaches various subjects related to Kazakh and Kazakh culture.

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