Kedeilik, teñsizdik, zhumyssyzdyq: abstractions are assembled with tails
Poverty, inequality, unemployment: these are words you cannot point a finger at. Kazakh builds them all with one tail, -lyq or -lik. For example: “Кедейлік пен теңсіздік қатар жүреді” — Poverty and inequality go side by side. A rule from the Kazakh course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Poverty, inequality, unemployment: these are words you cannot point a finger at. Kazakh builds them all with one tail, -lyq or -lik.
From a quality it makes a state: kedei, poor, gives kedeilik, poverty; bai, rich, gives bailyq, wealth.
From a noun it makes belonging or a whole field: azamat, a citizen, gives azamattyq, citizenship; qoğam, society, gives qoğamdyq, public.
The trap: one word may carry several tails at once. Zhumys plus -syz gives zhumyssyz, out of work; add -dyq and you get zhumyssyzdyq, unemployment. Take a long word apart from its end backwards.
Table
| the base | what was added | the word | in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| kedei — poor | -lik | kedeilik | poverty |
| bai — rich | -lyq | bailyq | wealth |
| teñ — equal | -syz + -dik | teñsizdik | inequality |
| zhumys — work | -syz + -dyq | zhumyssyzdyq | unemployment |
| qauip — danger | -syz + -dik | qauipsizdik | safety |
| qoğam — society | -dyq | qoğamdyq | public |
| zeinetker — pensioner | -lik | zeinetkerlik | pension-related |
| qaiyrym — mercy | -dy + -lyq | qaiyrymdylyq | charity |
By example
- Кедейлік пен теңсіздік қатар жүредіPoverty and inequality go side by side
- Ауылдағы жұмыссыздық қалаға көшуге мәжбүрлейдіUnemployment in the village forces people to move to the city
- Қонақжайлылық — халықтық қасиетHospitality is a quality of the people
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Kedeilik, teñsizdik, zhumyssyzdyq: how does it work in Kazakh?
Poverty, inequality, unemployment: these are words you cannot point a finger at. Kazakh builds them all with one tail, -lyq or -lik.
What does it look like in an example sentence Kazakh?
“Кедейлік пен теңсіздік қатар жүреді” — Poverty and inequality go side by side. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.