Субұрқақ
“Субұрқақ” — fountain in Kazakh. Noun, level A2, topic — the city and its places. back tense short u, throaty q twice: su-bur-QHAQ. In a live sentence: “Кешке субұрқақ жарқырайды” — In the evening the fountain is lit up. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 83 words in the set “the city and its places” in the Kazakh course.
In short
| Written in Kazakh | Субұрқақ |
| Translation | fountain |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- Субұрқақfountain
How to pronounce it
back tense short u, throaty q twice: su-bur-QHAQ
Why it looks that way
su is water and burqaq the thing that jets, from burqu, to gush; the borrowed fountain word is understood in any city too
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Кешке субұрқақ жарқырайдыIn the evening the fountain is lit up
Nearby words: the city and its places
Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.
- ҚалаcityHence "qalalyq", "urban". The village is "auyl", and that word means far more in Kazakh than a mere address.
- КөшеstreetIn addresses it stands after the name and takes the possessive tail: "Abai koshesi" is "Abai Street".
- БанкbankA loanword that takes cases as its own, with devoicing at the seam: "bankke" is "to the bank", "bankten" is "from the bank".
- ДәріханаpharmacyAgain "-khana", "house": "dari", "medicine", plus house. Like "meiramkhana".
- ТобырcrowdA disorderly crowd, with a shade of "rabble". Simply many people is "kopshilik", and "top" is a group gathered on purpose.
- Бағдаршамtraffic lightgh voiced throaty, like a French "r": ba-GHDAR-sham
- ВелосипедbicycleThe dictionaries carry an old jesting name — "the devil's cart"; it is a real historical name. In the city only the borrowed word is said.
- Автобус аялдамасыbus stop signThe word for "stop" comes from "to linger". The sign on the pole in Almaty is labeled exactly with this phrase.
- Жол жүру картасыtransit passu rounded: zU-ru
- Бағытroutegh voiced throaty: ba-GHYT
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “the city and its places”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “fountain” in Kazakh?
su is water and burqaq the thing that jets, from burqu, to gush; the borrowed fountain word is understood in any city too
- How do you say “bicycle” in Kazakh?
The dictionaries carry an old jesting name — "the devil's cart"; it is a real historical name. In the city only the borrowed word is said.
- How do you say “bank” in Kazakh?
A loanword that takes cases as its own, with devoicing at the seam: "bankke" is "to the bank", "bankten" is "from the bank".
- How do you say “route” in Kazakh?
A bus route and a direction in general. The same-root word you have already seen in "traffic light".
- How do you say “traffic light” in Kazakh?
"Direction" plus "lamp": a lamp of direction. The word was coined in the twentieth century and fully displaced the borrowed one.
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “fountain” in Kazakh?
«Субұрқақ». back tense short u, throaty q twice: su-bur-QHAQ. In a live sentence: “Кешке субұрқақ жарқырайды” — In the evening the fountain is lit up. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “the city and its places”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
su is water and burqaq the thing that jets, from burqu, to gush; the borrowed fountain word is understood in any city too. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.