Lingoflyтүнгі шам
- түнгі шамtüngi shamnight-light
“түнгі шам” (tüngi sham) — night-light in Kazakh. Noun, level A1, topic — home and things. "Night" plus "-gi": after the voiced "n" it takes "g", not "q". In a live sentence: “Балаға түнгі шам жақтық” (Balağa tüngi sham zhaqtyq) — We lit the night-light for the child. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters т, ү, н, г, і, ш, а, м. One of 196 words in the set “home and things” in the Kazakh course.
In short
| Written in Kazakh | түнгі шам (tüngi sham) |
| Read in Latin letters | tüngi sham |
| Translation | night-light |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
"Night" plus "-gi": after the voiced "n" it takes "g", not "q".
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.
- Балаға түнгі шам жақтықBalağa tüngi sham zhaqtyqWe lit the night-light for the child
Nearby words: home and things
Room, key, water, electricity. You will need them on your first day in a rented flat.
- ҮйÜihouse"Uide" is "at home", "uige" is "home(ward)". Place and direction are told apart by endings.
- Тұрғын үйTūrğyn üihousingu is a short "u" with rounded lips: tur-GHYN
- БөлмеBölmeroomFrom "bolu", "to divide": a room is a part cut off from the house.
- Ас үйAs üikitchen"As" is "food", "ui" is "house": the house of food. The same "as" will meet you in "aspaz", "cook".
- Жуынатын бөлмеZhuynatyn bölmebathroomLiterally "the room where one washes": "zhuynu" is "to wash oneself", "-atyn" turns the verb into a modifier.
- БалконBalkonbalconyThe borrowed word has settled in whole. The bookish "qyltima" lives in dictionaries, not in conversation.
- ҚабатQabatfloor (story)Also "a layer". "Besinshi kabat" is the fifth floor.
- КөтергішKötergishelevatorFrom "koteru", "to lift". Honestly: in the stairwell everyone says the borrowed word, and the button says it too.
- БаспалдақBaspaldaqstaircaseFrom "basu", "to step". Literally "what one steps on".
- ҮстелÜsteltableu is "ee" said with rounded lips: us-TEL
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “home and things”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “night-light” in Kazakh?
"Night" plus "-gi": after the voiced "n" it takes "g", not "q".
- How do you say “floor (story)” in Kazakh?
Also "a layer". "Besinshi kabat" is the fifth floor.
- How do you say “room” in Kazakh?
From "bolu", "to divide": a room is a part cut off from the house.
- How do you say “table” in Kazakh?
Do not confuse with "ustinde", "on top of", though the root is one: the table is the thing on top.
- How do you say “balcony” in Kazakh?
The borrowed word has settled in whole. The bookish "qyltima" lives in dictionaries, not in conversation.
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 “night-light” in Kazakh?
«түнгі шам» (tüngi sham), read “tüngi sham”. In a live sentence: “Балаға түнгі шам жақтық” (Balağa tüngi sham zhaqtyq) — We lit the night-light for the child. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “home and things”; written with the characters т, ү, н, г, і, ш, а, м.
How is “түнгі шам” (tüngi sham) written in Latin letters?
tüngi sham. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
"Night" plus "-gi": after the voiced "n" it takes "g", not "q". 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 this 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.