Kyrgyz vowel space is different in affixes and stems.
Washington (2007) describes the former as more typical and more condensed.[2]
In stem vowel space, the main difference between /e/ and /i/ is that the latter is more back. In affix vowel space, they can have the same backness, and differ by height.[2]
/a/ appears only in borrowings from Persian and is excluded from normal vowel harmony rules. In most dialects, its status as a vowel distinct from /ɑ/ is questionable. There is also a phonetic [
a] which appears as a result of regressive assimilation of /ɑ/ before syllables with phonological front vowels, e.g. "àydöş" [ajdøʃ] 'sloping'.[3][4]
/i,y,u,e,ø,o/ are sometimes transcribed /ɪ,ʏ,ʊ,ɛ,œ,ɔ/.[5]
The sequence of any vowel and the consonant /z/ is pronounced as a long vowel with falling pitch.[6]
In colloquial speech, word-final vowels are dropped when the next word begins with a vowel.[7]
All vowels but /i/ may be both short and long. Long vowels are the result of historical elisions (e.g.
compensatory lengthening) and contractions. For example, já "rain" < *yağ; bé "mare" (cf. Kazakh biye); too "mountain" < *tağ; dőlöt "wealth" < Arabic daulat; ulú "great" < *uluğ; elű"fifty" < *eļļiğ.
In loanwords from Persian and Arabic, palatal [
c,ɟ are always followed by front vowels, whereas velar [k,ɡ] are always followed by back vowels, regardless of the vowel harmony.[9]
Word-final and word-initial /k/ is voiced to [
ɡ] when it is surrounded by vowels or the consonants /m,n,ŋ,l,r,j/.[7]
In Kyrgyz, suffixes beginning with /n/ show desonorisation of the /n/ to [d] after consonants (including /j/), and devoicing to [t] after voiceless consonants; e.g. the definite accusative suffix -NI patterns like this: ķemeņi ('the boat'), aydı('the month'), tordu ('the net'), koldu ('the hand'), tañdı ('the dawn'), ķözdü ('the eye'), baştı ('the head').
Suffixes beginning with /l/ also show desonorisation and devoicing, though only after consonants of equal or lower sonority than /l/, e.g. the plural suffix -LAr patterns like this: ķemeļer ('boats'), aylar ('months'), torlor ('nets'), koldor ('hands'), tañdar ('dawns'), ķözdör ('eyes'), baştar ('heads'). Other /l/-initial suffixes, such as -LA, a denominal verbal suffix, and -LÚ, a denominal adjectival suffix, may surface either with /l/ or /d/ after /r/; e.g. тордо-/торло- ('to net/weave'), түрдүү/түрлүү ('various').
Kirchner, Mark (1998), "21 Kirghiz", in Johanson, Lars; Csató, Eva Á. (eds.), The Turkic Languages, Taylor & Francis, pp. 344–356,
ISBN978-0415412612
Linebaugh, Gary Dean (2007), "5.2.1.1 Tatar, Kyrgyz, and Yakut", Phonetic Grounding and Phonology: Vowel Backness Harmony and Vowel Height Harmony,
ProQuest, pp. 121–123,
ISBN978-0549340874