The New Dominion

Survival Uyghur

From The New Dominion

Lesson Eight: Does this bus go to Nanmen?

Introduction

Salam! and welcome to “Survival Uyghur”, The New Dominion’s series on speaking practical Uyghur. Last time, we asked our friends where they were going.

In this lesson, we will ask where others are going. In particular, we will ask about transportation.

Before we get started, here is your useful word for the day: Maqul! Unlike many Uyghur words, the stress is on the first syllable, which is often elongated: Máqul! It means “Okay.” Keep in mind, maqul is not an all-purpose “okay” as in American English. It has a conciliatory tone. When you say maqul, it sounds as though you are saying, “Okay, then.” People use this a lot on the phone: “Maqul… Maqul, xosh…”

Dialogue One

You are standing at one of Ürümchi’s many bus stops, trying to get from Döngköwrük (Chinese èrdàoqiáo 二道橋) to Nanmen (Chinese nánmén 南門). The best buses for these, if I recall correctly, are in the 100 series: 101, 102, 103. However, let’s say you’re not sure, and you want to ask the man next to you. He tells you the bus does, indeed, go to Nanmen.

You: Kechürüng, äpändim… Bu aptobus [aptos] Nanmengha mangamdu? Excuse me, sir… Does this bus go to Nanmen?

Polat: Hä’ä, mangidu. Yes, it does.

You: Rähmät.

Dialogue Two

You are at the long-distance bus station in Ürümchi, preparing to go to Turpan for the weekend. You buy a ticket for Turpan. (See Lesson Nine for more on this.)
When you get out to the bus yard behind the station, you are not sure which bus goes to Turpan.

You: Kechürüng, xanim… Bu aptobus [aptos] Turpangha baramdu? Excuse me, ma’am… Does this bus go to Turpan?

Qälbnur: Yaq, barmaydu. Awu aptobus [aptos] Turphangha baridu. No, it doesn’t. That bus goes to Turpan.

You: Ahh… Rähmät. Ahh… Thank you.

Qälbnur: Hazir mangidu! It’s going now!

You: Maqul, rähmät! Okay, thanks!

Vocabulary

aptobus: bus. Colloquially pronounced aptos.

äpändi: sir, Mr.. This can be a title or a polite form of address. As a title, it appears after the individual’s given name, as in Mämtili Äpändi “Mr. Mämtili.” Äpändim is used for addressing gentlemen older than the speaker.

xanim: ma’am, Madam. Like äpändi, this is a title or a form of address. You may see in the news the name Rebiye Kadeer Xanim, “Madam Rabiyä Qadir.” Use this to politely address ladies older than you.

awu: that. This is a demonstrative article – it points out a specific thing, namely one a ways away from the speaker. To practice, point out the window, your arm outstretched, to imagine a bus rolling down the road. Say, Aaaaaaaaaawu aptos! “Thaaaaaaat bus over there!”

bar-: to go. This is another verb, rather like mang-. It functions in much the same way. However, whereas mang- refers concretely to walking and, more abstractly, to leaving, bar- refers more generally to going somewhere. In the present-future tense: män barimän, siz baramsiz? You can use it as you did mang- to ask where someone is going: Nägä bardingiz?

Grammar

The third person: We now have verbs not only in the first and second persons, but in the third. You can see two examples in the dialogues: mangidu “it goes/leave” and baridu “it goes.” The same works for “he” and “she”: quyidu “he pours, she pours, it pours”

Even better, -du covers the plural forms, as well: alidu “they take”

As you can tell, the third person suffix is -du. This is the structure for a third-person present-future verb: ichidu -> ich-i-du.

Let’s look at some tables for the verbs we know, including the third person.

In the affirmative:

	1 Singular -män	2 Singular -siz	2 Plural -silär	3 Singular/Plural -du
al- “to take”	alimän	alisiz	alisilär	alidu
quy- “to pour”	quyimän	quyisiz	quyisilär	quyidu
bär- “to give”	berimän	berisiz	berisilär	beridu
ich- “to drink”	ichimän	ichisiz	ichisilär	ichidu
yä- “to eat”	yäymän	yäysiz	yäysilär	yäydu
mang- “to go, leave”	mangimän	mangisiz	mangisilär	mangidu
bar- “to go”	barimän	barisiz	barisilär	baridu

In the interrogative:

	2 Singular -siz	2 Plural -silär	3 Singular/Plural -du
al- “to take”	alamsiz	alamsilär	alamdu
quy- “to pour”	quyamsiz	quyamsilär	quyamdu
bär- “to give”	berämsiz	berämsilär	berämdu
ich- “to drink”	ichämsiz	ichämsilär	ichämdu
yä- “to eat”	yämsiz	yämsilär	yämdu
mang- “to go, leave”	mangamsiz	mangamsilär	mangamdu
bar- “to go”	baramsiz	baramsilär	baramdu

A couple of example sentences:

Ärkin polo yäydu. Ärkin eats polo.

Mahirä chay ichämdu? Does Mahirä drink tea?

And, for you language nerds who want to peek ahead:

Änwär Nisagülgä pul beridu.