Survival Uyghur

From The New Dominion

Lesson Six: Could I have a napkin?

Introduction

Salam! and welcome to “Survival Uyghur”, The New Dominion’s series on speaking practical Uyghur. Last week, we learned to talk about “we” and “y’all”, as well as “I” and “you”. This week, we will learn to form questions with the verbs you know. We’re finishing up with restaurant language, at least for now, and we’ll start on more everyday language next week.

First, though, here’s your weekly useful phrase! Kächürüng. This means “Excuse me” or “I’m sorry.” Use it when you bump into someone. Use it to get someone’s attention in a polite way. Use it when you’ve overslept for class again. Remember to roll your r’s! Remember also that ü indicates a sound you make with your lips rounded and poking out in front of you. You can form it by making an iiii with your lips spread wide and tight, then drawing them into the position for a u. For those of you who’ve studied Chinese, this is the sound in jun, qu, or xu. So: Kächürüng!

Dialogues

A. Server: Chay ichämsiz? Will you drink tea?

You: Hä’ä, chay ichimän. Yes, I’ll drink tea.

B. Server: Polo yämsiz? Will you eat polo?

You: Yaq, suyuq ash ichimän. No, I’ll drink suyuq ash. (Suyuq ash is a watery dish, so we “drink” it.)

C. You: Qäghäz berämsiz? Will you bring (tissue) paper?

Server: Hazir! Yes, right away!

D. You: Chay quyamsiz? Will you pour some tea?

Server: Hazir! Yes, right away!

Vocabulary and Pronunciation

qäghäz – This is a generic word for “paper”. In the restaurant context, it means “tissue paper”, the kind you use to wipe your face and clean up your immediate environment. In China, you’re meant to carry this around with you constantly. I’m constantly running out, so it’s a good thing that any respectable eating establishment has a supply on hand. Now, remember that q is a kind of “k” sound made in the very back of your mouth, where it meets your throat and the uvula (dangly bit). gh is made in the same place. gh, however, is a “fricative”, meaning you hold it out and let the air through. It’s like the “r” sound in French or German and not unlike when you get a hair caught in your throat and need to eject it. Combined with the vowel ä, which is like the “a” in “cat”, this makes for a very funny-sounding word. Try it out – qäghäz.

hazir – This means “now”. In this context, though, it’s a way for a server to indicate “Yes, right away!”

bär- – This is a verb meaning “to give”. For reasons we’ll discuss in a later lesson, it comes out as ber- in the present-future tense, which we’ve seen a lot of in the past few lessons. Let’s look at a chart, like the ones we saw last week for yä- “to eat” and ich- “to drink”:

quy- – This is a verb meaning “to pour”. In this context, we’re talking about chay qoy-, serving (or “pouring”) tea. You can use this phrase when you want the server to bring some tea or add some to your pot. Chay quyimän means “I’ll serve tea.”

Grammar – Forming Questions

All of the verbs above are statements. Polo yäymiz. “We eat polo.” Qähwä ichisilär. “You drink coffee.”

They are formed in the same basic way: STEM + i + PERSON, or, for example, quy- + i + miz, “we pour”.

Questions are formed very similarly: STEM + am/äm + PERSON, or, for example, quy + am + siz, “will/do you pour?” and ich + äm + silär, “will/do you drink”? -am-/-äm- is a question suffix.

Where the stem ends in a vowel, it blends into the question suffix -am-/-äm-. For now, the only verb that does that is yä- “to eat”: yämsiz? yämsilär?

In Uyghur, you ask questions of yourself differently from the way you ask questions of others. We may work on that in a later lesson. For now, just learn to ask a siz or silär what they will eat, drink, bring, place, or take.

These questions can often be used as a polite request, as in the dialogues above. (We’ll work on imperatives later.) Of course, they are often simple inquiries.

Dialogue Combination

Server: Nimä yäysilär? What’ll you have?

You: Ikki polo wä bir laghman yäymiz. We’ll have two polos and one laghman.

Server: Kawap yämsilär? Will you have kebabs?

You: Hä’ä, bäsh kawap yäymiz. Yes, we’ll have five kebabs.

Server: Chay ichämsilär? Will you drink tea?

You: Hä’ä, chay ichimiz. Yes, we’ll drink tea.

Five minutes later, your hands are greasy, and you’re in need of tissue paper…

You: Kächürüng! Qäghäz berämsiz? Excuse me! Would you bring us tissue paper?

Server: Hazir berimän. I’ll bring it now.

Ten minutes later, your teapot is empty…

You: Kächürüng! Chay quyamsiz? Excuse me! Would you pour some tea?

Server: Hazir quyimän. I’ll pour it now.

You: Rähmät! Thank you!

]]> http://www.thenewdominion.net/131/survival-uyghur-%e2%80%93-lesson-6-could-i-have-a-napkin/feed/ 5 http://www.thenewdominion.net/119/survival-uyghur-lesson-5-%e2%80%93-strength-in-numbers/ http://www.thenewdominion.net/119/survival-uyghur-lesson-5-%e2%80%93-strength-in-numbers/#comments Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:09:21 +0000 Tewpiq http://www.thenewdominion.net/?p=119

Survival Uyghur

From The New Dominion

Lesson Five: Strength in Numbers

Introduction

Salam! and welcome to “Survival Uyghur”, The New Dominion’s series on speaking practical Uyghur. Last week, we asked if something was (bar) or was not (yoq) available. Today, we’re going to build learn to respond to simple questions. This is going to take place in the context of a dinner out on a warm evening.

First, though, I’m going to teach you two more very important, very simple words. Last week, you learned rähmät – “Thank you”. Now, you will learn “yes” and “no”.

“Yes” will surprise you, because it sounds a bit like “Uh-huh.” You say it like this: hä’ä! Remember that ä is like the a in “cat”. The ‘ you see in the middle of the word means that, right there, there should be a “gap”. Say hä… then stop for a split-second before jumping on ä! This word has several variations, so, if you say something like hää, you will be understood.

“No” is like “there isn’t” (yoq). You say it like this: yaq! Remember that q is like a k way in the back of your mouth, where the uvula (dangly bit) dangles down. It’s a happy, poppy sound: yaq!

Dialogues

These are some common and simple dialogues that will appear regularly when you are out to eat. I’ve highlighted the new words.

A. Server:Nimä yäysiz? What will you eat?

You: Bäsh kawap yäymän! I’ll eat five kebabs!

B. Server: Nimä ichisilär? What will you (plural) drink?

You: Chay ichimiz. We’ll drink tea.

C. Server: Nimä yäysilär? What will you (plural) eat?

You: Polodin birni wä ikki chöchürä yäymiz. We’ll eat one polo and two chöchürä.

Grammar

I. We, You, and Y’all We’re worked with verbs before. You remember yäymän “I eat”. Well, now it’s time for yäymiz – “We eat”! As in, “Somyän yäymiz,” “Laghman yäymiz,” “Suyuq ash yäymiz,” etc.

We know -siz, as well. It showed up when we asked our friends, Siz-chu? “And what about you?” It works just like -män “I” on the end of verbs. yäysiz “you eat”, alisiz “you take”: “Bir nan alisiz,” “Yerim kilo tort alisiz,” “Bäsh kawap yäysiz.”

And so we turn to its plural form, as well: you (plural), you.plural, all of you, y’all, you’uns. We express this with a similar suffix: -silär. This is pronounced “slä”. Polo yäysilär “You (plural) eat polo.” More example: “Bir kilo tort alisilär,” “Ikki laghman yäysilär.”

Let’s make a chart to keep these straight.

II. to drink: ich-

You may have figured out from the dialogues that the stem of “to drink” is ich-. Nothing to worry about here! It works just like “to eat” yä-.

Let’s look at an example. ichisiz means “you drink”. It’s made up of three parts: the verb stem ich-, the “present-future” suffix -i-, and the person -siz. ich-i-siz “drink-present-you”.

Here’s how yäymiz works: the verb stem yä-, the “present-future suffix” -i- (or -y-), and the person -miz. yä-y-miz “eat-present-we”.

So, we can begin to see that Uyghur words are really very straightforward. Let’s look at charts of both verbs.

III. and: wä

It’s time for “and”. “And” is wä. That’s all, really.

Example: polo wä laghman “polo and laghman”

IV. what: nimä

nimä “what” is also pretty straightforward.

Instead of saying, for example, laghman yäymän “I eat laghman”, you switch out laghman for nimä: Nimä yäymän? “What am I eating?” or “What will I eat?”

The same goes for drinking. Nimä ichisilär? “What’ll y’all have to drink?”

(As one astute reader pointed out, this word is often spelled or pronounced nemä. I’ve honestly never gotten a straight answer on which it is, but I suspect that nemä, which is the dictionary form, is used more by more educated people.)

Dialogue Combination

Work with these dialogues, preferably with a partner, to get some more practice using these words. Then, as soon as you can, go out and try them yourself!

A. Gülnar (the server): Tinchliqmu?

You: Tinchliq! Rähmät. Siz-chu?

Gülnar: Tinchliq. Nimä yäysilär?

You: Suyuq ash barmu?

Gülnar: Hä’ä, suyuq ash bar.

You: Bir polo wä üch suyuq ash yäymiz.

Gülnar: Polodin bir wä suyuq ashtin üch.

You: Hä’ä.

Gülnar: Nimä ichisilär?

You: Chay ichimiz.

B. You: Ässalam äläykum.

Ärkin (the server): Wä äläykum ässalam. Nimä yäysilär?

You: Somyän barmu?

Ärkin: Yaq. Somyän yoq.

You: Nimä bar?

Ärkin: Laghman wä polo bar.

You: Ikki laghman wä bir polo yäymiz.

Ärkin: Ikki polomu?

You: Yaq, bir polo.

Ärkin: Nimä ichisilär?

You: Chay ichimiz.

From The New Dominion

Lesson Four: To be, or not to be

Introduction

Salam! and welcome to “Survival Uyghur”, The New Dominion’s series on speaking practical Uyghur. Last week, we worked on purchasing small items, individually or in bulk. This week’s lesson is very simple: you will ask if something exists.

Let’s say, returning to our themes from Lessons One and Three, you want to eat or purchase something. What if you’re not sure they have it? You will ask: … barmu? Literally, “Does … exist?”

Before we begin, though, I want to teach you the most important word in this world: Rähmät. It means “Thanks.” It sounds a bit like “Rat mat!” Where the first t is, though, we hear a breathy h.

Dialogue One: Is there polo?

You: Polo barmu?

Server: Polo bar.

You: Män polo yäymän.

Grammar and Pronunciation One

We’re working with two new words today: bar and yoq.

The first of these, which you saw in the dialogue, is bar. It’s a very, very abstract word which means, in a sense, “exists”. The r drops off the end, making the vowel longer. Pronounce it: “baa”.

Uyghur word order is different from English word order: the subject (I, you, he, she, we) comes first; the object (me, you, him, her, us) comes second, and the verb (eat, take, run, squeeze) comes last. For short, it’s Subject-Object-Verb, or SOV. bar comes in the Verb position at the end of the sentence.

So, to say that some polo is “there”, you say Polo bar. “There is polo.” “Polo exists.”

The question form of this involves taking on our question suffix, -mu. Barmu?
Polo barmu? “Is there polo?” “Does polo exist?”

Dialogue Two: There is no polo.

Disaster. They’re out of your favorite Uyghur dish. What will you do?

You: Polo barmu?

Server: Polo yoq.

You: Somyän yäymän.

Grammar and Pronunciation Two

yoq is the opposite of bar. It means “Doesn’t exist” or “There isn’t”.

It’s used in exactly the same way. Let’s say there’s no cake, tort. You would say Tort yoq. “There is no cake.” “Cake does not exist.”

Remember that q is like a k, but way further back in the mouth. It’s a little clicking, popping, sort of choking/retching sound you make with your glottis, way back where the dangly thing dangles down. So, yoq sounds a bit like “yolk”, but with its k way further back.

Dialogue Combination

This next pair of dialogues will take things you’ve learned from the first four lessons and combine them into a useful, real-life dialogue. First, we’ll have a vocabulary list of useful words. Try using these words in the dialogues above, asking if they are available or not.

Vocabulary

somyän – short noodles, stir-fried in a pan

laghman – long noodles with something tossed on them as a sauce (spelled: längmän)

chay – tea, hopefully with cardamom or rose

qähwä – coffee

üch – three, the number

Dialogue One: At the Restaurant

In this dialogue, you go to your local eatery. You have met the boss, named Änwär, before. You want some polo, but it’s the afternoon, and they don’t have any ready, so you go for the laghman instead.

You: Häy, Änwär! Ässalam äläykum! Hey, Änwär! Peace be unto you!

Änwär: Wä äläykum ässalam. Tinchliqmu? And unto you peace. At peace?

You: Tinchliq. Siz-chu, tinchliqmu? I’m at peace. And you, at peace?

Änwär: Tinchliq. Rähmät. At peace. Thanks.

You: Polo barmu? Is there polo?

Änwär: Polo yoq… There is no polo…

You: Laghman yäymän. I’ll eat laghman.

Änwär: Bäsh koy… Rähmät! Five RMB… Thanks!

Dialogue Two: At the Store

In this dialogue, you walk into a store to get a bottle of iced coffee, but all they have is iced tea. You get some tea.

You: Qähwä barmu? Do you have coffee?

Seller: Qähwä yoq. There’s no coffee.

You: Qähwä yoqmu? There’s no coffee??

Seller: Qähwä yoq. Chay bar. There’s no coffee. There’s tea.

You: Chaydin birni alimän. I’ll have a tea.

Seller: Üch koy. Three RMB.

You: Rähmät. Thanks.

From The New Dominion

Lesson Three: Buying Small Items

Introduction

Salam! and welcome to “Survival Uyghur”, The New Dominion’s series on speaking practical Uyghur. Last week, we learned a pair of common greetings. Today, we will work some more with numbers, get you some new vocabulary, and introduce one more verb, as well as (gasp!) a suffix.

Picking up something small to eat – bread, cookies, cake, fruit – is pretty straightforward. You point, you say “I’ll take three of these,” and you hand the seller some cash. Let’s not think about bargaining, just yet. We’ll assume, for this lesson, that you’re going into a store (like Arman) with set prices. Baked goods are a pleasure of life in Xinjiang. Along the streets, you will regularly find little hole-in-the-wall bakeries, their windows stacked up with cookies, little pastries, and, if you’re early enough, buttery layer cake.

Note: This lesson is a little complex! If you don’t get the grammar at first, don’t sweat it. You can still use the phrases in their proper context, and we’ll return to this topic later on. There’s also an easy shortcut at the end of the lesson!

Grammar

You have a new verb: al- “to take”. Remember yäymän “I eat” from Lesson One? This verb works the same way: alimän “I take”, alisiz “you take”. You use this when you’re buying something, rather than when you’re sitting down and eating it. “I’ll take one!” Remember, verbs come at the end of the sentence!

You can use this verb in two ways:

(Number) (Thing) alimän! “I’ll take (Number) (Thing)!”

Ex. “Bir nan alimän!” “I’ll take one bread!”

(Thing)-din (Number) (Counter) alimän! “I’ll take (Number) of (Thing)!”

Ex. “Nandin bir tal alimän!” “I’ll take one piece of the bread!”

Ex. “Torttin bir kilo alimän!” “I’ll take a kilo of the cake!”

How does this work? Here’s your first noun suffix. -din/-tin is what we call the Ablative Suffix. It means that what comes next is moving away from or out of the word to which it is attached. We know that nan is “bread”, and we’ve learned that bir is the number “one”. So, nandin bir is “out of the bread, one”.[1]

We can use the same form to understand a second item you definitely want to try, Uyghur-style cake. Cake is tort. Because tort ends in a “t”, the suffix takes the form -tin: torttin bir. This isn’t going to work, though, unless you want a whole sheet cake, so you’re going to have to specify: one what of cake? In this case, one kilogram, or kilo. (Let’s pretend, for now, that a kilogram of cake is a reasonable purchase.)

In the mean time, we should return to the nan “bread” example. It doesn’t seem entirely necessary, but it is good to specify that you want a “piece” of bread, a single “item” of bread. You call this a tal: bir tal.

Both of these phrases can be turned around: Bir tal nan, bir kilo tort. Bir tal nan, however, is uncommon in this context.

Dialogue: I’ll take one of those.

Let’s see these in action.

Your mission for today: find somewhere on the street where they’re selling fresh-baked nan. Nan is Uyghur flatbread, the most common variety of which is a bit like a giant, crusty cracker, very suitable for making an improvised pizza.

Approach the seller of nan. A greeting of “Ässalam äläykum!” may be in order. (Lesson Two (A)!) Point to a fresh-looking piece of bread and say:

You: Bir nan alimän. OR Nandin bir tal alimän.

It’s just like Bir polo yäymän! in Lesson One, but you’ve switched in bread and taking for polo and eating.

This will probably cost two RMB, referred to in Uyghur as koy, from the Chinese kuai.

Nan seller: Ikki koy. “Two RMB.”

The same goes for tort “cake”. You could just walk up to the counter and say:

You: Torttin bir kilo alimän. OR Bir kilo tort alimän.

Cake seller: On koy. “Ten RMB.”

However, no one buys a kilogram of cake. It’s a lot of cake. A more reasonable amount would be a yerim “half” kilogram: yerim kilo:

You: Torttin yerim kilo alimän. OR Yerim kilo tort alimän.

Cake seller: Bäsh koy. “Five RMB.”

Vocabulary and Pronunciation

You’ve noticed that I slipped in some numbers here: ikki, bäsh, on – 2, 5, 10.

on “10″ doesn’t sound like the English “on”. Instead, the vowel “o” sounds like English “oh!”

The “ä” in bäsh “5″ sounds somewhere between the one in English “bash” and “mesh”.

ikki doesn’t sound like it’s written. Try saying something like “‘ish-ke”, where a short, popping “ish” is followed by a “keh”. (If you say “ikki”, though, you will probably be understood.)

yerim “half” sounds like “yeh, rim”. Remember, Uyghur “i” is short, like “ih”, not “ee” or “ay”.

A note on pronouncing tort: in Uyghur, an “r” at the end of a word or before another consonant is usually not pronounced, as in many varieties of American and British English. tort comes out as tot, with a longer “oh” sound.

Extending the Dialogue

Now that you have a basic sentence pattern to work with, you can get all kinds of things.

Try picking up these individual items, switching them in for nan: Bir/ikki ___ alimän. OR ___-din bir/ikki tal alimän.

doppa “Uyghur skullcap” tamaka “cigarette”

Or these items, sold in bulk: Bir/ikki/yerim kilo ___ alimän. OR ___-din bir/ikki/yerim kilo alimän.

gürüch “rice” un “flour” gösh “meat”

Or these, which are both!

pichina-pränik “cookie” marozhna “ice cream” alma “apple”

The easiest thing you can do, however, is to point to something and say:

You: Mawuningdin bir tal/kilo alimän.

This is literally “I’ll have one of these.” Pronounce mawuning “these” as máaning: Máaningdin bir tal/kilo alimän.

For Advanced Learners

You: Bäsh botelka suw alimän. “I’ll take five bottles of water.”

Also try:

You: Yerim täxsä polo alimän.

Server: Yerim täxsimu?

You: Hä’ä, yerim täxsä.

Server: Töt koy.

From The New Dominion

Lesson Two (B): Basic Greetings: At Peace?

Introduction

Salam! Welcome to Survival Uyghur, Lesson Two. Last time, we learned how to order polo in a typical Uyghur restaurant. We’ll look at that again later, but, for now, it’s time to learn to say hello. The idea is not to start a conversation – at least not yet – but to signal your willingness to learn and your interest in and respect for someone else’s language and culture.

We’re going to begin with the two most common greetings, the associated body movements, and the right way to respond. This lesson is divided into two parts: male readers will find Lesson Two (A) more helpful, while both male and female learners will get use out of Lesson Two (B).[1] This part of the lesson introduces the most common greeting and some important grammar.

Dialogue Two: At peace?

You: Tinchliqmu?

Uyghur: Tinchliq! Siz-chu?

You: Tinchliq!

This is literally asking: “At peace?” “At peace! And you?” “At peace!”

Usage note: This is much more common for women to use. Most of my Uyghur female friends greet me this way, whereas few of my male friends ever do.

Vocabulary

tinchliq “peaceful, at peace” siz “you, formal”

Pronunciation

q: We have a new sound! q is a hard, clicky k sound at the back of the mouth. Try lifting the back of your tongue to block off your throat. Right there, right under the squishy bit of the roof of your mouth, just in front of the uvula (dangly thing)… q!

i: Remember that the i you see here is short, like in “bit”. This applies for tinchliq and for siz-chu.

tinchliq: Besides that, the word spelled “tinchliq” above is actually pronounced “tishliq”. Don’t forget your “Olé!”: tishlíq! However, tinchliqmu is tishlíqmu, with the stress right where it was before. Why? See below.

Also, for emphasis, draw out the last syllable of tinchliq: tishlíííq!

Grammar

siz: In Lesson One, we briefly encountered the pronoun män “I, me”. Here, we have siz “you”.

-mu: For those of us who have learned Chinese, the grammar is easy: -mu is like ma 吗, or, indeed, like a question mark (?) in English! Tack it into the end of a sentence and it makes a question. “At peace?”

- Note: -mu doesn’t change the stress on the word it’s attached to. It hangs on like a light little tail.

-chu: Where you see siz-chu?, this is asking “And you?” (Literally, “You-and?”) Consider -chu to be like Chinese ne 呢.

Dialog Review

Dialog Two: At peace?

You: Tinchliqmu? (Pron: Tishlíqmu?) At peace?

Uyghur: Tinchliq! Siz-chu? (Pron: Tishlíííq! Siz-chú?) At peace! And you?

You: Tinchliq! (Pron: Tishlíq!) At peace!

Summary and review

So, what do you know so far?

You have learned “I” and “you”: män and siz

… your new favorite food: polo

… a verb: yä- “to eat”

… a number: bir “one”

… how to turn a statement into a question: -mu?

And you have learned to greet people!

For advanced learners

Okay, hotshot. Try this on for size:

“Bir polo yäysiz.”

“Polomu?”

[1] Please forgive the apparent gender bias.

From The New Dominion

Lesson Two (A): Basic Greetings: Peace Be Unto You

Introduction

Salam! Welcome to Survival Uyghur, Lesson Two. Last time, we learned how to order polo in a typical Uyghur restaurant. We’ll look at that again later, but, for now, it’s time to learn to say hello. The idea is not to start a conversation – at least not yet – but to signal your willingness to learn and your interest in and respect for someone else’s language and culture.

We’re going to begin with the two most common greetings, the associated body movements, and the right way to respond. This lesson is divided into two parts: male readers will find Lesson Two (A) more helpful, while both male and female learners will get use out of Lesson Two (B).[1] This first lesson introduces a common Islamic greeting.

Dialogue One: Peace Be Unto You

You: Ässalam äläykum!

Uyghur: Wä äläykum ässalam!

This is a classic Islamic greeting recognized throughout the Muslim world. The Uyghur pronunciation is a bit different from the Arabic – we’ll learn it below. The exchange means “Peace be unto you” – “And unto you peace.”

Usage notes:

- This greeting is used almost exclusively between men.

- I like to use this as a “disarming” greeting. If someone’s looking at you curiously or in apparent fear, this tends to calm the situation down. That’s why this is the first thing one says before asking a stranger for directions!

Pronunciation

ä: In Lesson One, we used ä for the hard a in English – mat, cat, stay, pay, lap. That still applies here. The regular a is for the soft a – llama, par, Lamaze, call, Duvall. The hard ä sounds short, while the soft a sounds long.

ss: The double s – ss – is really a double s. Hold it out for a little longer.

Remember, emphasis on words is like “Olé!” “Ässalam äläykúm!” “Wä äläykum ässalám!”

Body language

Uyghur greetings are attached to a set standard of body language. The general rule is, follow the other person’s lead. To fit in better, follow these… guidelines:

- For men: As you say your part of the greeting, raise your right hand to your chest, palm open, and place your palm on your chest. (This may be a universal gesture of sincerity.) This may be accompanied by a slight bow. If you are much younger than the man you’re facing, you may extend both hands to shake his single right hand. For best results, you should simply follow his lead at this point.

- For women: As noted, women don’t usually say this, with the exception of some forward-thinking young intellectuals. It may be used, though, upon entering a room. Don’t shake hands, especially with men, though exceptions may be made.

Dialog Review

Let’s look at this dialog again, integrating proper actions into them.

You: Ässalam äläykum! (Raise your right hand to your chest) Peace be unto you.

Uyghur: Wä äläykum ässalam! (He raises his right hand to his chest) And unto you peace.

(Simultaneously lower the right hand. Mutual right-handed handshake ensues.)

[1] Please forgive the apparent gender bias.

From The New Dominion

Lesson One: Ordering Food

Introduction

Salam! and welcome to “Survival Uyghur”, The New Dominion’s series on speaking practical Uyghur. Starting today, you will learn how to do basic, useful things in real-life Uyghur. Along the way, you will develop a foundation in Uyghur grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation that will help you if you decide to pursue further study. Comments are very much welcome!

Today, we will begin with a very simple action: ordering a plate of polo, the Uyghur signature dish. This is all. You will learn to order the food, which will probably show up all but automatically at your table a short time later. In the meantime, you will start to get an inkling of the way Uyghur works as a language. We will return to this dialog in Lesson Four, when things will make more sense. Let’s begin! Bashlayli!

Dialogue: Ordering Polo

(It’s lunchtime! You’re walking down the street, past a long row of little restaurants, and you see your target: a big , metal bowl, tilted jauntily, filled with steaming, yellow rice with spangles of carrots, onions, and lamb or beef. Go in and sit down.)

You say to the server: “Bir polo yäymän.”

That is all. If all goes well, your food will arrive momentarily. Don’t worry about payment, for now – at most places, polo is exactly 8, 10, or 12 RMB. If your server seems anxious, try handing them a 10 yuan bill. If that doesn’t work, try repeating:

“Bir polo yäymän.”

Pronunciation

How, exactly, do you say that? A good way to remember it, at first, is to say, “Beer polo? Yay, man!”

That’s not quite right, but it will get the job done.

To be more precise, pronounce the phrase thusly:

bir – This is like the English word “bit”, but with a rolled r at the end. It doesn’t actually sound like “beer”, although saying it that way should be more or less understood. Means: “one”

polo – Unlike the English sport “polo”, the emphasis here is on the last syllable: poló! It’s like “Olé!” Means: polo, the thing you want to eat

yäymän – Just like “Yay, man!” (Those ä symbols indicate something like the hard a sounds in English: cat, rat, bat; also like may, stay, hey…) However, this is also like “Olé!”: yäymän! Means: “I eat”

Now repeat after me: “Bir poló yäymän!” Finish strong on that last syllable!

Grammar

Let’s understand how this sentence works.

“Bir polo yäymän.”

If you’re one of those really literal language learners, you could think of it as “One polo eat I!” It breaks down like this:

bir polo is literally just “one polo”. Just “one polo”, and that’s fine.

yäymän is a little more complex. It’s a verb. yä- is your stem for “to eat”, the y in the middle says we’re in the present or future, and män is simply “I” or “me”. This suffix is absolutely necessary for the verb – and for you – to be understood. We will return to this grammar point soon.

If you’re slightly less literal-minded, you could translate this as “I’ll have one polo.” You may be wary of telling someone, more literally, “I’ll eat one polo,” but, rest assured, it’s entirely acceptable and, indeed, expected.

Dialogue Repeat

“Bir polo yäymän.”

For advanced learners

I know some of you – like me – want to be hot-shots when you’re learning a language. So, you can jazz things up a little by telling your server:

“Män bir polo yäymän.”

Come back next week for Lesson Two: Peace Be Unto You!

These light-hearted lessons are designed for long-term visitors to Xinjiang, as well as short-term tourists who want to get by and make a good impression. By practicing these lessons, you will learn to properly order food, purchase necessities, say hello, handle yourself in a taxi, and much more. At the same time, you will develop a foundation in the Uyghur language’s grammar and pronunciation that can contribute to further study.

So, watch this space tomorrow for Lesson One: Ordering Polo!