The Kyrgyz language as it is known today is actually a rather modern language that is part of the Altaic languages. The Altaic family of languages is broken down into three main subfamilies: Turkic, Mongolian and Manchu-Tungus. Categorized under the Turkic subfamily of Altaic languages Kyrgyz is closely related to Karakalpak and Kazakh languages due to its syntactic similarities. It is spoken mostly in Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia and is one of only two official languages on record for the country. The other official language is Russian.
Although, as mentioned, the Kyrgyz language as it is today is somewhat modern it has a history that goes back rather far. This particular language has been referenced in inscriptions as far back as the eighth century. Initially the language was carried on by the ancestral Kyrgyz people who lived in Mongolia. They eventually travelled south before becoming incorporated into the Russian Empire. This incorporation caused a major migration of Kyrgyz speaking people into surrounding areas such as Afghanistan. Despite the migrations Kyzgria still remained in its location. Finally in 1990, due to tensions in the USSR, Kyrgyzstan broke out as an independent republic and resembled the republic we now see today.
Around 4 million people speak it total around the world with roughly 2 million of those people residing in Kyrgyzstan alone. The rest of the Kyrgyz speaking population live in nearby countries including Afghanistan, Turkey, Pamir Mountains, Pakistan, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. The language has northern and southern varieties with the northern being similar to Mongolian. The southern dialects draw major influences from the Uzbek language. Nevertheless, the majority of people that speak the language follow the northern variety making it the standard version.
The Kyrgyz language is currently written in Cyrillic script that was introduced in 1940. Prior to 1940 an Arabic alphabet was used as well as the Unified Turkic Latin Alphabet. There is discussion of changing the alphabet again but the decision has yet to remain unanimous. Unlike other languages, there is no grammatical gender and has been hailed as being somewhat easy to learn. Overall grammar formation requires the addition of various suffixes to show grammatical purpose. Sound formations follow a classic Turkic pattern which requires vowel harmony among the suffixes and verbs.
To say the least, the Kyrgyz language has a long and important history in the Central Asian region surrounding and including present-day Kyrgyzstan. Following some major changes the language has become popular and even preferred in this region. That being said, it owes a lot of its current attributes to the history it left behind.
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