Comparative phonetics, morphology and syntax of Altai Turkish and Kyrgyz Turkish

In many studies on the classification of Turkic languages, Altay language has been evaluated among the North-Eastern Turkic dialects, while Kyrgyz language has been placed among the North-Western Turkic dialects. However, many turkologists and linguists have stated that these two dialects should not be considered in different groups but under the same group, and they have pointed out the similarities between these two dialects in various linguistic phenomena. For this reason, this study examines the phonology, morphology, and syntax of Altay and Kyrgyz languages. The reason is that, compared to other Turkic dialects, these two dialects resemble each other more in terms of both phonology and morphology. According to UNESCO's assessment, the Altay language is one of the languages "in serious danger," that is, facing the threat of extinction. Altay language is divided into two main dialect groups: northern (Tuba, Kumandin, Chelkan) and southern (Altay, Teleut, and Telengit). Contemporary Altay language has developed on the basis of the Altay-Kiji dialect. The subject of this study will be the southern dialect of Altay language. Excluding the Introduction and Conclusion sections, our study consists of three chapters. In the Introduction, information is provided about the subject, purpose, the Kyrgyz people, Kyrgyz language and the studies conducted on this dialect, as well as the Altay people, Altay language and the studies carried out on this dialect. The first chapter, titled "Phonology of Kyrgyz and Altay languages" focuses on the sound systems of Kyrgyz and Altay languages in general. Here, information is given on both the vowels and consonants of Kyrgyz and Altay languages. The second chapter, titled "Morphology of Kyrgyz and Altay languages" deals with noun inflections and verb conjugations, derivational suffixes, and verbals, aiming to demonstrate similarities and differences with examples. The third chapter, titled "Syntax of Kyrgyz and Altay languages" comparatively discusses the sentence structures of the two dialects. The Conclusion section provides a general evaluation.