Word banks

Themed reference lists, from the words you'll need first to the ones you'll grow into.

1 Building Blocks of Speech

Pronouns, question words, greetings, and the small words that hold a sentence together — plus numbers, time, and where things are.

Pronouns

The personal pronouns, one small table per case — with notes on when each case is used. The full reference table is at the bottom. (6 cases)
Question words

The interrogatives. A question built around one of these does not take the question particle -mı — the word itself carries the question. (14 entries)
Greetings & courtesy

What to say when you meet, thank, and leave — the glue of every conversation. (15 entries)
The little words

Connectors, particles, postpositions, yes and no, and the words for having and lacking — the small words that hold sentences together. (22 entries)
Pointing words

This, that, here, there, this much, that much — the words that point, with hand and chin. (18 entries)
Numbers

Counting words, ordinals, and half — and how to stack the building blocks into any number you need. (34 entries)
Time words

Today, yesterday, and tomorrow; the parts of the day; the units time is measured in; and the little words that place one event before or after another. (34 entries)
Days of the week

The seven days, each built on kün (day) — name the first word and you've named the day. (7 entries)
The four seasons

The complete yearly cycle: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. (4 entries)
Directions & orientation

Compass directions and the everyday words for orienting yourself: up, down, left, right, forward, back, and more. (17 entries)
Postpositions of place

Where something sits in relation to something else — in, on, under, in front of, behind, between — said after the noun, not before it. (26 entries)

2 Core Lists

A hundred verbs, a hundred nouns and a hundred adjectives — the practical core to learn first.

100 common verbs

A practical core of actions for everyday conversation, movement, work, and life. (100 entries)
100 everyday nouns

One hundred useful things, people, places, and parts of the world to name first. (100 entries)
100 common adjectives

One hundred describing words to learn first — size, age, place, how things feel, and what people are like. (100 entries)

3 Describing and Measuring

Opposites, colors, how much and how many, and how things taste and feel.

Opposite pairs

Everyday describing words, learned two at a time — each one pins down the other. (27 entries)
Colors

Twelve basic colors, all ordinary adjectives — they sit in front of the noun and never change shape. (12 entries)
Quantity words

How much and how many — köb and az, all and every, whole and half, more and less, enough and nothing. (27 entries)
Intensifiers & hedges

The words that turn the dial up or down — bek for very, em for the most, az and hazna for hardly at all, quru for only. (30 entries)
Tastes & textures

How food and things feel to the tongue, the nose and the hand — tatlı sweet, açı bitter, jumuşaq soft, qatı hard. (36 entries)
Weights, measures & amounts

Weighing, measuring and counting — ölçelerge to measure, bazman the scales, and the old units a hand or an arm still gives you. (38 entries)

4 People

Family, the body and face, a person's looks, age, character, feelings, and health.

Family

Kin words. You will almost always hear them wearing an owner: atam — my father, ataŋ — your father, atası — his or her father. (26 entries)
Body parts

Head to foot — the words you point at yourself with. (35 entries)
The face, in detail

Past the eyes and nose of the body bank — the smaller parts of a face. (11 entries)
Feelings, character & values

Words for how people feel, how they relate to one another, and the qualities admired in a person. (25 entries)
Health & feeling unwell

Practical words for health, illness, injury, symptoms, and treatment. (22 entries)
Stages of life

A person from newborn to elder — qağanaq, sabiy, jaş, qart — with the verbs for being born, growing up and growing old. (30 entries)
Describing character

The words you reach for when you say what someone is like as a person — oğurlu kind, çomart generous, erinçek lazy. (37 entries)
Describing how someone looks

Plain words for a person's looks — uzun tall, arıq thin, ariw beautiful — plus the nouns for a figure and a resemblance. (31 entries)

5 Home and Food

The house and what's in it, what's on the table and how it got there, clothes, and tools.

Food & drink

What's on the table — staples, dairy, produce, and the dishes and drinks the Karachay are known for. (43 entries)
Parts of a house

The house itself, its rooms and structure, and the yard around it. (20 entries)
Hand tools

Things with a handle — what you pick up to do a job. (20 entries)
Furniture

The things that make a room usable: tables, seats, beds, storage, and cupboards. (14 entries)
Kitchen & tableware

The vessels and utensils used to cook, serve, and eat a meal. (21 entries)
Clothing & accessories

Everyday clothes, footwear, headwear, and the small things that hold an outfit together. (24 entries)
Preparing food

The practical verbs that take food from raw ingredients to the table, and the cook who does it. (16 entries)

6 Land and Animals

Mountains and weather, plants, the herd and the yard, birds, small creatures, and the horse.

Animals

Herd, yard, and mountain — the animals the culture was built around. (45 entries)
Nature & weather

Mountains, weather, and the outdoors — the landscape the language grew up in. (54 entries)
Small creatures

The insects and crawling things — smaller than anything in the animals bank. (13 entries)
Birds

Birds of the field, farmyard, and sky, and the words every bird needs. (25 entries)
Plants & plant parts

The basic words for plants, from root and seed to leaf, flower, and fruit, plus the trees and crops of the region. (29 entries)
The Karachay horse

The horse the Karachay are known for: at at every age, the colors of its coat, the tack it carries, its paces, and the work of keeping it. (41 entries)

7 Work and Community

Herding, the village and its market, trades, guests and neighbors, custom and law, learning, and faith.

Islamic terminology

Core words of Islamic faith, prayer, scripture, fasting, charity, pilgrimage, and the hereafter. (45 entries)
Work & occupations

Traditional crafts, practical trades, and the people whose work holds a community together. (22 entries)
Community & hospitality

Guests and hosts, neighbors and elders, shared meals, gatherings, and community custom. (22 entries)
Learning, science & inquiry

The native and established vocabulary of study, teaching, research, measurement, and branches of knowledge. (25 entries)
The shepherd's work

Life around the qoş: the flock, the summer and winter pastures, the herder's tools, and the milking, shearing and haymaking that fill the year. (39 entries)
The village & the market

The parts of an el — its streets, well, mill and gathering places — and the words for going to the bazar to buy, sell and settle up. (38 entries)
Custom & law

The unwritten rules people live by — adet and şeriat, the court that settles a daw, the oath, the feud and its reconciliation, and what custom counts as honor or shame. (38 entries)