Uyghur and English/Contrastive Grammar

This wiki-page is created to document instances of grammar difference between some sentences in Uyghur and English.

Sentence Structure

General English sentences would follow S + V + obj, whereas in Uyghur, it would be S + obj + V.

Nouns

Uyghur has 10 different cases for each specific noun. Our Uyghur transducer does not use the <sg> tag.

Nominative Case: This case has no suffix and is generally used when the noun is a subject. This is equivalent to the base noun in English with the appropriate determiner.

• (uig) چېلەك يىقىلدى → (eng) The bucket fell

  (uig) چېلەك<n><nom> + يىقىل<vblex><past><p3> → (eng) the <det><sg>+ bucket<n><sg>+ fall<vblex><past>

Genitive Case: This case indicates possesion, the noun is possessing something.

• (uig) چېلەكنىڭ ئۈستى → (eng) The bucket's top

  (uig) چېلەك<n><gen> + ئۈستى<n><nom> → (eng) the <det><sg>+ bucket<n><sg><gen>+ top<n><sg>

When the English noun cannot take the genitive case. We instead place it in the prepositional phrase "of <n>".

• (uig) بۇنىڭ ئۈستى → (eng) The top of this

  (uig) بۇ<prn><dem><gen> + ئۈستى<n><nom> → (eng) the <det><sg>+ top<n><sg> +of<pr> +this<prn><dem><mf><sg>

Dative Case: This case indicates that the object is an indirect object that indicates the target, purpose, or price of an action. The preposition used depends on the verb in English, but is generally "to."

• (uig) ئۇ چېلەككە يىقىلدى → (eng) He fell on the bucket

  (uig) ئۇ<prn><pers><p3><sg><nom> + چېلەك<n><dat>+ يىقىل<vblex><past><p3> → (eng) he <prn><pers><p3><m><sg>+ fall<vblex><past>+on<pr>+the<det><sg>+ bucket<n><sg>

Accusative Case: This case indicates that the object is an direct object.

• (uig) ئۇ چېلەكنى ياراتتى → (eng) He created the bucket

  (uig) ئۇ<prn><pers><p3><sg><nom> + چېلەك<n><acc>+ يارات<vblex><past><p3> → (eng) he <prn><pers><p3><m><sg>+ create<vblex><past>+the<det><sg>+ bucket<n><sg>

Locative Case: This case indicates that the object is an indirect object that indicates the location (spatial or temporal) or instrument of an action. The preposition used in English depends of the context, but is generally "on", "in", "at", or "by."

• (uig) ئۇ چېلەكتە تۇراتتى → (eng) He lived in the bucket

  (uig) ئۇ<prn><pers><p3><sg><nom> + چېلەك<n><acc>+ يارات<vblex><past><p3> → (eng) he <prn><pers><p3><m><sg>+ create<vblex><past>+the<det><sg>+ bucket<n><sg>

Pronoun

In Uyghur, notice that:

• Second-Person Pronouns are categorized based on the formality
• The Third-Person Pronoun are not categorized according to gender or number.

In English, both of these cases are the opposite.

Verb to be

In English, the verb "to be" is used; whereas in Uyghur, it is often omitted.

Verbs

The verbs are categorized according to the person. Since the Pronouns are already different between the two languages, this leads to many cases that leads to a difference in the tags for the verb in each tense.

Copulas

The Copulas for Uyghur have different cases just as verbs do, whereas in English, no such cases exist for copulas.

Examples

These examples should illustrates all the grammatical differences mentioned above.

Examples:

• (uig) .خۇدا يورۇقلۇقنىڭ ياخشى ئىكەنلىكىنى كۆردى → (eng) God saw the brightness was good.

  (uig) خۇدا<np><al><nom> + يورۇقلۇق<n><gen>+ ياخشى<adj>+ ئىكەن<cop><p3><n><acc>+ كۆردى<vblex><past><p3> → (eng) God <np><al><sg>+ see<vblex><past>+ the<det>+ brightness<n><sg>+ be<vbser><past><p3><sg>+ good<adj>

• (uig) .خۇدانىڭ ئەمرى بىلەن شۇنداق بولدى → (eng) Through God's command it was so.

  (uig) خۇدا<np><al><gen> + ئەمرى<n><nom>+ بىلەن <post><nom>+ شۇنداق<adv>+ بول<vbser><past><p3> → (eng) Through<pr>+ God<np><al><sg><gen>+ command<n>+ it<n><p3>+ be<vbser><past><p3><sg>+ so<adv>

• (uig) خۇدا بۇلارنىڭ ياخشى ئىكەنلىكىنى كۆردى. → (eng) God saw these were good.

  (uig) خۇدا<np><al><nom> + بۇ<prn><dem><pl><gen>+ ياخشى<adj>+ ئىكەن<cop><p3><n><acc>+ كۆر<vblex><past><p3> → (eng) God <np><al><sg>+ see<vblex><past>+ these<prn><dem><mf><pl>+ be<vbser><past><p3><pl>+ good<adj>

• (uig) ئۆيىمدە جىق چاشقان بار. → (eng) There are many mice in my house.

  (uig) ئۆي<n><pos><sg><loc> + جىق<adj>+ چاشقان <n><nom>+ بار<adj> → (eng) There <prn>+ be<cop><pl>+ many<adj>+ mouse<n><pl>+ in<pr>+ my<adj><pos><p1>+house<n>

• (uig) كېچە ۋە كۈندۈز ئۆتتى بۇ تۇنجى كۈن بولدى. → (eng) Night and daytime passed this was the first day.

  (uig) كېچە<n><nom>+ ۋە <cnjcoo>+ كۈندۈز<n><nom>+ ئۆت<vblex><past><p3> + بۇ<prn><dem><nom>+ تۇنجى<adj>+ كۈن<n><nom> + بول<vbser><past><p3> → (eng) Night <n><sg> + and<cnjcoo> + daytime <n><sg>+ pass<vblex><past> + this<prn><dem><mf><sg> + is<vbser><past><p3><sg> + the<det><def><sg>+ first<adj>+ day<n><sg>