Kyrgyz, a Turkic language spoken primarily in Kyrgyzstan, shares linguistic roots and similarities with several other languages within the Turkic family. According to the eLinguistics.net analysis using specific software modules to assess linguistic relationships, the five languages most similar to Kyrgyz are Kazakh, Uyghur, Uzbek, Tatar, and Turkmen.
- Kazakh (94.7)
Spoken primarily in Kazakhstan, Kazakh is perhaps the closest relative to Kazakh. Both languages belong to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic language family and share significant vocabulary, grammar structures, and phonetics. The mutual intelligibility between Kyrgyz and Kazakh is quite high, allowing speakers of one language to understand the other with relative ease. - Uyghur (94.7)
In the Xinjiang region of China, the Uyghur people speak a language that is another close relative of Kyrgyz. Uyghur shares many lexical and grammatical similarities with Kyrgyz. Both languages have been influenced by Arabic, Persian, and Russian due to historical and cultural interactions. - Uzbek (91.8)
Uzbekistan borders Kyrgyzstan. Its language Uzbek is also quite similar to Kyrgyz. While there are notable differences in phonology and vocabulary due to various historical influences, Uzbek shares a considerable amount of linguistic features with Kyrgyz. However, Kyrgyz, influenced more by its nomadic heritage, retains a larger proportion of Turkic-rooted vocabulary and has fewer borrowings from Persian, Arabic, or Russian. - Tatar (90.6)
Spoken by the Tatar people in Russia, this language belongs to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic language family, like Kyrgyz. Tatar and Kyrgyz share similar grammatical structures, vocabulary, and phonological characteristics. This is because there have been many interactions between the Tatars and Central Asia in the past. - Turkmen (85.6)
Turkmenistan is another Central Asian country. Its official language, Turkmen, is also a Turkic language. Despite belonging to a different branch, Turkmen and Kyrgyz share significant similarities in vocabulary, syntax, and phonology. There have been many cultural exchanges among Turkic-speaking peoples.
(to be considered for the list, the language must be spoken by at least one million people)