Evidentiality in Uzbek and Kazakh

-di/-DI Past 
-gan/-GAn Perfect 
[+Confirmative] 
[Ø Confirmative] 
[+Definite] 
[-Definite] 
[-Distant] 
(Uzbek only) 
[+Distant] 

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Before moving on to the discussion of the marked non-confirmative converbial past 
-(i)b/-(I)p, it is worth noting a phenomenon found in Uzbek (but not in Kazakh) that affects the 
meaning of the perfect. The addition of the marker -dir, derived from the verb tur- ‘stand, stay’, 
indicates that the speaker has evaluated the propositional content of an utterance with a 
HIGH 
DEGREE OF CONFIDENCE
. This high degree of confidence is different from 
CONFIRMATIVITY
and 
can roughly be translated as English surely, or most likely. 
(75) Lester abbatligi shunaqa bo‘l-gan-dir , ehtimol. (Uz) 
Leicester Abbey like.that be-
PRF
-
MOD
perhaps 
‘Perhaps Leicester Abbey was like that.’ 
(Joyce 2007, 4) 
(76) "Adana" kabob-ni ko'pchilik eshitgandir. (Uz) 
Adana kebab-
ACC
most hear-
PRF
-
MOD
‘Surely, most people have heard of Adana kebab.’
2
While Uzbek -dir is clearly related to the cognate morpheme in Turkish (-DIr), it differs from the 
Turkish form in that it may occur with any person (see Friedman 1978): 
(77) qiynoq-qa sol-ish uchun dunyo-ga kel-gan-dir-miz. (Uz) 
suffering-
DAT
undergo-
NMLZR
for world-
DAT
come-
PRF
-
MOD
-1
PL
‘Surely, we came into this world in order to suffer.’
3
Although the perfect is generally unmarked for 
MODALITY 
or 
STATUS
, the addition of this 
morpheme provides a meaning of modality or status without necessarily upsetting the 
CONFIRMATIVE
/
UNMARKED
opposition that otherwise distinguishes the simple past -di/ -DI and 
the bare perfect -gan/-GAn. 
2
2010. ZiyoUz, 5 Jun. Accessed 12 Jan 2011. http://forum.ziyouz.com/index.php?topic=4651.0 
3
2008. Ma’rifat, 9 Jan. Accessed 15 Feb 2011. 
old.marifat.uz/uzbl/xalqaro_hayot/oyparastlar_olkasi.mg 

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