“Áıel — úıdegi yrysyń,
[A wife is the riches of your home]
Ul — aıbarly qylyshyń.
[A son is your formidable sword]
Qyz — túzdegi órisiń,
[A daughter is your new relatives from far way]
Kelin — keńeıgen tynysyń.
[A daughter-in-law is your peace]
Qıyamet kórseń de ǵumyrdan,
[Even if you struggle in life]
Tabanyń taımasyn tuǵyrdan
[No need to give up].”
Eskeldi Bı.
The importance of family in a Qazaq’s life cannot be overestimated. For a Qazaq society, the individual is not of much value — only as part of a family does one become a full participant in social processes.
The family — JANUYA, ÚI ISHI, OTBASY, SHAŃYRAQ, OTAÝ, TÚTIN — is the cell that builds the organism of Qazaq community. However, while one’s father (head of the family) is around, their own young family, even with children, does not fully become an independent unit. The two most important types of life events, weddings and funerals, are attended by three generations of a family: OTAǴASY [head of the family] BÁIBISHEMEN [with his wife], OTAÝ TIKKEN UL-QYZDARYMEN [with his adult sons and daughters and their spouses], BALA-SHAǴAMEN [with their children]. When the head of the family passes away, the close-knit family does not fall apart, and his house remains in the status of ÚLKEN ÚI [main house]. The duties of the head of the family are transferred to his wife and then one of the sons, usually the KENJE [youngest], who traditionally inherits the QARA SHAŃYRAQ [a man’s father’s house]. SHAŃYRAQ literally is the central element, the dome, of the yurt. SHAŃYRAQ KÓTERÝ literally means lifting up the dome when assembling a yurt, but figuratively means creating a family. SHAŃYRAQ IESI means “head of the family” (literally “owner of the dome”), SHAŃYRAQ ORTASYNA TÚSTI means “a family has broken apart” (literally “the yurt’s dome fell through”), SHAŃYRAǴYŃ BIIK BOLSYN means “may you have a close-knit and strong family” (literally “may your yurt’s dome stand tall”). Creating a new family is also expressed with the phrases OTAÝ TIGÝ — literally “assembling a yurt”, and TÚTIN TÚTETÝ — literally “kindling a fire”.
As the first generation passes, the second grows old, the third grows up, and the new generation — ÚRIM-BUTAQ [descendants] — is born, the family spreads and splits into branches. Every language has its common well-wishes, like wishes of a long life or strong health. In Qazaq, common ones are ÓRKENIŃ ÓSSIN [may your descendants multiply] and ÚBIRLI-SHÚBIRLI BOL [may you have many descendants]. These are wishes for family growth.
Related families comprise the TÝǴAN-TÝYSQAN [close relatives], who engage with other family groups whom they call QUDA-JEGJAT [in-laws, distant relatives], DOS-JARAN [friends], TAMYR-TANYSTAR [acquaintances], KÓRSHI-QOLAŃ [neighbors].
The official Qazaq translation of the word “family” is OTBASY, but there is also the term JANUYA, which is closer to the Western concept of family, i.e., a couple and their children.
