The speech genre of curse analyzed in the article belongs to the most ancient genres of oral communication in Kazakh culture. It is based on belief in the magical function of the word, in the ability to bring harm and evil to the cursed with the help of magical powers. Kargys is a pattern, its stable verbal formulas are preserved in the linguistic consciousness of the modern native speakers, despite the fact that the archaic foundations of the pattern may not be fully understood by them.