Lezgic languages

Last updated
Lezgic
Geographic
distribution
Flag of Dagestan.svg  Dagestan
Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Azerbaijan
Linguistic classification Northeast Caucasian
  • Lezgic
Subdivisions
Glottolog lezg1248
Northeast Caucasian languages.png
  Lezgic

The Lezgic languages are one of seven branches of the Northeast Caucasian language family. Lezgin and Tabasaran are literary languages.

Contents

Classification

The voicing of ejective consonants

The Lezgic languages are relevant to the glottalic theory of Indo-European, because several have undergone the voicing of ejectives that have been postulated but widely derided as improbable in that family. The correspondences have not been well worked out (Rutul is inconsistent in the examples), but a few examples are:

A similar change has taken place in non-initial position in the Nakh languages. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

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The Northeast Caucasian languages, also called East Caucasian, Nakh-Daghestani or Vainakh-Daghestani, or sometimes Caspian languages, is a family of languages spoken in the Russian republics of Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia and in Northern Azerbaijan as well as in Georgia and diaspora populations in Western Europe and the Middle East. According to Glottolog, there are currently 36 Nakh-Dagestanian languages.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lezgins</span> Ethnic group in Dagestan (Russia) and Azerbaijan

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Lezgin, also called Lezgi, is a Northeast Caucasian language. It is spoken by the Lezgins, who live in southern Dagestan (Russia); northern Azerbaijan; and to a much lesser degree Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan; Kazakhstan; Turkey, and other countries. It is a much-written literary language and an official language of Dagestan. It is classified as "vulnerable" by UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

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Tabasarans are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group native predominantly to southern part of the North Caucasian republic of Dagestan. Their population in World is about 190,000. They speak the Tabasaran language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archi language</span> Lezgic language spoken in southern Russia

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Tsakhur is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by the Tsakhurs in northern Azerbaijan and southwestern Dagestan (Russia). It is spoken by about 11,700 people in Azerbaijan and by about 10,600 people in Russia. The word Tsakhur derives from the name of a Dagestani village where speakers of this language make up the majority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rutul language</span> Language belonging to the Lezgic group of the Northeast Caucasian language family

Rutul or Rutulian is a language spoken by the Rutuls, an ethnic group living in Dagestan (Russia) and some parts of Azerbaijan. It is spoken by 30,000 people in Dagestan and 17,000 in Azerbaijan. The word Rutul derives from the name of a Dagestani village where speakers of this language make up the majority.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tabasaran Principality</span>

The Tabasaran Principality or Principality of Tabasaran was an independent monarchic state in southern Dagestan, existing from 1642 until the later 19th century. It emerged as one of many smaller states from the disintegration of the Shamkhalate of Gazikumukh in 1642. It was located in the Samur river valley, roughly coinciding with the region in which the Tabasaran people still reside today. Its location close to the main road between Derbent and Shirvan gave it some strategic importance.

References

  1. Ethnologue report for Archi
  2. 1 2 Languages in the Caucasus, by Wolfgang Schulze (2009) Archived 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Paul Fallon, 2002. The synchronic and diachronic phonology of ejectives, p 245.