Kajtak_language

Kaitag language

Kaitag language

Northeast Caucasian language spoken in Dagestan, Russia


Kaitag (self des. Хайдакьан кув [χɑjdɑqʼɑn kʰuβ]; oth. des. Kaidak, Karakaitak, Karkaidak, Qaidaqlan) is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken in Dagestan, Russia. It has sometimes been considered a divergent dialect of Dargwa due to it being part of the Dargin dialect continuum. The Routledge Ethnographic Handbook (2017) divided Kaitag into two dialects: northern (Magalis-Kaitak) and southern (Karakaitak).[2] Recent results of the Association of the Russian Sociolinguists (2021) further developed it into three dialects: Lower Kaitag, Upper Kaitag and Shari.[3]

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Dialects

The languages consists of eight varieties, forming three dialects. Each of the Upper varieties corresponds to a historical province of the region.[4]

  • Upper Kaitag – Хъар Хайдакь (south-west).
    • Shurkkant – "The Cliff Dwellers" – Шурккант.
    • Qattagan – "The Gorge Dwellers" – Къаттагне.
    • Irchamul – "The Land of Nine" – Ирчӏамул.
  • Lower Kaitag – Ххьар Хайдакь.
    • Barshamai – Баршамаӏъган.
    • Karatsan – Гъаӏрцӏнила.
    • Jibahni – Чӏивгьаӏн.
    • Sanchi – Сунклан.
  • Shari – Шаӏръи.

Phonology

Vowels

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Consonants

Consonants form by series of voiced, aspirated, fortis, ejective, and labialized variants. The palatal fricative [ç] might be the voiceless post-palatal fricative, which can be more precisely transcribed as [ç̠] or [x̟].[5]

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Alphabet

The Kaitag language is usually written in the Cyrillic script. The letters of the alphabet are (with their pronunciation given below in IPA transcription):

а

[ɑ~a]

аӏ

[æ]

б

[b]

в

[β]

г

[g]

гв

[gʷ]

гъ

[ʁ]

гъв

[ʁʷ]

гь

[h]

гьв

[hʷ]

д

[d]

е

[ɛ~e]

ж

[ʒ]

жв

[ʒʷ]

з

[z]

и

[ɪ~i]

й

[j]

к

[kʰ]

кв

[kʰʷ]

кк

[kː]

ккв

[kːʷ]

кӏ

[kʼ]

кӏв

[kʼʷ]

хъ

[qʰ]

хъв

[qʰʷ]

къ

[qː]

къв

[qːʷ]

кь

[qʼ]

кь

[qʼʷ]

л

[l]

м

[m]

н

[n]

п

[pʰ]

пп

[pː]

пӏ

[pʼ]

с

[s]

сс

[sː]

т

[tʰ]

тт

[tː]

тӏ

[tʼ]

у

[u]

х

[χ]

хв

[χʷ]

хх

[χː]

ххв

[χːʷ]

хь

[ç]

хьв

[çʷ]

ххь

[çː]

ххьв

[çːʷ]

ц

[t͡sʰ]

цц

[t͡sː]

цӏ

[t͡sʼ]

ч

[t͡ʃʰ]

чв

[t͡ʃʰʷ]

чч

[t͡ʃː]

ччв

[t͡ʃːʷ]

чӏ

[t͡ʃʼ]

чӏв

[t͡ʃʼʷ]

ш

[ʃ]

шв

[ʃʷ]

шш

[ʃː]

шшв

[ʃːʷ]

ъ

[ʔ]

Lexicon

Most of Kaitag's vocabulary stems from proto-Northeast-Caucasian roots. Like with other languages of Dagestan, there is a considerable number of Arabic, Iranian, Turkic and recently Russian loanwords.

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References

  1. Kaitag at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. Ronald Wixman, Peoples of the USSR: An Ethnographic Handbook, Routledge, 28 Jul 2017, p.89
  3. Mutalov, R.O. The classification of the Dargin languages and dialects [online] // Sociolinguistics, 2021. No. 3 (7). Pp.8–25. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.37892/2713-2951-3-7-8-25
  4. Temirbulatova, Sapiyahanum (2006). Kaitag dialect of Dargwa. Makhachkala: Dagestani State University. pp. 5–22.
  5. Temirbulatova, Sapiyahanum (2006). Kaitag dialect of Dargwa. Makhachkala: Dagestani State University. pp. 26–30.

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