Lezgian language

Lezgian
лезги чӏал lezgi č’al
Pronunciation	[lezɡi tʃʼal]
Native to	North Caucasus
Region	Dagestan and Azerbaijan
Ethnicity	Lezgins
Native speakers	630,000 (2020)
Language family	Northeast Caucasian Lezgic Samur Eastern Samur Lezgi–Aghul–Tabasaran Lezgian
Writing system	Cyrillic, Latin (historically)
Official status
Official language in	Russia Dagestan
Language codes
ISO 639-2	lez
ISO 639-3	lez
Glottolog	lezg1247
Distribution of the   Lezgin language (represented in small areas by L) in North Caucasus
Lezgian is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Lezgian, also called Lezgi or Lezgin /ˈlɛzɡiːn/, 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.

Geographic distribution

In 2002, Lezgian was spoken by about 397,000 people in Russia, mainly Southern Dagestan; in 1999 it was spoken by 178,400 people in mainly the Qusar, Quba, Qabala, Oghuz, Ismailli and Khachmaz provinces of northeastern Azerbaijan. Lezgian is also spoken in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Germany and Uzbekistan by immigrants from Azerbaijan and Dagestan.

Some speakers are in the Balikesir, Yalova, İzmir, Bursa regions of Turkey especially in Kirne (Ortaca), a village in Balikesir Province which touches the western coast, being south-west of Istanbul.

The total number of speakers is about 800,000.

Related languages

Main article: Lezgic languages

Nine languages survive in the Lezgic language family:

• Lezgin
• Tabasaran
• Rutul
• Aghul
• Tsakhur
• Budukh
• Kryts
• Udi
• Archi

These have the same names as their ethnic groups.

Some dialects differ heavily from the standard form, including the Quba and Akhty dialects spoken in Azerbaijan.

Phonology

Vowels

Vowels of Lezgian

	Front		Central	Back
	unrounded	rounded
Close	i ⟨и⟩	y ⟨уь⟩	/ɨ/ ⟨ы⟩	u ⟨у⟩
Mid	e ⟨е, э⟩			o ⟨o⟩
Open	æ ⟨я⟩			a ⟨а⟩

• /a/ has two main allophones: [ɑ] and [ʌ]; the former prevails in closed syllables (especially before uvulars and /r/), the latter in open syllables.
• /a/ is very often rounded and raised to /ɔ/ after labialized consonants, which may then lose their labialization. For example, кӏвач 'foot' /k’ʷat͡ʃʰ/ becomes [k’ʷɔt͡ʃʰ] or [k’ɔt͡ʃʰ].
• /e/ is more open [ɛ] in stressed syllables and /ɪ/ or [e] in pre-stress syllables. In the environment of labialized consonants /e/ is often pronounced as [ø]~[œ].
• if a vowel plus /n/ sequence is not followed by a vowel, the /n/ may be deleted and the vowel nasalized. Thus /zun/ 'I' can be pronounced [zũ].
• Chitoran and Babaliyeva show, at least for Babaliyeva in her native Yargun dialect, pre-tonic high vowels are syncopated.

Consonants

There are 54 consonants in Lezgian. Characters to the right are the letters of the Lezgian Cyrillic Alphabet. Aspiration is not normally indicated in the orthography, despite the fact that it is phonemic.

Consonants of Lezgian

		Labial	Dental		Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Uvular		Glottal
			plain	lab.			plain	lab.	plain	lab.
Nasal		/m/ м	/n/ н
Plosive	voiced	/b/ б	/d/ д				/g/ г	/gʷ/ гв
	voiceless	/p/ п	/t/ т	/tʷ/ тв			/k/ к	/kʷ/ кв	/q/ къ	/qʷ/ къв	/ʔ/ ъ
	aspirated	/pʰ/ п	/tʰ/ т	/tʷʰ/ тв			/kʰ/ к	/kʷʰ/ кв	/qʰ/ хъ	/qʷʰ/ хъв
	ejective	/pʼ/ пl	/tʼ/ тl	/tʷʼ/ тӏв			/kʼ/ кl	/kʷʼ/ кlв	/qʼ/ кь	/qʷʼ/ кьв
Affricate	voiced		/dz/ дз		/dʒ/ дж
	voiceless		/t͡s/ ц	/t͡sʷ/ цв	/t͡ʃ/ ч
	aspirated		/t͡sʰ/ ц	/t͡sʷʰ/ цв	/t͡ʃʰ/ ч
	ejective		/t͡sʼ/ цl	/t͡sʷʼ/ цlв	/t͡ʃʼ/ чl
Fricative	voiced	/v/ в	/z/ з	/zʷ/ зв	/ʒ/ ж				/ʁ/ гъ	/ʁʷ/ гъв
	voiceless	/f/ ф	/s/ с	/sʷ/ св	/ʃ/ ш		/x/ хь	/xʷ/ хьв	/χ/ х	/χʷ/ хв	/h/ гь
Approximant			/l/ л			/j/ й		/w/ в
Trill			/r/ р

Alphabets

Main article: Lezgin alphabets

Lezgian has been written in several different alphabets over the course of its history. These alphabets have been based on three scripts: Arabic (before 1928), Latin (1928–38), and Cyrillic (1938–present).

The Lezgian Cyrillic alphabet is as follows:

А а	Б б	В в	Г г	Гъ гъ	Гь гь	Д д	Е е
Ё ё	Ж ж	З з	И и	Й й	К к	Къ къ	Кь кь
КI кl	Л л	М м	Н н	О о	П п	ПI пl	Р р
С с	Т т	ТI тl	У у	Уь уь	Ф ф	Х х	Хъ хъ
Хь хь	Ц ц	ЦI цl	Ч ч	ЧI чl	Ш ш	Ъ ъ	Ы ы
Ь ь	Э э	Ю ю	Я я

The Latin alphabet was as follows:

A a	Ä ä	B b	C c	Č č	Ch ch	Čh čh	D d
E e	F f	G g	Gh gh	H h	I i	J j	K k
Kh kh	L l	M m	N n	Ŋ ŋ	O o	Ö ö	P p
Ph ph	Q q	Qh qh	R r	S s	Š š	T t	Th th
U u	Ü ü	V v	X x	X́ x́	Y y	Z z	Ž ž

Grammar

Lezgian is unusual for a Northeast Caucasian language in not having noun classes (also called "grammatical gender"). Standard Lezgian grammar features 18 grammatical cases, produced by agglutinating suffixes, of which 12 are still used in spoken conversation.

Cases

The four grammatical cases are:

• Absolutive case (basic form of the word, no ending): marks the subject of an intransitive verb and the direct object of a transitive sentence. It is also used to mark a nominal predicate (who or what something turns into/becomes) and as a vocative.
• Ergative case (various endings; the most common are: -ди, -a or -е; [-di, -a or e], which are added to the Absolutive): marks the subject of transitive verbs, and the subject of some compound intransitive verbs.
• Genitive case (ending -н [-n]; added to the Ergative): marks possession. It is also used with the meaning 'of'. The genitive case precedes the noun that it modifies.
• Dative case (ending -з [-z]; added to the Ergative): usually marks the indirect object of sentences, that is the recipient of an action. It is also used to mark the subject of some verbs (mainly about emotions) and to express a point of time and direction.
• There are fourteen Locative cases:
  • Adessive case (ending -в [-v]; added to the Ergative): marks the object of some verbs to mean 'by', 'to', 'with'.
  • Adelative case (ending -вай [-vaj]; added to the Ergative): expresses movement from somewhere. It is also used with the verb 'to be able' and to express an accidental action.
  • Addirective case (ending -вди [-vdi]; added to the Ergative): used as an instrumental case, but also sometimes used with its original meaning, 'in the direction of', and more rarely 'near by'.
  • The Postessive case (ending -хъ [-qh]; added to the Ergative): means 'behind', 'at', 'toward', 'in exchange for', and 'with.' In a construction with the verb ава (ava), it expresses possession.
  • Postelative case (ending -хъай [-qhaj]; added to the Ergative): can either mean 'from' or the cause of fear or shame.
  • Postdirective case (ending -хъди [-qhdi]; added to the Ergative): rarely used case, meaning 'toward(s)'.
  • Subessive case (ending -к [-k]; added to the Ergative): means either 'below' or 'participates'.
  • Subelative case (ending -кай [-kaj]; added to the Ergative): means either 'from below', 'from', '(from) against', 'with' or 'out of' (partitive). It is also used to mark Y in the construction 'X becomes out-of-Y' and can express the topic of a sentence ('about') or the cause of emotions.
  • Subdirective case (ending -кди [-kdi]; added to the Ergative): expresses cause (never motion under), and can mean 'because' or 'of' (when in sentences such as 'the man died of a disease'.
  • Inessive case (endings -а or -е [-a or -e]; added to Absolutive): means 'at', 'in' or 'during/whilst'.
  • Inelative case (endings -ай or -ей [-aj or -ej]; added to Inessive): means 'out of' or 'in return for'.
  • Superessive case (ending -л [-l]; added to the Inessive): means 'on', and also to express the cause of some emotions.
  • Superelative case (ending -лай [-laj]; added to the Inessive): means 'off', 'after' or 'than' (comparison).
  • Superdirective case (ending -лди [-ldi]; added to the Inessive): means 'onto', 'until', 'in' (when followed by an adjective), as an instrumental case (e.g. language) or instructive with abstract nouns.

Declension

There are two types of declensions.

First declension

Case	Singular		Plural
Absolutive	буба	buba	бубаяр	bubajar
Ergative	бубади	bubadi	бубайри	bubajri
Genitive	бубадин	bubadin	бубайрин	bubajrin
Dative	бубадиз	bubadiz	бубайриз	bubajriz
Adessive	бубадив	bubadiv	бубайрив	bubajriv
Adelative	бубадивай	bubadivaj	бубайривай	bubajrivaj
Addirective	бубадивди	bubadivdi	бубайривди	bubajrivdi
Postessive	бубадихъ	bubadiqʰ	бубайрихъ	bubajriqʰ
Postelative	бубадихъай	bubadiqʰaj	бубайрихъай	bubajriqʰaj
Postdirective	бубадихъди	bubadiqʰdi	буабайрихъди	buabajriqʰdi
Subessive	бубадик	bubadikʰ	бубайрик	bubajrikʰ
Subelative	бубадикай	bubadikʰaj	бубайрикай	bubajrikʰaj
Subdirective	бубадикди	bubadikʰdi	бубайрикди	bubajrikʰdi
Inessive	бубада	bubada	бубайра	bubajra
Inelative	бубадай	bubadaj	бубайрай	bubajraj
Superessive	бубадал	bubadal	бубайрал	bubajral
Superelative	бубадалай	bubadalaj	бубайралай	bubajralaj
Superdirective	бубадалди	bubadaldi	бубайралди	bubajraldi

Vocabulary

Numbers

The numbers of Lezgian are:

уд	ud	zero
сад	sad	one
кьвед	qʷ’ed	two
пуд	pud	three
кьуд	q’ud	four
вад	vad	five
ругуд	rugud	six
ирид	irid	seven
муьжуьд	muʒud	eight
кlуьд	k’yd	nine
цlуд	ts’ud	ten
цlусад	ts’usad	eleven
цlикьвед	ts’iqʷ’ed	twelve
цlипуд	ts’ipud	thirteen
цlикьуд	ts’iq’ud	fourteen
цlувад	ts’uvad	fifteen
цlуругуд	ts’urugud	sixteen
цlерид	ts’erid	seventeen
цlемуьжуьд	ts’emyʒud	eighteen
цlекlуьд	ts’ek’yd	nineteen
къад	qad	twenty
къадцуд	qadtsud	thirty
яхцlур	jaxts’ur	forty
яхцlурцуд	jaxtsurtsud	fifty
пудкъад	pudqad	sixty
пудкъадцlуд	pudqadtsud	seventy
кьудкъад	q’udqal	eighty
къудкъадницlуд	q'udq'adnitsud	ninety
виш	viʃ	one hundred
агъзур	aɣzur	one thousand

Nouns following a number are always in the singular. Numbers precede the noun. "Сад" and "кьвед" lose their final "-д" before a noun.

Lezgian numerals work in a similar fashion to the French ones, and are based on the vigesimal system in which "20", not "10", is the base number. "Twenty" in Lezgian is "къад", and higher numbers are formed by adding the suffix -ни to the word (which becomes "къанни" - the same change occurs in пудкъад and кьудкъад) and putting the remaining number afterwards. This way 24 for instance is къанни кьуд ("20 and 4"), and 37 is къанни цӏерид ("20 and 17"). Numbers over 40 are formed similarly (яхцӏур becomes яхцӏурни). 60 and 80 are treated likewise. For numbers over 100 just put a number of hundreds, then (if need be) the word with a suffix, then the remaining number. 659 is thus ругуд вишни яхцӏурни цӏекӏуьд. The same procedure follows for 1000. 1989 is агьзурни кӏуьд вишни кьудкъанни кӏуьд in Lezgi.

Bibliography

• Chitoran, Ioana; Babaliyeva, Ayten (2007). "An acoustic description of high vowel syncope in Lezgian" (PDF). In Jürgen Trouvain; William John Barry (eds.). Proceedings of the 16th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Saarbrücken, Germany, August 2007. pp. 2153–2156. ISBN 978-3-9811535-0-7. OCLC 254169296.
• Haspelmath, M. (1993). A Grammar of Lezgian. Mouton Grammar Library 9. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-013735-6.
• Talibov, Bukar B.; Gadžiev, Magomed M. (1966). Lezginsko-russkij slovar'. Moskva: Izd. Sovetskaja Ėnciklopedija.

External links

• Lezgi-Russian online dictionary
• Appendix:Cyrillic script
• Notes on the Lezgi language
• Languages of the World report Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
• Lezgian basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
• Lezgian Dictionary + Mobile apps