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Itsari language

Summary

Itsari (Icari, Itsari: ицӀран гъай[1]) is a language in the Dargin dialect continuum spoken in Dagestan, Russia spoken in the village Itsari, as well as in Kizlyarsky District, Druzhba, and other villages and cities, both in and outside of Dagestan, by about 2,000 people.[2] It is often considered a divergent dialect of Dargwa. Ethnologue lists it as a dialect of Dargwa but recognizes that it may be a separate language.[3] Its closest relative is Sanzhi, which has only about 200 speakers and is considered to be an endangered language, as parents are now teaching their children Russian for practical purposes.[4]

Itsari
Icari
ицӀран гъай[1]
ИцIрила гъай
Pronunciation[its’ran ʁaj]
[its’arila]
Native toNorth Caucasus
RegionDagestan
EthnicityDargins
Native speakers
2,000 (2003)[2]
Northeast Caucasian
  • Dargin
    • Southern
      • Sanzhi-Itsari
        • Itsari
unwritten
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottologicar1234  Icari
  Itsari (and Sanzhi)

Usage

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In the village of Itsari, the Itsari language is used for all purposes except writing, as the residents of Itsari use standard written Dargwa or Russian as their written language. The younger population is shifting to Russian as their primary language.[2]

Phonology

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Vowels

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Vowels of Itsari[2]
Front Back
plain phar.
Close short [i] i [u] u [uˤ] uӏ
long [iː] ī [uː] ū
Mid/Low short [e] e [ɑ] а [ɑˤ] aӏ
long [eː] ē [ɑː] ā

Itsari has phonemic pharyngealization, as is evidenced by the minimal pair šam 'lamb' – šaӏm 'candle'.

References

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  1. ^ a b Коряков, Юрий (2021). "Даргинские языки и их классификация" [Dargwa languages and their classification]. In Майсак, Т. А.; Сумбатова, Н. Р.; Тестелец, Я. Г. (eds.). Дурхъаси Хазна. Сборник Статей К 60-Летию Р. О. Муталова / Ред. Т. А. Майсак, Н. Р. Сумбатова, Я. Г. Тестелец. М.: Буки Веди Дурхъаси хазна. Сборник статей к 60-летию Р. О. Муталова (in Russian). Буки Веди. pp. 139–154. ISBN 978-5-6045633-5-9.
  2. ^ a b c d Sumbatova, Nina R.; Mutalov, Rasul O. (2003). A grammar of Icari Dargwa. Languages of the world. Muenchen: LINCOM Europa. ISBN 978-3-89586-014-0.
  3. ^ Dargwa at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
  4. ^ Forker, Diana (2019-07-17). A grammar of Sanzhi Dargwa. Language Science Press (published 2020). doi:10.5281/zenodo.3339225. ISBN 9783961101962.