Kaitag language

Summary

Kaitag (Kaitag: Хайдакьан кув [χɑjdɑqʼɑn kʰuβ]; also 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, the latter of which may be a separate but closely related language.[3]

Kaitag
Kaidak, Karakaitak, Karkaidak, Qaidaqlan
хайдакьан кув
Pronunciation[χɑjdɑqʼɑn kʰuβ]
[χajdaq’la]
Native toNorth Caucasus
RegionDagestan
EthnicityKaitags
Native speakers
approx. 30,000 (2020)[1]
Northeast Caucasian
Dialects
  • Upper Kaitag
  • Lower Kaitag
  • Shari (may be a separate language)
Cyrillic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3xdq
Glottologkajt1238
  Kaitag
A speaker of Kaitag.

Dialects

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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

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Vowels

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Front Back
close u
near-close ɪ
open-mid ɛ
near-open æ
open ɑ

Consonants

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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]

Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
plain labialized plain labialized plain labialized plain labialized plain labialized
Nasal m n
Plosive voiced b d g ʔ
aspirated kʰʷ qʰʷ
fortis kːʷ qːʷ
ejective kʼʷ qʼʷ
Affricate aspirated t͡sʰ t͡ʃʰ t͡ʃʰʷ
fortis t͡sː t͡ʃː t͡ʃːʷ
ejective t͡sʼ t͡ʃʼ t͡ʃʼʷ
Fricative voiced β z ʒ ʒʷ ʁ ʁʷ
plain s ʃ ʃʷ ç çʷ χ χʷ h
fortis ʃː ʃːʷ çː çːʷ χː χːʷ
Trill r
Approximant l j

Alphabet

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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

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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.

Swadesh list for Kaitag
No. English Kaitag
1 I ду [du]
2 you (singular) и [(ʔ)ɪ]
3 he гье [hɛ]
4 we нисса [nisːɑ] (excl.), ниххьва [niçːʷɑ] (incl.)
5 you (plural) нишша [niʃːɑ]
6 they гьетти [hetːɪ]
7 this гьеж [hɛʒ]
8 that гьет [hɛtʰ]
9 here гьежин [hɛʒɪn]
10 there гьетин [hɛtʰɪn]
11 who ча [t͡ʃʰɑ]
12 what ци [t͡sʰɪ]
13 where квацци [kʰʷɑt͡sːɪ]
14 when цикъел [t͡sʰɪqːɛl]
15 how цигле [t͡sʰɪglɛ]
16 not аккву [ɑkːʷu] (n.), а(й)- [ɑ(j)-] (v.)
17 all сукке [sukːɛ]
18 many дахъ [dɑqʰ]
19 some чумилра [t͡ʃʰumɪlrɑ]
20 few кам [kʰɑm]
21 other дикӏар [dɪkʼɑr]
22 one ца [t͡sʰɑ]
23 two чӏве [t͡ʃʼʷɛ]
24 three аӏв [æβ]
25 four угъ [uʁ]
26 five шве [ʃʷɛ]
27 big хвала [χʷɑlɑ]
28 long ухъен [uqʰɛn]
29 wide баӏъу[bæʔu]
30 thick буцц [but͡sː]
31 heavy декӏ [dɛkʼ]
32 small никӏва [nɪkʼʷɑ]
33 short кутӏ [kutʼ]
34 narrow гъваӏрцӏ [ʁʷærcʼ]
35 thin букӏал [bukʼɑl]
36 woman ххьулум [çːulum]
37 man (adult male) мургул[murgul]
38 man (human being) мейдам [mɛjdɑm]
39 child даӏргьаӏ [dærhæ]
40 wife ххьади [çːɑdɪ]
41 husband сув [suβ]
42 mother уба [ubɑ]
43 father атта [ɑtːɑ]
44 animal мицӏираг [mɪcʼɪrɑg]
45 fish кӏас [kʼɑs]
46 bird ахьлиъаӏн [ɑçlɪʔæn]
47 dog ххваӏ [χːʷæ]
48 louse нез [nɛz]
49 snake цӏецӏи [cʼɛcʼɪ]
50 worm милкъваӏ [mɪlqːʷæ]
51 tree ккалкка [kːɑlkːɑ]
52 forest дуцца [dut͡sːɑ]
53 stick миргъаӏ [mɪrʁæ]
54 fruit удар [udɑr]
55 seed шва [ʃʷɑ]
56 leaf кӏаппар [kʼɑpːɑr]
57 root йамппа [jɑmpːɑ]
58 bark (of a tree) кам [kɑm]
59 flower жуже [ʒuʒɛ]
60 grass кьар [qʼɑr]

References

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  1. ^ Kaitag at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
  2. ^ Ronald Wixman, Peoples of the USSR: An Ethnographic Handbook, Routledge, 28 Jul 2017, p.89
  3. ^ Муталов, Расул Османович (2021-03-07). "КЛАССИФИКАЦИЯ ДАРГИНСКИХ ЯЗЫКОВ И ДИАЛЕКТОВ". Sociolingvistika. 3 (7): 8–25. doi:10.37892/2713-2951-3-7-8-25. ISSN 2713-2951.
  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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  • Kaytag dictionary