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 to | North Caucasus |
Region | Dagestan |
Ethnicity | Kaitags |
Native speakers | approx. 30,000 (2020)[1] |
Northeast Caucasian
| |
Dialects |
|
Cyrillic script | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | xdq |
Glottolog | kajt1238 |
Kaitag |
The languages consists of eight varieties, forming three dialects. Each of the Upper varieties corresponds to a historical province of the region.[4]
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
close | u | |
near-close | ɪ | |
open-mid | ɛ | |
near-open | æ | |
open | ɑ |
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 | gʷ | ʔ | |||||||
aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | kʰ | kʰʷ | qʰ | qʰʷ | |||||||
fortis | pː | tː | kː | kːʷ | qː | qːʷ | |||||||
ejective | pʼ | tʼ | kʼ | kʼʷ | qʼ | 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 | hʷ | ||||
fortis | sː | ʃː | ʃːʷ | çː | çːʷ | χː | χːʷ | ||||||
Trill | r | ||||||||||||
Approximant | l | j |
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] |
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.
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] |