Lezgian language

Lezgian
Lezgi, Lezgin
Template:Tlit
Pronunciation
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 script (present, official) Latin script (historically) Arabic script (historically)
Official status
Official language in	Russia Dagestan
Language codes
ISO 639-2	Template:ISO 639-2
ISO 639-3	lez
Glottolog	lezg1247
ELP	Template:Endangered Languages Project
Linguasphere	Template:Infobox language/lingualist
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Distribution of the Lezgin language in North Caucasus
Lezgian is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

Lezgian (/ˈlɛzɡiən/ ), also called Lezgi (/ˈlɛzɡiː/ ) or Lezgin (/ˈlɛzɡɪn/ ), is a Northeast Caucasian language. It is spoken by the Lezgins, who live primarily in southern Dagestan—where it is an official language—and northern Azerbaijan. 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.

Classification

Related 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⟩

• has two main allophones: and ; the former prevails in closed syllables (especially before uvulars and ), the latter in open syllables.
• is very often rounded and raised to /ɔ/ after labialized consonants, which may then lose their labialization. For example, 'foot' becomes or .
• 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 sequence is not followed by a vowel, the may be deleted and the vowel nasalized. Thus 'I' can be pronounced .
• 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/	/n/
Plosive	voiced	/b/	/d/				/g/	/gʷ/
	voiceless	/p/	/t/	/tʷ/			/k/	/kʷ/	/q/	/qʷ/	/ʔ/
	aspirated	/pʰ/	/tʰ/	/tʷʰ/			/kʰ/	/kʷʰ/	/qʰ/	/qʷʰ/
	ejective	/pʼ/	/tʼ/	/tʷʼ/			/kʼ/	/kʷʼ/	/qʼ/	/qʷʼ/
Affricate	voiced		/dz/		/dʒ/
	voiceless		/t͡s/	/t͡sʷ/	/t͡ʃ/
	aspirated		/t͡sʰ/	/t͡sʷʰ/	/t͡ʃʰ/
	ejective		/t͡sʼ/	/t͡sʷʼ/	/t͡ʃʼ/
Fricative	voiced	/v/	/z/	/zʷ/	/ʒ/				/ʁ/	/ʁʷ/
	voiceless	/f/	/s/	/sʷ/	/ʃ/		/x/	/xʷ/	/χ/	/χʷ/	/h/
Approximant			/l/			/j/		/w/
Trill			/r/

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 (1928–1938), 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

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.

Vowel Harmony

Lezgian has a limited form of palatal and labial vowel harmony. In native Lezgian words, only syllables up to and including the stressed syllable are subject to vowel harmony. Since native Lezgian words are never stressed after the second syllable, only two vowels in a word can be subject to vowel harmony.

Palatal harmony contrasts the front vowels // with the back vowels //, and labial vowel harmony contrasts the labialized vowels // with non-labialized //. The vowels (// are considered neutral).

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', as well as describing the qualities, attributes, and materials. 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

The plural form of nouns is most often formed with the suffix -ar (or -jar if the word ends in a vowel). -er is also used to conform with palatal vowel harmony. The suffixes -lar/-ler are borrowed from the Turkic languages and are used for Turkic loanwords.

Plural Formation

Singular	Plural	Translation
muhman	muhman-ar	'guests'
dide	dide-jar	'mothers'
pel	pel-er	'foreheads'
daǧ	daǧ-lar	'mountains'

There are two types of declensions.

First declension

Case	Singular		Plural
Absolutive		buba		bubajar
Ergative		bubadi		bubajri
Genitive		bubadin		bubajrin
Dative		bubadiz		bubajriz
Adessive		bubadiv		bubajriv
Adelative		bubadivaj		bubajrivaj
Addirective		bubadivdi		bubajrivdi
Postessive		bubadiqʰ		bubajriqʰ
Postelative		bubadiqʰaj		bubajriqʰaj
Postdirective		bubadiqʰdi		buabajriqʰdi
Subessive		bubadikʰ		bubajrikʰ
Subelative		bubadikʰaj		bubajrikʰaj
Subdirective		bubadikʰdi		bubajrikʰdi
Inessive		bubada		bubajra
Inelative		bubadaj		bubajraj
Superessive		bubadal		bubajral
Superelative		bubadalaj		bubajralaj
Superdirective		bubadaldi		bubajraldi

Derivation

Lezgian has three native suffixes for nominal derivation: -wal, -wi, and -qʰan.

-wal derives nouns from adjectives, e.g., 'proud > pride'. -wi forms nouns of origin from place names, e.g., 'person from Makhachkala'. -qʰan creates agent nouns from other nouns, e.g., 'hunt > hunter'. -wal and -wi are highly productive, while -qʰan is not.

Verbal Inflection

Verbs are divided into two classes: strong and weak. Strong verbs are stressed on the thematic vowel (e.g., u-n), whereas weak verbs lack a thematic vowel and are stressed on the base (e.g., kis-un)..

The inflectional endings are divided into three groups based on the type of stem: the masdar, imperfective, and aorist stems. However, the different stem forms are only distinguished in strong verbs. A partial paradigm is given below:

	Strong Verb		Weak Verb
	raxun "talk"	fin "go"	kisun "fall asleep"
Base form	rax-	f-	kis-
Masdar Stem	rax-u-	f-i-	kis-
Masdar	rax-u-n	f-i-n	kis-un
Optative	rax-u-raj	f-i-raj	kis-raj
Imperfective Stem	rax-a-	f-i-	kis-
Infinitive	rax-a-z	f-i-z	kis-iz
Imperfective	rax-a-zwa	f-i-zwa	kis-zawa
Aorist Stem	rax-a-	f-e-	kis-
Aorist	rax-a-na	f-e-na	kis-na
Perfect	rax-a-nwa	f-e-nwa	kis-nawa

The masdar is a verbal noun and can be inflected for case and number. It is formed by suffixing -n to strong verbs and -un to weak verbs. Two additional grammatical forms based on the masdar stem are the optative and imperative moods. The optative is typically formed with the suffix -raj in both weak and strong verbs. For the imperative, most strong verbs reduplicate the last consonant of the stem, and most weak verbs keep the masdar stem to form the imperative or add -a to the stem.

From the imperfective stem, the infinitive, imperfective, continuative imperfective, future, hortative, and prohibitive form can be formed, as well as the posterior, graduative, and immediate-anterior converbs.

Form	Strong	Weak	Example 'run'
Infinitive	-z	-iz	kat-iz
Imperfective	-zwa	-zawa	kat-zawa
Cont. Imperfective	-zma	-zama	kat-zama
Future	-da	-da	kat-da
Hortative	-n	-in	kat-in
Prohibitive	-mir	-mir	kat-mir
Posterior CV	-daldi	-daldi	kat-daldi
Graduative CV	-rdawaj	-irdawaj	kat-irdawaj
Imm.-Anterior CV	-zmaz	-zamaz	kat-zamaz

From the aorist stem, the aorist, aorist participle, perfect, continuative perfect, aorist converb, and immediate-anterior converb can be formed.

Form	Strong	Weak	Example 'do'
Aorist	-na	-na	awu-na
Aorist Participle	-r / -j / -ji	-aj	awu-r
Perfect	-nwa	-nawa	awu-nwa
Cont. Perfect	-nma	-nama	awu-nma
Aorist CV	-na	-na	awu-na
Imm.-Anterior CV	-nmaz(di)	-namaz(di)	awu-nmaz(di)

Vocabulary

Numbers

The numbers of Lezgian are:

уд		zero
сад		one
кьвед		two
пуд		three
кьуд		four
вад		five
ругуд		six
ирид		seven
муьжуьд		eight
кlуьд		nine
цlуд		ten
цlусад		eleven
цlикьвед		twelve
цlипуд		thirteen
цlикьуд		fourteen
цlувад		fifteen
цlуругуд		sixteen
цlерид		seventeen
цlемуьжуьд		eighteen
цlекlуьд		nineteen
къад		twenty
къадцуд		thirty
яхцlур		forty
яхцlурцуд		fifty
пудкъад		sixty
пудкъадцlуд		seventy
кьудкъад		eighty
къудкъадницlуд		ninety
виш		one hundred
агъзур		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 , 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
• Lezgian basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
• Lezgian Dictionary + Mobile apps