Lezgian language

Lezgian language

Infobox Language
name=Lezgian
nativename=Лезги чІал
pronunciation= [lezɡi ʧʼal]
states=Russia, also spoken in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan
region=Southern Dagestan, western Caspian Sea coast, central Caucasus
speakers=about 450,000
familycolor=Caucasian
fam1=Northeast Caucasian
fam2=Lezgic
iso2=lez|iso3=lez

Lezgian, also called Lezgi, is a language spoken by the Lezgins who live in southern Dagestan (a republic of Russia) and northern Azerbaijan.

Classification

Lezgian belongs to the Lezgic group of the Northeast Caucasian (Dagestan) language family.

Geographic distribution

In 1996, Lezgian was spoken by about 257,000 people in Russia, mainly in Southern Dagestan, as well as 171,400 people in Azerbaijan. Lezgian is also spoken in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The total number of speakers is about 451,000.

Official status

Lezgian is an official language in Dagestan. Refer to article at Wikipedia List of official languages by state

Related languages

There are ten languages in the Lezgic language family, namely: Lezgian, Tabasaran, Rutul, Aghul, Tsakhur, Budukh, Kryts, Khinalugh, Udi and Archi. These languages have the same names as the Lezgic ethnic subgroups.

The Quba dialect spoken in Azerbaijan differs, but not considerably from the standard language.

Grammar

Lezgian is unusual for a Northeast Caucasian language in not having noun classes. Standard Lezgian grammar features 18 noun cases, of which 12 are still used in spoken conversation.

Bibliography

*Haspelmath, Martin. 1993. "A grammar of Lezgian". (Mouton grammar library; 9). Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter. – ISBN 3-11-013735-6
*Talibov, Bukar B. and Magomed M. Gadžiev. 1966. "Lezginsko-russkij slovar’". Moskva: Izd. Sovetskaja Ėnciklopedija.

External links

* [http://peterlin.jzn.pl/lezgi/chal.html Notes on the Lezgi language]
* [http://www.ethnologue.org/show_language.asp?code=lez Ethnologue report for Lezgi]
* [http://languageserver.uni-graz.at/ls/lang?id=3072 Languages of the World report]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Lezgian — can refer to:* The Lezgian people, or Lezgins, who live in southern Dagestan and northern Azerbaijan. * The Lezgian language, spoken by the Lezgian people …   Wikipedia

  • Agul language — language name=Aghul nativename=unicode|агъул чӀал states=Russia, also spoken in Azerbaijan region=Southern Dagestan speakers=17,373 (1989 Census) familycolor=Caucasian fam1=Northeast Caucasian fam2=Lezgic iso2=agx|iso3=agxAghul, also called Agul …   Wikipedia

  • Language in the Russian Federation —    While the Russian language is the dominant medium of communication in education, media, literature, public life, and the economy of the Russian Federation, the country is home to dozens of languages spoken nowhere else in the world. While only …   Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation

  • Rutul language — language name=Rutul nativename=мыхIабишды чIел myxʼabišdy čʼel states=Russia, Azerbaijan speakers=more than 30,000 familycolor=Caucasian fam1=Northeast Caucasian fam2=Lezgic script=Cyrillic alphabet iso2=cau|iso3=rutRutul is a language spoken by… …   Wikipedia

  • Tabasaran language — language name= Tabasaran nativename=табасаран чIал tabasaran ĉ̣al familycolor=Caucasian states=Russia region=Southern Dagestan speakers=95,905 (1993) fam1=Northeast Caucasian fam2=Lezgian iso2=cau|iso3=tabTabasaran (or Tabassaran) is a member of… …   Wikipedia

  • Tsakhur language — language name=Tsakhur nativename=цIаIхна миз cʼäxna miz states=Azerbaijan, Russia speakers=about 30,000 familycolor=Caucasian fam1=Northeast Caucasian fam2=Lezgic script=Latin alphabet in Azerbaijan, Cyrillic alphabet in Russia… …   Wikipedia

  • Udi language — language name=Udi удин муз, udin muz familycolor=Caucasian states=Azerbaijan, Georgia region=Azerbaijan (Qabala and Oguz), Russia (North Caucasus), Georgia (Kvareli), and Armenia (Tavush) speakers=8,000 (est.) [… …   Wikipedia

  • Archi language — Infobox Language name=Archi region=Archi, Dagestan, Russia speakers=1,000 familycolor=Caucasian fam1=North East Caucasian fam2=Lezgian iso2=cau iso3=aqcArchi is a Caucasian language spoken by the 1,000 Archis in the village of Archi, southern… …   Wikipedia

  • Russian language — Russian русский язык (russkiy yazyk) Pronunciation [ˈrusʲkʲɪj jɪˈzɨk] Spoken in Russia, countries of the fo …   Wikipedia

  • Ossetic language — Ossetian Spoken in  Russia (North Ossetia)  Georgia …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”