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
iso2=cau|iso3=tkr

Tsakhur is a language spoken by the Tsakhurs, an ethnic group, which populates northern Azerbaijan and southwestern Dagestan (Russia). The word "Tsakhur" derives from the name of a Dagestani village where speakers of this language make up the majority.

Classification

Tsakhur belongs to the Lezgic group of the Northeast Caucasian (Dagestan) language family. Tsakhurs call their language C'aiχna miz.

History

The first written documentation of Tsakhur dates back to 1895 and is attributed to Roderich von Erckert. The first description of Tsakhur grammar was published by Adolf Dirr in 1913. [http://www.sil.org/silesr/2005/silesr2005-016.pdf The Sociolinguistic Situation of the Tsakhur in Azerbaijan] by John M. Clifton et al. "SIL International", 2005]

In the 1930s, a literary form of Tsakhur was developed. Starting from 1934, the language was taught in primary schools in Azerbaijan and Dagestan. In 1938, the use of literary Tsakhur in Azerbaijan was discontinued but regained its status in 1989.

The writing system of Tsakhur in Azerbaijan is based on Latin alphabet, while in Dagestan the language uses Cyrillic alphabet. In the past (as early as the 11th century) there have been attempts to write in Tsakhur using Arabic alphabet.ru icon [http://etheo.h10.ru/tsax01.htm The Tsakhur language] . The "ETHEO" Project. Last updated 11 October 2005. Retrieved 26 December 2006]

Geographic distribution

Tsakhur is spoken mostly in rural areas of Azerbaijan's Zagatala and Gakh rayons, as well as mountainous parts of Dagestan's Rutul region. There are 15,900 Tsakhurs in Azerbaijan (1999 census) and 10,400 in Russia (2002 census). In 1989, 93% of them reported Tsakhur as their first language.

Official status

In Azerbaijan and Russia, Tsakhur is taught as a subject in primary schools (grades 1 to 4) in Tsakhur-populated regions. Newspapers and radio broadcast in Tsakhur are also available. However the language does not have an official status.

Related languages

Among the languages of the Lezgic group, Rutul appears to be the closest one to Tsakhur. Other than these two, there are eight more languages in the Lezgic group, namely: Lezgian, Tabasaran, Aghul, Budugh, Kryts, Khinalugh, Udi and Archi.

Grammar

Similar to many Northeast Caucasian languages, Tsakhur is known for its complex phonology and a large number of vowel phonemes (including 7 simple, 5 pharyngealized and 3 umlauted vowels). Its first in-depth phonological description was provided by Nikolai Trubetzkoy in 1931. Tsakhur has 18 grammatical cases and has retained "suffixaufnahme". Verbs may have singular and plural forms, and 7 grammatical moods. The tense system is complex. In contrast to the related languages, Tsakhur sentences can be formed by affective construction.

Dialects

The two major dialects of the Tsakhur language are Tsakh and Gelmets.

ee also

*Tsakhur people
*Northeast Caucasian languages
*Languages of Azerbaijan

References