Lezgi language
Categories: Caucasian languages | Languages of Azerbaijan | Languages of Russia | Languages of Georgia | Languages of Kazakhstan | Languages of Uzbekistan | Languages of Turkey | Languages of Turkmenistan | Languages of Ukraine | Languages of Kyrgyzstan
- For other uses, see Lezgian.
| Lezgi (Лезги чІал lezgi ch'al) | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Russia, also spoken in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. |
| Region: | Southern Dagestan, western Caspian Sea coast, central Caucasus. |
| Total speakers: | about 450,000 |
| Ranking: | Not in top 100, see [1]. |
| Genetic classification: | Caucasian Northeast Caucasian |
| Official status | |
| Official language of: | - |
| Regulated by: | - |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | - |
| ISO 639-2 | lez |
| SIL | LEZ |
| See also: Language – List of languages | |
The Lezgi language, also called Lezgian, is a language spoken by the Lezgins who live in southern Dagestan (A republic of Russia) and northern Azerbaijan.
Contents |
Classification
Lezgi belongs to the Lezgian group of the Dagestan or Northeast Caucasian language family.
Geographic distribution
In 1996, Lezgi was spoken by about 257,000 people in Russia, mainly in Southern Dagestan, as well as 171,400 people in Azerbaijan. Lezgi is also spoken in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The total number of speakers is about 451,000.
Official status
Lezgi is not an official language.
Dialects
The Lezgi spoken in Dagestan has ten spoken dialects: Lezgi, Tabassaran, Rutul, Aghul, Tsakhur, Budukh, Kryts, Khinalugh, Udi, and Archi. These dialects have the same names as the Lezgin tribes. These Lezgin tribes use a modified version of the Cyrillic alphabet to write their Lezgin dialects.
The Quba dialect spoken in Azerbaijan differs considerably from the standard language.
Grammar
Lezgi is unusual for a Northeast Caucasian language in not having noun classes.
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.