Kaitag language

Kaitag
Nativename	хайдакьан кув
States	North Caucasus
Region	Dagestan
Speakers	approx. 30,000
Date	2020
Ref	e25
Familycolor	Caucasian
Fam 1	Northeast Caucasian
Fam 2	Dargin
Glotto	kajt1238
Glottorefname	Kajtak
Iso 3	xdq
Ethnicity	Kaitags
Pronunciation	[χɑjdɑqʼɑn kʰuβ] [χajdaq'la]
Dia 1	Upper Kaitag
Fam 3	Kaitag group
Dia 2	Lower Kaitag
Dia 3	Shari (may be a separate language)
Altname	Kaidak, Karakaitak, Karkaidak, Qaidaqlan, Xajdak
Script	Cyrillic script
Lingua	42-BBB-bae

Kaitag (Kaitag: Хайдакьан кув χɑjdɑqʼɑn kʰuβ; also Kaidak, Karakaitak, Karkaidak, Qaidaqlan and Xajdak) 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).^[1] 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.^[2]

Dialects

The languages consists of eight varieties, forming three dialects. Each of the Upper varieties corresponds to a historical province of the region.^[3]

Upper Kaitag – Хъар Хайдакь (south-west).
- Shurkkant – "The Cliff Dwellers" – Шурккант.
- Qattagan – "The Gorge Dwellers" – Къаттагне.
- Irchamul – "The Land of Nine" – Ирчӏамул.
Lower Kaitag – Ххьар Хайдакь.
- Barshamai – Баршамаӏъган.
- Karatsan – Гъаӏрцӏнила.
- Jibahni – Чӏивгьаӏн.
- Sanchi – Сунклан.
Shari – Шаӏръи.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Back
close		u
near-close	ɪ
open-mid	ɛ
near-open	æ
open		ɑ

Consonants

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].^[4]

		Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
		Bilabial	Dental	plain	labialized	plain	labialized	plain	labialized	plain	labialized	plain	labialized
Nasal		m	n
Plosive	voiced	b	d					g	gʷ			ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ					kʰ	kʷʰ	qʰ	qʷʰ
	fortis	pː	tː					kː	kʷː	qː	qʷː
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ					kʼ	kʷʼ	qʼ	qʷʼ
Affricate	aspirated		t͡sʰ	t͡ʃʰ	t͡ʃʷʰ
	fortis		t͡sː	t͡ʃː	t͡ʃʷː
	ejective		t͡sʼ	t͡ʃʼ	t͡ʃʷʼ
Fricative	voiced	β	z	ʒ	ʒʷ					ʁ	ʁʷ
	plain		s	ʃ	ʃʷ	ç	çʷ			χ	χʷ	h	hʷ
	fortis		sː	ʃː	ʃʷː	çː	çʷː			χː	χʷː
Trill				r
Approximant			l			j

Alphabet

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 kʷʰ	кк kː	ккв kʷː	кӏ kʼ	кӏв kʷʼ	хъ qʰ	хъв qʷʰ	къ qː	къв qʷː	кь qʼ	кь qʷʼ	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 χʷː	хь ç	хьв çʷ	ххь çː	ххьв çʷː	ц t͡sʰ	цц t͡sː
цӏ t͡sʼ	ч t͡ʃʰ	чв t͡ʃʷʰ	чч t͡ʃː	ччв t͡ʃʷː	чӏ t͡ʃʼ	чӏв t͡ʃʷʼ	ш ʃ	шв ʃʷ	шш ʃː	шшв ʃʷː	ъ ʔ

Lexicon

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.

Swadesh list for Kaitag
No.	English	Kaitag
1	I	ду du
2	you (singular)	и (ʔ)ɪ
3	he	гье hɛ
4	we	нисса nisːɑ (excl.), ниххьва niçʷːɑ (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 kʷʰɑt͡sːɪ
14	when	цикъел t͡sʰɪqːɛl
15	how	цигле t͡sʰɪglɛ
16	not	аккву ɑkʷːu (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 t͡ʃʷʼɛ
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 nɪkʷʼɑ
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 χʷːæ
48	louse	нез nɛz
49	snake	цӏецӏи cʼɛcʼɪ
50	worm	милкъваӏ mɪlqʷːæ
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

References

^ Ronald Wixman, Peoples of the USSR: An Ethnographic Handbook, Routledge, 28 Jul 2017, p.89
^ Муталов, Расул Османович (2021-03-07). "КЛАССИФИКАЦИЯ ДАРГИНСКИХ ЯЗЫКОВ И ДИАЛЕКТОВ". Sociolingvistika. 3 (7): 8–25. doi:10.37892/2713-2951-3-7-8-25. ISSN 2713-2951
^ Temirbulatova, Sapiyahanum (2006). Kaitag dialect of Dargwa. Makhachkala: Dagestani State University. pp. 5–22.
^ Temirbulatova, Sapiyahanum (2006). Kaitag dialect of Dargwa. Makhachkala: Dagestani State University. pp. 26–30.

External links

Kaytag dictionary