Chechen language
Encyclopedia
The Chechen language is spoken by more than 1.5 million people, mostly in Chechnya
and by Chechen people
elsewhere. It is a member of the Northeast Caucasian languages
.
. Linguistically, it is, together with Ingush
and Bats
, a member of the Nakh branch
of the Northeast Caucasian language family
.
dialect of Georgia is not easily understood by northern Chechens without a few days' practice. One difference in pronunciation is that Kisti aspirated consonants remain aspirated when doubled (fortis) or after /s/, whereas they lose their aspiration in other dialects in these situations.
in October 2002, 1,330,000 people reported being able to speak Chechen.
However, the Chechens of Syria and Iraq have been subject to Arabization
by the Arab Nationalist Ba'ath Party, which had little tolerance for non-Arab language or culture, resulting in many largely unable to speak Chechen.
and the Salishan languages
of Northern America and a large vowel system resembling those of Swedish
and German
.
, a large number of consonant
s: about 40 to 60 (depending on the dialect
and the analysis), far more than in most European languages
. Typical of the region, a four-way distinction between voiced
, voiceless
, ejective, and geminate fortis stop
s is found.
Nearly any consonant may be fortis
because of focus gemination, but only the ones above are found in root
s. The consonants of the t cell and /l/ are denti-alveolar
; the others of that column are alveolar
. /x/ is a back velar
, but not quite uvular
. The lateral /l/ may be velarized, unless it's followed by a front vowel. The trill /r/ is usually articulated with a single contact, and therefore sometimes described as a tap [ɾ]. Except in the literary register
, and even then only for some speakers, the voiced affricate
s /dz/, /dʒ/ have merged into the fricative
s /z/, /ʒ/. /f/ is found only in European loanword
s. /w/ appears both in diphthongs and as a consonant; as a consonant, it has an allophone [v] before front vowels.
Except when following a consonant, ʢ is phonetically
ʔˤ, and can be argued to be a glottal stop
before a "pharyngealized" (actually epiglottalized) vowel. However, it does not have the distribution constraints characteristic of the anterior pharyngealized (epiglottalized) consonants. Although these may be analyzed as an anterior consonant plus /ʢ/ (they surface for example as [dʢ] when voiced
and [pʰʜ] when voiceless
), Nichols argues that given the severe constraints against consonant cluster
s in Chechen, it is more useful to analyze them as single consonants.
The approximately twenty pharyngealized consonants do not appear in the table above. Labial
, alveolar
, and postalveolar
consonants may be pharyngealized, except for ejectives
. Pharyngealized consonants do not occur in verb
s or adjective
s, and in noun
s and adverb
s they occur predominantly before the low vowels /a, aː/ ([ə, ɑː]).
s, about 44 (depending on dialect and analysis), more than most languages of Europe. Many of the vowels are due to umlaut
, which is highly productive in the standard dialect. None of the spelling systems used so far have distinguished the vowels with complete accuracy.
All vowels may be nasalized
. Nasalization is imposed by the genitive
, infinitive
, and for some speakers the nominative case
of adjective
s. Nasalization is not strong, but it is audible even in final vowels, which are devoiced.
Some of the diphthong
s have significant allophony
: /ɥø/ = [ɥø], [ɥe], [we]; /yø/ = [yø], [ye]; /uo/ = [woː], [uə].
In closed syllables, long vowels become short in most dialects (not Kisti
), but are often still distinct from short vowels (shortened [i], [u], [ɔ], and [ɑ̤] vs. short [ɪ], [ʊ], [o], and [ə], for example), though which remain distinct depends on the dialect. /æ/, /æː/ and /e/, /eː/ are in complementary distribution
(/æ/ occurs after pharyngealized consonants, whereas /e/ does not, and /æː/ — identical with /æ/ for most speakers — occurs in closed syllables, while /eː/ does not) but speakers strongly feel that they are distinct sounds.
Pharyngealization appears to be a feature of the consonants, though some analyses treat it as a feature of the vowels. However, Nichols argues that this does not capture the situation in Chechen well, whereas it is more clearly a feature of the vowel in Ingush
: Chechen [tsʜaʔ] "one", Ingush [tsaʔˤ], which she analyzes as /tsˤaʔ/ and /tsaˤʔ/. Vowels have a delayed murmured
onset after pharyngealized voiced consonants and a noisy aspirated
onset after pharyngealized voiceless consonants. The high vowels /i/, /y/, /u/ are diphthongized, [əi], [əy], [əu], whereas the diphthong
s /je/, /wo/ undergo metathesis
, [ej], [ow].
agrees. However, Chechen is not a pro-drop language
: subject pronoun
s are always used in simple sentences and the verb does not agree with the subject or object's person or number, having only tense forms and participles. Among these are an optative
and an antipassive
. Some verbs, however, do not take these prefixes.
Chechen is an ergative, dependent-marking language
using eight cases
(nominative
, genitive
, dative
, ergative
, instrumental
, substantive, comparative
, and locative
) and a large number of postpositions to indicate the role of nouns in sentences.
Word order is consistently left-branching (like in Japanese
or Turkish
), so that adjectives, demonstratives and relative clauses precede the nouns they modify. Complementizers and adverbial subordinators, as in other Northeast
and in Northwest Caucasian languages
, are affix
es rather than independent words.
Chechen also presents interesting challenges for lexicography
, as creating new words in the language relies on fixation of whole phrases rather than adding to the end of existing words or combining existing words. It can be difficult to decide which phrases belong in the dictionary, because the language's grammar does not permit the borrowing of new verb
al morpheme
s to express new concepts. Instead, the verb dan (to do) is combined with nominal phrase
s to correspond with new concepts imported from other languages.
are found in mountainous Chechnya, but they are not necessarily in Chechen. Later the Arabic alphabet
was introduced for Chechen, along with Islam. It was first reformed during the reign of Imam Shamil
and then in 1910, 1920 and 1922.
At the same time, the alphabet devised by Peter von Uslar
, consisting of Cyrillic, Latin, and Georgian letters, was used for academic purposes. In 1911 it too was reformed but never gained popularity among the Chechens themselves.
The Latin alphabet was introduced in 1925. It was unified with Ingush in 1934, but abolished in 1938.
In 1938–1992, only the Cyrillic alphabet was used for Chechen.
The glottal stop
<ъ> is often omitted when writing.
In 1992, a new Latin Chechen alphabet was introduced, but after the defeat of the secessionist government, the Cyrillic alphabet was restored.
, and the Latin alphabet
began to be used instead of Arabic for Chechen writing in the mid-1920s. In 1938, the Cyrillic alphabet
was adopted, in order to tie the nation closer to Russia. With the declaration of the Chechen republic in 1992, some Chechen speakers returned to the Latin alphabet.
The Chechen diaspora in Jordan
, Turkey
, and Syria
is fluent but generally not literate in Chechen except for individuals who have made efforts to learn the writing system, and of course the Cyrillic alphabet is not generally known in these countries.
The choice of alphabet in Chechen is politically significant (as Russia
prefers the use of the Cyrillic alphabet
, against the separatists'
preference for Latin).
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
and by Chechen people
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
elsewhere. It is a member of the Northeast Caucasian languages
Northeast Caucasian languages
The Northeast Caucasian languages constitute a language family spoken in the Russian republics of Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, northern Azerbaijan, and in northeastern Georgia, as well as in diaspora populations in Russia, Turkey, and the Middle East...
.
Classification
Chechen is an ergative agglutinative languageAgglutinative language
An agglutinative language is a language that uses agglutination extensively: most words are formed by joining morphemes together. This term was introduced by Wilhelm von Humboldt in 1836 to classify languages from a morphological point of view...
. Linguistically, it is, together with Ingush
Ingush language
Ingush is a language spoken by about 413,000 people , known as the Ingush, across a region covering Ingushetia, Chechnya, Kazakhstan and Russia. In Ingush, the language is called ГІалгІай Ğalğaj .-Classification:...
and Bats
Bats language
Bats is the language of the Bats people, a Caucasian minority group, and is part of the Nakh family of Caucasian languages. It had 2,500 to 3,000 speakers in 1975....
, a member of the Nakh branch
Nakh languages
The Nakh languages are a small family of languages spoken chiefly by the Nakh peoples, in Russia , in Georgia, and in the Chechen diaspora ....
of the Northeast Caucasian language family
Northeast Caucasian languages
The Northeast Caucasian languages constitute a language family spoken in the Russian republics of Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, northern Azerbaijan, and in northeastern Georgia, as well as in diaspora populations in Russia, Turkey, and the Middle East...
.
Dialects
There are a number of Chechen dialects: Akkhiy, Chiantiy, Chiebarloy, Mialkhiy, Nokhchmakhkakhoy, Orstkhoy, Sharoy, Shuotoy and Terloy. The KistiKist people
The Kists are a Nakh-speaking ethnic group in Georgia related to the Chechen and Ingush peoples. They primarily live in the Pankisi Gorge, in the eastern Georgian region of Kakheti, where their total number is approximate to 5,000 people.-Origins:...
dialect of Georgia is not easily understood by northern Chechens without a few days' practice. One difference in pronunciation is that Kisti aspirated consonants remain aspirated when doubled (fortis) or after /s/, whereas they lose their aspiration in other dialects in these situations.
Geographic distribution
According to the Russian CensusRussian Census (2002)
Russian Census of 2002 was the first census of the Russian Federation carried out on October 9 through October 16, 2002. It was carried out by the Russian Federal Service of State Statistics .-Resident population:...
in October 2002, 1,330,000 people reported being able to speak Chechen.
Middle East
Chechens in Jordan have good relations with the Hashemite monarchy and are able to practice their own culture and language. Chechen language usage is strong among the Chechen community in Jordan. Chechens are bilingual in both Chechen and Arabic, but do not speak Arabic among themselves, only speaking Chechen to other Chechens, sometimes disciplining and punishing children for using Arabic at home. Some Jordanian Chechens are literate in Chechen as well, having managed to read and write to people visiting Jordan from Chechnya.However, the Chechens of Syria and Iraq have been subject to Arabization
Arabization
Arabization or Arabisation describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic and/or incorporates Arab culture...
by the Arab Nationalist Ba'ath Party, which had little tolerance for non-Arab language or culture, resulting in many largely unable to speak Chechen.
Sounds
Some characteristics of Chechen include its wealth of consonants and sounds similar to ArabicArabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
and the Salishan languages
Salishan languages
The Salishan languages are a group of languages of the Pacific Northwest...
of Northern America and a large vowel system resembling those of Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
Consonants
The Chechen language has, like most indigenous languages of the CaucasusLanguages of the Caucasus
The languages of the Caucasus are a large and extremely varied array of languages spoken by more than ten million people in and around the Caucasus Mountains, which lie between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
, a large number of consonant
Consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...
s: about 40 to 60 (depending on the dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
and the analysis), far more than in most European languages
Languages of Europe
Most of the languages of Europe belong to Indo-European language family. These are divided into a number of branches, including Romance, Germanic, Balto-Slavic, Greek, and others. The Uralic languages also have a significant presence in Europe, including the national languages Hungarian, Finnish,...
. Typical of the region, a four-way distinction between voiced
Voice (phonetics)
Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...
, voiceless
Voiceless
In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of...
, ejective, and geminate fortis stop
Stop consonant
In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &...
s is found.
| Labial Labial consonant Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. This precludes linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue reaches for the posterior side of the upper lip and which are considered coronals... |
Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth... |
Postalveolar Postalveolar consonant Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate... |
Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).... |
Uvular Uvular consonant Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. Uvulars may be plosives, fricatives, nasal stops, trills, or approximants, though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and... |
Epiglottal Epiglottal consonant An epiglottal consonant is a consonant that is articulated with the aryepiglottic folds against the epiglottis. They are occasionally called aryepiglottal consonants.-Epiglottal consonants in the IPA:... |
Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider... |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
m | n | |||||
| Plosive | pʰ b pʼ pː |
tʰ d tʼ tː |
kʰ ɡ kʼ xk |
qʰ qʼ qː |
ʢ | ʔ | |
| Affricate Affricate consonant Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :... |
tsʰ dz tsʼ sː |
tʃʰ dʒ tʃʼ |
|||||
| Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or... |
(f v) | s z | ʃ ʒ | x ʁ | ʜ | h | |
| Rhotic Rhotic consonant In phonetics, rhotic consonants, also called tremulants or "R-like" sounds, are liquid consonants that are traditionally represented orthographically by symbols derived from the Greek letter rho, including "R, r" from the Roman alphabet and "Р, p" from the Cyrillic alphabet... |
r̥ r | ||||||
| Approximant Approximant consonant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough or with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no... |
w | l | j | ||||
Nearly any consonant may be fortis
Fortis and lenis
In linguistics, fortis and lenis are terms generally used to refer to groups of consonants that are produced with greater and lesser energy, respectively, such as in energy applied, articulation, etc....
because of focus gemination, but only the ones above are found in root
Root (linguistics)
The root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family , which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
s. The consonants of the t cell and /l/ are denti-alveolar
Denti-alveolar
In linguistics, a denti-alveolar consonant is a consonant that is articulated with a flat tongue against the alveolar ridge and upper teeth, such as and in languages such as Spanish and French...
; the others of that column are alveolar
Alveolar consonant
Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...
. /x/ is a back velar
Velar consonant
Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....
, but not quite uvular
Uvular consonant
Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. Uvulars may be plosives, fricatives, nasal stops, trills, or approximants, though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and...
. The lateral /l/ may be velarized, unless it's followed by a front vowel. The trill /r/ is usually articulated with a single contact, and therefore sometimes described as a tap [ɾ]. Except in the literary register
Register (linguistics)
In linguistics, a register is a variety of a language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. For example, when speaking in a formal setting an English speaker may be more likely to adhere more closely to prescribed grammar, pronounce words ending in -ing with a velar nasal...
, and even then only for some speakers, the voiced affricate
Affricate consonant
Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :...
s /dz/, /dʒ/ have merged into the fricative
Fricative consonant
Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or...
s /z/, /ʒ/. /f/ is found only in European loanword
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
s. /w/ appears both in diphthongs and as a consonant; as a consonant, it has an allophone [v] before front vowels.
Except when following a consonant, ʢ is phonetically
Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory...
ʔˤ, and can be argued to be a glottal stop
Glottal stop
The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
before a "pharyngealized" (actually epiglottalized) vowel. However, it does not have the distribution constraints characteristic of the anterior pharyngealized (epiglottalized) consonants. Although these may be analyzed as an anterior consonant plus /ʢ/ (they surface for example as [dʢ] when voiced
Voice (phonetics)
Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...
and [pʰʜ] when voiceless
Voiceless
In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of...
), Nichols argues that given the severe constraints against consonant cluster
Consonant cluster
In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word splits....
s in Chechen, it is more useful to analyze them as single consonants.
The approximately twenty pharyngealized consonants do not appear in the table above. Labial
Labial consonant
Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. This precludes linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue reaches for the posterior side of the upper lip and which are considered coronals...
, alveolar
Alveolar consonant
Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...
, and postalveolar
Postalveolar consonant
Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate...
consonants may be pharyngealized, except for ejectives
Ejective consonant
In phonetics, ejective consonants are voiceless consonants that are pronounced with simultaneous closure of the glottis. In the phonology of a particular language, ejectives may contrast with aspirated or tenuis consonants...
. Pharyngealized consonants do not occur in verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
s or adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
s, and in noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
s and adverb
Adverb
An adverb is a part of speech that modifies verbs or any part of speech other than a noun . Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives , clauses, sentences, and other adverbs....
s they occur predominantly before the low vowels /a, aː/ ([ə, ɑː]).
Vowels
Unlike most other languages of the Caucasus, Chechen has an extensive inventory of vowelVowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
s, about 44 (depending on dialect and analysis), more than most languages of Europe. Many of the vowels are due to umlaut
I-mutation
I-mutation is an important type of sound change, more precisely a category of regressive metaphony, in which a back vowel is fronted, and/or a front vowel is raised, if the following syllable contains /i/, /ī/ or /j/ I-mutation (also known as umlaut, front mutation, i-umlaut, i/j-mutation or...
, which is highly productive in the standard dialect. None of the spelling systems used so far have distinguished the vowels with complete accuracy.
| front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also... unrounded |
front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also... rounded |
back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark... ~ central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel... |
|---|---|---|
| ɪ iː | y yː | ʊ uː |
| je ie | ɥø yø | wo uo |
| e̞ e̞ː | ø øː | o̞ o̞ː |
| æ æː | ə ɑː |
All vowels may be nasalized
Nasalization
In phonetics, nasalization is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered, so that some air escapes through the nose during the production of the sound by the mouth...
. Nasalization is imposed by the genitive
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
, infinitive
Infinitive
In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives...
, and for some speakers the nominative case
Nominative case
The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
of adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
s. Nasalization is not strong, but it is audible even in final vowels, which are devoiced.
Some of the diphthong
Diphthong
A diphthong , also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel...
s have significant allophony
Allophone
In phonology, an allophone is one of a set of multiple possible spoken sounds used to pronounce a single phoneme. For example, and are allophones for the phoneme in the English language...
: /ɥø/ = [ɥø], [ɥe], [we]; /yø/ = [yø], [ye]; /uo/ = [woː], [uə].
In closed syllables, long vowels become short in most dialects (not Kisti
Kist people
The Kists are a Nakh-speaking ethnic group in Georgia related to the Chechen and Ingush peoples. They primarily live in the Pankisi Gorge, in the eastern Georgian region of Kakheti, where their total number is approximate to 5,000 people.-Origins:...
), but are often still distinct from short vowels (shortened [i], [u], [ɔ], and [ɑ̤] vs. short [ɪ], [ʊ], [o], and [ə], for example), though which remain distinct depends on the dialect. /æ/, /æː/ and /e/, /eː/ are in complementary distribution
Complementary distribution
Complementary distribution in linguistics is the relationship between two different elements, where one element is found in a particular environment and the other element is found in the opposite environment...
(/æ/ occurs after pharyngealized consonants, whereas /e/ does not, and /æː/ — identical with /æ/ for most speakers — occurs in closed syllables, while /eː/ does not) but speakers strongly feel that they are distinct sounds.
Pharyngealization appears to be a feature of the consonants, though some analyses treat it as a feature of the vowels. However, Nichols argues that this does not capture the situation in Chechen well, whereas it is more clearly a feature of the vowel in Ingush
Ingush language
Ingush is a language spoken by about 413,000 people , known as the Ingush, across a region covering Ingushetia, Chechnya, Kazakhstan and Russia. In Ingush, the language is called ГІалгІай Ğalğaj .-Classification:...
: Chechen [tsʜaʔ] "one", Ingush [tsaʔˤ], which she analyzes as /tsˤaʔ/ and /tsaˤʔ/. Vowels have a delayed murmured
Breathy voice
Breathy voice is a phonation in which the vocal cords vibrate, as they do in normal voicing, but are held further apart, so that a larger volume of air escapes between them. This produces an audible noise...
onset after pharyngealized voiced consonants and a noisy aspirated
Aspiration (phonetics)
In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ...
onset after pharyngealized voiceless consonants. The high vowels /i/, /y/, /u/ are diphthongized, [əi], [əy], [əu], whereas the diphthong
Diphthong
A diphthong , also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel...
s /je/, /wo/ undergo metathesis
Metathesis (linguistics)
Metathesis is the re-arranging of sounds or syllables in a word, or of words in a sentence. Most commonly it refers to the switching of two or more contiguous sounds, known as adjacent metathesis or local metathesis:...
, [ej], [ow].
Grammar
Chechen nouns belong to one of several genders or classes (6), each with a specific prefix with which the verb or an accompanying adjectiveAdjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
agrees. However, Chechen is not a pro-drop language
Pro-drop language
A pro-drop language is a language in which certain classes of pronouns may be omitted when they are in some sense pragmatically inferable...
: subject pronoun
Pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
s are always used in simple sentences and the verb does not agree with the subject or object's person or number, having only tense forms and participles. Among these are an optative
Optative mood
The optative mood is a grammatical mood that indicates a wish or hope. It is similar to the cohortative mood, and closely related to the subjunctive mood....
and an antipassive
Antipassive voice
The antipassive voice is a verb voice that works on transitive verbs by deleting the object. This construction is similar to the passive voice, in that it decreases the verb's valency by one - the passive by deleting the subject , the antipassive by deleting the object The antipassive voice...
. Some verbs, however, do not take these prefixes.
Chechen is an ergative, dependent-marking language
Dependent-marking language
A dependent-marking language is one where the grammatical marks showing relations between different constituents of a phrase tend to be placed on the dependents or modifiers, rather than the heads of the phrase in question. In a noun phrase, the head is the main noun and the dependents are the...
using eight cases
Grammatical case
In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is an inflectional form that indicates its grammatical function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, a pronoun may play the role of subject , of direct object , or of possessor...
(nominative
Nominative case
The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
, genitive
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
, dative
Dative case
The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
, ergative
Ergative case
The ergative case is the grammatical case that identifies the subject of a transitive verb in ergative-absolutive languages.-Characteristics:...
, instrumental
Instrumental case
The instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...
, substantive, comparative
Comparative case
The comparative case is a grammatical case used in the Mari language to mark a likeness to something. It is marked with the suffix -ла For example, if something were to taste like fish , the form used would be колла - 'kolla').It is also used in regard to languages, when denoting the language a...
, and locative
Locative case
Locative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"...
) and a large number of postpositions to indicate the role of nouns in sentences.
Word order is consistently left-branching (like in Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
or Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
), so that adjectives, demonstratives and relative clauses precede the nouns they modify. Complementizers and adverbial subordinators, as in other Northeast
Northeast Caucasian languages
The Northeast Caucasian languages constitute a language family spoken in the Russian republics of Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, northern Azerbaijan, and in northeastern Georgia, as well as in diaspora populations in Russia, Turkey, and the Middle East...
and in Northwest Caucasian languages
Northwest Caucasian languages
The Northwest Caucasian languages, also called Abkhazo-Adyghean, or sometimes Pontic as opposed to Caspian for the Northeast Caucasian languages, are a group of languages spoken in the Caucasus region, chiefly in Russia , the disputed territory of Abkhazia, and Turkey, with smaller communities...
, are affix
Affix
An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word. Affixes may be derivational, like English -ness and pre-, or inflectional, like English plural -s and past tense -ed. They are bound morphemes by definition; prefixes and suffixes may be separable affixes...
es rather than independent words.
Chechen also presents interesting challenges for lexicography
Lexicography
Lexicography is divided into two related disciplines:*Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries....
, as creating new words in the language relies on fixation of whole phrases rather than adding to the end of existing words or combining existing words. It can be difficult to decide which phrases belong in the dictionary, because the language's grammar does not permit the borrowing of new verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
al morpheme
Morpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
s to express new concepts. Instead, the verb dan (to do) is combined with nominal phrase
Noun phrase
In grammar, a noun phrase, nominal phrase, or nominal group is a phrase based on a noun, pronoun, or other noun-like word optionally accompanied by modifiers such as adjectives....
s to correspond with new concepts imported from other languages.
Alphabets
Numerous inscriptions in the Georgian alphabetGeorgian alphabet
The Georgian alphabet is the writing system used to write the Georgian language and other Kartvelian languages , and occasionally other languages of the Caucasus such as Ossetic and Abkhaz during the 1940s...
are found in mountainous Chechnya, but they are not necessarily in Chechen. Later the Arabic alphabet
Arabic alphabet
The Arabic alphabet or Arabic abjad is the Arabic script as it is codified for writing the Arabic language. It is written from right to left, in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters. Because letters usually stand for consonants, it is classified as an abjad.-Consonants:The Arabic alphabet has...
was introduced for Chechen, along with Islam. It was first reformed during the reign of Imam Shamil
Imam Shamil
Imam Shamil also spelled Shamyl, Schamil, Schamyl or Shameel was an Avar political and religious leader of the Muslim tribes of the Northern Caucasus...
and then in 1910, 1920 and 1922.
At the same time, the alphabet devised by Peter von Uslar
Peter von Uslar
Baron Peter von Uslar Baron Peter von Uslar Baron Peter von Uslar Baron Peter von Uslar Baron Peter von Uslar Baron Peter von Uslar Baron Peter von Uslar Baron Peter von Uslar Baron Peter von Uslar ( – was a Russian general, engineer and linguist of German descent, known...
, consisting of Cyrillic, Latin, and Georgian letters, was used for academic purposes. In 1911 it too was reformed but never gained popularity among the Chechens themselves.
The Latin alphabet was introduced in 1925. It was unified with Ingush in 1934, but abolished in 1938.
| A a | Ä ä | B b | C c | Č č | Ch ch | Čh čh | D d |
| E e | F f | G g | Gh gh | H h | I i | J j | K k |
| Kh kh | L l | M m | N n | Ņ ņ | O o | Ö ö | P p |
| Ph ph | Q q | Qh qh | R r | S s | Š š | T t | Th th |
| U u | Ü ü | V v | X x | Ẋ ẋ | Y y | Z z | Ž ž |
In 1938–1992, only the Cyrillic alphabet was used for Chechen.
| Cyrillic | Name | Mod. Latin | Name | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| А а | а | A a | a | /ə/, /ɑː/ |
| Аь аь | аь | Ä ä | ä | /æ/, /æː/ |
| Б б | бэ | B b | be | /b/ |
| В в | вэ | V v | ve | /v/ |
| Г г | гэ | G g | ge | /ɡ/ |
| ГӀ гӀ | гӀа | Ġ ġ | ġa | /ɣ/ |
| Д д | дэ | D d | de | /d/ |
| Е е | е | E e | e | /e/, /ɛː/, /je/, /ie/ |
| Ё ё | ё | yo | /jo/ etc. | |
| Ж ж | жэ | /ʒ/, /dʒ/ | ||
| З з | зэ | Z z | ze | /z/, /dz/ |
| И и | и | I i | i | /ɪ/ |
| Ий ий | Ii ii | /iː/ | ||
| Й й (я, ю, е) |
доца и | Y y | doca i | /j/ |
| К к | к | K k | ka | /k/ |
| Ккх ккх | Kk kk | /kː/ | ||
| Кх кх | кх | Q q | qa | /q/ |
| Кхкх кхкх | Qq qq | /qː/ | ||
| Къ къ | къа | /qʼ/ | ||
| КӀ кӀ | кӀа | Kh kh | kha | /kʼ/ |
| Л л | лэ | L l | el | /l/ |
| М м | мэ | M m | em | /m/ |
| Н н | нэ | N n | en | /n/ |
| О о | о | O o | o | /o/, /ɔː/, /wo/, /uo/ |
| Оь оь | оь | Ö ö | ö | /ɥø/, /yø/ |
| П п | пэ | P p | pe | /p/ |
| Пп пп | Pp pp | /pː/ | ||
| ПӀ пӀ | пӀа | Ph ph | pha | /pʼ/ |
| Р р | рэ | R r | er | /r/ |
| РхӀ рхӀ | Rh rh | /r̥/ | ||
| С с | сэ | S s | es | /s/ |
| Сс сс | Ss ss | /sː/ | ||
| Т т | тэ | T t | te | /t/ |
| Тт тт | Tt tt | /tː/ | ||
| ТӀ тӀ | тӀа | Th th | tha | /tʼ/ |
| У у | у | U u | u | /uʊ/ |
| Ув ув | Uu uu | /uː/ | ||
| Уь уь | уь | Ü ü | ü | /y/ |
| Ф ф | фэ | F f | ef | /f/ |
| Х х | хэ | X x | xa | /x/ |
| Хь хь | хьа | /ʜ/ | ||
| ХӀ хӀ | хӀа | H h | ha | /h/ |
| Ц ц | цэ | C c | ce | /ts/ |
| ЦӀ цӀ | цӀа | Ċ ċ | ċe | /tsʼ/ |
| Ч ч | чэ | Ç ç | çe | /tʃ/ |
| ЧӀ чӀ | чӀа | /tʃʼ/ | ||
| Ш ш | шэ | Ş ş | şa | /ʃ/ |
| Щ щ | щэ | |||
| (Ъ) ъ | чӀогӀа хьаьрк | Ə ə | /ʔ/ | |
| (Ы) ы | ы | |||
| (Ь) ь | кӀеда хьаьрк | |||
| Э э | э | E e | e | /e/ etc. |
| Ю ю | ю | yu | /ju/ etc. | |
| Юь юь | юь | yü | /jy/ etc. | |
| Я я | я | ya | /ja/ etc. | |
| Яь яь | яь | yä | /jæ/ etc. | |
| Ӏ Ӏ | Ӏа | J j | ja | /ʡ/, /ˤ/ |
The glottal stop
Glottal stop
The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
<ъ> is often omitted when writing.
In 1992, a new Latin Chechen alphabet was introduced, but after the defeat of the secessionist government, the Cyrillic alphabet was restored.
| A a | Ä ä | B b | C c | Ċ ċ | Ç ç | D d | |
| E e | F f | G g | Ġ ġ | H h | X x | I i | |
| J j | K k | Kh kh | L l | M m | N n | O o | |
| Ö ö | P p | Ph ph | Q q | R r | S s | Ş ş | |
| T t | Th th | U u | Ü ü | V v | Y y | Z z | |
| Ə ə |
Vocabulary
Most Chechen vocabulary is derived from the Nakh branch of the Northeast Caucasian language family, although there are significant minorities of words derived from Arabic (Islamic religion terms, like "Iman", "Ilma", "Do'a") and a smaller amount from Turkic (like "kuzga", "shish". It's Universal Caucasian stratum of borrowings) and most recently Russian (modern terms, like computer – "kamputar", television – "telvideni", televisor – "telvizar", metro – "metro" etc.).History
Before the Russian conquest, most writing in Chechnya consisted of Islamic texts and clan histories, written usually in Arabic but sometimes also in Chechen using Arabic script. Those texts were largely destroyed by Soviet authorities in 1944. The Chechen literary language was created after the October RevolutionOctober Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, and the Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
began to be used instead of Arabic for Chechen writing in the mid-1920s. In 1938, the Cyrillic alphabet
Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
was adopted, in order to tie the nation closer to Russia. With the declaration of the Chechen republic in 1992, some Chechen speakers returned to the Latin alphabet.
The Chechen diaspora in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
is fluent but generally not literate in Chechen except for individuals who have made efforts to learn the writing system, and of course the Cyrillic alphabet is not generally known in these countries.
The choice of alphabet in Chechen is politically significant (as Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
prefers the use of the Cyrillic alphabet
Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
, against the separatists'
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is the unrecognized secessionist government of Chechnya. The republic was proclaimed in late 1991 by Dzokhar Dudayev, and fought two devastating wars between separatists and the Russian Federation which denounced secession...
preference for Latin).
External links
- Appendix:Cyrillic script
- Indigenous Language of the Caucasus (Chechen), grammatical sketch of Chechen language
- The Cyrillic and Latin Chechen alphabets
- The Chechen language | Noxchiin mott Wealth of linguistic information.
- Rferl North Caucasus Radio (also includes Avar and Adyghe)
- Chechen Language course including audio with Russian explanations