Nakh languages
Encyclopedia
The Nakh languages are a small family of languages spoken chiefly by the Nakh peoples
, in Russia
(Chechnya
and Ingushetia
), in Georgia
, and in the Chechen diaspora
(mainly in Europe
, Middle East
and Central Asia
).
The Nakh languages were historically classified as an independent North-Central Caucasian family, but are now recognized as a branch of the Northeast Caucasian
family. They are believed to have split off some 5000–6000 years ago.
of Indo-European, as the Veinakh branch has undergone the voicing of ejectives that has been postulated but widely derided as improbable in that family. In initial position, Bats ejectives correspond to Veinakh ejectives, but in non-initial position to Veinakh voiced consonants. (The exception is *qʼ, which remains an ejective in Veinakh.)
A similar change has taken place in some of the other Dagestanian languages.
, language of the Èrs who inhabited Northern Armenia, and then, (possibly) later, mainly Hereti
in Southeast Georgia and Northwest Azerbaijan
. This is considered to be more or less confirmed as Nakh. They were assimilated eventually, and their language was replaced by Georgian or Azeri.
s (whose name, malkh, refers to the sun) in the North Caucasus, who lived in modern day Kabardino-Balkaria
, Karachay-Cherkessia
, and once briefly conquered Ubykhia
and Abkhazia
. They were conquered first by Scythian-speaking Alan tribes and then by Turkic tribes, and seem to have largely abandoned their homeland and found shelter among the Chechens, leading to the formation of a teip named after them. Those who stayed behind were either wiped out or assimilated.
and Tusheti
in Eastern Georgia. The Kakh apparently called themselves Kabatsas and their territory Kakh-Batsa. They may or may not be ancestral to the modern Bats, and they may or may not be closely related to them. They were assimilated (completely or almost completely, depending on if one believes the theory that the Bats are descended from them) by the Kartlians to speak Georgian.
, geographic location, and other such information.
is thought to be Nakh by many historians, though there is a rivaling camp arguing for its status as a close relative of Ossetic
. Various backing for the Nakh theory (different scholars use different arguments) includes the presence of Nakh placenames in former Dval territory, evidence of Nakh–Svan contact which probably would've required the Nakh nature of the Dvals or people there before them, and the presence of a foreign-origin Dval clan among the Chechens, seemingly implying that the Dvals found shelter (like the Malkhs are known to have done) among the Chechens from the conquest of their land by foreign invaders (presumably Ossetes). The Dvals were assimilated by the Georgians (and possibly the Ossetes as well) and conquered by the Ossetes in the north. It is thought that Dval did not go fully extinct until the 18th century, making the Dvals the most recent Nakh people known to have died out (if they were Nakh).
the Urartu
an state of Supani
was occupied by the ancient Nakh tribe Tzov, whose state is called Tsobena in ancient Georgian historiography. The Tzov/Tsov language was the dominant language spoken by its people, and was thought by these Georgian historians (as well as a number of others) to be Nakh. Tsov and its relatives in the area may have contributed to the Hurro-Urartian
substratum in the Armenian language
.
Nakh peoples
Nakh peoples are a group of historical and modern ethnic groups speaking Nakh languages and sharing certain cultural traits...
, in 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...
(Chechnya
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 Ingushetia
Ingushetia
The Republic of Ingushetia is a federal subject of Russia , located in the North Caucasus region with its capital at Magas. In terms of area, the republic is the smallest of Russia's federal subjects except for the two federal cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg...
), in Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, and in the Chechen diaspora
Chechen diaspora
The Chechen diaspora is a term used to collectively describe the communities of Chechen people who live outside of Chechnya; this includes Chechens who live in other parts of Russia.-Geography:...
(mainly in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
).
The Nakh languages were historically classified as an independent North-Central Caucasian family, but are now recognized as a branch of the Northeast Caucasian
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...
family. They are believed to have split off some 5000–6000 years ago.
Classification
- Vainakh languagesVainakh languagesThe Vainakh languages consist of the dialect continuum between the Chechen and Ingush languages, mainly spoken in the Russian republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia, as well as in the Chechen diaspora. Together with Bats it forms the Nakh branch of the Northeast Caucasian languages family....
, a dialect continuumDialect continuumA dialect continuum, or dialect area, was defined by Leonard Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, these differences accumulate such that speakers from opposite ends of the...
with two literary languages:- ChechenChechen languageThe 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.-Classification:...
– approximately 1,330,000 speakers (2002). - IngushIngush languageIngush 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:...
– approximately 413,000 speakers (2002).
- Chechen
- BatsBats languageBats 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....
or Batsbi – approximately 3,420 (2000), spoken mostly in Zemo-Alvani, GeorgiaGeorgia (country)Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
. Not mutually intelligible with Chechen or Ingush.
The voicing of ejective consonants
The Nakh languages are relevant to the glottalic theoryGlottalic theory
The glottalic theory holds that Proto-Indo-European had ejective stops, , but not the murmured ones, , of traditional Proto-Indo-European phonological reconstructions....
of Indo-European, as the Veinakh branch has undergone the voicing of ejectives that has been postulated but widely derided as improbable in that family. In initial position, Bats ejectives correspond to Veinakh ejectives, but in non-initial position to Veinakh voiced consonants. (The exception is *qʼ, which remains an ejective in Veinakh.)
| Bats | Chechen | gloss | Dagestanian cognate |
|---|---|---|---|
| nʕapʼ | naːb | 'sleep' | |
| ʃwetʼ | ʃad | 'whip' | Gigatil Chamalal: tsatʼán |
| pʰakʼal | pʰaɡal | 'hare' | Andi: tɬʼankʼala |
| dokʼ | dwoɡ | 'heart' | Andi: rokʷʼo |
| matsʼ | mezi | 'louse' | Chadakolob Avar: natsʼ |
| ʕartsʼiⁿ | ʕärʒa- | 'black' | Gigatil Chamalal: -etʃʼár |
| jopʼqʼ | juqʼ | 'ashes' |
A similar change has taken place in some of the other Dagestanian languages.
Extinct Nakh languages
Many obscure ancient languages or peoples have been postulated by scholars of the Caucasus as Nakh, many in the South Caucasus. None of these have been confirmed; most are classified as Nakh on the basis of placenames.Èrsh
The Èrsh languageÈrsh language
The Èrsh language was the language of the Èr Èrs people.According to placenames, it was a Nakh language, a kin to the language of the historical Malkh nation, as well as modern Chechen, Ingush and Batsbi, and possibly others...
, language of the Èrs who inhabited Northern Armenia, and then, (possibly) later, mainly Hereti
Hereti
Hereti was a historic province in the medieval Caucasus on the Georgian-Albanian frontier. It roughly corresponds to the southeastern corner of Georgia's Kakheti region and a portion of Azerbaijan's northwestern districts.-History:...
in Southeast Georgia and Northwest Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
. This is considered to be more or less confirmed as Nakh. They were assimilated eventually, and their language was replaced by Georgian or Azeri.
Malkh
The language of the MalkhMalkh
The Malkh were an ancient nation, living in the Western/Central North Caucasus. They are usually regarded as the Westernmost Nakh people , and there name has a Nakh root . Their name may have actually been something closer to "Melkhi", but the common rendering is "Malkh"...
s (whose name, malkh, refers to the sun) in the North Caucasus, who lived in modern day Kabardino-Balkaria
Kabardino-Balkaria
The Kabardino-Balkar Republic , or Kabardino-Balkaria , is a federal subject of Russia located in the North Caucasus. Population: -Geography:The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains, with plains in the northern part....
, Karachay-Cherkessia
Karachay-Cherkessia
The Karachay-Cherkess Republic , or Karachay-Cherkessia is a federal subject of Russia . Population: -Geography:*Area: *Borders:**internal: Krasnodar Krai , Kabardino-Balkar Republic , Stavropol Krai ....
, and once briefly conquered Ubykhia
Ubykhia
Ubykhia was a commonwealth of Ubykh tribes in the 14th-19th centuries. It was situated in what is today Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia....
and Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
. They were conquered first by Scythian-speaking Alan tribes and then by Turkic tribes, and seem to have largely abandoned their homeland and found shelter among the Chechens, leading to the formation of a teip named after them. Those who stayed behind were either wiped out or assimilated.
Kakh
The language of the Kakh, old inhabitants of KakhetiKakheti
Kakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...
and Tusheti
Tusheti
Tusheti is a historic region in northeast Georgia.-Geography:Located on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, Tusheti is bordered by the Russian republics of Chechnya and Dagestan to the north and east, respectively; and by the Georgian historic provinces Kakheti and...
in Eastern Georgia. The Kakh apparently called themselves Kabatsas and their territory Kakh-Batsa. They may or may not be ancestral to the modern Bats, and they may or may not be closely related to them. They were assimilated (completely or almost completely, depending on if one believes the theory that the Bats are descended from them) by the Kartlians to speak Georgian.
Gligvic
Gligvs, a mysterious people in the North Caucasus attributed by Georgian historians to be a Nakh people. They may be ancestral to the Ingush, but the term used by Georgians consistently for the Ingush is "Kist", causing large amounts of confusion (as the Nakh people in Georgia who speak Chechen are also called "Kists").Tsanar
The language of the Tsanars in historical Georgia is thought by many historians to be Nakh, based on place namesToponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
, geographic location, and other such information.
Dval
The language of the DvalsDvals
The Dvals were an old people in the Caucasus, their lands lying on both sides of the central Greater Caucasus mountains, somewhere between the Darial and Mamison gorges...
is thought to be Nakh by many historians, though there is a rivaling camp arguing for its status as a close relative of Ossetic
Ossetic language
Ossetian , also sometimes called Ossete, is an East Iranian language spoken in Ossetia, a region on the slopes of the Caucasus Mountains....
. Various backing for the Nakh theory (different scholars use different arguments) includes the presence of Nakh placenames in former Dval territory, evidence of Nakh–Svan contact which probably would've required the Nakh nature of the Dvals or people there before them, and the presence of a foreign-origin Dval clan among the Chechens, seemingly implying that the Dvals found shelter (like the Malkhs are known to have done) among the Chechens from the conquest of their land by foreign invaders (presumably Ossetes). The Dvals were assimilated by the Georgians (and possibly the Ossetes as well) and conquered by the Ossetes in the north. It is thought that Dval did not go fully extinct until the 18th century, making the Dvals the most recent Nakh people known to have died out (if they were Nakh).
Tsov
According to Georgian scholars I.A. Djavashvili and Giorgi MelikishviliGiorgi Melikishvili
Giorgi Melikishvili was a Georgian historian known for his fundamental works in the history of Georgia, Caucasia and the Middle East. He earned an international recognition for his research of Urartu....
the Urartu
Urartu
Urartu , corresponding to Ararat or Kingdom of Van was an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highland....
an state of Supani
Sophene
Sophene , or ) was a province of the Armenian Kingdom and of the Roman Empire, located in the south-west of the kingdom. It currently lies in modern-day southeastern Turkey....
was occupied by the ancient Nakh tribe Tzov, whose state is called Tsobena in ancient Georgian historiography. The Tzov/Tsov language was the dominant language spoken by its people, and was thought by these Georgian historians (as well as a number of others) to be Nakh. Tsov and its relatives in the area may have contributed to the Hurro-Urartian
Hurro-Urartian languages
The Hurro-Urartian languages are an extinct language family of the Ancient Near East, comprising only two known languages: Hurrian and Urartian, both of which were spoken in the Taurus mountains area.-Classification:...
substratum in the Armenian language
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
.
See also
- Languages of the CaucasusLanguages of the CaucasusThe 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....
- Northeast Caucasian languagesNortheast Caucasian languagesThe 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...
- Alarodian languagesAlarodian languagesThe Alarodian languages are a proposed language family that encompasses the Northeast Caucasian languages and the extinct Hurro-Urartian languages.- History of the concept :...