Kaitag language

Kaitag
Kaitag
Kaidak, Karakaitak, Karkaidak, Qaidaqlan
хайдакьан кув
Pronunciation	[χɑjdɑqʼɑn kʰuβ]; [χajdaq’la]
Native to	North Caucasus
Region	Dagestan
Ethnicity	Kaitags
Native speakers	approx. 30,000 (2020)
Language family	Northeast Caucasian Dargin Kaitag group Kaitag; ; ;
Dialects	Upper Kaitag; Lower Kaitag; Shari (may be a separate language);
Writing system	Cyrillic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xdq
Glottolog	kajt1238
	Kaitag

A speaker of Kaitag.

Kaitag (Kaitag: Хайдакьан кув [χɑjdɑqʼɑn kʰuβ]; also Kaidak, Karakaitak, Karkaidak, Qaidaqlan) 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).^[2] 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.^[3]

Dialects

The languages consists of eight varieties, forming three dialects. Each of the Upper varieties corresponds to a historical province of the region.^[4]

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].^[5]

		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	kʰʷ	qʰ	qʰʷ
	fortis	pː	tː					kː	kːʷ	qː	qːʷ
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ					kʼ	kʼʷ	qʼ	qʼʷ
Affricate	aspirated		t͡sʰ	t͡ʃʰ	t͡ʃʰʷ
	fortis		t͡sː	t͡ʃː	t͡ʃːʷ
	ejective		t͡sʼ	t͡ʃʼ	t͡ʃʼʷ
Fricative	voiced	β	z	ʒ	ʒʷ					ʁ	ʁʷ
	plain		s	ʃ	ʃʷ	ç	çʷ			χ	χʷ	h	hʷ
	fortis		sː	ʃː	ʃːʷ	çː	çːʷ			χː	χːʷ
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 [kʰʷ]	кк [kː]	ккв [kːʷ]	кӏ [kʼ]	кӏв [kʼʷ]	хъ [qʰ]	хъв [qʰʷ]	къ [qː]	къв [qːʷ]	кь [qʼ]	кь [qʼʷ]	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 [χːʷ]	хь [ç]	хьв [çʷ]	ххь [çː]	ххьв [çːʷ]	ц [t͡sʰ]	цц [t͡sː]
цӏ [t͡sʼ]	ч [t͡ʃʰ]	чв [t͡ʃʰʷ]	чч [t͡ʃː]	ччв [t͡ʃːʷ]	чӏ [t͡ʃʼ]	чӏв [t͡ʃʼʷ]	ш [ʃ]	шв [ʃʷ]	шш [ʃː]	шшв [ʃːʷ]	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 [niçːʷɑ] (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 [kʰʷɑt͡sːɪ]
14	when	цикъел [t͡sʰɪqːɛl]
15	how	цигле [t͡sʰɪglɛ]
16	not	аккву [ɑkːʷu] (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 [t͡ʃʼʷɛ]
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 [nɪkʼʷɑ]
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 [χːʷæ]
48	louse	нез [nɛz]
49	snake	цӏецӏи [cʼɛcʼɪ]
50	worm	милкъваӏ [mɪlqːʷæ]
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

^ Kaitag at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
^ 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.