Ethno-Linguistic groups in the Caucasus region

The languages of the Caucasus are a large and extremely varied array of languages spoken by more than ten million people in the Caucasus region of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Linguistic studies allow those languages to be classified into several language families, with little or no discernible affinity to each other. Motto Bir kÉ™rÉ™ yüksÉ™lÉ™n bayraq, bir daha enmÉ™z! The flag once raised will never fall! Anthem AzÉ™rbaycan Respublikasının DövlÉ™t Himni (March of Azerbaijan) Capital (and largest city) Baku Official languages Azerbaijani Demonym Azerbaijani Government Republic  -  President Ilham Aliyev  -  Prime Minister... The Caspian Sea (Russian: Каспийское море; Kazakh: Каспий теңізі; Turkmen: Hazar deňizi; Azeri: XÉ™zÉ™r dÉ™nizi; Persian: دریای خزر Daryā-ye Khazar) is the largest lake on Earth by area[2], with a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers (143,244 sq mi) and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers (18... NASA satellite image of the Black Sea Map of the Black Sea The Black Sea is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Anatolia that is actually a distant arm of the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Mediterranean Sea. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Caucasus Mountains. ... Map of Eastern Europe Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current national boundaries: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium orange),members of the Warsaw pact (light orange), and other former Communist regimes not aligned with Moscow (lightest orange). ... NASA satellite image of the Black Sea Map of the Black Sea The Black Sea is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Anatolia that is actually a distant arm of the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Mediterranean Sea. ... The Caspian Sea (Russian: Каспийское море; Kazakh: Каспий теңізі; Turkmen: Hazar deňizi; Azeri: XÉ™zÉ™r dÉ™nizi; Persian: دریای خزر Daryā-ye Khazar) is the largest lake on Earth by area[2], with a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers (143,244 sq mi) and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers (18...

Some of those language families have no known members outside the Caucasus area. The term Caucasian languages may refer to these families specifically, or more generally to all languages historically spoken in that area.

Language families

Families restricted to the Caucasus area

Most of the languages spoken in the Caucasus area fall into three widely accepted language families. These families were essentially restricted to the Caucasus area through historic times, hence their common label Caucasian languages. Most languages are known to belong to language families (families hereforth). ...

• South Caucasian, also called the Georgian or Kartvelian family. Includes Georgian, the official language of Georgia, with four million speakers;

• Northwest Caucasian, also called the Abxaz-Adyge, Circassian, or Pontic family. Includes the Kabardian language, with one million speakers;

• Northeast Caucasian, also called the Dagestanian, Nakho-Dagestanian, or Caspian family. Includes the Chechen language, with one million speakers.

The autochthonous languages of the Caucasus share some areal features, such as the presence of ejective consonants and a highly agglutinative structure, and with the sole exception of Mingrelian, all of them exhibit a greater or lesser degree of morphological ergativity. It is commonly believed that all Caucasian languages have a large number of consonants; while this is certainly true for most members of the North-West and North-East Caucasian families (inventories range up to the 80-84 consonants of Ubykh), the South Caucasian languages' inventories are not nearly so extensive, ranging from 28 (Georgian) to 30 (Laz), comparable to languages like Arabic (28 consonants) and Russian (35-37 consonants). It has been suggested that Kartvel be merged into this article or section. ... The Northwest Caucasian languages, also called Pontic or Abkhaz-Adyg/Circassian, are a group of languages spoken in Caucasian Russia, Turkey, Jordan, Kabardino-Balkaria (an autonomous republic in Russia) and Abkhazia ( de facto independent formally an autonomous republic in Georgia). ... The Kabardian language is closely related to the Adyghe language (see Adyghe), both members of the Northwest Caucasian language family, mainly spoken in Kabardino-Balkar Republic and Karachay-Cherkess Republic of Russia (the native territories) and in Turkey and the Middle East (the residence of the extensive post-war diaspora). ... The Northeast Caucasian languages, also called East Caucasian, Caspian, Nakh-Dagestanian, or Dagestanian, are a family of languages spoken mostly in the Dagestan, Chechnya, and Ingushetia regions of Russia, in Northern Azerbaijan, and in Georgia. ... The Chechen language has about 1,200,000 speakers, most of whom live in Russia. ... Ejective consonants are a class of consonants which may contrast with aspirated or tenuis consonants in a language. ... An agglutinative language is a language in which the words are formed by joining morphemes together. ... The Megrelian language (Megruli ena in Georgian, Margaluri nina in Megrelian), sometimes called Mingrelian, is a language spoken in northwest Georgia. ... An ergative-absolutive language (or just ergative language) is one that marks the subject of transitive verbs distinctly from the subject of intransitive verbs and the object of transitive verbs. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The Laz language (lazuri, ლაზური or lazuri nena, ლაზური ნენა in Laz; ლაზური, lazuri, or ჭანური, chanuri, in Georgian) is spoken by the Laz people on the Southeast shore of the Black Sea. ... The Arabic language has a standard pronunciation, which is basically the one used to recite the Quran. ...

Families with wider distribution

Other languages historically and presently spoken in the Caucasus area can be placed into families with a much wider geographical distribution.

• Indo-European
  • Armenian
  • Greek
    • Pontic
  • Iranian languages
    • Ossetian
    • Talysh
    • Judeo-Tat
  • Slavic languages
    • Russian

• Altaic
  • Turkic languages
    • Azeri
    • Balkar
    • Karachay
    • Kumyk
    • Nogai
  • Mongolic languages
    • Kalmyk

For a more detailed classification of these languages, see the articles on the corresponding families. The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred related languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many spoken in the Indian subcontinent (South Asia), the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), and Central Asia. ... Pontic Greek is a form of the Greek language originally spoken on the shores of the Black Sea, the Pontus, today mainly in Greece. ... The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family. ... Ossetic or Ossetian is an Iranian language spoken on the slopes of the Caucasus mountains on the borders of Russia and Georgia. ... Talysh (also Talishi, Taleshi or Talyshi) are an Iranian people who speak one of the Northwestern Iranian languages. ... Mountain Jews, or Juhurim, are Jews of the eastern Caucasus, mainly of Dagestan. ...  Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language  Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language  Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup... Altaic is a proposed language family which includes 66 languages [1] spoken by about 348 million people, mostly in and around Central Asia and northeast Asia. ... The Turkic languages constitute a language family of some thirty languages, spoken across a vast area from Eastern Europe to Siberia and Western China with an estimated 140 million native speakers and tens of millions of second-language speakers. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... Karachay-Balkar (Къарачай-Малкъар /qarachay-malqar/) is a Turkic language of the Karachays and Balkars. ... Karachay-Balkar (Къарачай-Малкъар /qarachay-malqar/) is a Turkic language of the Karachays and Balkars. ... Kumyk (also Qumuq, Kumuk, Kumuklar, and Kumyki) is a Turkic language, spoken by about 200 thousands speakers (the Kumyks) in the Dagestan republic of Russian Federation. ... Nogai (also Nogay or Nogai Tatar), is a Turkic language spoken in southwestern Russia. ... The Mongolic languages are a group of thirteen languages spoken in Central Asia. ... Kalmyk (Kalmuck, Calmouk, Oirat) is the language of the Kalmyks, spoken in Kalmykia (Russian Federation), Western China and Western Mongolia. ...

Proposed higher-level classifications

A topic that has attracted much research since the 19th century is the classification of the four major Caucasian families into larger groups. Unfortunately this field is quite sensitive, given the complex ethnic and political situation of the region, both before and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. As in many other regions of the globe, linguistic arguments are often used to back up or dismiss territorial disputes and separatist movements. Given the general paucity of linguistic and historical evidence for inter-family relationships, those political implications often dominate the debate.

North Caucasian languages

Some linguists see the Northwest (Abkhaz-Adyghe) and Northeast (Nahk-Dagestanian) families as related, and have proposed to join them into a single North Caucasian family — which is sometimes called Caucasic or simply Caucasian, even though it is not meant to contain the South Caucasian (Kartvelian) languages. However, this proposal is not yet widely accepted. See the article on North Caucasian languages for details. North Caucasian languages is a blanket term for two language phyla spoken chiefly in the north Caucasus and Turkey: the Northwest Caucasian (Pontic, Abkhaz-Adyghe, Circassian) family and the Northeast Caucasian (East Caucasian, Caspian, Nakh-Dagestanian) family; the latter including the former North-central Caucasian (Nakh) family. ...

Ibero-Caucasian languages

There are no known affinities between the South Caucasian and North Caucasian families. Nevertheless, some scholars have proposed the single name Ibero-Caucasian for all the Caucasian language families, North and South. (The Ibero in the name refers to the ancient kingdom of Caucasian Iberia in Eastern Georgia and is not related to the Iberian Peninsula.) See the article on Ibero-Caucasian languages for details. Ancient countries of Caucasus: Armenia, Iberia, Colchis and Albania Iberia was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli (4th century BC-5th century AD) corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia. ... The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar. ... The term Ibero-Caucasian (or Iberian-Caucasian) was proposed by Georgian linguist Arnold Chikobava for the union of the four language families that are specific to the Caucasus area, namely South Caucasian, also called Georgian or Kartvelian; Northwest Caucasian, also called Abkhaz/Adygh or Circassian; North-central Caucasian or Vaynakh. ...

Possible affinities with other languages

Since the birth of comparative linguistics in the 19th century, the riddle of the apparently isolated Caucasian language families has attracted the attention of many scholars who have strenuously tried to relate them to other languages outside the Caucasus region. While most linguists do not accept these proposals, there may be connections between the Northwest and Northeast Caucasian families and some extinct languages formerly spoken in Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia. Anatolia and Europe Anatolia (Turkish: from Greek: Ανατολία - Anatolia) is a peninsula of Western Asia which forms the greater part of the Asian portion of Turkey, as opposed to the European portion (Thrace, or traditionally Rumelia). ... Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, and parts of eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and southwest Iran. ...

Hattic

Some linguists have claimed affinities between the Northwest Caucasian (Circassian) family and the extinct Hattic language. See the article on Northwest Caucasian languages for details. Hattic was a non-Indo-European language spoken in Asia Minor between the 3rd and the 2nd millennia BC, before the appearance of the Hittites. ... The Northwest Caucasian languages, also called Pontic or Abkhaz-Adyg/Circassian, are a group of languages spoken in Caucasian Russia, Turkey, Jordan, Kabardino-Balkaria (an autonomous republic in Russia) and Abkhazia ( de facto independent formally an autonomous republic in Georgia). ...

Basque

Many of the Caucasian languages have case systems (noun inflection rules) of a particular kind, known as ergative, which sets them typologically apart from most European languages. The impossibility to link Basque, an isolated language spoken in the Pyrenees, with its Indoeuropean neighbours has made many scholars to seek its relatives elsewhere. Lexical and morphological clues (ergativity among them) have been reminiscent of the languages spoken in the Caucasus. Comparisons have been made to all the three language families, Northeast Caucasian, Northwest Caucasian and Kartvelian, the most elaborate being the Dene-Caucasian hypothesis of John D. Bengtson's, yet the suggested evidence is rejected by most linguists. In linguistics, declension is a feature of inflected languages: generally, the alteration of a noun to indicate its grammatical role. ... An ergative-absolutive language (or simply ergative) is one that treats the agent of transitive verbs distinctly from the subject of intransitive verbs and the object of transitive verbs. ... Basque (native name: euskara) is the language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain and the adjoining region of South-Western France. ... The Dene-Caucasian (or Sino-Caucasian) language family is a conjectural macrofamily containing the Sino-Tibetan, North Caucasian, Yeniseian, Basque and Na-Dene languages. ...

(Western) Iberian language

It has been speculated that the South Caucasian languages may be related to the extinct Iberian language, spoken until the 1st century BC in the Iberian peninsula (which is known as "Western Iberia" in the Caucasus, to distinguish it from the Caucasian Iberia). There seems to be no evidence for this relationship other than the coincidence of the names; however, the few surviving Iberian inscriptions suggest a genetic relationship to Basque, so any links with one language may also apply to the other. The Iberian language describes a linguistic group identified with the Iberian civilization (7th century BC – 1st century BC), formed in the eastern and south-eastern regions of the Iberian peninsula. ... The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar. ... Ancient countries of Caucasus: Armenia, Iberia, Colchis and Albania Iberia was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli (4th century BC-5th century AD) corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia. ...

Dené-Caucasian macrofamily

Recently, linguists such as Sergei Starostin have proposed a Dene-Caucasian superfamily which would include, among others, the North Caucasian languages and Na-Dené. In Sarostin's version, Hurro-Urartian and Northeast Caucasian are related only at a higher level of this family called Sino-Caucasian. Dr. Sergei Anatolyevich Starostin (b. ... The Dené-Caucasian (also called Sino-Dené) language family is a conjectural language superfamily containing the Sino-Tibetan, North Caucasian, Yenisseian, Burushaski, Basque and Na-Dené languages. ... Pre-contact distribution of Na-Dené languages (in red) Na-Dené (also Na-Dene, Nadene, Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit) is a Native American language family which includes the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit. ...

See also

• Language family

Current distribution of Human Language Families A language family is a group of related languages said to have descended from a common proto-language. ...

References

External links

• TITUS: Caucasian languages map by Jost Gippert& projects Armazi& Ecling
• CIA ethnolinguistic map
• Linguistic families map by Matthew Dryer
• Ethnolinguistic map of Tajikistan by Iraj Bashiri
• Caucausian section of the Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire
• The Iberian-Caucasian Connection in a Typological Perspective — An in-depth linguistic study of Basque, Georgian, and other ergative languages, concluding that the similarities are not strong enough to prove a genetic link.
• The A. Chikobava Institute of Linguistics, Georgian Academy of Sciences
• Atlas of the Caucasian Languages with very detailed Language Guide (by Yuri B. Koryakov)
• The Graphic Model and the Maps of Origin Homelands of North Caucasian and Abkhaz-Adyghean Languages
• Comparative Notes on Hurro-Urartian, Northern Caucasian and Indo-European by V. V. Ivanov