The Udi language, spoken by the Udi people, is a member of the Northeast Caucasian language family. It is believed this was the main language of Caucasian Albania, which stretched from south Dagestan to current day Azerbaijan. The language goes back to the 10th century BC. It is spoken by about 5,000 people in the Azerbaijani village of Nij in the Qabala rayon, the Oguz rayon, as well as parts of the North Caucasus in Russia. It is also spoken by ethnic Udis living in the villages of Debedavan, Bagratashen, Ptghavan, and Haghtanak in the Tavush province of Armenia and in the village of Octomberi in the Kvareli district of the Kakheti province in Georgia. The Udins are an ethnic group who live mostly in Azerbaijan,Georgia and Russia (3,700 in 2002). ... 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. ... Ancient countries of Caucasus: Armenia, Iberia, Colchis and Albania Caucasian Albania (or Aghbania) was an ancient kingdom that covered what is now southern Dagestan and most of present-day Azerbaijan. ... Republic of Dagestan IPA: (Russian: ; Avar: , Daɣistanłul Džumħuriyat), older spelling Daghestan, is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic). ... Qabala can mean: Qabala Rayonu in Azerbaijan it is also an alternative spelling for Kabbalah This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Azerbaijan is divided into: 59 rayons (rayonlar; rayon - singular), 11 cities* (saharlar; sahar - singular), 1 autonomous republic** (muxtar respublika); All listed are rayons (with Rayonu after their name) unless otherwise noted. ... Oguz is a rayon of Azerbaijan. ... Azerbaijan is divided into: 59 rayons (rayonlar; rayon - singular), 11 cities* (saharlar; sahar - singular), 1 autonomous republic** (muxtar respublika); All listed are rayons (with Rayonu after their name) unless otherwise noted. ... North Caucasus in Russia The North Caucasus (sometimes referred to as Ciscaucasia or Ciscaucasus) is the northern part of the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia. ... Categories: Stub | Provinces of Armenia ... Kvareli is a town in northeastern in Kakheti Province, Georgia. ... Categories: Caucasus geography stubs | Georgia (country) ...

Udi is related to Lezgi and Tabasaran. Together with Lak, Dargin and others, they form the group of Lezgic languages. Lezgi, also called Lezgian, is a language spoken by the Lezgi who live in southern Dagestan (a republic of Russia) and northern Azerbaijan. ... Tabasaran (or Tabassaran) is a member of the Lezgi subfamily of the Northeast Caucasian languages. ... Lak language (лакку маз, lakku maz) is the language of the [[Lak people () or Каси-Кумук (Kasi-Kumuk). ... The Dargin or Dargwa language is spoken by the Dargin people of western Dagestan. ...

Sounds

Consonants

In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... 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. ... Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. ... A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... Affricate consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as or ) but release as a fricative (such as or or, in a couple of languages, into a fricative trill) rather than directly into the following vowel. ... Fricatives (or spirants) are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. ... A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... In phonetics, a trill is a consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the place of articulation. ... Laterals are L-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ...

Vowels

Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ...

See also

• Languages of the Caucasus

This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

References

Harris, Alice C. (2002). Endoclitics and the Origins of Udi Morphosyntax. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-924633-5. 

Footnotes

External links

• Udi at Ethnologue
• The Udi Language: a grammatical description with sample text — Wolfgang Schulze 2001/2 (University of Munich)
• The Udis
• Historical map