Tsakhur language

Tsakhur
Tsakhur
цӀаӀхна миз; ts'əxna miz
Pronunciation	/t͡sʼaˤχna miz/
Native to	North Caucasus; Azerbaijan
Ethnicity	Tsakhurs
Native speakers	22,300 (2010-2011)
Language family	Northeast Caucasian Lezgic Samur Western Samur Tsakhur; ; ; ;
Writing system	Latin in Azerbaijan, Cyrillic in Russia
Official status
Official language in	Russia Dagestan;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	tkr
Glottolog	tsak1249
ELP	Tsakhur
	Tsakhur
	Tsakhur is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010)
	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Tsakhur (Azerbaijani: Saxur dili; Russian: Цахурский язык, romanized: Tsakhursky yazyk) is a Lezgic language spoken by the Tsakhurs in northern Azerbaijan and southwestern Dagestan (Russia). It is spoken by about 11,700 people in Azerbaijan and by about 10,600 people in Russia.^[1] The word Tsakhur derives from the name of a Dagestani village where speakers of this language make up the majority.

Although Tsakhur is endangered in communities in closest contact with Azerbaijani, it is vigorous in other communities, gaining prominence in the region, seen in the growth of interest in learning Tsakhur in school and a growing body of Tsakhur-learning materials.^[2] Tsakhur is classified as "definitely endangered" by UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.^[3]

Classification

Tsakhur belongs to the Lezgic group of the Northeast Caucasian language family. The Tsakhurs call their language C'a'χna miz.

History

The first written documentation of Tsakhur dates back to 1895 and is attributed to Roderich von Erckert. The first description of Tsakhur grammar was published by Adolf Dirr in 1913.^[2]

In the 1930s, a literary form of Tsakhur was developed. Starting from 1934, the language was taught in primary schools in Azerbaijan and Dagestan. In 1938, the use of literary Tsakhur in Azerbaijan was discontinued but regained its status in 1989.^[2]

The Tsakhur alphabet in Azerbaijan is based on the Latin script, whereas in Dagestan the language uses Cyrillic. In the past (as early as the 11th century) there have been attempts to write Tsakhur in the Arabic script.^[4]

In 2008, Asif Rustamov directed the first and so far only feature film in Tsakhur called Facing Back to the Qibla.^[5]

Geographic distribution

Tsakhur is spoken mostly in rural areas of Azerbaijan's Zaqatala and Qakh rayons, as well as mountainous parts of Dagestan's Rutul region. There are 15,900 Tsakhurs in Azerbaijan (1999 census) and 10,400 in Russia (2002 census). In 1989, 93% of them reported Tsakhur as their first language.^[2]

Official status

In Azerbaijan and Russia, Tsakhur is taught as a subject in primary schools (grades 1 to 4) in Tsakhur-populated regions. Newspapers and radio broadcast in Tsakhur are also available. It is one of twelve official languages of the Dagestan region in Russia where it is spoken. However, the language does not have an official status in Azerbaijan.^[2]

Related languages

Among the languages of the Lezgic group, Rutul appears to be the closest one to Tsakhur. Other than these two, there are eight more languages in the Lezgic group, namely: Lezgian, Tabasaran, Aghul, Budukh, Kryts, Udi, and Archi.

Dialects

The two major dialects of the Tsakhur language are Tsakh and Gelmets.^[2]

Phonology

Similar to many Northeast Caucasian languages, Tsakhur is known for its complex phonology and a large number of vowel phonemes (including 7 simple, 5 pharyngealized and 3 umlauted vowels^{[clarification needed]}). Its first in-depth phonological description was provided by Nikolai Trubetzkoy in 1931.

Consonants

The consonant inventory, according to Shulze's study of the language, of Tsakhur is shown below. Forms are phonemic unless numbered, in which case they are suspected to be phonemes but currently with incomplete evidence for this.^[6] The inventory shows some asymmetries, but exhibits series of palatalized, labialized, and pharyngealized phonemes.

		Labial	Dental			Alveolar			Palatal		Velar			Uvular			Laryngeal
		Labial	plain	pal.	lab.	plain	pal.	lab.	plain	lab.	plain	pal.	lab.	plain	lab.	phar.	plain	lab.	phar.
Nasal		m	n	nʲ¹
Plosive / Affricate	voiceless	p	t	tʲ¹	tʷ	ts	tsʲ¹	tsʷ¹	tʃ	tʃʷ	k	kʲ	kʷ¹	q	qʷ	qˤ
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ	tʲʼ¹	tʷʼ¹	tsʼ	tsʲʼ¹	tsʷʼ¹	tʃʼ	tʃʼʷ	kʼ	kʲʼ¹	kʷʼ¹	qʼ	qʷʼ	qˤʼ	ʔ		ʕʼ
	geminate	pː	tː			tsː			tʃːʼ¹	tʃːʷ¹	kː	kːʲ¹		qː	qːʷ¹	qːˤ¹
	voiced	b	d	dʲ		dz			dʒ	dʒʷ¹	g	gʲ	gʷ	ɢ	ɢʷ¹	ɢˤ
Fricative	voiceless	f				s	sʲ¹		ʃ	ʃʷ¹	x	xʲ	xʷ	χ	χʷ	χˤ	h	hʷ¹	hˤ
	geminate					sː	sːʲ¹		ʃː	ʃːʷ¹	xː	xːʲ¹	xːʷ¹	χː	χːʷ¹	χːˤ¹
	voiced	β ~ w¹				z	zʲ¹	zʷ¹			ɣ			ʁ	ʁʷ¹	ʁˤ
Approximant/Trill		β ~ w¹	l	lʲ		r			j

¹ ^{[clarification needed]}

Suspected to be phonemes.

Vowels

Plain vowels
	Front	Central	Back
Close	i ~ iː		u
Mid	e ~ eː	ə	o
Open		a ~ aː

Pharyngealized vowels
	Front	Central	Back
Close	iˤ		uˤ
Mid	eˤ	əˤ	oˤ ~ oːˤ
Open		aˤ ~ aːˤ

Writing

Tsakhur alphabet 1934-1938

The alphabet for the Tsakhur language based on the Latin alphabet was compiled by A. N. Genko in 1934. 8 textbooks have been published. However, after 4 years, teaching and publishing books in the Tsakhur language ceased. It was resumed only in 1989, but already in a new, Cyrillic alphabet. Since the 1990s, the Tsakhur script has been functioning in the Latin alphabet in Azerbaijan,^[7] it was later reformed.

Tsakhur alphabet, used in Russia:
А а	АӀ аӀ	Б б	В в	Г г	ГӀ гӀ	Гъ гъ	Гь гь	Д д	Дж дж
Е е	Ё ё	Ж ж	З з	И и	Й й	К к	КӀ кӀ	Къ къ	Кь кь
Л л	М м	Н н	О о	ОӀ оӀ	П п	ПӀ пӀ	Р р	С с	Т т
ТӀ тӀ	У у	УӀ уӀ	Ф ф	Х х	Хъ хъ	Хь хь	Ц ц	ЦӀ цӀ	Ч ч
ЧӀ чӀ	Ш ш	Щ щ	Ъ ъ	Ы ы	ЫӀ ыӀ	Э э	Ь ь	Ю ю	Я я

Tsakhur alphabet, used in Azerbaijan (2010s version):^[8]
A a	Ә ә	B b	C c	Ç ç	Ç' ç'	D d	E e	F f	G g	G' g'
Gh gh	Ğ ğ	H h	X x	Xh xh	I ı	I' ı'	İ i	J j	K k	K' k'
Q q	Q' q'	L l	M m	N n	O o	Ö ö	P p	P' p'	R r	S s
Ş ş	T t	T' t'	Ts ts	Ts' ts'	U u	Ü ü	V v	Y y	Z z	'

Comparison chart

Cyrillic	Latin 2015	Latin 1996	Latin 1930s	IPA^[9]
А а	A a			/a/
АI аI	Ә ә	AI aI	Ә ә	/aˤ/
Б б	B b		B в	/b/
В в	V v			/w/
Г г	G g	G g, Q q	G g	/g/
ГI гI	Gh gh	QI qI	Ƣ̵ ƣ̵	/ɣ/
Гъ гъ	Ğ ğ	Qъ qъ	Ƣ ƣ	/ʁ/
Гь гь	H h			/h/
Д д	D d			/d/
Дж дж	C c		Ç ç	/d͡ʒ/
Е е	E e			/e/
Ё ё	-
Ж ж	J j	-		/ʒ/
З з	Z z			/z/
И и	İ i		I i	/i/
Й й	Y y		J j	/j/
К к	K k			/k/
КI кI	K' k'	KI kI	Ⱪ ⱪ	/k'/
Къ къ	G' g'	Kъ kъ	Q q	/ɢ/
Кь кь	Q' q'	Kь kь	Ꝗ ꝗ	/q'/
Л л	L l			/l/
М м	M m			/m/
Н н	N n			/n/
О о	O o			/o/
ОI оI	Ö ö	OI oI	Ө ө	/oˤ/

Cyrillic	Latin 2015	Latin 1996	Latin 1930s	IPA
П п	P p			/p/
ПI пI	P' p'	PI pI	Ꞃ ꞃ	/p'/
Р р	R r			/ɾ/
С с	S s			/s/
Т т	T t			/t/
ТI тI	T' t'	TI tI	Ţ ţ	/t'/
У у	U u			/u/
УI уI	Ü ü	UI uI	Y y	/uˤ/
Ф ф	F f			/f/
Х х	X x			/χ/
Хъ хъ	Q q	Xъ xъ	Ӿ ӿ	/q/
Хь хь	Xh xh	Xь xь	Ҳ ҳ	/x/
Ц ц	Ts ts	Ƶ ƶ	S̷ s̷	/t͡s/
ЦI цI	Ts' ts'	ƵI ƶI	Ⱬ ⱬ	/t͡s'/
Ч ч	Ç ç		C c	/t͡ʃ/
ЧI чI	Ç' ç'	ÇI çI	Ⱬ̵ ⱬ̵	/t͡ʃ'/
Ш ш	Ş ş			/ʃ/
Щ щ	-
Ъ ъ	'		’	/ʔ/
Ы ы	I ı		Ь ь	/ɨ/
ЫI ыI	I' ı'	II ıI	Ш ш	/ɨˤ/
Э э	E e			/e/
Ь ь	-
Ю ю	-
Я я	-

Grammar

Tsakhur has 18 grammatical cases and has retained suffixaufnahme. Verbs may have singular and plural forms, and 7 grammatical moods. The tense system is complex. In contrast to the related languages, Tsakhur sentences can be formed by affective construction.^[4]

Noun case

Tsakhur exhibits a number of noun cases, including grammatical and local cases. The ergative and genitive cases show agreement with the head noun class, as shown below.^[6]

Case	Marker
Absolutive	-∅
Ergative	-e(ː)^[a] / -(V)n^[b]
Genitive	-(V)na^[c], -(V)n^[d], -(V)ni^[e]
Dative	-(V)s

^ Human nouns
^ Nonhuman nouns
^ Head noun ABS, classes I-III
^ Head noun ABS, class IV
^ Head noun OBL

Example inflections
Case	balkan 'horse'		zer 'cow'
Case	Sg.	Pl.	Sg.	Pl.
Absolutive	balkan	balkanar	zer	zerbə
Ergative	balkanan	balkanāšše	zeran	zerbən
Genitive	balkanana	balkanāššina	zerana	zerbəna
Dative	balkanus	balkanāššis	zerus	zerbəs

References

^ ^a ^b "Tsakhur". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 2019-07-29. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Clifton, John M.; Tiessen, Calvin; Deckinga, Gabriela; Lucht, Laura (2005). The Sociolinguistic Situation of the Tsakhur in Azerbaijan (PDF). SIL International. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-14.
^ "UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger". United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Archived from the original on 2009-02-22. Retrieved 2010-03-25.
^ ^a ^b "Tsakhurskiy (Tsakhskiy) yazyk [Tsaxur (Sakhur, Tsaxur, Tsakhury, Caxur, Tsakur, Chakhur)] /TKR (ISO/FDIS 639-3); CAU (ISO 639-2)/" Цахурский (Цахский) язык [Tsaxur (Sakhur, Tsaxur, Tsakhury, Caxur, Tsakur, Chakhur)] /TKR (ISO/FDIS 639-3); CAU (ISO 639-2) [Tsakhur (Tsakh) language Tsaxur (Sakhur, Tsaxur, Tsakhury, Caxur, Tsakur, Chakhur)] /TKR (ISO/FDIS 639-3); CAU (ISO 639-2)/]. etheo.org (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
^ "Zavershilis syemki filma na tsakhurskom yazyke «Spinoy k Kible»" Завершились съемки фильма на цахурском языке «Спиной к Кибле» [Shooting of the Tsakhur language film "Facing Back to the Qiblah" finished]. Novosti-Azerbaydzhan Новости-Азербайджан (in Russian). 1 April 2009. Archived from the original on 2013-07-12.
^ ^a ^b Schulze, Wolfgang (1997). Tsakhur. München: LINCOM Europa. ISBN 3-89586-150-2.
^ Aibdulla Qarayev (1996). Aılifbey. Bakı: Maarif nәşriyyatı.
^ Ts'əxni mizelin şikılbişikvan luğat. Bakı: Üfüq-S. 2015. p. 52.
^ Kathleen D. Sackett (2017). Community-Driven, Goal-Centred Orthography Development: A Tsakhur Case Study. Cambridge University Press. pp. 88–108. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

External links

[10] Human nouns

[11] Nonhuman nouns

[12] Head noun ABS, classes I-III

[13] Head noun ABS, class IV

[14] Head noun OBL

[Ethnologue-1] "Tsakhur". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 2019-07-29. Retrieved 2021-12-11.

[slsta-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Clifton, John M.; Tiessen, Calvin; Deckinga, Gabriela; Lucht, Laura (2005). The Sociolinguistic Situation of the Tsakhur in Azerbaijan (PDF). SIL International. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-14.

[3] "UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger". United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Archived from the original on 2009-02-22. Retrieved 2010-03-25.

[tsketheo-4] "Tsakhurskiy (Tsakhskiy) yazyk [Tsaxur (Sakhur, Tsaxur, Tsakhury, Caxur, Tsakur, Chakhur)] /TKR (ISO/FDIS 639-3); CAU (ISO 639-2)/" Цахурский (Цахский) язык [Tsaxur (Sakhur, Tsaxur, Tsakhury, Caxur, Tsakur, Chakhur)] /TKR (ISO/FDIS 639-3); CAU (ISO 639-2) [Tsakhur (Tsakh) language Tsaxur (Sakhur, Tsaxur, Tsakhury, Caxur, Tsakur, Chakhur)] /TKR (ISO/FDIS 639-3); CAU (ISO 639-2)/]. etheo.org (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 26 December 2006.

[5] "Zavershilis syemki filma na tsakhurskom yazyke «Spinoy k Kible»" Завершились съемки фильма на цахурском языке «Спиной к Кибле» [Shooting of the Tsakhur language film "Facing Back to the Qiblah" finished]. Novosti-Azerbaydzhan Новости-Азербайджан (in Russian). 1 April 2009. Archived from the original on 2013-07-12.

[WS1997-6] Schulze, Wolfgang (1997). Tsakhur. München: LINCOM Europa. ISBN 3-89586-150-2.

[7] Aibdulla Qarayev (1996). Aılifbey. Bakı: Maarif nәşriyyatı.

[8] Ts'əxni mizelin şikılbişikvan luğat. Bakı: Üfüq-S. 2015. p. 52.

[9] Kathleen D. Sackett (2017). Community-Driven, Goal-Centred Orthography Development: A Tsakhur Case Study. Cambridge University Press. pp. 88–108. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

[e]