Khinalug (also spelled Khinalig, Khinalugi, Xinalug(h), Xinaliq or Khinalugh) is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by about 3,000 people in the villages of Khinalug and Gülüstan, Quba in the mountains of Quba Rayon, northern Azerbaijan. It forms its own independent branch within the Northeast Caucasian language family.[2]

Khinalug
каьтш мицI / kätš micʼ
Pronunciation[kætʃ mit͡sʼ]
Native toAzerbaijan
RegionQuba
Native speakers
3,000 (2007)[1]
Cyrillic script, Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3kjj
Glottologkhin1240
ELPKhinalugh
  Khinalug
(in Azerbaijan)
Khinalug is classified as Severely 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.

Khinalug is endangered,[3] and classified as "severely endangered" by UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.[4]

History

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Khinalug is the language of the village Khinalug in the Quba district of Azerbaijan. It has been tentatively classified by previous researchers as a member of the Lezgian family of the Dagestani branch of Northeast Caucasian languages[5] Although Khinalug is the official language of the village, it is mostly spoken by villagers in informal circumstances, while the national language Azerbaijani is used formally for educational purposes and to communicate with non-Khinalug speakers.[5] Khinalug is considered to be a threatened language. In recent years, the road leading to the villages where it is spoken has fallen into disrepair, leaving the area mostly isolated.[6]

Phonology

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The Khinalug language previously had its own script.[clarification needed] Alexander Kibrik and a team of 13 linguists from Moscow State University visited the village in 2005.[7] In 2007 they developed a Latin orthography for Khinalug, in collaboration with local school teachers in the village. It is presented in angle brackets on the tables below.

Consonants

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Consonants[8][9]
Labial Dental Postalveolar/
Palatal
Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩
Plosive voiceless lenis p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ k ⟨k⟩ q ⟨q⟩ ʔ ⟨ʔ⟩
voiceless fortis ⟨pp⟩ ⟨tt⟩ ⟨kk⟩ ⟨qq⟩
voiced b ⟨b⟩ d ⟨d⟩ ɡ ⟨g⟩
ejective ⟨p'⟩ ⟨t'⟩ ⟨k'⟩
Affricate voiceless lenis t͡s ⟨c⟩ t͡ʃ ⟨ç⟩ k͡x ⟨kx⟩3 q͡χ ⟨x̂⟩
voiceless fortis t͡sː ⟨cc⟩ t͡ʃː ⟨çç⟩
voiced d͡ʒ ⟨j⟩
ejective t͡sʼ ⟨c'⟩ t͡ʃʼ ⟨ç'⟩ q͡χʼ ⟨q'⟩
Fricative voiceless f ⟨f⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ʃ ⟨ş⟩ x ⟨kh⟩2 χ ⟨x⟩ ħ ⟨hh⟩4 h ⟨h⟩
voiced v ⟨v⟩ z ⟨z⟩ ʒ ⟨z̧⟩1 ɣ ⟨gh⟩2 ʁ ⟨ğ⟩ ʕ ⟨ʕ⟩4
Trill r ⟨r⟩
Approximant l ⟨l⟩ j ⟨y⟩ w ⟨w⟩

1 The cedilla in the orthography is in the middle of the bottom of the <z>, as is typical of Russian linguistics.

2 Kh and gh are rare.

3 Kx is very rare.

4 The pharyngeal sounds mostly appear in Arabic loanwords.

Vowels

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[8] Khinalug has nine vowels and four diphthongs.

Front Back
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
High i ⟨i⟩ y ⟨ü⟩ ɯ ⟨ı⟩ u ⟨u⟩
Mid e ⟨e⟩ ø ⟨ö⟩ o ⟨o⟩
Low æ ⟨ə⟩ a ⟨a⟩

Diphthongs include: [iu] [ui] [oe] [oa].

Audio samples

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Recording by Kamal Kabir-oglu Khasammadov of Romeo and Juliet (2.2.2–3)
Khinalug (phonetic):
Iylesh toxun, ment’ekhiyly talashpy chshyi yaza?
De inq’qalsh me Juliet’dam inq’me.
English:
But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Recording by Kamal Kabir-oglu Khasammadov of Hamlet (3.1.57 & 84)
Khinalug (phonetic):
Tagvual sam Tagondaval lishirji deme […]
De kin k’ulluqurval, kin bitiyn inqxer kir me.
English:
To be, or not to be, that is the question […]
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all.
Recording by Kamal Kabir-oglu Khasammadov of Sonnet 36 (ll.1–2)
Khinalug (phonetic):
Yaxe chkne yem, kin djyre kotka djmin
q’iq’aly djyresh konde mheppetysh saj me.
English:
Let me confess that we two must be twain,
Although our undivided loves are one[.]
Recording by Kamal Kabir-oglu Khasammadov of a line from Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s The Leopard
Khinalug (phonetic):
Djym q’yy kin yag’yqalm Chendj kui ukkoetti q’yy, kin hoz shyspqrt koa.
English:
If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.
 
"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."
(Khinalug in December 2024)

Vocabulary

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The following words were phonetically transcribed from Khinalug:[10]

Khinalug singular Khinalug plural Translation
arhaz arhazırdır pen (enclosure for livestock)
c’imir c’imirdir sparrow
izin izindir gingiva
kırab kırabırdır galoshes
mısır mısırdır rope
nek’id nek’idirdir back
t’uk’un t’uk’undur cheek
t’umbol t’umboldur prune
ustot ustoturdur pepper
ustul ustuldur table
dalıg dalιgιrdιr work
culoz culozurdur tooth
jalkan jalkandιr mane
kotuk kotukurdur tree stump
mekteb mektebirdir school (compare: maktab)
mizer mizerdir textile

Note: ı is roughly pronounced as the e in "fallen". u is roughly pronounced as the ou in "coup".

Alphabet

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Khinalug Cyrillic alphabet
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37
А А̃ Аь Б В Г Гъ ГӀ ГӀв Д Дж Дз Е Е̃ Ж З И И̃ Й К Кв Кк Кх Кхв Кхкх Къв Кь КьӀ КӀ КӀв Л Лъ М Н О О̃ Оь
а а̃ аь б в г гъ гӀ гӀв д дж дз е е̃ ж з и и̃ й к кв кк кх кхв кхкх къв кь кьӀ кӀ кӀв л лъ м н о о̃ оь
38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74
П Пв ПӀ Р С Т Тт ТӀ ТӀв ТӀтӀ У У̃ Уь Ф Х Хъ Хъв Хь ХӀ Ӏ Ӏъ Ц Цв Цц ЦӀ ЦӀв Ч Чч ЧӀ ЧӀв Ш Шв Ъ Ы Э Ә Ә̃
п пв пӀ р с т тт тӀ тӀв тӀтӀ у у̃ уь ф х хъ хъв хь хӀ Ӏ Ӏъ ц цв цц цӀ цӀв ч чч чӀ чӀв ш шв ъ ы э ә ә̃
Khinalug Latin alphabet (2013)[11]
a b c ç ĉ ċ d e ə f g ğ ĝ h ĥ x ı j k q
l m n o ö p r s ŝ ş t u ü v y z ż

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Khinalug at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Family tree of Northeast Caucasian languages at Ethnologue
  3. ^ Published in: Encyclopedia of the world’s endangered languages. Edited by Christopher Moseley. London & New York: Routledge, 2007. 211–280.
  4. ^ UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger Archived 2009-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ a b Clifton, John M.; Deckinga, Gabriela; Lucht, Laura; Mak, Janfer; Tiessen, Calvin (2005). The Sociolinguistic Situation of the Khinalug In Azerbaijan (Report). Archived from the original on 2014-09-07.
  6. ^ Schulze, Wolfgang (Winter 2003). "Xinalugsko-russkij slovar' [Khinalug-Russian Dictionary] (Faida Abubakarovna Ganieva)". Anthropological Linguistics. 45 (4): 450. JSTOR 30028912. The village of Khinalug is difficult to access, although in 1970 a road was constructed that links the village and the regional center. Nevertheless, the road is by now in very bad shape. As a result, a renewed tendency towards partial isolation of Khinalug can be observed.
  7. ^ Ivchenko, Valery (September 4, 2006). "Забытый в горах Кетш – Forgotten in the mountains of Qetsh". Vokrug sveta. Archived from the original on 17 Mar 2023.
  8. ^ a b Kodzasov, S.V., et al., 2007. Khinalug language alphabet (in: Russian).
  9. ^ Khvtisiashvili, Tamrika (2013). Principal aspects of Xinaliq phonology and morphosyntax. University of Utah.
  10. ^ Lubotsky, Alexander; de Vaan, Michiel (2010). Van Sanskriet tot Spijkerschrift: Breinbrekers uit alle talen [From Sanskrit to Cuneiform: Brain teasers from all languages] (in Dutch). Amsterdam University Press. pp. 12, 58–59. ISBN 978-9089641793. Archived from the original on 2016-10-11. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  11. ^ "Alphabet – xinaliq". Archived from the original on 3 August 2018.

Further reading

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  • Desheryev, Ju. D. (1959). Grammatika xinalugskogo jazyka. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR.
  • Hewitt, George (2004). Introduction to the Study of the Languages of the Caucasus. Munich: LINCOM. p. 29.
  • Kibrik, Aleksandr E. (1972). Fragmenty grammatiki xinalugskogo jazyka. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo Moskovskogo Universiteta.
  • Kibrik, Aleksandr E. (1994). "Khinalug". In Smeets, Rieks (ed.). The Indigenous Languages of the Caucasus. Vol. 4. Delmar, NY: Caravan Books. pp. 367–406.
  • Khvisiashvili, Tamrika (2013). (Accessed 2024-11-18) Principal Aspects of Xinaliq Phonology and Morphosyntax (PhD dissertation). The Language Archive: University of Utah. {{cite book}}: Check |url= value (help)
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