Avar language
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Avar | |
---|---|
Avaric | |
ماغارول ماج, магӏарул мацӏ, maǥarul macʼ , اوار ماج, авар мацӏ, awar macʼ | |
Native to | North Caucasus, Azerbaijan |
Ethnicity | Avars |
Native speakers | 800,000 (2021)[1] |
Cyrillic (current) Arabic, Latin (historical) | |
Official status | |
Official language in | ![]() |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | av – Avaric |
ISO 639-2 | ava – Avaric |
ISO 639-3 | Either:ava – Avaricoav – Old Avar |
oav – Old Avar | |
Glottolog | avar1256 |
Avar (магӏарул мацӏ, maǥarul macʼ [maʕarul mat͡sʼ], "language of the mountains" or авар мацӏ, awar macʼ [awar mat͡sʼ], "Avar language"), also known as Avaric,[2][3] is a Northeast Caucasian language of the Avar–Andic subgroup that is spoken by Avars, primarily in Dagestan. In 2010, there were approximately 1 million speakers in Dagestan and elsewhere in Russia.
Geographic distribution
It is spoken mainly in the western and southern parts of the Russian Caucasus republic of Dagestan, and the Balaken, Zaqatala regions of north-western Azerbaijan.[1] Some Avars live in other regions of Russia. There are also small communities of speakers living in the Russian republics of Chechnya and Kalmykia; in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Jordan, and the Marmara Sea region of Turkey. It is spoken by about 800,000 people worldwide. UNESCO classifies Avar as vulnerable to extinction.[4]
Status
It is one of six literary languages of Dagestan, where it is spoken not only by the Avar, but also serves as the language of communication between different ethnic and linguistic groups.
Dialects
Glottolog lists 14 dialects of Avar, some of which correspond to the villages where they are spoken.The dialects are listed in alphabetical order based on their name in Glottolog:
- Ancux (Antsukh / Анцух)
- Andalal-Gxdatl
- Bacadin
- Batlux
- Hid
- Karax
- Kaxib
- Keleb
- Salatav
- Shulanin
- Untib
- Xunzax (Khunzakh / Xунзах)
- Zakataly
- Zaqatala
Phonology
Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
central | lateral | ||||||||||||||
lenis | fortis | lenis | fortis | lenis | fortis | lenis | fortis | lenis | fortis | ||||||
Nasal | m | n | |||||||||||||
Plosive | voiced | b | d | ɡ | |||||||||||
voiceless | p | t | k | kː | ʔ | ||||||||||
ejective | tʼ | kʼ | kːʼ | ||||||||||||
Affricate | voiceless | t͡s | t͡sː | t͡ʃ | t͡ʃː | t͡ɬː | q͡χː | ||||||||
ejective | t͡sʼ | t͡sːʼ | t͡ʃʼ | t͡ʃːʼ | (t͡ɬːʼ) | q͡χːʼ | |||||||||
Fricative | voiceless | s | sː | ʃ | ʃː | ɬ | ɬː | x | xː | χ | χː | ʜ | |||
voiced | z | ʒ | ʁ | ʕ | ɦ | ||||||||||
Trill | r | ||||||||||||||
Approximant | w | l | j |
There are competing analyses of the distinction transcribed in the table with the length sign ⟨ː⟩. Length is part of the distinction, but so is articulatory strength, so they have been analyzed as fortis and lenis.[citation needed] The fortis affricates are long in the fricative part of the contour, e.g. [tsː] (tss), not in the stop part as in geminate affricates in languages such as Japanese and Italian [tːs] (tts). Laver (1994) analyzes e.g. [t͡ɬː] as a two-segment affricate–fricative sequence [t͡ɬɬ] (/t𐞛ɬ/ = /tɬɬ/).[6]
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
High | i | u |
Mid | e | o |
Low | a |
Avar has five phonemic vowels: /a e i o u/.
Lexical accent
In Avar, accent is contrastive, free and mobile, independent of the number of syllables in the word. Changes in lexical accent placement indicate different semantic meaning and grammatical meanings of a word:
- ра́гӏи ‛word’ ~ рагӏи́ ‛fodder’
- nom.pl. ру́гънал ~ gen.sg. ругъна́л ‛wound’
Morphosyntax
Avar is an agglutinative language, of SOV order.
Adverbs do not inflect, outside of inflection for noun class in some adverbs of place: e.g. the /b/ in /ʒani-b/ "inside" and /t͡se-b-e/ "in front". Adverbs of place also distinguish locative, allative, and ablative forms suffixally, such as /ʒani-b/ "inside", /ʒani-b-e/ "to the inside", and /ʒani-sa/ "from the inside". /-go/ is an emphatic suffix taken by underived adjectives.
Writing systems
There were some attempts to write the Avar language in the Georgian alphabet as early as the 14th century.[7][8] The use of Arabic script for representing Avar in marginal glosses began in the 15th century. The use of Arabic, which is known as ajam, is still known today.[8]
As part of Soviet language re-education policies in 1928 the Ajam was replaced by a Latin alphabet, which in 1938 was in turn replaced by the current Cyrillic script. Essentially, it is the Russian alphabet plus one additional letter called palochka (stick, Ӏ). As that letter cannot be typed with common keyboard layouts, it is often replaced with a capital Latin letter i ( I ), small Latin letter L ( l ), or the numerical digit 1.
Current orthography
The Avar language is usually written in the Cyrillic script. The letters of the alphabet are (with their pronunciation given below in IPA transcription):[5][9]
А а /a/ |
Б б /b/ |
В в /w/ |
Г г /ɡ/ |
Гъ гъ /ʁ/ |
Гь гь /ɦ/ |
ГӀ гӏ /ʕ/ |
Д д /d/ |
Е е /e/, /je/ |
Ё ё /jo/ |
Ж ж /ʒ/ |
З з /z/ |
И и /i/ |
Й й /j/ |
К к /k/ |
Къ къ /q͡χːʼ/ |
Кь кь /t͡ɬːʼ/ |
КӀ кӏ /kʼ/ |
КӀкӏ кӏкӏ /kːʼ/ |
Кк кк /kː/ |
Л л /l/ |
ЛӀ лӏ /t͡ɬː/ |
Лъ лъ /ɬ/ |
Лълъ лълъ /ɬː/ |
М м /m/ |
Н н /n/ |
О о /o/ |
П п /p/ |
Р р /r/ |
С с /s/ |
Сс сс /sː/ |
Т т /t/ |
ТӀ тӏ /tʼ/ |
У у /u/ |
Ф ф /f/ |
Х х /χ/ |
Хх хх /χː/ |
Хъ хъ /q͡χː/ |
Хь хь /x/ |
Хьхь хьхь /xː/ |
ХӀ хӏ /ʜ/ |
Ц ц /t͡s/ |
Цц цц /t͡sː/ |
ЦӀ цӏ /t͡sʼ/ |
ЦӀцӏ цӏцӏ /t͡sːʼ/ |
Ч ч /t͡ʃ/ |
Чч чч /t͡ʃː/ |
ЧӀ чӏ /t͡ʃʼ/ |
ЧӀчӏ чӏчӏ /t͡ʃːʼ/ |
Ш ш /ʃ/ |
Щ щ /ʃː/ |
Ъ ъ /ʔ/ |
Ы ы /ɨ/ |
Ь ь /ʲ/ |
Э э /e/ |
Ю ю /ju/ |
Я я /ja/ |
Comparison chart
Compiled according to:[10][11][12]
Cyrillic | Latin | Arabic | IPA |
---|---|---|---|
А а | A a | آ ,ا | /a/ |
Б б | B b | ب | /b/ |
В в | V v | و | /w/ |
Г г | G g | گ ,ڲ | /ɡ/ |
Гъ Гъ | Ƣ ƣ | غ | /ʁ/ |
Гь гь | H h | ﻫ | /ɦ/ |
ГӀ гӀ | Ⱨ ⱨ | ع | /ʕ/ |
Д д | D d | د | /d/ |
Е е | E e, Je je | اِ ,اه | /e/, /je/ |
Ё ё | Jo, jo | /jo/ | |
Ж ж | Ƶ ƶ | ج ,ڗ | /ʒ/ |
З з | Z z | ز | /z/ |
И и | I i | اى ,اِ | /i/ |
Й й | J j | ى | /j/ |
К к | K k | ک | /k/ |
Кк кк | Kk kk | ک ,کّ | /kː/ |
Къ къ | Q q | ق | /q͡χʼː/ |
Кь кь | Ꝗ ꝗ | ق ,ڸّ ,ۊّ ,ڨ | /t͡ɬʼː/ |
КӀ кӀ | Ⱪ ⱪ | گ ,ڲ ,ک | /kʼ/ |
КӀкӀ кӀкӀ | Ⱪⱪ ⱪⱪ | کّ | /kʼː/ |
Л л | L l | ل | /l/ |
Лъ лъ | Ļ ļ | ڸ | /t͡ɬː/ |
Лълъ лълъ | Ļļ ļļ | ڸّ ,ڸ | /ɬ/ |
М м | M m | م | /m/ |
Н н | N n | ن | /n/ |
О о | O o | او | /o/ |
П п | P p | ف ,پ | /p/ |
Р р | R r | ر | /r/ |
С с | S s | س | /s/ |
Сс сс | Ss ss | صّ ,ص | /sː/ |
Т т | T t | ت | /t/ |
ТӀ тӀ | Ţ ţ | ط | /tʼ/ |
У у | U u | او | /u/ |
Ф ф | F f | ف | /f/ |
Х х | X x | خ | /χ/ |
Хх хх | Xx xx | خّ | /χː/ |
Хъ хъ | Ӿ ӿ | څ ,خّ | /q͡χː/ |
Хь хь | Ҳ ҳ | ؼ | /x/ |
Хьхь хьхь | Ҳҳ ҳҳ | ؼ ,کّ | /xː/ |
ХӀ хӀ | Ħ ħ | ح | /ʜ/ |
Ц ц | Ꞩ ꞩ | ڝ ,ز | /t͡s/ |
(Цц цц) | Ꞩꞩ ꞩꞩ | زّ ,ز | /t͡sː/ |
ЦӀ цӀ | Ⱬ ⱬ | ڗ ,ز ,زّ | /t͡sʼ/ |
(ЦӀцӀ цӀцӀ) | Ⱬⱬ ⱬⱬ | ژّ | /t͡sʼː/ |
Ч ч | C c | ج ,چ | /t͡ʃ/ |
(Чч чч) | Cc cc | ش ,چ ,چّ | /t͡ʃː/ |
ЧӀ чӀ | Ç ç | چ ,چّ ,ڃ | /t͡ʃʼ/ |
ЧӀчӀ чӀчӀ | Çç çç | چّ | /t͡ʃʼː/ |
Ш ш | Ş ş | ش | /ʃ/ |
Щ щ | Şş şş | شّ | /ʃː/ |
Ъ ъ | ’ | ء | /ʔ/ |
Ы ы | Y y | /ɨ/ | |
Ь ь | J j | /ʲ/ | |
Э э | E e | اه | /e/ |
Ю ю | Ju ju | /ju/ | |
Я я | Ja ja | /ja/ |
Writing Comparison
Arabic Alphabet (2007)[13] | Cyrillic Alphabet (2007) | Latin Alphabet |
---|---|---|
نۈڸ ماڨێڸ وێڮانا، ڨالدا ڸۇق - ڸۇقۇن، |
Нолъ макьилъ вихьана, кьалда лъукъ-лъукъун, |
Noļ maꝗiļ viҳana, ꝗalda ļuq-ļuqun, |
Literature
The literary language is based on the болмацӏ (bolmacʼ)[citation needed]—bo = "army" or "country", and macʼ = "language"—the common language used between speakers of different dialects and languages. The bolmacʼ in turn was mainly derived from the dialect of Khunzakh, the capital and cultural centre of the Avar region, with some influence from the southern dialects. Nowadays the literary language is influencing the dialects, levelling out their differences.[citation needed]
The most famous figure of modern Avar literature is Rasul Gamzatov (died November 3, 2003), the People's Poet of Dagestan. Translations of his works into Russian have gained him a wide audience all over the former Soviet Union.[citation needed]
Sample sentences
English | Avar | Transliteration | IPA |
---|---|---|---|
Hello! | Ворчӏами! | Worch’ami! | /wort͡ʃ’ami/ |
How are you doing? | Щиб хӏaл бугеб? | Shchib hal bugeb? | /ʃːib ʜal bugeb/ |
How are you? | Иш кин бугеб? | Ish kin bugeb? | /iʃ kin bugeb/ |
What is your name? | Дуда цӏар щиб? | Duda c’ar shchib? | /duda t͡s’ar ʃːib/ |
How old are you? | Дур чан сон бугеб? | Dur chan son bugeb? | /dur t͡ʃan son bugeb/ |
Where are you going? | Mун киве ина вугев? | Mun kiwe ina wugew? | /mun kiwe ina wugew/ |
Sorry! | Тӏаса лъугьа! | T’asa łuḩa! | /t’asa ɬuha/ |
Where is the little boy going? | Киве гьитӏинав вас унев вугев? | Kiwe ḩit’inaw was unew wugew? | /kiwe hit’inaw was unew wugew/ |
The boy broke a bottle. | Васас шиша бекана. | Wasas shisha bekana. | /wasas ʃiʃa bekana/ |
They are building the road. | Гьез нух бале (гьабулеб) буго. | Ḩez nux́ bale (ḩabuleb) bugo. | /hez nuχ bale (habuleb) bugo/ |
Sample text
Avar | Transliteration | Translation |
---|---|---|
Я, зобалазда вугев нижер Эмен, дур цӀар гӀадамаз мукъадасаблъун рикӀкӀаги, дур ПарччахӀлъи тӀаде щваги. Зобалаздаго гӀадин ракьалдаги дур амру билълъанхъаги. Жакъа нижер бетӀербахъиялъе хинкӀ-чед кье нижее. Нижер налъи-хӀакъалда тӀасаги лъугьа, нижерго налъулазда тӀаса нижги лъугьарал ругин. Нижер хӀалбихьизеги биччаге, Квешалдаса цӀуне ниж. | Ya, zobalazda wugev nijer Ėmen, dur ċar ġadamaz muqadasabłun, riḳḳagi, dur Parççaḥłi ţade ŝvagi. Zobalazdago ġadin raķaldagi dur amru biłłanq̇iyałe xinḳ-çed ķe nijeye. Nijer nałi-ḥaqalda ţasagi łuha, nijergo nałulazda, ţasa nijgi łuharal rugin. Nijer ḥalbiẋizegi biççage, Kveşaldasa ċune nij. | Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. |
See also
References
- ^ a b Avar at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Old Avar at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) - ^ "Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: ava". ISO 639-2 Registration Authority - Library of Congress. Retrieved 2017-07-05.
Name: Avaric
- ^ "Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: ava". ISO 639-3 Registration Authority - SIL International. Retrieved 2017-07-05.
Name: Avaric
- ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger". UNESCO. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
- ^ a b Consonant Systems of the North-East Caucasian Languages on TITUS DIDACTICA
- ^ Laver (1994) Principles of Phonetics p. 371.
- ^ Simon Crisp, "Language Planning and the Orthography of Avar", Folia Slavica 7, 1–2 (1984): 91–104.
- ^ a b Simon Crisp, "The Formation and Development of Literary Avar", pp. 143–62, in Isabelle T. Kreindler, ed., Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Soviet National Languages: Their Past, Present and Future, Contributions to the Sociology of Language, 40 (Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1985).
- ^ Omniglot on the Avar alphabet, language and pronunciation
- ^ Саидов М. Д. (1948). "Возникновение письменности у аварцев" (Языки Дагестана ed.). Махач-Кала.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ "Новый алфавит для народностей Дагестана" (II) (Культура и письменность Востока ed.). Б. 1928: 176–177. Archived from the original on 2022-04-02.
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(help) - ^ Алексеев М. Е. (2001). "Аварский язык. — Языки Российской Федерации и соседних государств. — М.: Наука". М.: 24–34.
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(help) - ^ "Avar (Магӏарул мацӏ / Авар мацӏ)". www.omniglot.com. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/80/Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg/40px-Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg.png)
- RFE/RL North Caucasus Radio (also includes Chechen and Adyghe)
- Avar language corpus Archived 2017-10-11 at the Wayback Machine (in English, Russian, Polish and Belarusian)
- Avar Cyrillic-Latin text and website converter
- Online Avar–Russian dictionary
- Avar language information in Russian