Lezgic languages

Lezgic
Geographic distribution	Dagestan, Azerbaijan
Linguistic classification	Northeast Caucasian
Subdivisions	Archi (Peripheral Lezgic) Samur (Nuclear Lezgic)
Language codes
Glottolog	lezg1248  (Samur) arch1244  (Archi)
Lezgic

The Lezgic languages are one of seven branches of the Northeast Caucasian language family. Lezgian and Tabasaran are literary languages.

Classification

• Peripheral: Archi – 970 speakers
• Samur (Nuclear Lezgic)
  • Eastern Samur
    • Udi – 5,000 speakers
    • Lezgian–Aghul–Tabasaran
      • Lezgian – 655,000 speakers
      • Aghul – 28,300 speakers
      • Tabasaran – 128,900 speakers
  • Southern Samur
    • Kryts – 6,000 speakers in 1975
    • Budukh – 1,000 speakers
  • Western Samur
    • Rutul – 29,510 speakers
    • Tsakhur – 22,770 speakers

The voicing of ejective consonants

The Lezgic languages are relevant to the glottalic theory of Indo-European, because several have undergone the voicing of ejectives that have been postulated but widely derided as improbable in that family. The correspondences have not been well worked out (Rutul is inconsistent in the examples), but a few examples are:

• Non-Lezgic: Avar tstsʼar; Lezgic: Rutul dur, Caxur do 'name'
• Non-Lezgic: Archi motʃʼor, Lak tʃʼiri; Lezgic: Rutul mitʃʼri, Tabassaran midʒir, Aɡul mudʒur 'beard'
• Non-Lezgic: Avar motsʼ; Lezgic: Tabassaran vaz 'moon'

A similar change has taken place in non-initial position in the Nakh languages.

See also

• Languages of the Caucasus
• Northeast Caucasian languages

External links

• Lezgic basic lexica at the Global Lexicostatistical Database