Archi language

Archi /ɑːˈtʃiː/^[4] is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by the Archis in the village of Archib, southern Dagestan, Russia, and the six surrounding smaller villages.

Archi
аршаттен чӏат aršatten čʼat
Native to	Russia
Region	Archib, Dagestan
Ethnicity	Archi people
Native speakers	1,712 (2020 census)[1]
Language family	Northeast Caucasian Lezgic[2] Archi
Writing system	Cyrillic script (developed in 2006 based on the Avar alphabet) Arabic script (19th century)[3]
Language codes
ISO 639-3	aqc
Glottolog	arch1244
ELP	Archi
Map of where Archi is spoken (red area)
Archi 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.

It is unusual for its many phonemes and for its contrast between several voiceless velar lateral fricatives, /𝼄, 𝼄ʷ, 𝼄ː, 𝼄ʷː/, voiceless and ejective velar lateral affricates, /k͡𝼄, k͡𝼄ʷ, k͡𝼄ʼ, k͡𝼄ʷʼ/, and a voiced velar lateral fricative, /ʟ̝/. It is an ergative–absolutive language with four noun classes^[5] and has a morphological system with irregularities on all levels.^[6] Mathematically, there are 1,502,839 possible forms that can be derived from a single verb root.^[7]

Classification

The classification of the Archi language has not been definitively established. Peter von Uslar felt it should be considered a variant of Avar,^{[citation needed]} but Roderich von Erckert saw it as closer to Lak.^{[citation needed]} The language has also been considered as a separate entity that could be placed somewhere between Avar and Lak.^{[by whom?][citation needed]} The Italian linguist Alfredo Trombetti placed Archi within an Avar–Ando–Dido group,^{[citation needed]} but today the most widely recognized opinion follows that of the Soviet scholar Bokarev, who regards Archi as one of the Lezgian–Samur group of the Dagestan languages.^{[citation needed]} Schulze places it in the Lezgian branch with all other Lezgian languages belonging to the Samur group.^[2]

Phonology

Archi has, like its Northeast Caucasian relatives, a very complicated phonological system, with Archi being an extreme example. It has 26 vowel phonemes and, depending on analysis, between 74 and 82 consonant phonemes.

Vowels

Archi has a symmetric six-vowel system (/i e ə a o u/).^[5]

Vowel phonemes of Archi

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Mid	e eː	ə	o oː
Open		a aː

All vowels except for /ə/ can occur in five varieties: short, pharyngealized, high tone, long (with high tone), and pharyngealized with high tone (e.g. /a/, /aˤ/, /á/, /áː/, and /áˤ/). Of all these, only /ə/ and /íˤ/ do not occur word-initially.^[8] Examples of non-initial /íˤ/ are /díˤt͡ʃa/ ('to be fat')^[9] and /iˤntíˤmmaj/ ('brain').^[10]

Consonants

Of all living languages, Archi has the world's largest phonemic non-click consonant inventory, with only the recently extinct Ubykh of the Northwest Caucasian languages having a few more. The table below shows all consonants that can be found in the Archi Language Tutorial^[5] and the Archi Dictionary.^[8]

Consonant phonemes of Archi

			Labial	Dental		(Post)- alveolar		(Pre-)velar		Uvular				Epiglottal	Glottal
				plain	lab.	plain	lab.	plain	lab.	plain	lab.	phar.	phar.+lab.
Nasal			m	n
Plosive	voiced		b	d	dʷ2			ɡ	ɡʷ
	voiceless		p	t	tʷ			k	kʷ	q	qʷ	qˤ	qˤʷ	ʡ	ʔ1
	fortis		pː1	tː1				kː1	kʷː2	qʼː1		qˤʼː
	ejective		pʼ	tʼ				kʼ	kʷʼ	qʼ	qʷʼ	qˤʼ	qˤʷʼ
Affricate	voiceless	lenis		t͡s	t͡sʷ2	t͡ʃ	t͡ʃʷ	k͡𝼄	k͡𝼄ʷ
		fortis		t͡sː3
	ejective	lenis		t͡sʼ	t͡sʷʼ	t͡ʃʼ	t͡ʃʷʼ	k͡𝼄ʼ	k͡𝼄ʷʼ
		fortis		t͡sʼː1		t͡ʃʼː2
Fricative	voiceless	lenis		s	sʷ2	ʃ	ʃʷ	𝼄	𝼄ʷ	χ	χʷ	χˤ	χˤʷ		h
		fortis		sː	sʷː2	ʃː	ʃʷː	𝼄ː	𝼄ʷː	χː	χʷː	χˤː	χˤʷː
	voiced			z	zʷ	ʒ	ʒʷ	ʟ̝1		ʁ	ʁʷ2	ʁˤ	ʁˤʷ
Trill				r										ʜ
Approximant				l		j			w

1. These have no word-initial dictionary entries (even though /pː/, /tː/, and /kː/ are relatively common).
2. These appear in the Tutorial but have no dictionary entries.
3. This does not appear in the Tutorial but does have a word-internal dictionary entry (in /mot͡sːór/, 'alpine pasture used in summer').^[11]

Some of these sounds are very rare. For example, /ʁˤʷ/ has only one dictionary entry word-internally (in /íʁˤʷdut/, 'heavy')^[12] and two entries word-initially. Likewise, /ʟ̝/ has only two dictionary entries: /náʟ̝dut/ ('blue; unripe')^[13] and /k͡𝼄ʼéʟ̝dut/ ('crooked, curved').^[14]

The fortis consonants are not simply two instances of the same consonant, though they do appear largely complementary, with the double instances /mm/, /ll/, and /nn/ being the most common and /zz/ less so. That said, /pp/ can still be found in /𝼄íppu/ ('three').^[15] This is also noted by Kodzasov (1977),^[16] who describes the fortis consonants as follows:

"Strong phonemes are characterized by the intensiveness (tension) of the articulation. The intensity of the pronunciation leads to a natural lengthening of the duration of the sound, and that is why strong [consonants] differ from weak ones by greater length. [However,] the adjoining of two single weak sounds does not produce a strong one […] Thus, the gemination of a sound does not by itself create its tension."

The voiceless velar lateral fricative /𝼄/, the voiced velar lateral fricative /ʟ̝/, and the corresponding voiceless and ejective affricates /k͡𝼄/, /k͡𝼄ʼ/ are extremely unusual speech sounds among the languages of the world, because velar fricatives are usually central rather than lateral. The velar laterals are further forward than velars in most languages and could better be called prevelar, like the Tutorial does.^[5]

Orthography

Until recently Archi did not have a written form, except in studies by specialists who used the Latin script. In 2006, the Surrey Morphology Group developed a Cyrillic alphabet for Archi based on the Avar alphabet, which is used in the Archi–Russian–English Dictionary alongside an IPA transcription.^[7]

Practical orthography of Archi by SMG^[17]

А а /a/	Аӏ аӏ /aˤ/	А́ а́ /á/	А́а а́а /áː/	А́ӏ а́ӏ /áˤ/	Ы ы /ə/	Б б /b/
В в /w/	Г г /g/	Гв гв /gʷ/	Гъ гъ /ʁ/	Гъв гъв /ʁʷ/	Гъӏ гъӏ /ʁˤ/	Гъӏв гъӏв /ʁˤʷ/
Гь гь /h/	Гӏ гӏ /ʡ/	Д д /d/	Дв дв /dʷ/	Е е /e/	Еӏ еӏ /eˤ/	Е́ е́ /é/
Е́е е́е /éː/	Е́ӏ е́ӏ /éˤ/	Ж ж /ʒ/	Жв жв /ʒʷ/	З з /z/	Зв зв /zʷ/	И и /i/
Иӏ иӏ /iˤ/	И́ и́ /í/	И́и и́и /íː/	И́ӏ и́ӏ /íˤ/	Й й /j/	К к /k/	Кв кв /kʷ/
Кк кк /kː/	Ккв ккв /kʷː/	Ккъ ккъ /qʼː/	Ккъӏ ккъӏ /qˤʼː/	Къ къ /qʼ/	Къв къв /qʷʼ/	Къӏ къӏ /qˤʼ/
Къӏв къӏв /qˤʷʼ/	Кь кь /k͡𝼄ʼ/, /ʟ̝/	Кьв кьв /k͡𝼄ʷʼ/	Кӏ кӏ /kʼ/	Кӏв кӏв /kʷʼ/	Л л /l/	Ллъ ллъ /𝼄ː/
Ллъв ллъв /𝼄ʷː/	Лъ лъ /𝼄/	Лъв лъв /𝼄ʷ/	Лӏ лӏ /k͡𝼄/	Лӏв лӏв /k͡𝼄ʷ/	М м /m/	Н н /n/
О о /o/	Оӏ оӏ /oˤ/	О́ о́ /ó/	О́о о́о /óː/	О́ӏ о́ӏ /óˤ/	П п /p/	Пп пп /pː/
Пӏ пӏ /pʼ/	Р р /r/	С с /s/	Св св /sʷ/	Сс сс /sː/	Ссв ссв /sʷː/	Т т /t/
Тв тв /tʷ/	Тт тт /tː/	Тӏ тӏ /tʼ/	У у /u/	Уӏ уӏ /uˤ/	У́ у́ /ú/	У́у у́у /úː/
У́ӏ у́ӏ /úˤ/	Х х /χ/	Хв хв /χʷ/	Хх хх /χː/	Ххв ххв /χʷː/	Ххьӏ ххьӏ /χˤː/	Ххьӏв ххьӏв /χˤʷː/
Хъ хъ /q/	Хъв хъв /qʷ/	Хъӏ хъӏ /qˤ/	Хъӏв хъӏв /qˤʷ/	Хьӏ хьӏ /χˤ/	Хьӏв хьӏв /χˤʷ/	Ц ц /t͡s/
Цв цв /t͡sʷ/	Цц цц /t͡sː/	Ццӏ ццӏ /t͡sʼː/	Цӏ цӏ /t͡sʼ/	Цӏв цӏв /t͡sʷʼ/	Ч ч /t͡ʃ/	Чв чв /t͡ʃʷ/
Ччӏ ччӏ /t͡ʃʼː/	Чӏ чӏ /t͡ʃʼ/	Чӏв чӏв /t͡ʃʷʼ/	Ш ш /ʃ/	Шв шв /ʃʷ/	Щ щ /ʃː/	Щв щв /ʃʷː/
Ъ ъ /ʔ/

Grammar

Nouns

Archi nouns inflect for number (singular or plural) and for one of 10 regular cases and 5 locative cases that can all take one of 6 directional suffixes.^[5] There are four noun classes, which are only evident from verbal agreement.^[5]

Case

Case	Marker	Sg. 'ram'	Pl. 'rams'
Absolutive	-∅	baˤkʼ	baˤkʼ-ur
Ergative	-∅	beˤkʼ-iri	baˤkʼ-ur-čaj
Genitive	-n	beˤkʼ-iri-n	baˤkʼ-ur-če-n
Dative	-s, -sː	beˤkʼ-iri-s	baˤkʼ-ur-če-s
Comitative	-𝼄ːu	beˤkʼ-iri-𝼄ːu	baˤkʼ-ur-če-𝼄ːu
Similative	-qˤdi	beˤkʼ-iri-qˤdi	baˤkʼ-ur-če-qˤdi
Causal	-šːi	beˤkʼ-iri-šːi	baˤkʼ-ur-če-šːi
Comparative	-χur	beˤkʼ-iri-χur	baˤkʼ-ur-če-χur
Partitive	-qˤiš	beˤkʼ-iri-qˤiš	baˤkʼ-ur-če-qˤiš
Substitutive	-k͡𝼄ʼəna	beˤkʼ-iri-k͡𝼄ʼəna	baˤkʼ-ur-če-k͡𝼄ʼəna

Depending on the specifics of the analysis, the ergative and the absolutive cases are not always marked by a specific suffix. Rather, they are marked by the use of the basic (for the absolutive) and oblique (for the ergative) stems in the absence of other markers. There is also a locative-case series in which 6 directional-case suffixes are combined with 5 spatial cases to produce a total of 30 case-localization combinations. However, they do not constitute 30 distinct case forms because they are easily derivable from a pair of morphemes.

Spatial case	Marker	Directional case	Marker
Inessive ("in")	-aj / -a	Essive ("As")	-∅
Intrative ("between")	- qˤ(a-)	Elative ("Out of")	-š
Superessive ("above")	-tːi- / -t	Lative ("To"/"Into")	-k
Subessive ("below")	-k͡𝼄ʼ(a-)	Allative ("Onto")	-ši
Pertingent ("against")	-ra-	Terminative (Specifies a limit)	-kena
		Translative (Indicates change)	-χutː

Noun classes

The four noun classes of Archi are only evident from verbal inflection. This table summarizes the noun classes and their associated verbal morphology:

Class	Description	Singular		Plural
		Prefix	Infix	Prefix
I	Male human	w-	⟨w⟩	b-
II	Female human	d-	⟨r⟩
III	All insects, some animates, some inanimates	b-	⟨b⟩	∅-
IV	Abstracts, some animates, some inanimates	∅	∅

Example phrases

The following phrases were phonetically transcribed from Archi:^[18]

Archi transcription	English
x́it barḳur	The ladle breaks.
x́it ax̄u	The spoon (literally: little ladle) became dirty.
k̂ut̄ali berx̄ur	The bag stays.
k̂ut̄ali eku	The little bag fell.
č̣ut abḳu	The jug broke.
č̣ut aḳu	The little jug broke.
ḳunḳum barx̄ur	The kettle becomes dirty.
ḳunḳum oq̄́u	The little kettle sank (literally: drowned).
motol orq̄́ur	The young goat drowns.
uri arč̣ur	The young horse hides itself.
biš ač̣u	The young cow hid itself.
ḳêrt erkur	The young donkey falls.
dogi ebku	The donkey fell.
q̇on abč̣u	The goat hid itself.
nôiš ebx̄u	The horse stayed.

Diminutive

The inclusions of "little" and "young" in the phrases translate a diminutive, which in Archi language commonly refers either to a smaller or younger version of the subject. The non-diminutive nouns in the above examples belong to noun class III, while their diminutives belong to noun class IV. This difference in noun class is reflected on the verb in all of these examples, by the contrast between class III agreement in b from class IV in ∅ (with no b). The -b- in the past tense appears in front of the -x̄u / -č̣u / -ku inflection, while in the present tense the b- is the first letter of the verb. For the nouns referring to inanimate objects, the class shift is the only sign of the diminutive: the noun itself does not change in form. E.g. x́it means both "ladle" (III) and "spoon" (IV), k̂ut̄ali both "bag" (III) and "little bag" (IV). Nouns pertaining to younger animals have different words, e.g. dogi "donkey" (III) but ḳêrt "young donkey" (IV), nôiš "horse" (III) but uri "young horse" (IV).