Bagvalal language

The Bagvalal language (Bagulal) is an Avar–Andic language spoken by the Bagvalals in southwestern Dagestan, Russia, along the right bank of the river Andi-Koisu and the surrounding hills, near the Georgian border. It is fairly similar to Tindi, its closest relative. The 2020 Russian census recorded 2,297 Bagvalal speakers.^[2]

Bagvalal
Bagualal, Bagwalal
багвалал мисӀсӀ
Pronunciation	[bagwalal mis’ː]
Native to	North Caucasus
Region	Southwestern Dagestan[1]
Ethnicity	Bagvalal people
Native speakers	2,300 (2020 census)[2]
Language family	Northeast Caucasian Avar–Andic Andic Akhvakh–Tindi Karata–Tindi Botlikh–Tindi Bagvalal–Tindi Bagvalal
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kva
Glottolog	bagv1239
ELP	Bagvalal
Bagvalal
Bagvalal is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010)

Dialects

Bagvalal has three dialects which are named after the names of the villages in which they are spoken in, being Kwanada, Khushtada, and Tlisi. Only the Tlisi dialect has been studied to a certain significance, because of its similarities to the Tindi language.^{[citation needed]}

Speakers

Bagvalal has been suffering severe problems and is in serious danger of extinction. The schooling and cultural revolution have contributed to Bagvalal's serious decline. Bagvalal pupils are taught in Avar in primary school, and in secondary school they are taught in Russian. Between 1950 and 1970, Bagvalals migrated to different districts in the Astrakhan province of Russia, and this also affected the Bagvalal language.^{[citation needed]} Despite this, most of the Bagvalal are supportive towards the language, and around 30~50% of children are fluent in the language.^[3] While it is still being used for everyday communication, the younger speakers do not speak it as well as the older speakers.

History

Bagvalal was first mentioned in the 19th century, but very few recordings of the language have been made. There has been very little linguistic research done on the language, with the exception of a 2001 book.^[4]

Phonology

Consonants

			Labial	Dental		Lateral		Sibilant		Postalveolar		Palatal	Velar		Uvular		Pharyngeal	Laryngeal
				plain	lab.	plain	lab.	plain	lab.	plain	lab.		plain	lab.	plain	lab.		plain	lab.
Plosive & affricate	voiced		b	d	dʷ					d͡ʒ			g	gʷ
	voiceless		p	t	tʷ			t͡s	t͡sʷ	t͡ʃ	t͡ʃʷ		k	kʷ	q	qʷ
	ejective			tʼ	tʷʼ	tɬʼ	tɬʷʼ	t͡sʼ	t͡sʷʼ	t͡ʃʼ	t͡ʃʷʼ		kʼ	kʷʼ	qʼ	qʷʼ		ʔ
Fricative	voiced							z	zʷ	ʒ	ʒʷ				ʁ	ʁʷ	ʕ
	voiceless	lenis				ɬ		s	sʷ	ʃ	ʃʷ		x		χ	χʷ	ħ	h	hʷ
		fortis				ɬ̄		s̄	s̄ʷ	ʃ̄					χ̄	χ̄ʷ
	ejective							sʼ	sʷʼ	ʃʼ	ʃ̄ʷʼ
Nasal			m	n
Liquid				r	rʷ	l	lʷ
Glide			w									j

Lexicon

Bagvalal has numerous loanwords from such languages as Arabic, Russian, Turkish, and Avar.^{[citation needed]} It is only used as an oral language; Avar or Russian are used as written languages. Nowadays Bagvalal is only used in family settings, using Avar or Russian for every other area of communication.^[5]