Kaitag language

Not to be confused with with the Kajtak dialect of Judeo-Tat.

Kaitag (Kaitag: Хайдакьан кув [χɑjdɑqʼɑn kʰuβ]; also Kaidak, Karakaitak, Karkaidak, Qaidaqlan) is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken in Dagestan, Russia. It has sometimes been considered a divergent dialect of Dargwa due to it being part of the Dargin dialect continuum. The Routledge Ethnographic Handbook (2017) divided Kaitag into two dialects: northern (Magalis-Kaitak) and southern (Karakaitak).^[2] Recent results of the Association of the Russian Sociolinguists (2021) further developed it into three dialects: Lower Kaitag, Upper Kaitag and Shari, the latter of which may be a separate but closely related language.^[3]

Kaitag
Kaidak, Karakaitak, Karkaidak, Qaidaqlan
хайдакьан кув
A speaker of Kaitag.
Pronunciation	[χɑjdɑqʼɑn kʰuβ] [χajdaq’la]
Native to	North Caucasus
Region	Dagestan
Ethnicity	Kaitags
Native speakers	approx. 30,000 (2020)[1]
Language family	Northeast Caucasian Dargin Kaitag group Kaitag
Dialects	Upper Kaitag Lower Kaitag Shari (may be a separate language)
Writing system	Cyrillic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xdq
Glottolog	kajt1238
Kaitag

Dialects

The languages consists of eight varieties, forming three dialects. Each of the Upper varieties corresponds to a historical province of the region.^[4]

• Upper Kaitag – Хъар Хайдакь (south-west).
  • Shurkkant – "The Cliff Dwellers" – Шурккант.
  • Qattagan – "The Gorge Dwellers" – Къаттагне.
  • Irchamul – "The Land of Nine" – Ирчӏамул.
• Lower Kaitag – Ххьар Хайдакь.
  • Barshamai – Баршамаӏъган.
  • Karatsan – Гъаӏрцӏнила.
  • Jibahni – Чӏивгьаӏн.
  • Sanchi – Сунклан.
• Shari – Шаӏръи.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Back
close		u
near-close	ɪ
open-mid	ɛ
near-open	æ
open		ɑ

Consonants

Consonants form by series of voiced, aspirated, fortis, ejective, and labialized variants. The palatal fricative [ç] might be the voiceless post-palatal fricative, which can be more precisely transcribed as [ç̠] or [x̟].^[5]

		Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
				plain	labialized	plain	labialized	plain	labialized	plain	labialized	plain	labialized
Nasal		m	n
Plosive	voiced	b	d					g	gʷ			ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ					kʰ	kʷʰ	qʰ	qʷʰ
	fortis	pː	tː					kː	kʷː	qː	qʷː
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ					kʼ	kʷʼ	qʼ	qʷʼ
Affricate	aspirated		t͡sʰ	t͡ʃʰ	t͡ʃʷʰ
	fortis		t͡sː	t͡ʃː	t͡ʃʷː
	ejective		t͡sʼ	t͡ʃʼ	t͡ʃʷʼ
Fricative	voiced	β	z	ʒ	ʒʷ					ʁ	ʁʷ
	plain		s	ʃ	ʃʷ	ç	çʷ			χ	χʷ	h	hʷ
	fortis		sː	ʃː	ʃʷː	çː	çʷː			χː	χʷː
Trill				r
Approximant			l			j

Alphabet

The Kaitag language is usually written in the Cyrillic script. The letters of the alphabet are (with their pronunciation given below in IPA transcription):

а [ɑ]~[a]

аӏ [æ]

б [b]

в [β]

г [g]

гв [gʷ]

гъ [ʁ]

гъв [ʁʷ]

гь [h]

гьв [hʷ]

д [d]

е [ɛ]~[e]

ж [ʒ]

жв [ʒʷ]

з [z]

и [ɪ]~[i]

й [j]

к [kʰ]

кв [kʷʰ]

кк [kː]

ккв [kʷː]

кӏ [kʼ]

кӏв [kʷʼ]

хъ [qʰ]

хъв [qʷʰ]

къ [qː]

къв [qʷː]

кь [qʼ]

кь [qʷʼ]

л [l]

м [m]

н [n]

п [pʰ]

пп [pː]

пӏ [pʼ]

с [s]

сс [sː]

т [tʰ]

тт [tː]

тӏ [tʼ]

у [u]

х [χ]

хв [χʷ]

хх [χː]

ххв [χʷː]

хь [ç]

хьв [çʷ]

ххь [çː]

ххьв [çʷː]

ц [t͡sʰ]

цц [t͡sː]

цӏ [t͡sʼ]

ч [t͡ʃʰ]

чв [t͡ʃʷʰ]

чч [t͡ʃː]

ччв [t͡ʃʷː]

чӏ [t͡ʃʼ]

чӏв [t͡ʃʷʼ]

ш [ʃ]

шв [ʃʷ]

шш [ʃː]

шшв [ʃʷː]

ъ [ʔ]

Lexicon

Most of Kaitag's vocabulary stems from proto-Northeast-Caucasian roots. Like with other languages of Dagestan, there is a considerable number of Arabic, Iranian, Turkic and recently Russian loanwords.

Swadesh list for Kaitag

No.	English	Kaitag
1	I	ду [du]
2	you (singular)	и [(ʔ)ɪ]
3	he	гье [hɛ]
4	we	нисса [nisːɑ] (excl.), ниххьва [niçʷːɑ] (incl.)
5	you (plural)	нишша [niʃːɑ]
6	they	гьетти [hetːɪ]
7	this	гьеж [hɛʒ]
8	that	гьет [hɛtʰ]
9	here	гьежин [hɛʒɪn]
10	there	гьетин [hɛtʰɪn]
11	who	ча [t͡ʃʰɑ]
12	what	ци [t͡sʰɪ]
13	where	квацци [kʷʰɑt͡sːɪ]
14	when	цикъел [t͡sʰɪqːɛl]
15	how	цигле [t͡sʰɪglɛ]
16	not	аккву [ɑkʷːu] (n.), а(й)- [ɑ(j)-] (v.)
17	all	сукке [sukːɛ]
18	many	дахъ [dɑqʰ]
19	some	чумилра [t͡ʃʰumɪlrɑ]
20	few	кам [kʰɑm]
21	other	дикӏар [dɪkʼɑr]
22	one	ца [t͡sʰɑ]
23	two	чӏве [t͡ʃʷʼɛ]
24	three	аӏв [æβ]
25	four	угъ [uʁ]
26	five	шве [ʃʷɛ]
27	big	хвала [χʷɑlɑ]
28	long	ухъен [uqʰɛn]
29	wide	баӏъу [bæʔu]
30	thick	буцц [but͡sː]
31	heavy	декӏ [dɛkʼ]
32	small	никӏва [nɪkʷʼɑ]
33	short	кутӏ [kutʼ]
34	narrow	гъваӏрцӏ [ʁʷærcʼ]
35	thin	букӏал [bukʼɑl]
36	woman	ххьулум [çːulum]
37	man (adult male)	мургул [murgul]
38	man (human being)	мейдам [mɛjdɑm]
39	child	даӏргьаӏ [dærhæ]
40	wife	ххьади [çːɑdɪ]
41	husband	сув [suβ]
42	mother	уба [ubɑ]
43	father	атта [ɑtːɑ]
44	animal	мицӏираг [mɪcʼɪrɑg]
45	fish	кӏас [kʼɑs]
46	bird	ахьлиъаӏн [ɑçlɪʔæn]
47	dog	ххваӏ [χʷːæ]
48	louse	нез [nɛz]
49	snake	цӏецӏи [cʼɛcʼɪ]
50	worm	милкъваӏ [mɪlqʷːæ]
51	tree	ккалкка [kːɑlkːɑ]
52	forest	дуцца [dut͡sːɑ]
53	stick	миргъаӏ [mɪrʁæ]
54	fruit	удар [udɑr]
55	seed	шва [ʃʷɑ]
56	leaf	кӏаппар [kʼɑpːɑr]
57	root	йамппа [jɑmpːɑ]
58	bark (of a tree)	кам [kɑm]
59	flower	жуже [ʒuʒɛ]
60	grass	кьар [qʼɑr]