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): (1.Mæxæmæt Xaydaqti &2.Jaljinah Hanirah Nozeyvesch Linnah) Northern Źh‘anqvaleja Kaitag & Centralest Barshamaykalano Kaitag & Dialects Kaitag Anothers The Caucasus 84 letters Dargin-Kaitag UDHR 99.673 People Languages Spoken 201.340 Google Translate (Xaydaqla.Xaydaqćra.Xaydan.Xaydaqnal/Хайдаҡла.Хайдаҡчра.Хайдан.Хайдаҡнал)

2024/2025 Version:

а [ɑ]~[ɐ̤̆˞]

б [b]

в [β]~[ʷ]

г [g]~[ɢ]

гв [gʷ]~[ɰ̤̰̆̃̈˞]

ғ [ʁ]

ғв [ʁʷ]

д [d]~[ð]

е [ɛ]~[ɤ]~[ə]

ж [ʐ]

жв [ʑʷ]

жь [ʝʰ]~[zʓʲ]

з [zʼ]

и [ɪ̈̃]~[ɜ]

й [jː]

к [kʰ]

кв [kʷʰ]

кк [kː]

ккв [kʷː]

кь [kʼ]

кьв [kʷʼ]

ҡ [qʰ]

ҡв [qʷʰ]

ҡҡ [qː]~[ɢː] [qχː]

ҡҡв [qʷː]

ҡь [qʼ]

ҡьв [qʷʼ]

л [ɬ]~[ɫʰʼ]

м [m]

н [ɳ]

о [ɔ]~[ʷɑ̆ː]~[œ]~[ɯ] [ɨ]~[ɵ̤̰̆̈̃͡ɞ˞]~[ʊ̬̤̰̈̃]~[ɞ̤̰̬̈̃̆]

п [pʰ]

пп [pː]

пь [pʼ]

р [ɻʰ]~[ɾ̆ʼʲ]

с [s]

сс [sː]

сь [s˞ʼ]

т [tʰ]

тт [tː]

ть [tʼ]

у [u]

х [χ]

хв [χʷ]

хх [χː]

ххв [χʷː]

ҳ [ç]~[x]

ҳв [çʷ]~[xʷ]

ҳҳ [çː]~[xː]

ҳҳв [çʷː]~[xʷː]

ц [t͡sʰ]

цц [t͡sː]~[t͡θʼː]

ць [t͡sʼ]

ч [t͡ʂʰ]

чв [t͡ʃʷʰ]

чч [t͡ɕː]

ччв [t͡ʆʷʼː]

чь [t͡ɕʼ]

чьв [t͡ʃʷʼ]~[t͡ʂʷʼ]

чр [t͡ɕˁ]

чрв [t͡͡ɕʷˁ]

ччр [t͡ɕˁʼʷː]

ччрв [t͡ɕˀʼʷː]

ш [ʃ]~[ʃʷ]~[ʃː]~[ʃʷː]

ъ [ʔʼ]~[ʡʼ]

ь [h]~[ħ]

я [æ]~[ɘ̬̤̰̆̈̃˞ˁ]

•Notes

The Letters (Ёё Фф Щщ Ыы Ээ Юю and Ӏ) Discutaration Not Kaitag Letting Dialects Of Country Foreign Names And Blaouuer Loanwords The 6 Letters Names The Word Excel The Empire

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)ɜ]
3	he	ье [hɤ]
4	we	нисса [nɜsːɑ] (excl.), ниҳҳва [nɜçʷːɑ] (incl.)
5	you (plural)	нишша [nɜʃːɑ]
6	they	ьетти [hɤtːɜ]
7	this	ьеж [hɤʒ]
8	that	ьет [hɤtʰ]
9	here	ьежин [hɤʒɜn]
10	there	ьетин [hɤtʰɜn]
11	who	ча [t͡ʃʰɑ]
12	what	ци [t͡sʰɜ]
13	where	квацци [kʷʰɑt͡sːɜ]
14	when	циҡҡел [t͡sʰɜqːɤl]
15	how	цигле [t͡sʰɜglɤ]
16	not	аккву [ɑkʷːu] (n.), а(й)- [ɑ(j)-] (v.)
17	all	с*кке [sukːɤ]
18	many	даҡ [dɑqʰ]
19	some	чумилра [t͡ʃʰumɜlrɑ]
20	few	кам [kʰɑm]
21	other	дикьар [dɪkʼɑr]
22	one	ца [t͡sʰɑ]
23	two	чьвелҡ [t͡ʃʷʼɤɬqʰ]
24	three	яьв [æhβ]
25	four	уғ [uʁ]
26	five	шве [ʃʷɤ]
27	big	хвала [χʷɑlɑ]
28	long	уҡен [uqʰɤn]
29	wide	бяъу [bæʔu]
30	thick	буцц [but͡sː]
31	heavy	д3кь [dɤkʼ]
32	small	никьва [nɜkʷʼɑ]
33	short	куть [kutʼ]
34	narrow	ғвярць [ʁʷærcʼ]
35	thin	букьал [bukʼɑl]
36	woman	ҳҳулум [çːulum]
37	man (adult male)	мургул [murgul]
38	man (human being)	мейдам [mɤjdɑm]
39	child	дярья [dærhæ]
40	wife	ҳҳади [çːɑdɜ]
41	husband	сув [suβ]
42	mother	уба [ubɑ]
43	father	атта [ɑtːɑ]
44	animal	мицьираг [mɪcʼɜrɑg]
45	fish	кьас [kʼɑs]
46	bird	аҳлиъян [ɑçlɜʔ’æn]
47	dog	ххвя [χʷːæ]
48	louse	нез [nɤz]
49	snake	цьецьи [cʼɤcʼɜ]
50	worm	милҡҡвя [mɜlqʷːæ]
51	tree	ккалкка [kːɑlkːɑ]
52	forest	дуцца [dut͡sːɑ]
53	stick	мирғя [mɜrʁæ]
54	fruit	удар [udɑr]
55	seed	шва [ʃʷɑ]
56	leaf	кьаппар [kʼɑpːɑr]
57	root	йамппа [jɑmpːɑ]
58	bark (of a tree)	кам [kɑm]
59	flower	жуже [ʒɨʒɜ]
60	grass	кьар [qʼɑr]