Karata-Tukita language

Karata (кӏкӏирлӏи) is an Andic language of the Northeast Caucasian language family spoken in southern Dagestan, Russia by 9,549 Karata in 2020. There are ten towns in which the language is traditionally spoken: Karata, Anchix, Tukita, Rachabalda, Lower Inxelo, Mashtada, Archo, Chabakovo, Racitl, and formerly Siux.^[2] Speakers use Avar as their literary language.^[3]

Karata
К̄ӀирлӀе мац̄Ӏи k’ːirƛi mic’ːi
Pronunciation	[k’ːirt͡ɬi mits’ːi]
Native to	North Caucasus
Region	Southern Dagestan
Ethnicity	Karata
Native speakers	9,549 (2020 census)[1]
Language family	Northeast Caucasian Avar–Andic Andic Akhvakh–Tindi Karata–Tindi Karata
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kpt
Glottolog	kara1474
ELP	Karata
Karata
Karata is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010)

Dialects

The language has two dialects, Karata and Tukita, which slightly differ in phonetics and morphology but are mutually intelligible.^[4] Tukita is sometimes considered a separate language, on the basis of lexicostatistics.^[5][6] There are also four subdialects; Anchikh, Archi, Ratsitl and Rachabalda, named after their respective villages.^[4]

Phonology

Consonants

Karata has 45 consonants.^[7]

Consonant phonemes of Karata^[8]

		Labial	Dental		Alveolar				Palatal	Velar		Uvular		Pharyn- geal	Glottal
					central		lateral
			lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis		lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis
Nasal		m	n
Plosive	voiced	b	d							ɡ
	voiceless	p	t							k					ʔ
	ejective	(pʼ)	tʼ							kʼ
Affricate	voiced				(d͡ʒ)
	voiceless		t͡s	t͡sː	t͡ʃ	t͡ʃː		t͡ɬː			k͡xː		q͡χː
	ejective		t͡sʼ	t͡sʼː	t͡ʃʼ	t͡ʃʼː	t͡ɬʼ	t͡ɬʼː			k͡xʼː		q͡χʼː
Fricative	voiceless		s	sː	ʃ	ʃː	ɬ	ɬː	ç	x	xː			ʜ	h
	voiced	v	z		ʒ					ɣ				ʢ
Trill					r
Approximant							l		j

• The glottal stop transcribed here is named rather ambiguously a "glottalic laryngeal" by the source.

Vowels

Karata has 18 vowels.^[7]