Kubachi language

Kubachi (alternatively Kubachin) is a language in the Dargin dialect continuum spoken in Dagestan, Russia, by Kubachi people.^[3] It is often considered a divergent dialect of Dargwa, but it has also historically been portrayed as a separate language. Ethnologue lists it as a separate language.^[2]

Kubachi
Kubachin
гӀюгъбугъан куб/гъай[1]
Pronunciation	[ʡūˁʁbugan kub/ʁaj]
Native to	North Caucasus
Region	Dagestan
Native speakers	7,000 (2020)[2]
Language family	Northeast Caucasian Dargin Southern[1] Ashti [ru]-Kubachi[1] Kubachi
Writing system	Cyrillic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ugh
Glottolog	kuba1248
Kubachi

Phonology

Vowels

Vowel phonemes of Kubachi

	Front			Back
		plain	phar.	plain	phar.
close	short			[u] у u	[uˤ] уӏ ü
	long			[uː] уу uu	[uˤː] ууӏ üü
near-close	short	[ɪ] и i	[ɪˤ] иӏ ï
	long	[ɪː] ии ii	[ɪˤː] ииӏ ïï
open-mid	short	[ɛ] е e	[ɛˤ] еӏ ë
	long	[ɛː] ee ee	[ɛˤː] eeӏ ëë
open	short			[ɑ] а a	[ɑˤ] аӏ ä
	long			[ɑː] aa aa	[ɑˤː] aaӏ ää

Consonants

The glottal stop transcribed here is named rather ambiguously a "glottalic laryngeal" by both sources.^[which?]

Consonant phonemes of Kubachi

		Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Uvular		Pharyngeal	Glottal
						plain	labialized	plain	labialized
Nasal		[m] м m	[n] н n
Plosive	voiced	[b] б b	[d] д d			[g] г g	[gʷ] гв gw			[ʡ] гӏ ÿ	[ʔ] ъ y
	aspirated	[pʰ] п p	[tʰ] т t			[kʰ] к k	[kʷʰ] кв kw	[qʰ] къ q	[qʷʰ] къв qw
	fortis	[pː] пп pp	[tː] тт tt			[kː] кк kk	[kʷː] ккв kkw	[qː] ккъ qq	[qʷː] ккъв qqw
	ejective	[pʼ] пӏ pʼ	[tʼ] тӏ tʼ			[kʼ] кӏ kʼ	[kʷʼ] кӏв kʼw	[qʼ] кь qʼ	[qʷʼ] кьв qʼw
Affricate	aspirated		[t͡sʰ] ц c	[t͡ʃʰ] ч ç				[q͡χʰ] хъ qx	[q͡χʷʰ] хъв qxw
	fortis		[t͡sː] цц cc	[t͡ʃː] чч çç
	ejective		[t͡sʼ] цӏ cʼ	[t͡ʃʼ] чӏ çʼ
Fricative	voiced		[z] з z	[ʒ] ж ẑ				[ʁ] гъ ĝ	[ʁʷ] гъв ĝw	[ħ] хӏ ħ	[h] гь h
	plain		[s] с s	[ʃ] ш ş		[x] хь ĵ	[xʷ] хьв ĵw	[χ] х x	[χʷ] хв xw
	fortis		[sː] сс ss	[ʃː] шш şş		[xː] ххь ĵĵ	[xʷː] ххьв ĵĵw	[χː] хх xx	[χʷː] ххв xxw
Trill				[r] р r
Approximant		[w] в v	[l] л l		[j] й j

The original Dargwic phoneme [r] in Kubachi has become [j] or disappeared, lengthening the neighboring vowel.^[4]

Alphabet

A page from the book "МаджмугI", the only Kubachi-language book to be published before the Russian Revolution, written in the Arabic script, published in 1913.

А а /ɑ/	Б б /b/	В в /w/	Г г /g/	Гъ гъ /ʁ/	Гь гь /ɦ/	Д д /d/	Е е /e/;/je/	Ё ё /jɔ/	Ж ж /ʒ/
З з /z/	И и /i/	Й й /j/	К к /k/	Кк кк /kː/	Къ къ /qʰ/	Кь кь /qʼ/	Кӏ кӏ /kʼ/	Л л /l/	М м /m/
Н н /n/	О о /n/	П п /pʰ/	Пп пп /pː/	Пӏ пӏ /pʼ/	Р р /r/	С с /s/	Сс сс /sː/	Т т /t/	Тт тт /tː/
Тӏ тӏ /tʼ/	У у /u/	Ф ф /f/	Х х /χ/	Хх хх /χː/	Хъ хъ /qʰ/	Хь хь /x/	Хьхь хьхь /xː/	Хӏ хӏ /ʜ/;/ħ/	Ц ц /ts/
Цц цц /tsː/	Цӏ цӏ /tsʼ/	Ч ч /tʃ/	Чч чч /tʃː/	Чӏ чӏ /tʃʼ/	Ш ш /ʃ/	Шш шш /ʃː/	Ъ ъ /ʔ/	Э э /e/	Ю ю /ju/
Я я /ja/, /jə/