Tindi language

Tindi is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken in the Russian republic of Dagestan. Tindis have no individual designation for their language, but those living in the village of Idar [ru] call their language Idarab mitstsi meaning 'the language of the Idar village'. It is only an oral language; Avar or Russian are used in written communication instead.^[2] Tindi vocabulary contains many loanwords from Avar, Turkish, Arabic, and Russian.^[3] It has approximately 4,500 speakers.^[1]

Tindi
Идараб мицци Idarab mittsi
Pronunciation	[idarab mitsːi]
Native to	North Caucasus
Region	Southern Dagestan
Ethnicity	Tindi people
Native speakers	4,500 (2020 census)[1]
Language family	Northeast Caucasian Avar–Andic Andic Akhvakh–Tindi Karata–Tindi Botlikh–Tindi Bagvalal–Tindi Tindi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	tin
Glottolog	tind1238
ELP	Tindi
Tindi
Tindi is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Phonology

Vowels

There are 20 phonemic vowels in Tindi.^[4][5]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Mid	e eː		o oː
Open		a aː

Nasalized vowels may also exist as /ĩ, ẽ, ã, õ, ũ/ and as long-nasalized /ĩː, ẽː, ãː, õː, ũː/.

Consonants

		Labial	Dental		Alveolar				Palatal	Velar				Uvular		Pharyn- geal	Glottal
					central		lateral			central		palatalized
			lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis		lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis
Nasal		m	n
Plosive	voiceless	p	t							k	kː	kʲ	kʲː
	ejective		tʼ							kʼ		kʲʼ					ʔ
	voiced	b	d							ɡ		ɡʲ
Affricate	voiceless		t͡s	t͡sː	t͡ʃ	t͡ʃː		t͡ɬː							q͡χː
	ejective		t͡sʼ	t͡sʼː	t͡ʃʼ	t͡ʃʼː		t͡ɬʼː							q͡χʼː
Fricative	voiceless		s	sː	ʃ	ʃː	ɬ	ɬː	ç					χ	χː	ħ	h
	voiced		z		ʒ									ʁ		ʕ
Trill					r
Approximant		w	l						j

Orthography

Tindi is typically unwritten. A 2003 dictionary uses the following orthography:^[6]

А а	А̄ а̄	Аᵸ аᵸ	А̄ᵸ а̄ᵸ	Б б	В в	Г г	Г' г'	Гъ гъ
Гь гь	ГӀ гӀ	Д д	Е е	Еᵸ еᵸ	Е̄ е̄	Ж ж	Дж дж	З з
И и	Ӣ ӣ	Иᵸ иᵸ	Ӣᵸ ӣᵸ	Й й	К к	Кк кк	К' к'	Кк' кк'
КӀ кӀ	КӀ' кӀ'	Л л	Лъ лъ	Лъ' лъ'	Ллъ ллъ	ЛӀ лӀ	М м	Н н
О о	О̄ о̄	Оᵸ оᵸ	П п	С с	C̄ c̄	Т т	ТӀ тӀ	У у
Ӯ ӯ	Уᵸ уᵸ	Ӯᵸ ӯᵸ	Х х	Хх хх	Хъ хъ	Хь хь	Хь' хь'	ХӀ хӀ
Ц ц	Цц цц	ЦӀ цӀ	Ч ч	Чч чч	Ш ш	Щ щ	Ъ ъ	Э э