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 call their language meaning 'the language of the Idar village'. It is only an oral language; Avar or Russian are used in written communication instead. Tindi vocabulary contains many loanwords from Avar, Turkish, Arabic, and Russian. It has approximately 4,500 speakers.
Phonology
Vowels There are 20 phonemic vowels in Tindi. FrontCentralBackClosei iːu uːMide eːo oːOpena aː Nasalized vowels may also exist as and as long-nasalized .
Consonants LabialDentalAlveolarPalatalVelarUvularPharyn-gealGlottalcentrallateralcentralpalatalizedlenisfortislenisfortislenisfortislenisfortislenisfortislenisfortisNasalmnPlosive voicelessptkkːkʲkʲːejectivetʼkʼkʲʼʔ voicedbdɡɡʲAffricate voicelesst͡st͡sːt͡ʃt͡ʃːt͡ɬːq͡χːejectivet͡sʼt͡sʼːt͡ʃʼt͡ʃʼːt͡ɬʼːq͡χʼːFricativevoicelessssːʃʃːɬɬːçχχːħh voicedzʒʁʕTrillrApproximantwlj
Orthography Tindi is typically unwritten. A 2003 dictionary uses the following orthography: А аА̄ а̄Аᵸ аᵸА̄ᵸ а̄ᵸБ бВ вГ гГ' г'Гъ гъГь гьГӀ гӀД дЕ еЕᵸ еᵸЕ̄ е̄Ж жДж джЗ зИ иӢ ӣИᵸ иᵸӢᵸ ӣᵸЙ йК кКк ккК' к'Кк' кк'КӀ кӀКӀ' кӀ'Л лЛъ лъЛъ' лъ'Ллъ ллъЛӀ лӀМ мН нО оО̄ о̄Оᵸ оᵸП пС сC̄ c̄Т тТӀ тӀУ уӮ ӯУᵸ уᵸӮᵸ ӯᵸХ хХх ххХъ хъХь хьХь' хь'ХӀ хӀЦ цЦц ццЦӀ цӀЧ чЧч ччШ шЩ щЪ ъЭ э
References
External links
The peoples of the Red Book: Tindis Grammatika tindinskogo yazyka