Khinalug language

Khinalug (also spelled Khinalig, Khinalugi, Xinalug(h), Xinaliq or Khinalugh) is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by about 3,000 people in the villages of Khinalug and Gülüstan, Quba in the mountains of Quba Rayon, northern Azerbaijan. It may either belong to the Lezgic branch of the Northeast Caucasian language family, or it may form its own independent branch within that family.Family tree of Northeast Caucasian languages at Ethnologue

Khinalug is endangered,Published in: Encyclopedia of the world’s endangered languages. Edited by Christopher Moseley. London & New York: Routledge, 2007. 211–280. and classified as "severely endangered" by UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger

History Khinalug is the language of the village Khinalug in the Quba district of Azerbaijan. It has been tentatively classified by previous researchers as a member of the Lezgic branch of the Northeast Caucasian languages. Although Khinalug is the official language of the village, it is mostly spoken by villagers in informal circumstances, while the national language Azerbaijani is used formally for educational purposes and to communicate with non-Khinalug speakers. Khinalug is considered to be a threatened language. In recent years, the road leading to the villages where it is spoken has fallen into disrepair, leaving the area mostly isolated.

Phonology The Khinalug language previously had its own script. Alexander Kibrik and a team of 13 linguists from Moscow State University visited the village in 2005. In 2007 they developed a Latin orthography for Khinalug, in collaboration with local school teachers in the village. It is presented in angle brackets on the tables below.

Consonants +ConsonantsKodzasov, S.V., et al., 2007. Khinalug language alphabet (in: Russian).LabialDentalPostalveolar/PalatalVelarUvularPharyngealGlottalNasal Plosive voiceless lenis voiceless fortis voiced ejective Affricate voiceless lenis 3 voiceless fortis voiced ejective Fricative voiceless 2 4 voiced 1 2 4Trill Approximant 1 The cedilla in the orthography is in the middle of the bottom of the <z>, as is typical of Russian linguistics.

2 Kh and gh are rare.

3 Kx is very rare.

4 The pharyngeal sounds mostly appear in Arabic loanwords.

Vowels

Khinalug has nine vowels and four diphthongs. FrontBackHigh Mid Low Diphthongs include: [iu] [ui] [oe] [oa].

Alphabet + Khinalug Cyrillic alphabet12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637АА̃АьБВГГъГӀГӀвДДжДзЕЕ̃ЖЗИИ̃ЙККвКкКхКхвКхкхКъвКьКьӀКӀКӀвЛЛъМНОО̃Оьаа̃аьбвггъгӀгӀвддждзее̃жзии̃йкквкккхкхвкхкхкъвкькьӀкӀкӀвллъмноо̃оь

38394041424344454647484950515253545556575859606162636465666768697071727374ППвПӀРСТТтТӀТӀвТӀтӀУУ̃УьФХХъХъвХьХӀӀӀъЦЦвЦцЦӀЦӀвЧЧчЧӀЧӀвШШвЪЫЭӘӘ̃ппвпӀрсттттӀтӀвтӀтӀуу̃уьфххъхъвхьхӀӀӀъццвцццӀцӀвччччӀчӀвшшвъыэәә̃ The version below was created by scientists from Frankfurt University in 2013, following research into Khinalug phonology by Moscow specialists. + Khinalug Latin alphabet (2013) a b c ç ĉ ċ d e ə f g ğ ĝ h ĥ ḣ x x̂ ı i̇ j k k̂ k̇ q q̂ q̇ l m n o ö p p̂ ṗ r s ŝ ş t t̂ ṫ u ü v y z ẑ ż Kibrik's alphabet from above is presented again, this time in table form. A aB bC cCc ccCʼ cʼÇ çÇç ççÇʼ çʼƏ əF fG gGh ghĞ ğH hHh hhİ iI ıJ jK kKk kkKʼ kʼKh khKx kxL lM mN nO oÖ öP pPp ppPʼ pʼQ qQq qqQʼ qʼR rS sŞ şT tTt ttTʼ tʼU uÜ üV vX xY yZ zZ̧ z̧ʕ

Vocabulary The following words were phonetically transcribed from Khinalug: Khinalug singular Khinalug plural Translation arhaz arhazırdır pen (enclosure for livestock) cʼimir cʼimirdir sparrow izin izindir gingiva kırab kırabırdır galoshes mısır mısırdır rope nekʼid nekʼidirdir back tʼukʼun tʼukʼundur cheek tʼumbol tʼumboldur prune ustot ustoturdur pepper ustul ustuldur table dalıg dalιgιrdιr work culoz culozurdur tooth jalkan jalkandιr mane kotuk kotukurdur tree stump mekteb mektebirdir school (compare: maktab) mizer mizerdir textile

Note: ı is roughly pronounced as the e in "fallen". u is roughly pronounced as the ou in "coup".

Audio samples Khinalug (phonetic): Iylesh toxun, ment’ekhiyly talashpy chshyi yaza? De inq’qalsh me Juliet’dam inq’me. English: But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Khinalug (phonetic): Tagvual sam Tagondaval lishirji deme [...] De kin k’ulluqurval, kin bitiyn inqxer kir me. English: To be, or not to be, that is the question [...] Thus conscience does make cowards of us all. Khinalug (phonetic): Yaxe chkne yem, kin djyre kotka djmin q’iq’aly djyresh konde mheppetysh saj me. English: Let me confess that we two must be twain, Although our undivided loves are one[.] Khinalug (phonetic): Djym q’yy kin yag’yqalm Chendj kui ukkoetti q’yy, kin hoz shyspqrt koa. English: If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.

See also Khinalug people Lists of endangered languages List of endangered languages in Asia

References

Khinalug language

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