Kaitag (Kaitag: ; also Kaidak, Karakaitak, Karkaidak, Qaidaqlan and Xajdak) is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken in Dagestan, Russia. It has sometimes been considered a divergent dialect of Dargwa due to it being part of the Dargin dialect continuum. The Routledge Ethnographic Handbook (2017) divided Kaitag into two dialects: northern (Magalis-Kaitak) and southern (Karakaitak).Ronald Wixman, Peoples of the USSR: An Ethnographic Handbook, Routledge, 28 Jul 2017, p.89 Recent results of the Association of the Russian Sociolinguists (2021) further developed it into three dialects: Lower Kaitag, Upper Kaitag and Shari, the latter of which may be a separate but closely related language.
Dialects The languages consists of eight varieties, forming three dialects. Each of the Upper varieties corresponds to a historical province of the region. Upper Kaitag – Хъар Хайдакь (south-west). Shurkkant – "The Cliff Dwellers" – Шурккант. Qattagan – "The Gorge Dwellers" – Къаттагне. Irchamul – "The Land of Nine" – ИрчӀамул. Lower Kaitag – Ххьар Хайдакь. Barshamai – БаршамаӀъган. Karatsan – ГъаӀрцӀнила. Jibahni – ЧӀивгьаӀн. Sanchi – Сунклан. Shari – ШаӀръи.
Phonology Vowels FrontBackclose near-close open-mid near-open open
Consonants Consonants form by series of voiced, aspirated, fortis, ejective, and labialized variants. The palatal fricative [ç] might be the voiceless post-palatal fricative, which can be more precisely transcribed as [ç̠] or [x̟]. BilabialDentalAlveolarPalatalVelarUvularGlottalplainlabializedplainlabializedplainlabializedplainlabializedplainlabializedNasal Plosivevoiced aspirated fortis ejective AffricateaspiratedfortisejectiveFricativevoiced plain fortis TrillApproximant
Alphabet The Kaitag language is usually written in the Cyrillic script. The letters of the alphabet are (with their pronunciation given below in IPA transcription): а ~аӀбвггвгъгъвгьгьвде ~жжвзи ~йкквкккквкӀкӀвхъхъвкъкъвкькьлмнппппӀсссттттӀуххвххххвхьхьвххьххьвццццӀччвччччвчӀчӀвшшвшшшшвъ
Lexicon Most of Kaitag's vocabulary stems from proto-Northeast-Caucasian roots. Like with other languages of Dagestan, there is a considerable number of Arabic, Iranian, Turkic and recently Russian loanwords. +Swadesh list for Kaitag No. English Kaitag 1 I ду 2 you (singular) и 3 he гье 4 we нисса (excl.), ниххьва (incl.) 5 you (plural) нишша 6 they гьетти 7 this гьеж 8 that гьет 9 here гьежин 10 there гьетин 11 who ча 12 what ци 13 where квацци 14 when цикъел 15 how цигле 16 not аккву (n.), а(й)- (v.) 17 all сукке 18 many дахъ 19 some чумилра 20 few кам 21 other дикӀар 22 one ца 23 two чӀве 24 three аӀв 25 four угъ 26 five шве 27 big хвала 28 long ухъен 29 wide баӀъу 30 thick буцц 31 heavy декӀ 32 small никӀва 33 short кутӀ 34 narrow гъваӀрцӀ 35 thin букӀал 36 woman ххьулум 37 man (adult male) мургул 38 man (human being) мейдам 39 child даӀргьаӀ 40 wife ххьади 41 husband сув 42 mother уба 43 father атта 44 animal мицӀираг 45 fish кӀас 46 bird ахьлиъаӀн 47 dog ххваӀ 48 louse нез 49 snake цӀецӀи 50 worm милкъваӀ 51 tree ккалкка 52 forest дуцца 53 stick миргъаӀ 54 fruit удар 55 seed шва 56 leaf кӀаппар 57 root йамппа 58 bark (of a tree) кам 59 flower жуже 60 grass кьар
References
External links Kaytag dictionary