Sanzhi (Sanzhi: , also called Sanzhi Dargwa) is an endangered Dargin language spoken by about 250 people in Dagestan, part of the Northeast Caucasian family and closely related to Itsari. It is considered critically endangered due to its obsolescence in favor of Russian. The language is unwritten.
History In the 1970s, the Sanzhis left their original village of Sanzhi, which is believed to have been inhabited for around 10,000 years, and moved to the lowlands, predominantly the village of Druzhba. In the summers, however, they still return to Sanzhi to do various activities like fishing and berry picking.
Phonology
Consonants +BilabialAlveolarPostalveolarPalatalVelarUvularPharyngeal/EpiglottalGlottalplainlab.plainlab.StopplainptkkʷqqʷʡʔvoicedbdggʷejectivepʼtʼkʼkʼʷqʼqʼʷgeminatepːtːkːkːʷqːqːʷFricativeplainsʃxxʷχχʷħhvoicedzʒʁʁʷgeminatesːʃːxːχːχːʷAffricateplaint͡st͡ʃejectivet͡sʼt͡ʃʼgeminatet͡sːt͡ʃːNaalmnLiquidr lSemivowelwjYounger speakers tend to pronounce the labialized consonants as plain ones.
Vowels Sanzhi has 7 vowels, 4 plain ones and 3 pharyngealized vowels. +FrontCentralBackplainphar.plainphar.plainphar.Closei[iˁ]uuˁMideOpenaaˁ /i/ has the allophones [ı], [i]; [ıˁ], [iˁ], /e/ can be realized as [] or [], and /u/ is realized as [], []; /uˁ/ is also pronounced as [ʊˁ].
[aˁ] is by far the most common pharyngealized vowel, as [uˁ] is much rarer and has only one known minimal pair. Only a few words have [iˁ], and even speakers are uncertain about it.
Syllable structure Possible syllables in native words are as follows:
V, VC, VCC, CV, CVC and CVCC
The general structure is (C)V(C)(C).
Simple underived verbs, however, are much more limited in their structure; only [r], [l] and [ʡ] are permitted in the onset.
Morphology
Nouns Nouns in Sanzhi Dargwa are marked for gender, number, and case. It distinguishes between three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter); has a singular-plural distinction in number; and has for grammatical cases (absolutive, ergative, dative, genitive) in addition to many spatial cases. Typical of Northeast Cauccasian languages, it displays ergative-absolutive alignment.
Gender Sanzhi has a gender system typical of other Northeast Caucasian languages. They can appear as prefixes, suffixes, or infixes, and typically are not marked on nouns. +Gender Agreement AffixesSingular1st/2nd Plural3rd PluralMasc.w/∅dbFem.rdbNeuterbd
Number The singular is unmarked, and the plural can be marked by several suffixes. The most productive suffixes are -e, -be, -te, and -me. Examples:
t'ult > t'ult-e 'bread'
bazar > bazar-te 'market'
Stem vowels may also undergo vowel mutation during this process: χabar > χabur-te ‘story, news’.
Case Sanzhi Dargwa has 4 grammatical cases, 19 semantic cases, and 1 directional suffix.
Grammatical Cases The core grammatical cases are absolutive, ergative, genitive, and dative, which appear as suffixes. Case endings are typically attached to an oblique stem. For singular nouns, the oblique stem is identical to the ergative case. +Grammatical Case SuffixesCaseSuffixSingularPluralAbsolutive -∅juldaš 'friend'juldaš:-eErgative-l(i)juldaš-lijuldaš:-a-lGenitive-la (-lla)juldaš-lajuldaš-a(l)-laDative-jjuldaš-li-jjuldaš:-a-li-jSince Sanzhi Dargwa has absolutive-ergative alignment, the absolutive case occurs on the sole argument of an intransitive verb, or as the patient/theme of transitive or ditransitive verbs. The ergative case suffix -li (with allomorphs -ni, -ri, and -l) occurs on the agent of transitive and ditransitive predicates. The genitive case suffix -la (with allomorphs -na, -ra, and -lla) is used to denote various relations such as possession, material, and units of measurement.
It is also used on the arguments of most postpositions. The dative case (-j) can be used as an experiencer with affective predicates:
For beneficiaries:
And for temporal duration:
Semantic Cases Typical of Dagestanian languages, the semantic cases, also known as "spatial" cases, are organized along two dimensions: location and direction (i.e., movement). +DirectionLativeEssiveAblativeLocationLOC "in, on"-le, -ja, -a-le-b, -ja-b, -a-b -le-r(-ka), -ja-r(-ka), -a-r(-ka)AD "at, close to"-š:u-š:u-b-š:u-r(-ka)IN "in, on, at"-c:e-c:e-b-c:e-r(-ka)SUB "under"-gu-gu-b-gu-r(-ka)ANTE "in front"-sa-sa-b-sa-r(-ka)POST "behind"-hara-hara-b-hara-r(-ka)
Lative denotes direction to a goal Essive denotes a stative location at a reference point Ablative denotes movement away from a reference point, or movement through/along a point
Examples:
References
Sources