The Bezhta (or Bezheta) language (Bezhta: бежкьалас миц, bežƛʼalas mic, beƶⱡʼalas mic, ), also known as Kapucha (from the name of a large villageShirin Akiner, Islamic Peoples of the Soviet Union, 2nd ed. (KPI, Distributed by Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986: ), p. 253.), belongs to the Tsezic group of the North Caucasian language family. It is spoken by about 6,200 people in southern Dagestan, Russia.
Classification Its closest linguistic relatives are Hunzib and Khwarshi.
Dialects Bezhta can be divided into three dialects – Bezhta Proper, and Khocharkhota – which are spoken in various villages in the region.
Phonology Bezhta has a rich consonantal and – unlike its relatives Tsez and Avar – a relatively large vowel inventory (16 distinct vowel phonemes), compared to other languages of the same family.
Vowels Bezhta contrasts vowel length and nasalization. OralNasalFrontBackFrontBackCloseMidOpen
Consonants LabialAlveolarPalato-alveolarVelarUvularPharyngealGlottalNasalPlosive/Affricatevoiceless ~ ejective ~ voicedFricativevoicelessvoicedSonorant
Orthography Bezhta is unwritten, but various attempts have been made to develop an official orthography for the language. The Bezhta people use Avar as the literary language. The first book ever printed in Bezhta was the Gospel of Luke (1999). The orthography used in translations of biblical texts is as follows: А аАь аьАᴴ аᴴА̄ а̄Б бВ вГ гГъ гъГь гьГӀ гӀД дЕ еЕᴴ еᴴЖ жЗ зИ иИᴴ иᴴӢ ӣЙ йК кКъ къКь кьКӀ кӀЛ лЛъ лъЛӀ лӀМ мН нО оОь оьОᴴ оᴴО̄ о̄П пПӀ пӀР рС сТ тТӀ тӀУ уУь уьУᴴ уᴴӮ ӯХ хХъ хъХӀ хӀЦ цЦӀ цӀЧ чЧӀ чӀШ шЭ эЭᴴ эᴴЪ ъ
Morphology
Bezhta is mostly agglutinative and the vast amount of locative cases makes its case system particularly rich. The verb morphology is relatively simple. It is an ergative language.
Numerals Unlike Tsez, Bezhta has a decimal system with the word for twenty being an exception.
LatinCyrillicIPA0nolнолnol1hõsгьоᵸсhõs2qʼonaкъонаqʼona3łanaлъанаɬana4ṏqʼönäоьᵸкъоьнаьø̃qʼønæ5łinaлъинаɬina6iłnaилънаiɬna7aƛnaалIнаatɬna8beƛnaбелIнаbetɬna9äčʼenaаьчIенаæt͡ʃʼena10acʼonaацIонаat͡sʼona20qonaхъонаqona100hõsčʼitʼ / -čʼitʼгьоᵸсчIитI / -чIитIhõst͡ʃʼitʼ / -t͡ʃʼitʼ1000hazayгьазайhazaj
Multiples of 10 higher than 20 are formed by adding the suffix -yig (-йиг) to the multiplier. Hence, the word for 30 is łanayig (лъанайиг). Compound numbers are formed by juxtaposition, the smaller numbers following the greater ones. The number 47 is thus expressed as ṏqʼönäyig aƛna (оьᵸкъоьнаьйиг алIна).
Sample text This is a passage taken from the Gospel of Luke written in a Cyrillic orthography based on Avar and Chechen, a Latinized transcription and one in IPA. CYRILLICLATIN TRANSCRIPTIONIPA TRANSCRIPTIONTRANSLATIONГьогцо гьоллохъа нисос:Hogco holloqa nisos:Jesus said to the followers:Доьъа богьцалаъ вагьда̄ ниса:Dö'a bohcala' wahdā nisa:When you pray, pray like this:«Йа̄ Або, Дибо ца̄ᵸ аьдамла̄ илагьияб бикӀзи йовала,«Yā Abo, Dibo cā̃ ädamlā ilahiyab bikʼzi yowala,"O Father, we pray that your name will always be kept holy,Дибо Парчагьлъи йоᵸкъала;Dibo Parčahłi yõqʼala;we pray that your kingdom will come;Шибаб водиъ баццас баьба илол нилӀа;Šibab wodi' baccas bäba ilol niƛa;give us the food we need for each day;Илла мунагьла̄кьас кьодос тилӀки, судлӀо нисода илена къацӀцӀола илол кешлъи йо̄вакьас кьодос тилӀбакца.Illa munahlāƛʼas ƛʼodos tiƛki, sudƛo nisoda ilena qʼacʼcʼola ilol kešłi yōwaƛʼas ƛʼodos tiƛbakca.forgive us the sins we have done, because we forgive every person that has done wrong to us.Ми илос гьаьл бикъелална уьᵸхолъа̄къа.»Mi ilos häl biqʼelalna ü̃xołāqʼa.»And don't let us be tempted."
References
External links
The Bezhta People and Language (P.J. Hillery) Bezhta Vocabulary List (from the World Loanword Database) Bezhta basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database