Avar language

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Distinguish Template:More citations needed {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other

Avar ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, Template:Transliteration {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, "language of the mountains" or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, Template:Transliteration {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, "Avar language"), also known as Avaric,<ref name="ISO 639-2/RA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="ISO 639-3/RA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is a Northeast Caucasian language of the Avar–Andic subgroup that is spoken by Avars, primarily in Dagestan. In 2010, there were approximately one million speakers in Dagestan and elsewhere in Russia.

Geographic distribution

File:Границы распространения аварского языка как международный.png

Territory and borders of distribution of the Avar language (in the Latin alphabet of the 1930s)

It is spoken mainly in the western and southern parts of the Russian Caucasus republic of Dagestan, and the Balaken, Zaqatala regions of north-western Azerbaijan.<ref name=e25/> Some Avars live in other regions of Russia. There are also small communities of speakers living in the Russian republics of Chechnya and Kalmykia; in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Jordan, and the Marmara Sea region of Turkey. It is spoken by about 1,200,000 people worldwide. UNESCO classifies Avar as vulnerable to extinction.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Status

It is one of six literary languages of Dagestan, where it is spoken not only by the Avar, but also serves as the language of communication between different ethnic and linguistic groups.

Dialects

Template:Expand language Glottolog lists 14 dialects of Avar, some of which correspond to the villages where they are spoken. The dialects are listed in alphabetical order based on their name in Glottolog:

• Template:Ill (Antsukh / Анцух)
• Andalal-Gxdatl
• Bacadin
• Batlux
• Hid
• Karax
• Kaxib
• Keleb
• Salatav
• Shulanin
• Untib
• Xunzax (Khunzakh / Xунзах)
• Zakataly
• Zaqatala

Phonology

Consonant phonemes of Avar<ref name="TITUS">Consonant Systems of the North-East Caucasian Languages on TITUS DIDACTICA</ref>

		Labial	Dental		Alveolar				Palatal	Velar		Uvular		Pharyngeal	Glottal
					central		lateral
			lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis		lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis
Nasal		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Plosive	voiced	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link							Template:IPA link
	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link							Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link				Template:IPA link
	ejective		Template:IPA link							Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Affricate	voiceless		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link					Template:IPA link
	ejective		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		(Template:IPA link)					Template:IPA link
Fricative	voiceless		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	voiced		Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link							Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Trill					Template:IPA link
Approximant		Template:IPA link					Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link

There are competing analyses of the distinction transcribed in the table with the length sign Template:Angbr IPA. Length is part of the distinction, but so is articulatory strength, so they have been analyzed as fortis and lenis.Template:Citation needed The fortis affricates are long in the fricative part of the contour, e.g. Template:IPAblink (tss), not in the stop part as in geminate affricates in languages such as Japanese and Italian Template:IPAblink (tts). Laver (1994) analyzes e.g. Template:IPAblink as a two-segment affricate–fricative sequence [{{#invoke:IPA|main}}] ({{#invoke:IPA|main}} = {{#invoke:IPA|main}}).<ref>Laver (1994) Principles of Phonetics p. 371.</ref>

Avar Vowels

	Front	Back
High	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Mid	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Low	Template:IPA link

Avar has five phonemic vowels: /a e i o u/.

Lexical accent

In Avar, accent is contrastive, free and mobile, independent of the number of syllables in the word. Changes in lexical accent placement indicate different semantic meaning and grammatical meanings of a word:

• {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Gloss ~ {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Gloss
• {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Gloss ~ {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Gloss

Morphosyntax

Template:Expand section Avar is an agglutinative language, of SOV order.

Adverbs do not inflect, outside of inflection for noun class in some adverbs of place: e.g. the {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "inside" and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "in front". Adverbs of place also distinguish locative, allative, and ablative forms suffixally, such as {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "inside", {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "to the inside", and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "from the inside". {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is an emphatic suffix taken by underived adjectives.

Writing systems

Template:Split section There were some attempts to write the Avar language in the Georgian alphabet as early as the 14th century.<ref>Simon Crisp, "Language Planning and the Orthography of Avar", Folia Slavica 7, 1–2 (1984): 91–104.</ref><ref name=Crisp>Simon Crisp, "The Formation and Development of Literary Avar", pp. 143–62, in Isabelle T. Kreindler, ed., Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Soviet National Languages: Their Past, Present and Future, Contributions to the Sociology of Language, 40 (Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1985).</ref> The use of the Perso-Arabic script for representing Avar in marginal glosses began in the 15th century. The use of Arabic, which is known as ajam, is still known today.<ref name=Crisp/>

Peter von Uslar developed a Cyrillic-based alphabet, published in 1889, that also used some Georgian-based letters. Many of its letters have not been encoded in Unicode. The alphabet takes the following form:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> а б в г ӷ д е ж һ File:Cyrillic small letter Shha with high right breve serif.svg File:Cyrillic small letter Shha with Cil top.svg і ј к қ File:Cyrillic small letter Ka with loop.svg л м н о п ԛ File:Cyrillic small letter Shha with hook.svg р с ҫ т ҭ у х х̓ хّ ц File:Cyrillic small letter Tse with long left leg.svg ц̓ ꚑ ч ч̍ чّ File:Cyrillic small letter Char.svg (ჭ)/ч̓ ш ղ ղ̓ ղᷱ ດ

As part of Soviet language re-education policies in 1928 the Ajam was replaced by a Latin alphabet, which in 1938 was in turn replaced by the current Cyrillic script. Essentially, it is the Russian alphabet plus one additional letter called palochka (stick, Ӏ), originally the digit 1 on a manual typewriter. The palochka is not included in common computer keyboard layouts, and is often replaced with a capital Latin letter i ( I ) or occasionally a small Latin letter L ( l ) rather than the digit 1.

Cyrillic alphabet

The Avar language is usually written in the Cyrillic script. The letters of the alphabet are (with their pronunciation given below in IPA transcription):<ref name="TITUS"/><ref name="Omniglot">Omniglot on the Avar alphabet, language and pronunciation</ref>

А а {{#invoke:IPA|main}}	Б б {{#invoke:IPA|main}}	В в {{#invoke:IPA|main}}	Г г {{#invoke:IPA|main}}	Гъ гъ {{#invoke:IPA|main}}	Гь гь {{#invoke:IPA|main}}	ГӀ гӏ {{#invoke:IPA|main}}	Д д {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}
main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}
main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}
main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}
main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}
main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}
main}}

Latin alphabet

The Avar Latin alphabet was originally monocameral. Capital letters were added later. Note that there is no distinction between a cedilla as in Template:Angle bracket and a straight tick as in Template:Angle bracket; the graphic forms of the letters vary by publication, and k may have a cedilla or t a tick.<ref>File:M. Debirop, Avar alipba, 1928.pdf</ref><ref name="Саидов">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="КиПВ">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Алексеев">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="graham">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>http://avar.me/</ref>

Latin	Cyrillic	Arabic	IPA
A a	А а	آ ,ا	/a/
B b	Б б	ب	/b/
C c	Ч ч	چ	/t͡ʃ/
Ꞓ ꞓ	ЧӀ чӀ	ڃ	/t͡ʃʼ/
D d	Д д	د	/d/
E e	Э э	ئې، ې	/e/
G ɡ	Г г	ڬ	/ɡ/
Ƣ ƣ	Гъ Гъ	غ	/ʁ/
H h	Гь гь	ﻫ	/h/
Ħ ħ	ХӀ хӀ	ح	/ħ/
Ⱨ ⱨ	ГӀ гӀ	ع	/ʕ/
I i	И и	ئێ، ێ	/i/
J j	Й й, Ь ь	ي	/j/, /Cʲ/
K k	К к	ك	/k/
Ⱪ ⱪ	КӀ кӀ	گ	/kʼ/
L l	Л л	ل	/l/
Ļ ļ	Лъ лъ	ڸ	/t͡ɬ/
Ꝉ̧ ꝉ̧
M m	М м	م	/m/
N n	Н н	ن	/n/
O o	О о	ئۈ، ۈ	/o/
P p	П п	ف	/p/
Q q	Къ къ	ق	/q͡χʼː/
Ꝗ ꝗ	Кь кь	ڨ	/t͡ɬʼː/
R r	Р р	ر	/r/
S s	С с	س	/s/
Ꟊ ꟊ	Ц ц	ص	/t͡s/
Ş ş	Ш ш	ش	/ʃ/
T t	Т т	ت	/t/
Ţ ţ	ТӀ тӀ	ط	/tʼ/
U u	У у	ئۇ، ۇ	/u/
V v	В в	و	/w/, /Cʷ/
X x	Х х	خ	/χ/
Ҳ ҳ	Хь хь	ڮ	/x/
Ӿ ӿ	Хъ хъ	څ	/q͡χː/
Z z	З з	ز	/z/
Ƶ ƶ	Ж ж	ج	/ʒ/
Ⱬ ⱬ	ЦӀ цӀ	ض	/t͡sʼ/
ʼ	Ъ ъ	ئ	/ʔ/

Arabic alphabet

One feature of Avar Arabic alphabet is that similar to alphabets such as Uyghur and Kurdish, the script does not omit vowels and does not rely on diacritics to represent vowels when need be. Instead, modified letters with dot placement and accents have been standardized to represent vowels. Thus, Avar Arabic script is no longer an "impure abjad" unlike its parent systems (Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman), it now resembles a proper "alphabet".

While this was not the case for most of the several centuries during which Arabic alphabet has been used for Avar, this has become the case in the latest and most common conventions. This was indeed not the case at the time of writing of a linguistic article for the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1881.<ref name="graham"/>

Arabic	Cyrillic	Latin	IPA
ا	А а	A a	/a/
ب	Б б	B b	/b/
ت	Т т	T t	/t/
تُ	Тв тв	Tv tv	/tʷ/
ج	Ж ж	Ƶ ƶ	/ʒ/
جُ	Жв жв	Ƶv ƶv	/ʒʷ/
ڃ	ЧӀ чӀ	Ç ç	/t͡ʃʼ/
ڃُ	ЧӀв чӀв	Çv çv	/t͡ʃʷʼ/
‌ ڃّ	ЧӀчӀ чӀчӀ	Çç çç	/t͡ʃʼː/
‌ ڃُّ	ЧӀчӀв чӀчӀв	Ççv ççv	/t͡ʃʷʼː/
چ	Ч ч	C c	/t͡ʃ/
چُ	Чв чв	Cv cv	/t͡ʃʷ/
چّ	Чч чч	Cc cc	/t͡ʃː/
چُّ	Ччв ччв	Ccv ccv	/t͡ʃʷː/
ح	ХӀ хӀ	Ħ ħ	/ʜ/
حُ	ХӀв хӀв	Ħv ħv	/ʜʷ/
خ	Х х	X x	/χ/
خُ	Хв хв	Xv xv	/χʷ/
خّ	Хх хх	Xx xx	/χː/
خُّ	Ххв ххв	Xxv xxv	/χʷː/
څ	Хъ хъ	Ӿ ӿ	/q͡χː/
څُ	Хъв хъв	Ӿv ӿv	/q͡χʷː/
د	Д д	D d	/d/
دُ	Дв дв	Dv dv	/dʷ/
‌ ر	Р р	R r	/r/
‌ ز	З з	Z z	/z/
‌ زُ	Зв зв	Zv zv	/zʷ/
‌ س	С с	S s	/s/
‌ سُ	Св св	Sv sv	/sʷ/
‌ سّ	Сс сс	Ss ss	/sː/
‌ سُّ	Ссв ссв	Ssv ssv	/sʷː/
ش	Ш ш	Ş ş	/ʃ/
شُ	Шв шв	Şv şv	/ʃʷ/
شّ	Щ щ	Şş şş	/ʃː/
شُّ	Щв щв	Şşv şşv	/ʃʷː/
ص	Ц ц	Ꞩ ꞩ	/t͡s/
صّ	Цц цц	Ꞩꞩ ꞩꞩ	/t͡sː/
ض	ЦӀ цӀ	Ⱬ ⱬ	/t͡sʼ/
ضُ	ЦӀв цӀв	Ⱬv ⱬv	/t͡sʷʼ/
ضّ	ЦӀцӀ цӀцӀ	Ⱬⱬ ⱬⱬ	/t͡sʼː/
ضُّ	ЦӀцӀв цӀцӀв	Ⱬⱬv ⱬⱬv	/t͡sʷʼː/
ط	ТӀ тӀ	Ţ ţ	/tʼ/
طُ	ТӀв тӀв	Ţv ţv	/tʷʼ/
‌ ع	ГӀ гӀ	Ⱨ ⱨ	/ʕ/
غ	Гъ Гъ	Ƣ ƣ	/ʁ/
غُ	Гъв Гъв	Ƣv ƣv	/ʁʷ/
ف	П п	P p	/p/
	Ф ф	F f	/f/
ڣ	ПӀ пӀ	P p	/pʼ/
ق	Къ къ	Q q	/q͡χʼː/
قُ	Къв къв	Qv qv	/q͡χʷʼː/
ڨ	Кь кь	Ꝗ ꝗ	/t͡ɬʼː/
ڨُ	Кьв кьв	Ꝗv ꝗv	/t͡ɬʷʼː/
ك	К к	K k	/k/
كُ	Кв кв	Kv kv	/kʷ/
كّ	Кк кк	Kk kk	/kː/
كُّ	Ккв ккв	Kkv kkv	/kʷː/
گ	КӀ кӀ	Ⱪ ⱪ	/kʼ/
گُ	КӀв кӀв	Ⱪv ⱪv	/kʷʼ/
گّ	КӀкӀ кӀкӀ	Ⱪⱪ ⱪⱪ	/kʼː/
گُّ	КӀкӀв кӀкӀв	Ⱪⱪv ⱪⱪv	/kʷʼː/
ڬ	Г г	G g	/ɡ/
ڬُ	Гв гв	Gv gv	/ɡʷ/
ڮ	Хь хь	Ҳ ҳ	/x/
ڮُ	Хьв хьв	Ҳv ҳv	/xʷ/
ڮّ	Хьхь хьхь	Ҳҳ ҳҳ	/xː/
ل	Л л	L l	/l/
ڸ	Лъ лъ	Ļ ļ	/t͡ɬ/
ڸُ	Лъв лъв	Ļv ļv	/t͡ɬʷ/
ڸّ	Лълъ лълъ	Ļļ ļļ	/t͡ɬː/
ڸُّ	Лълъв лълъв	Ļļv ļļv	/t͡ɬʷː/
م	М м	M m	/m/
ن	Н н	N n	/n/
و	В в	V v	/w/
ئۈ، ۈ	О о	O o	/o/
ئۇ، ۇ	У у	U u	/u/
ﻫُ	Гьв гьв	Hv hv	/ɦʷ/
ﻫ	Гь гь	H h	/ɦ/
ئې، ې	Э э	E e	/e/
ئې، ې، يې	Е е	E e, Je je	/e/, /je/
ئێ، ێ	И и	I i	/i/
	Ы ы	Y y	/ɨ/
ي	Й й	J j	/j/
	Ь ь	J j	/ʲ/
يا	Я я	Ja ja	/ja/
يۈ	Ё ё	Jo, jo	/jo/
يۇ	Ю ю	Ju ju	/ju/
ئ	Ъ ъ	’	/ʔ/
ئُ	Ъв ъв	’v	/ʔʷ/

As an example, in Avar Arabic Script, four varieties of the letter yāʼ ("ی") have been developed, each with a distinct function.

Varieties of "ی"

Leter	Cyrillic Equivalent	IPA	Function
Template:Script/Arabic	- / ъ	/ʔ/	Used at the beginning of words starting with vowels "О о" [o], "У у" [u], "Э э" [e], and "И и" [i]. Has no sound of its own, but acts as "vowel carrier". Similar to writing conventions of Uyghyr and Kurdish
Template:Script/Arabic	Э э / Е е	/e/	Similar letter exists in Pashto, Uzbek, and Uyghyr orthographies.
Template:Script/Arabic	И и / Ы ы	/i~ɨ/	Similar letter exists in Kurdish orthography, but for the vowel [e].
Template:Script/Arabic	Й й	/j/	Equivalent to English "y" sound.

Nevertheless, Avar Arabic script does retain two diacritics.

First is "shadda" (ـّـ), used for gemination. While in Cyrillic, two back to back letters, including digraphs are written, in Arabic script, shadda is used.

Second diacritic in use in Avar Arabic script is ḍammah (ـُـ). In Arabic, Persian, and historically in Ottoman Turkish, this diacritic is used to represent [o] or [u]. But in Avar, this diacritic is used for labialization [◌ʷ] and not for any sort of vowel. So, it is the case that this diacritic is used in conjunction with a follow-up vowel. For example, the sound "зва" [zʷa] is written as "زُا".

This diacritic can optionally be used in conjunction with shadda. For example, the sound "ссвa" [sʷːa] is written as "سُّا".

If a word starts with a vowel, if it's an [a] sound, it is written with alif "ا". Otherwise, the vowel needs to be preceded by a "vowel carrier", which is hamza-ya' (ئـ). No need for such a carrier in the middle of words. Below table demonstrates vowels in Avar Arabic Script.

Vowel Table

А а	О о	У у	Э э / Е е	И и
[a]	[o]	[u]	[e]	[i]
Vowel at the beginning of a word
Template:Script/Arabic	Template:Script/Arabic	Template:Script/Arabic	Template:Script/Arabic	Template:Script/Arabic
Vowel in the middle or end of a word
Template:Script/Arabic	Template:Script/Arabic	Template:Script/Arabic	Template:Script/Arabic	Template:Script/Arabic

Sample comparison

citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>!!Cyrillic Alphabet (2007)!!Latin Alphabet
<poem>Template:Script/Arabic</poem>	<poem>Нолъ макьилъ вихьана, кьалда лъукъ-лъукъун, Кьурда квер чIван унев, бида вецIцIун дун; Кьуруги батIалъун цеве унаго, Цо лъарал рагIалда гIодов кколев дун. Лъар чваххулеб буго чабхил кIкIалахъан, Лъин кIанцIулеб буго ганчIазда тIасан; ТIарамагъадисеб къвал балеб буго, Къо лъикIилан дица согIаб ракьалда.</poem>	<poem>Noļ maꝗiļ viҳana, ꝗalda ļuq-ļuqun, Ꝗurda кvеr çvan unеv, bida vеⱬⱬun dun; Ꝗuruⱨ baţaļun s̶еvе unago, Co ļaral raⱨalda ⱨodov ккolеv dun. Łar cvaxxulеb bugo cabxil ⱪⱪalax̶an, Łin ⱪanⱬulеb bugo gançazda ţaсan; Ţaramaƣadiсеb qval balеb bugo, Qo ļiⱪilan dis̶a сoⱨab raꝗalda.</poem>

Literature

The literary language is based on the болмацӏ (bolmacʼ)Template:Citation needed—bo = "army" or "country", and macʼ = "language"—the common language used between speakers of different dialects and languages. The bolmacʼ in turn was mainly derived from the dialect of Khunzakh, the capital and cultural centre of the Avar region, with some influence from the southern dialects. Nowadays the literary language is influencing the dialects, levelling out their differences.Template:Citation needed

The most famous figure of modern Avar literature is Rasul Gamzatov (died November 3, 2003), the People's Poet of Dagestan. Translations of his works into Russian have gained him a wide audience all over the former Soviet Union.Template:Citation needed

Sample sentences

English	Avar	Transliteration	IPA
Hello!	Ворчӏами!	Worch’ami!	/wort͡ʃ’ami/
How are you doing?	Щиб хӏaл бугеб?	Shchib hal bugeb?	/ʃːib ʜal bugeb/
How are you?	Иш кин бугеб?	Ish kin bugeb?	/iʃ kin bugeb/
What is your name?	Дуда цӏар щиб?	Duda c’ar shchib?	/duda t͡s’ar ʃːib/
How old are you?	Дур чан сон бугеб?	Dur chan son bugeb?	/dur t͡ʃan son bugeb/
Where are you going?	Mун киве ина вугев?	Mun kiwe ina wugew?	/mun kiwe ina wugew/
Sorry!	Тӏаса лъугьа!	T’asa łuḩa!	/t’asa ɬuha/
Mother	Эбель	A'bel	/ A'bel/
Father	Эмен	A'men	/ A'men/
Where is the little boy going?	Киве гьитӏинав вас унев вугев?	Kiwe ḩit’inaw was unew wugew?	/kiwe hit’inaw was unew wugew/
The boy broke a bottle.	Васас шиша бекана.	Wasas shisha bekana.	/wasas ʃiʃa bekana/
They are building the road.	Гьез нух бале (гьабулеб) буго.	Ḩez nux́ bale (ḩabuleb) bugo.	/hez nuχ bale (habuleb) bugo/

Sample text

Avar			Translation
Cyrillic	Latin	Arabic
lang}}	Ja, zobalazda wugew niƶer Emen, dur ⱬar ⱨadamaz muqadasabļun, riⱪⱪagi, dur Parccaħļi ţade şşvagi. Zobalazdago ⱨadin raꝗaldagi dur amru biļļanӿagi. Ƶaqa niƶer beţerbaӿijaļe xinⱪ-ced ꝗe niƶeje. Niƶer naļi-ħaqalda ţasagi ļuha, niƶergo naļulazda, ţasa niƶgi ļuharal rugin. Niƶer ħalbiҳizegi biccage, Kveşaldasa ⱬune niƶ	Template:Rtl-para	Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

See also

• Northeast Caucasian languages
• Languages of the Caucasus

External links

• RFE/RL North Caucasus Radio (also includes Chechen and Adyghe)
• Avar language corpus Template:Webarchive (in English, Russian, Polish and Belarusian)
• Avar Cyrillic-Latin text and website converter
• Online Avar–Russian dictionary, including Arabic and Latin scripts
• Avar language information in Russian