Kaitag language
Introduction '''Kaitag''' (self des. ''Хайдакьан кув'' ; oth. des. ''Kaidak'', ''Karakaitak'', ''Karkaidak'', ''Qaidaqlan'') 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). Recent results of the ''Association of the Russian Sociolinguists'' (2021) further developed it into three dialects: Lower Kaitag, Upper Kaitag and Shari.
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    ʔaspirated      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):аɑ~aаӏæбbвβгgгвgʷгъʁгъвʁʷгьhгьвhʷдdеɛ~eжʒжвʒʷзzиɪ~iйjкkʰквkʰʷккkːкквkːʷкӏkʼкӏвkʼʷхъqʰхъвqʰʷкъqːкъвqːʷкьqʼкьqʼʷлlмmнnпpʰппpːпӏpʼсsссsːтtʰттtːтӏtʼуuхχхвχʷххχːххвχːʷхьçхьвçʷххьçːххьвçːʷцt͡sʰццt͡sːцӏt͡sʼчt͡ʃʰчвt͡ʃʰʷччt͡ʃːччвt͡ʃːʷчӏt͡ʃʼчӏвt͡ʃʼʷшʃшвʃʷшшʃːшшвʃːʷъʔ
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  61 rope  62 skin  63 meat  64 blood  65 bone  66 fat ''(noun)''  67 egg  68 horn  69 tail  70 feather  71 hair  72 head  73 ear  74 eye  75 nose  76 mouth  77 tooth  78 tongue ''(organ)''  79 fingernail  80 foot  81 leg  82 knee  83 hand  84 wing  85 belly  86 guts  87 neck  88 back  89 breast  90 heart  91 liver  92 to drink  93 to eat  94 to bite  95 to suck  96 to spit  97 to vomit  98 to blow  99 to breathe  100 to laugh  101 to see  102 to hear  103 to know  104 to think  105 to smell  106 to fear  107 to sleep  108 to live  109 to die  110 to kill  111 to fight  112 to hunt  113 to hit  114 to cut  115 to split  116 to stab  117 to scratch  118 to dig  119 to swim  120 to fly  121 to walk  122 to come  123 to lie ''(as in a bed)''  124 to sit  125 to stand  126 to turn ''(intransitive)''  127 to fall  128 to give  129 to hold  130 to squeeze  131 to rub  132 to wash  133 to wipe  134 to pull  135 to push  136 to throw  137 to tie  138 to sew  139 to count  140 to say  141 to sing  142 to play  143 to float  144 to flow  145 to freeze  146 to swell  147 sun  148 moon  149 star  150 water  151 rain  152 river  153 lake  154 sea  155 salt  156 stone  157 sand  158 dust  159 earth  160 cloud  161 fog  162 sky  163 wind  164 snow  165 ice  166 smoke  167 fire  168 ash  169 to burn  170 road  171 mountain  172 red  173 green  174 yellow  175 white  176 black  177 night  178 day  179 year  180 warm  181 cold  182 full  183 new  184 old  185 good  186 bad  187 rotten  188 dirty  189 straight  190 round  191 sharp ''(as a knife)''  192 dull ''(as a knife)''  193 smooth  194 wet  195 dry  196 correct  197 near  198 far  199 right  200 left  201 at  202 in  203 with  204 and  205 if  206 because  207 name
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