Dargin language

Dargwa (, ''dargan mez'') is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by the Dargin people in the Russian republic Dagestan. It is the literary and main dialect of the dialect continuum constituting the Dargin languages.

Classification

Dargwa is part of a Northeast Caucasian dialect continuum, the Dargin languages. The four other languages in this dialect continuum ( Kajtak, Kubachi, Itsari, and Chirag) are often considered variants of Dargwa. Korjakov (2012) concludes that Southwestern Dargwa is closer to Kajtak than it is to North-Central Dargwa.

Geographic distribution

According to the 2002 Census, there are 429,347 speakers of Dargwa proper in Dagestan, 7,188 in neighbouring Kalmykia, 1,620 in Khanty–Mansi AO, 680 in Chechnya, and hundreds more in other parts of Russia. Figures for the Lakh dialect spoken in central Dagestan are 142,523 in Dagestan, 1,504 in Kabardino-Balkaria, 708 in Khanty–Mansi.

Phonology

Consonants

Like other languages of the Caucasus, Dargwa is noted for its large consonant inventory, which includes over 40 phonemes (distinct sounds), though the exact number varies by dialect. Voicing, glottalization (as ejectives), fortition (which surfaces as gemination), and frication are some of the distinct features of consonants in Dargwa. Particularly noteworthy is the inclusion of an epiglottal ejective by some dialects such as Mehweb, which it may be the only language in the world to use phonemically.

{, class="wikitable IPA" border="1"
, -
! colspan="2" rowspan="2",
! colspan="2" , Labial
! colspan="2" , Dental
! colspan="2" , Postalveolar
! rowspan="2" , Palatal
! colspan="2" , Velar
! colspan="2" , Uvular
! rowspan="2" , Pharyngeal/
Epiglottal
! rowspan="2" , Glottal
, -align=center class=small
! lenis
! fortis
! lenis
! fortis
! lenis
! fortis
! lenis
! fortis
! lenis
! fortis
, -align=center
! colspan="2" , Nasal
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, -align=center
! rowspan="3" , Plosive
! voiced
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, ¹
,
, ¹
,
, -align=center
! voiceless
,
, ²
,
, ²
,
,
,
,
, ²
,
, ²
,
,
, -align=center
! ejective
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, ²
,
, -align=center
! rowspan="3" , Affricate
! voiced
,
,
, ¹
,
, ¹
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, -align=center
! voiceless
,
,
,
, ²
,
, ²
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, -align=center
!ejective
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, -align=center
! rowspan="2" , Fricative
!voiceless
, ¹
,
, {{IPAlink, {{IPAlink, s
, {{IPAlink, sː²
, {{IPAlink, ʃ
, {{IPAlink, ʃː²
, {{IPAlink, ç¹
, {{IPAlink, {{IPAlink, x
, {{IPAlink, xː²
, {{IPAlink, χ²
, {{IPAlink, χː²
, {{IPAlink, ʜ²
,
, -align=center
! voiced
, {{IPAlink, v¹
,
, {{IPAlink, z
,
, {{IPAlink, ʒ
,
,
, {{IPAlink, ɣ¹
,
, {{IPAlink, ʁ
,
, {{IPAlink, ʢ
, {{IPAlink, ɦ²
, -align=center
! colspan="2" , Trill
,
,
,
,
, {{IPAlink, r
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, -align=center
! colspan="2" , Approximant
, {{IPAlink, w²
,
, {{IPAlink, l
,
,
,
, {{IPAlink, j
,
,
,
,
,
,

{{Notelist, notes=syllabic

# Present in the literary standard of Dargwa, but not some other dialects.
# Present in some dialects, but not the literary standard.
* The source is rather ambiguous in its using the term " laryngeal" for a presumed column of consonants that includes both a "voiced" and a "glottalized" plosive. A voiced glottal plosive cannot be made, because the glottis needs to be closed, and an ejective consonant requires an additional closure further up the vocal tract. Pending clarification, this row has been transcribed here as an epiglottal column and a glottal stop, both found in many other East Caucasian languages.

Vowels

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!
!Front
! Central
!Back
, -
!Close
, {{IPAlink, i
,
, {{IPAlink, u
, -
! Mid
, {{IPAlink, e
, {{IPAlink, ə
,
, -
!Open
,
, {{IPAlink, a
,

The Dargwa language features five vowel sounds /i, e, ə, a, u/. Vowels /i, u, a/ can be pharyngealized as /iˤ, uˤ, aˤ/. There may also be a pharyngealized mid-back vowel ˤas a realization of /uˤ/, occurring in the Megeb dialect.

Orthography

The current Dargwa alphabet is based on Cyrillic as follows:

{, class=standard cellpadding=5 style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 2.5em; text-align: center;"
, style=«width:3em;», А а
, style=«width:3em;», Б б
, style=«width:3em;», В в
, style=«width:3em;», Г г
, style=«width:3em;», Гъ гъ
, style=«width:3em;», Гь гь
, style=«width:3em;», Гӏ гӏ
, style=«width:3em;», Д д
, style=«width:3em;», Е е
, style=«width:3em;», Ё ё
, style=«width:3em;», Ж ж
, style=«width:3em;», З з
, -
, style=«width:3em;», И и
, style=«width:3em;», Й й
, style=«width:3em;», К к
, style=«width:3em;», Къ къ
, style=«width:3em;», Кь кь
, style=«width:3em;», Кӏ кӏ
, style=«width:3em;», Л л
, style=«width:3em;», М м
, style=«width:3em;», Н н
, style=«width:3em;», О о
, style=«width:3em;», П п
, style=«width:3em;», Пӏ пӏ
, -
, style=«width:3em;», Р р
, style=«width:3em;», С с
, style=«width:3em;», Т т
, style=«width:3em;», Тӏ тӏ
, style=«width:3em;», У у
, style=«width:3em;», Ф ф
, style=«width:3em;», Х х
, style=«width:3em;», Хъ хъ
, style=«width:3em;», Хь хь
, style=«width:3em;», Хӏ хӏ
, style=«width:3em;», Ц ц
, style=«width:3em;», Цӏ цӏ
, -
, style=«width:3em;», Ч ч
, style=«width:3em;», Чӏ чӏ
, style=«width:3em;», Ш ш
, style=«width:3em;», Щ щ
, style=«width:3em;», Ъ ъ
, style=«width:3em;», Ы ы
, style=«width:3em;», Ь ь
, style=«width:3em;», Э э
, style=«width:3em;», Ю ю
, style=«width:3em;», Я я

Grammar

Verb

TAM

= Assertive (finite) forms

=

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

, + Assertive (finite) forms Nina R. Sumbatova, Rasul Osmanovič Mutalov. "A Grammar of Icari Dargwa". Lincom GmbH, 2003
, -
! scope="col" , TAM CATEGORY !! ! scope="col" , MEANING !! scope="col" , ASPECT !! scope="col" , MODIFIER !! scope="col" , PREDICATIVE MARKER !! scope="col" , NEGATION !! scope="col", EXAMPLE
, -
, colspan="7" style="text-align: center;" , DERIVED FROM THE PROGRESSIVE STEM ( BASIC STEM + -a)
, -
! scope="row" , Present
, 1. all types of present situations including actual and habitual situations, 2. historic present, 3. close future: the speaker‘s intention
, IPF , , ti, , PERSON / PRESENT (–da/–di/–ca=b)
, rowspan="2" colspan="1" style="text-align: center;" , reduplication or negative auxiliary
, anwar-ri kaRar luk’-a–ca=b (Anwar is writing a letter)
, -
! scope="row" , Past Progressive
, a progressive situation in the past , , IPF , , -ti , , PAST (–di)
, it uč’-a-Ti–di (He was reading)
, -
, colspan="7" style="text-align: center;" , DERIVED FROM THE PRETERITE STEM ( BASIC STEM + -ib/-ub/-ur/-un):
, -
! scope="row" , Aorist
, any completed action in the past , , PF , , -, , PERSON (–da/–di)
, rowspan="8" colspan="1" style="text-align: center;" , negative auxiliary , ,
, -
! scope="row" , Imperfect
, unspecified imperfective meaning in the past (both durative and multiplicative situations) , , IPF , , -, , PERSON (–da/–di) , , hin ha.ruq-ib
, -
! scope="row" , Perfect
, perfect (a completed action whose results are still presently actual) , , PF , , -, , PERSON /PRESENT (–da/–di/–ca=b) , , jabu-l hin d=er{-ib–ca=d (The horse has drunk up the whole of the water)
, -
! scope="row" , Pluperfect
, a completed action in the past preceding another past action , , PF , , -li , , PAST (–di) , ,
, -
! scope="row" , *Evidential Present
, 1. inference from non-trivial results of a situation that still exist at the moment of speech 2. subject resultative:
, IPF , , - , , PERSON/PRESENT (–da/–di/–ca=b) , , jabu hinni b=u{-ib–ca=b (The horse has had a drink of water)
, -
! scope="row" , *Evidential Past
, 1. inference from non-trivial results that existed in the past subject resultative in the past , , IPF , , -li , , PAST (–di) , ,
, -
! scope="row" , Resultative
, resultative (state of the patient) , , - , , -li , , PERSON /PRESENT (–da/–di/–ca=b) , , jabu mura-l b=uK-un-ni–ca=b 'The horse has eaten its fill of hay.‘
, -
! scope="row" , Experiential
, experiential , , - , , -ci , , PERSON /PRESENT (–da/–di/–ca=b) , , ni}a-la }a=b b=uZ-ib-ti–ca=b d=eqel juz-i d=elk'-un-ti ̳There have been in our village those who had written many books'.
, -
! scope="row" , Habitual Past
, a habitual action in the past , , IPF , , -a-d-i, -a-T-i, -iri/-ini or -aj , , no separable predicative morphemes , , reduplication
, harzamina b=urs-iri di-la waba-l 'My mother used to tell (this story).‘
, -
, colspan="7" style="text-align: center;" , DERIVED FROM THE OBLIGATIVE STEM ( BASIC STEM + -an):
, -
! scope="row" , Future
, all types of future situations , , IPF , , - , , PERSON/FUTURE(–da/–di/-ni) , , negative auxiliary , ,
, -
! scope="row" , Obligative Present
, a situation that the speaker believes necessary to be realized , , IPF * , , - , , PERSON /PRESENT (–da/–di/–ca=b)
, rowspan="2" colspan="1" style="text-align: center;" , negative auxiliary , ,
, -
! scope="row" , Obligative Past
, an irreal situation that the speaker believes necessary to have been realized in the past
, IPF * , , - , , PAST (–di) , ,
, -
, colspan="6" style="text-align: center;" , DERIVED FROM THE HYPOTHETICAL STEM ( BASIC STEM + -iZ-):
, -
! scope="row" , Hypothetical Present
, a possible action in the future , , - , , - , , PERSON(–da/–di)
, rowspan="2" colspan="1" style="text-align: center;" , reduplication or negative auxiliary , ,
, -
! scope="row" , Hypothetical Past
, a past situation that did not take place, but is treated by the speaker as having been possible under certain conditions , , - , , - , , PAST (–di) , ,
, -
! scope="row" , Irrealis
, used in the apodosis of the irreal conditional clauses , , IPF , , - , , PAST (–di) , , reduplication , ,

Kadar dialect

The Kadar dialect (G'adaran lug'at) with 18.000 speakers is a dialect of the Northern Dargin languages, one of the Dargin languages, which is characterized by specific phonetic, morphological, lexical and syntactic features. It is traditionally regarded as a single dialect of Dargwa. The vocabulary layer of the Kadar dialect includes words borrowed from Arabic, Persian, Russian and especially Turkic.{{cite journal , last1=Vagizieva , first1=Naida A. , last2=Temirbulatova , first2=Sapiyahanum M. , title=ТЮРКИЗМЫ В КАДАРСКОМ ДИАЛЕКТЕ ДАРГИНСКОГО ЯЗЫКА , journal=Bulletin of the Kalmyk Institute for Humanities of the Russian Academy of Sciences , date=30 October 2016 , volume=25 , issue=3 , pages=83–89 , doi=10.22162/2075-7794-2016-25-3-83-89 , issn=2075-7794 , url=http://kigiran.com/pubs/index.php/vestnik/article/view/666 , access-date=22 December 2022 , language=ru , trans-title=Turkisms in the Kadar Dialect of the Dargin Language

References

{{Reflist

Bibliography

* Z. G. Abdullaev: ''Darginskij jazyk'' (3 Vol.). Moskau 1993. (in Russian)
* Z. G. Abdullaev
''Darginskij jazyk''
In: ''Jazyki narodov SSSR.'' Vol. 4. Moskau 1967. (in Russian)
* Karl Bouda: ''Die darginische Schriftsprache.'' (= ''Beiträge zur kaukasischen und sibirischen Sprachwissenschaft''. Vol. 4). Leipzig 1937.
* Helma van den Berg: ''Dargi folktales. Oral stories from the Caucasus. With an introduction to Dargi Grammar.'' Leiden 2001.
* Michael Daniel, Nina Dobrushina, Dmitry Ganenkov (eds.): ''The Mehweb language: Essays on phonology, morphology and syntax.'' Language Science Press, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-96110-208-2. Open Acces
langsci-press.org
DOI:10.5281/zenodo.3374730

External links

An online dictionary of Sanzhi Dargwa (in Dictionaria)
by Diana Forker
* Appendix:Cyrillic script

Dargin language
{{in lang, ru


Dargwa basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database

{{Incubator, code=dar
{{Languages of Russia
{{Northeast Caucasian languages
{{Languages of the Caucasus
{{Authority control

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dargwa Language

Northeast Caucasian languages
Languages of Russia
Dagestan

{{NEC-lang-stub