The Bagvalal language (Bagulal) is an Avar–Andic language spoken by the Bagvalals in southwestern Dagestan,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, along the right bank of the river Andi-Koisu and the surrounding hills, near the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

n border. It is fairly similar to Tindi, its closest relative. The 2010 Russian census recorded 1,450 Bagvalal speakers. The tradition and culture of the Bagvalal people is very similar to that of the

Avar people Avar(s) or AVAR may refer to: Peoples and states * Avars (Caucasus), a modern Northeast Caucasian-speaking people in the North Caucasus, Dagestan, Russia **Avar language, the modern Northeast Caucasian language spoken by the Avars of the North C ...

, due to their common history within the

Avar Khanate The Avar Khanate, the Avar Nutsaldom ( av, Avar Nutsallhi; russian: Аварское ханство), also known as Khundzia or Avaria, was a long-lived Avar state, which controlled mountainous parts of Dagestan (in the North Caucasus) from the ...

. Bagvalal has three dialects which are named after the names of the villages in which they are spoken in. Only the

Tlisi dialect Tlisi (russian: links=no, Тлиси) is a rural locality (a selo) in Tlibishinsky Selsoviet, Akhvakhsky District, Republic of Dagestan, Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Eu ...

has been studied to a certain significance, because of its similarities to the Tindi language. Bagvalal has numerous loanwords from such languages as

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, Turkish, and Avar. It is only used as an oral language; Avar or Russian are used as written languages. Nowadays Bagvalal is only used in family settings, using Avar or Russian for every other area of communication. Bagvalal has been suffering severe problems and is in serious danger of extinction. The schooling and cultural revolution have contributed to Bagvalal's serious decline. Bagvalal pupils are taught in Avar in primary school, and in secondary school they are taught in Russian. Between 1950 and 1970, Bagvalals migrated to different districts in the

Astrakhan Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the ...

province of Russia, and this also affected the Bagvalal language. Despite this, most of the Bagvalal are supportive towards the language, and around 30~50% of children are fluent in the language. Bagvalal was first mentioned in the 19th century, but very few recordings of the language have been made. There has been very little linguistic research done on the language.

References

External links

The peoples of the Red Book: Bagulals
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagvalal Language Northeast Caucasian languages Andic languages Languages of Russia Endangered Caucasian languages