Digor or Digorian (''дигорон digoron'') is a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

of the

Ossetian language Ossetian (, , ), commonly referred to as Ossetic and rarely as Ossete (), is an Eastern Iranian language that is spoken predominantly in Ossetia, a region situated on both sides of the Greater Caucasus. It is the native language of the Oss ...

spoken by the

Digor people The Digor ( Digor dialect: Дигорон - ''Digoron'', ''pl.'': Дигорӕ, Дигорӕнттӕ - ''Digoræ'', ''Digorænttæ'') are a subgroup of the Ossetians. They speak the Digor dialect of the Eastern Iranian Ossetian language, which ...

. It is less widely spoken than

Iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

, the other extant Ossetian dialect. The two are distinct enough to sometimes be considered separate languages; in the recently published Digor–Russian dictionary, the compiler Fedar Takazov refers to a "Digor language", though the editor in the same book uses "Digor dialect". Until 1939, Digor had a literary language separate from Iron. Digorian speakers live in the western part of North Ossetia (

Digora Digora (russian: Дигора́; os, Дигорæ, ''Digoræ'') is a town and the administrative center of Digorsky District of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia, located on the Ursdon River (left tributary of the Terek), north ...

, Chikola, etc.); in North Ossetia's capital,

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz (russian: Владикавка́з, , os, Дзæуджыхъæу, translit=Dzæwdžyqæw, ;), formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () and Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russia. It is located i ...

; and in larger cities of

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 ...

. Counts of speakers are largely nonexistent, because Digorians are mostly calculated as

Ossetians The Ossetians or Ossetes (, ; os, ир, ирæттæ / дигорӕ, дигорӕнттӕ, translit= ir, irættæ / digoræ, digorænttæ, label=Ossetic) are an Iranian ethnic group who are indigenous to Ossetia, a region situated across the no ...

during census.

References

Ossetia Eastern Iranian languages Languages of Russia Ossetian language {{Iranian languages

See also

References