Aqusha is a dialect of
North Dargwa spoken by over 42,000 Dargins.
It is the basis for the
literary Dargwa language, along with
Urakhi, as was developed in the 1930s. Speakers of Aqusha number the most among Dargwa linguistic groups.
Geographical distribution
Aqusha is most commonly found in the
Akushinsky and
Levashinsky Districts. There is a significant diaspora of Aqusha speakers in southern
European Russia
European Russia is the western and most populated part of the Russia, Russian Federation. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the country's sparsely populated and vastly larger eastern part, Siberia, which is situated in Asia ...
.
Dialects
Aqusha is divided into 2 dialects, Aqusha and Levashi. According to , the differences in the Aqusha dialect are hardly noticeable and insignificant.
Phonology
Aqusha, and dialects of its type, lack the
fortis and lenis
In linguistics, ''fortis'' ( ; Latin for 'strong') and ''lenis'' (, ; Latin for 'weak'), sometimes identified with 'tense' and 'lax', are pronunciations of consonants with relatively greater and lesser energy, respectively. English has fortis ...
contrast that is found in dialects of the
Tsudaqar type.
Vowel length
In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived or actual length (phonetics), duration of a vowel sound when pronounced. Vowels perceived as shorter are often called short vowels and those perceived as longer called long vowels.
On one hand, many ...
and
labialization
Labialization is a secondary articulatory feature of sounds in some languages. Labialized sounds involve the lips while the remainder of the oral cavity produces another sound. The term is normally restricted to consonants. When vowels invol ...
are also absent.
Glottalized
Glottalization is the complete or partial closure of the glottis during the articulation of another sound. Glottalization of vowels and other sonorants is most often realized as creaky voice (partial closure). Glottalization of obstruent conso ...
and occur, and the case indicator is lost after prefixes.
Comparison with standard Dargwa
References
{{Languages of the Caucasus