Lezgi language

Lezgi, also called Lezgian, is a language spoken by the Lezgins who live in southern Dagestan (a republic of Russia) and northern Azerbaijan.

[edit] Classification

Lezgi belongs to the Lezgian group of the Northeast Caucasian (Dagestan) language family.

[edit] Geographic distribution

In 1996, Lezgi was spoken by about 257,000 people in Russia, mainly in Southern Dagestan, as well as 171,400 people in Azerbaijan. Lezgi is also spoken in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The total number of speakers is about 451,000.

[edit] Official status

Lezgi is not an official language, but is one of six literary languages of Dagestan.

[edit] Related languages

There are ten languages in the Lezgian language family, namely: Lezgi, Tabasaran, Rutul, Aghul, Tsakhur, Budukh, Kryts, Khinalugh, Udi and Archi. These languages have the same names as the Lezgian tribes.

The Quba dialect spoken in Azerbaijan differs considerably from the standard language.

[edit] Grammar

Lezgi is unusual for a Northeast Caucasian language in not having grammatical gender. Literary Lezgi grammar features 18 noun cases, of which 12 are still used in spoken conversation.

[edit] Bibliography

• Haspelmath, Martin. 1993. A grammar of Lezgian. (Mouton grammar library; 9). Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter. – ISBN 3-11-013735-6

• Talibov, Bukar B. and Magomed M. Gadžiev. 1966. Lezginsko-russkij slovar’. Moskva: Izd. Sovetskaja Ėnciklopedija.

[edit] External links

• Ethnologue report for Lezgi
• Languages of the World report