| Also Known As: Nokchiin Muott,Galancho,Nokhchiin,Chechen
Description:
The Chechen language (Нохчийн мотт / Noxçiyn mott; Medieval Chechen: نوًچین موت) is spoken by more than 1.3 million people, mostly in Chechnya and by Chechen people elsewhere.
Chechen is one of the languages of the Caucasus. Linguistically, it is a member of the Nakh family, together with Ingush and Bats; they all belong to the Northeast Caucasian languages. Although it is frequently said that Chechen and Ingush are mutually intelligible, this is not true; rather, they generally understand each other through passive bilingualism.
There are a number of Chechen dialects: Akkhiy, Chiantiy, Chiebarloy, Mialkhiy, Nokhchmakhkakhoy, Orstkhoy, Sharoy, Shuotoy and Terloy. The Kisti dialect of Georgia is not easily understood by northern Chechens without a few days practice. One difference in pronunciation is that Kisti aspirated consonants remain aspirated when doubled (fortis) or after /s/, whereas they lose their aspiration in other dialects in these situations.
According to the Russian Census in October 2002, 1,330,000 people reported being able to speak Chechen.
Ethnologue estimates the total number worldwide as about 955,000, based on 945,000 speakers in Russia (as per 1989 census),..... full article at Wikipedia |
Location of Chechen Language Speakers
<googlemap zoom="1" width=400 height=300 lat="53.913524" lon="32.021159" type="map">
54.827049, 55.042319, Russia
53.000000, 9.000000, Europe</googlemap>
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