| 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.
Connections to Hurrian and Urartian. Some linguists — notably I. M. Diakonoff and S. Starostin — also see similarities between the Northeast Caucasian family and the extinct languages Hurrian and Urartian. Hurrian was spoken in various parts of the Fertile Crescent in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Urartian was the language of Urartu, a powerful state centered in the area of Lake Van in Turkey, that existed between 1000 BC or earlier and 585 BC.
The two extinct languages have been grouped into the Hurro-Urartian family. Diakonoff proposed the name Alarodian for the union of Hurro-Urartian and Northeast Caucasian.
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:..... full article at Wikipedia |
