| Also Known As: Khunzal,Xunzal,Enzeb,Khunzaly,Gunzib
Description:
Hunzib is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by about 2000 people in the south of Dagestan, near the Russian border with Georgia.
Hunzib belongs to the Tsezic group of the Northeast Caucasian languages. It is most closely related to Bezhta, with which it forms the eastern branch of the Tsezic languages. Other Tsezic languages include Tsez, Hinukh and Khwarshi.
Hunzib is not an official language, nor is Hunzib written. It is spoken in the Tsunta and Kizilyurt districts in Dagestan and in two villages across the Russian border in Georgia.
Hunzib has 35 consonants. Three consonants, /x/, /ħ/, and /ʕ/ are only found in loanwords.
Vowels in Hunzib may be short, long, or nazalized.
Nouns in Hunzib come in five noun classes: male, female, and three classes for inanimate objects. There are a number of cases in Hunzib, including absolutive, ergative, genitive and instrumental. A number of other case-like markers indicate direction and include dative, adessive, superessive, contactive, comitative and allative declensions.
Most verbs agree in class and number with the noun in the phrase that is in the absolutive case. As Hunzib has ergative alignment, that equals the subject of..... full article at Wikipedia |
