| Also Known As: Kiurinsty,Lezgian,Lezghi,Kiurinty,Lezgin,Lezgi
Description:
Lezgian, also called Lezgi, is a language spoken by the Lezgins who live in southern Dagestan (a republic of Russia) and northern Azerbaijan. Lezgian is an official language in Dagestan. See List of official languages by state
In 1996, Lezgian was spoken by about 257,000 people in Russia, mainly in Southern Dagestan, as well as 171,400 people in Azerbaijan. Lezgian is also spoken in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The total number of speakers is about 451,000.
There are ten languages in the Lezgic language family, namely: Lezgian, Tabasaran, Rutul, Aghul, Tsakhur, Budukh, Kryts, Khinalugh, Udi and Archi. These languages have the same names as the Lezgic ethnic subgroups.
The Quba dialect spoken in Azerbaijan differs, but not considerably from the standard language.
Lezgian is unusual for a Northeast Caucasian language in not having noun classes. Standard Lezgian grammar features 18 noun cases, of which 12 are still used in spoken conversation.
The four grammatical cases are:
There are two declensions.
There are fifty four consonants in Lezgian. Characters to the right are the letters of the Lezian Cyrillic Alphabet. One should note..... full article at Wikipedia |
