| Also Known As: Rutul Language,Rutuly,Rutultsy,Mykhanidy,Rutal,Chal,Mukhad,Rutul
Description:
Rutul is a language spoken by the Rutuls, an ethnic group living in Dagestan (Russia) and some parts of Azerbaijan. The word Rutul derives from the name of a Dagestani village where speakers of this language make up the majority.
Rutul belongs to the Lezgic group of the Northeast Caucasian (Dagestan) language family. Rutuls call their language myxʼabišdy čʼel.
The term Rutul was first used in the 15th century to designate Lezgic-speaking people in what is now southern Dagestan and Azerbaijan's Shaki rayon. It has been in official use since after 1917. Rutul was not a written language until the writing system for it (based on the Cyrillic alphabet) was developed in 1990. Speakers are often bilingual or multilingual having a good command of Azeri, Lezgian and/or Russian languages. There are 8 dialects and 2 sub-dialects of Rutul. The literary version of the language remains in the process of development. In the Rutul-populated regions of southern Russia, Rutul is taught in primary schools (grades 1 to 4).
Among the languages of the Lezgic group, Tsakhur appears to be the closest one to Rutul. Other than these two, there are eight more languages in the Lezgic group, namely: Lezgian,..... full article at Wikipedia |
