Avar (магӏарул мацӏ,maⱨarul maⱬ[maʕarulmat͡sʼː], "language of the mountains" orавар мацӏ,avar maⱬ[ʔaˈwarmat͡sʼː], "Avar language"), also known asAvaric,[3][4] is aNortheast Caucasian language of theAvar–Andic subgroup that is spoken byAvars, primarily inDagestan. In 2010, there were approximately one million speakers in Dagestan and elsewhere inRussia.
Territory and borders of distribution of the Avar language (in theLatin alphabet of the 1930s)
It is spoken mainly in the western and southern parts of the Russian Caucasus republic ofDagestan, and theBalaken,Zaqatala regions of north-westernAzerbaijan.[1] SomeAvars live in other regions of Russia. There are also small communities of speakers living in the Russian republics ofChechnya andKalmykia; inGeorgia,Kazakhstan,Ukraine,Jordan, and theMarmara Sea region ofTurkey. It is spoken by about 1,200,000 people worldwide.UNESCO classifies Avar as vulnerable to extinction.[5]
It is one of six literary languages of Dagestan, where it is spoken not only by the Avar, but also serves as thelanguage of communication between different ethnic and linguistic groups.
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Glottolog lists 14dialects of Avar, some of which correspond to the villages where they are spoken. The dialects are listed in alphabetical order based on their name in Glottolog:
There are competing analyses of the distinction transcribed in the table with the length sign ⟨ː⟩. Length is part of the distinction, but so is articulatory strength, so they have been analyzed asfortis and lenis.[citation needed] The fortis affricates are long in the fricative part of the contour, e.g.[tsː] (tss), not in the stop part as in geminate affricates in languages such as Japanese and Italian[tːs] (tts). Laver (1994) analyzes e.g.[t͡ɬː] as a two-segment affricate–fricative sequence [t͡ɬɬ] (/t𐞛ɬ/ =/tɬɬ/).[7]
In Avar, accent is contrastive, free and mobile, independent of thenumber of syllables in the word. Changes in lexical accent placement indicate different semantic meaning and grammatical meanings of a word:
Adverbs do not inflect, outside of inflection fornoun class in some adverbs of place: e.g. the/b/ in/ʒani-b/ "inside" and/t͡se-b-e/ "in front". Adverbs of place also distinguishlocative,allative, andablative forms suffixally, such as/ʒani-b/ "inside",/ʒani-b-e/ "to the inside", and/ʒani-sa/ "from the inside"./-go/ is an emphatic suffix taken by underived adjectives.
It has been suggested that this section besplit out into another article titledAvar alphabets. (Discuss)(June 2024)
There were some attempts to write the Avar language in theGeorgian alphabet as early as the 14th century.[8][9] The use of thePerso-Arabic script for representing Avar in marginal glosses began in the 15th century. The use of Arabic, which is known asajam, is still known today.[9]
Peter von Uslar developed a Cyrillic-based alphabet, published in 1889, that also used some Georgian-based letters. Many of its letters have not been encoded in Unicode. The alphabet takes the following form:[10]а, б, в, г, ӷ, д, е, ж, һ,,, і, ј, к, қ,, л, м, н, о, п, ԛ,, р, с, ҫ, т, ҭ, у, х, х̍, хᷱ, ц,, / ц̓, / ꚑ, ч, ч̍, чᷱ, / ч̓, ш, ղ, ղ̓, ղᷱ,
As part of Soviet language re-education policies in 1928 the Ajam wasreplaced by a Latin alphabet, which in 1938 was in turnreplaced by the currentCyrillic script. Essentially, it is the Russian alphabet plus one additional letter calledpalochka (stick, Ӏ), originally the digit 1 on a manual typewriter. The palochka is not included in common computerkeyboard layouts, and is often replaced with a capital Latin letter i (I ) or occasionally a small Latin letter L (l ) rather than the digit1.
The Avar language is usually written in theCyrillic script. The letters of the alphabet are (with their pronunciation given below inIPA transcription):[6][11]
The Avar Latin alphabet was originally monocameral. Capital letters were added later. Note that there is no distinction between a cedilla as in⟨ţ⟩ and a straight tick as in⟨ⱪ⟩; the graphic forms of the letters vary by publication, andk may have a cedilla ort a tick.[12][13][14][15][16][17]
One feature of Avar Arabic alphabet is that similar to alphabets such asUyghur andKurdish, the script does not omit vowels and does not rely ondiacritics to represent vowels when need be. Instead, modified letters with dot placement and accents have been standardized to represent vowels. Thus, Avar Arabic script is no longer an "impureabjad" unlike its parent systems (Arabic,Persian, andOttoman), it now resembles a proper "alphabet".
While this was not the case for most of the several centuries during which Arabic alphabet has been used for Avar, this has become the case in the latest and most common conventions. This was indeed not the case at the time of writing of a linguistic article for theJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1881.[16]
Arabic
Cyrillic
Latin
IPA
ا
А а
A a
/a/
ب
Б б
B b
/b/
ت
Т т
T t
/t/
تُ
Тв тв
Tv tv
/tʷ/
ج
Ж ж
Ƶ ƶ
/ʒ/
جُ
Жв жв
Ƶv ƶv
/ʒʷ/
ڃ
ЧӀ чӀ
Ç ç
/t͡ʃʼ/
ڃُ
ЧӀв чӀв
Çv çv
/t͡ʃʷʼ/
ڃّ
ЧӀчӀ чӀчӀ
Çç çç
/t͡ʃʼː/
ڃُّ
ЧӀчӀв чӀчӀв
Ççv ççv
/t͡ʃʷʼː/
چ
Ч ч
C c
/t͡ʃ/
چُ
Чв чв
Cv cv
/t͡ʃʷ/
چّ
Чч чч
Cc cc
/t͡ʃː/
چُّ
Ччв ччв
Ccv ccv
/t͡ʃʷː/
ح
ХӀ хӀ
Ħ ħ
/ʜ/
حُ
ХӀв хӀв
Ħv ħv
/ʜʷ/
خ
Х х
X x
/χ/
خُ
Хв хв
Xv xv
/χʷ/
خّ
Хх хх
Xx xx
/χː/
خُّ
Ххв ххв
Xxv xxv
/χʷː/
څ
Хъ хъ
Ӿ ӿ
/q͡χː/
څُ
Хъв хъв
Ӿv ӿv
/q͡χʷː/
د
Д д
D d
/d/
دُ
Дв дв
Dv dv
/dʷ/
ر
Р р
R r
/r/
ز
З з
Z z
/z/
زُ
Зв зв
Zv zv
/zʷ/
س
С с
S s
/s/
سُ
Св св
Sv sv
/sʷ/
سّ
Сс сс
Ss ss
/sː/
سُّ
Ссв ссв
Ssv ssv
/sʷː/
ش
Ш ш
Ş ş
/ʃ/
شُ
Шв шв
Şv şv
/ʃʷ/
شّ
Щ щ
Şş şş
/ʃː/
شُّ
Щв щв
Şşv şşv
/ʃʷː/
ص
Ц ц
Ꞩ ꞩ
/t͡s/
صّ
Цц цц
Ꞩꞩ ꞩꞩ
/t͡sː/
ض
ЦӀ цӀ
Ⱬ ⱬ
/t͡sʼ/
ضُ
ЦӀв цӀв
Ⱬv ⱬv
/t͡sʷʼ/
ضّ
ЦӀцӀ цӀцӀ
Ⱬⱬ ⱬⱬ
/t͡sʼː/
ضُّ
ЦӀцӀв цӀцӀв
Ⱬⱬv ⱬⱬv
/t͡sʷʼː/
ط
ТӀ тӀ
Ţ ţ
/tʼ/
طُ
ТӀв тӀв
Ţv ţv
/tʷʼ/
ع
ГӀ гӀ
Ⱨ ⱨ
/ʕ/
غ
Гъ Гъ
Ƣ ƣ
/ʁ/
غُ
Гъв Гъв
Ƣv ƣv
/ʁʷ/
ف
П п
P p
/p/
Ф ф
F f
/f/
ڣ
ПӀ пӀ
P p
/pʼ/
ق
Къ къ
Q q
/q͡χʼː/
قُ
Къв къв
Qv qv
/q͡χʷʼː/
ڨ
Кь кь
Ꝗ ꝗ
/t͡ɬʼː/
ڨُ
Кьв кьв
Ꝗv ꝗv
/t͡ɬʷʼː/
ك
К к
K k
/k/
كُ
Кв кв
Kv kv
/kʷ/
كّ
Кк кк
Kk kk
/kː/
كُّ
Ккв ккв
Kkv kkv
/kʷː/
گ
КӀ кӀ
Ⱪ ⱪ
/kʼ/
گُ
КӀв кӀв
Ⱪv ⱪv
/kʷʼ/
گّ
КӀкӀ кӀкӀ
Ⱪⱪ ⱪⱪ
/kʼː/
گُّ
КӀкӀв кӀкӀв
Ⱪⱪv ⱪⱪv
/kʷʼː/
ڬ
Г г
G g
/ɡ/
ڬُ
Гв гв
Gv gv
/ɡʷ/
ڮ
Хь хь
Ҳ ҳ
/x/
ڮُ
Хьв хьв
Ҳv ҳv
/xʷ/
ڮّ
Хьхь хьхь
Ҳҳ ҳҳ
/xː/
ل
Л л
L l
/l/
ڸ
Лъ лъ
Ļ ļ
/t͡ɬ/
ڸُ
Лъв лъв
Ļv ļv
/t͡ɬʷ/
ڸّ
Лълъ лълъ
Ļļ ļļ
/t͡ɬː/
ڸُّ
Лълъв лълъв
Ļļv ļļv
/t͡ɬʷː/
م
М м
M m
/m/
ن
Н н
N n
/n/
و
В в
V v
/w/
ئۈ، ۈ
О о
O o
/o/
ئۇ، ۇ
У у
U u
/u/
ﻫُ
Гьв гьв
Hv hv
/ɦʷ/
ﻫ
Гь гь
H h
/ɦ/
ئې، ې
Э э
E e
/e/
ئې، ې، يې
Е е
E e, Je je
/e/, /je/
ئێ، ێ
И и
I i
/i/
Ы ы
Y y
/ɨ/
ي
Й й
J j
/j/
Ь ь
J j
/ʲ/
يا
Я я
Ja ja
/ja/
يۈ
Ё ё
Jo, jo
/jo/
يۇ
Ю ю
Ju ju
/ju/
ئ
Ъ ъ
’
/ʔ/
ئُ
Ъв ъв
’v
/ʔʷ/
As an example, in Avar Arabic Script, four varieties of the letteryāʼ ("ی") have been developed, each with a distinct function.
Varieties of "ی"
Leter
Cyrillic Equivalent
IPA
Function
ئ
- / ъ
/ʔ/
Used at the beginning of words starting with vowels "О о" [o], "У у" [u],"Э э" [e], and "И и" [i]. Has no sound of its own, but acts as "vowel carrier". Similar to writing conventions ofUyghyr andKurdish
Similar letter exists inKurdish orthography, but for the vowel [e].
ي
Й й
/j/
Equivalent to English "y" sound.
Nevertheless, Avar Arabic script does retain two diacritics.
First is "shadda" (ـّـ), used forgemination. While in Cyrillic, two back to back letters, includingdigraphs are written, in Arabic script, shadda is used.
Second diacritic in use in Avar Arabic script isḍammah (ـُـ). In Arabic, Persian, and historically in Ottoman Turkish, this diacritic is used to represent [o] or [u]. But in Avar, this diacritic is used forlabialization [◌ʷ] and not for any sort of vowel. So, it is the case that this diacritic is used in conjunction with a follow-up vowel. For example, the sound "зва" [zʷa] is written as "زُا".
This diacritic can optionally be used in conjunction with shadda. For example, the sound "ссвa" [sʷːa] is written as "سُّا".
If a word starts with a vowel, if it's an [a] sound, it is written withalif "ا". Otherwise, the vowel needs to be preceded by a "vowel carrier", which ishamza-ya' (ئـ). No need for such a carrier in the middle of words. Below table demonstrates vowels in Avar Arabic Script.
The literary language is based on the болмацӏ (bolmacʼ)[citation needed]—bo = "army" or "country", andmacʼ = "language"—the common language used between speakers of different dialects and languages. Thebolmacʼ in turn was mainly derived from the dialect ofKhunzakh, the capital and cultural centre of the Avar region, with some influence from the southern dialects. Nowadays the literary language is influencing the dialects, levelling out their differences.[citation needed]
The most famous figure of modern Avar literature isRasul Gamzatov (died November 3, 2003), the People's Poet of Dagestan. Translations of his works intoRussian have gained him a wide audience all over the formerSoviet Union.[citation needed]
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
^Simon Crisp, "Language Planning and the Orthography of Avar",Folia Slavica 7, 1–2 (1984): 91–104.
^abSimon Crisp, "The Formation and Development of Literary Avar", pp. 143–62, in Isabelle T. Kreindler, ed.,Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Soviet National Languages: Their Past, Present and Future, Contributions to the Sociology of Language, 40 (Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1985).
^Услар, Баронъ П. К. (1889).Аварскій языкъ(PDF). Тифлисъ.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Алексеев М. Е. (2001). "Аварский язык. — Языки Российской Федерации и соседних государств. — М.: Наука". М.:24–34.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)
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