| Budukh | |
|---|---|
| Будад мезBudad mez | |
| Pronunciation | [budanumɛz] |
| Native to | Azerbaijan |
| Region | Quba Rayon |
| Ethnicity | 1,000Budukhs (1990)[1] |
Native speakers | 200 (2010)[1] |
| Latin script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bdk |
| Glottolog | budu1248 |
| ELP | Budukh |
 Budukh | |
 Budukh is classified as Severely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger[2] | |
Budukh orBudugh (Будад мез,Budad mez[3]) is aLezgic language of theNortheast Caucasian language family spoken in parts of theQuba Rayon ofAzerbaijan. It is spoken by about 200 of approximately 1,000 ethnicBudukhs.[1]
Budukh is a severelyendangered language,[4][5] and classified as such byUNESCO'sAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger.[2]
There are two orthographies for Budukh, and it is beginning to be introduced into schools. The orthography takes the following form:[6]
| A a | Ä ä | B b | C c | Ç ç | Ç' ç' | D d | E e |
| Ә ә | F f | G g | Ğ ğ | Ğh ğh | H h | Hh hh | X x |
| Xh xh | I ı | İ i | J j | K k | K' k' | Q q | Q' q' |
| Qh qh | L l | M m | N n | O o | Ö ö | P p | P' p' |
| R r | S s | Ş ş | T t | T' t' | Ts' ts' | U u | Ü ü |
| V v | Y y | Z z | ' |
The Buduq Picture Dictionary by Adigözəl Hacıyev, published in 2017, uses a slightly different orthography:[7]
| A a | Ä ä | B b | C c | Ç ç | Ç' ç' | D d | E e |
| Ә ә | F f | G g | Ğ ğ | H h | Ħ ħ | I ı | İ i |
| J j | K k | K' k' | L l | M m | N n | O o | Ö ö |
| P p | P' p' | Q q | Q' q' | Qh qh | R r | S s | Ş ş |
| T t | T' t' | Ts' ts' | U u | Ü ü | V v | X x | Xh xh |
| Y y | Z z | ˁ | ' | ˚ |
TheBudud dili school manual by Adigözəl Hacıyev, published in 2025, uses another revision.[8]
| A a | Ä ä | B b | C c | Ç ç | Çˊ çˊ | D d | E e |
| Ә ә | F f | G g | Ğ ğ | H h | Hˊ hˊ | Hˊˊ hˊˊ | İ i |
| I ı | J j | K k | Kˊ kˊ | L l | M m | N n | O o |
| Ö ö | P p | Pˊ pˊ | Q q | Qˊ qˊ | Qh qh | R r | S s |
| Sˊ sˊ | Ş ş | T t | Tˊ tˊ | U u | Ü ü | V v | X x |
| Xˊ xˊ | Y y | Z z | ˊ | ˚ |
Authier (2010) reports that Budugh has six 'gender-number' classes:
Verbs normally agree with theirabsolutive argument (intransitive subject or transitive object) in gender. In the following examples, the verb 'beat' shows animate agreement with 'donkey' and non-human plural agreement with 'donkeys'.
Ma'lla'-cır
Mullah-ERG
lem
donkey
ğùvotu-ri
Ma'lla'-cır lem ğùvotu-ri
Mullah-ERG donkey ANIM:beat:PRES
'Mullah beat the donkey'
Ma'lla'-cır
Mullah-ERG
lemér
donkey
Ma'lla'-cır lemér ğùtu-ri
Mullah-ERG donkey NHUM.PL:beat:PRES
'Mullah beat the donkeys'
Compare these examples with the following, where the verb agrees with the intransitive subject:
Budukh verbs typically agree with a single argument, the absolutive. In the agreement paradigms, the majority of verbs show no overt agreement for the masculine, neuter, and nonhuman plural. Consider the following paradigm for the verb 'keep' in the perfective (Authier 2009):
| M/N/NPL | ˤa-q-a |
| F | ˤa-ra-q-a |
| A | ˤa-va-q-a |
| HPL | ˤa-ba-q-a |
In this paradigm, /ˤa/ is a preverb which must appear with the verb root /q/ 'keep', and the agreement morphology appears between the preverb and the root. Due to historical changes, the relationships between the various members of an agreement paradigm are often more complex and show changes of vowel and/or consonant. The following perfective paradigm for 'go' shows this (with the reconstructed form shown after the *)
| M | vi-xhi |
| F | v-r-xhi |
| A | vüxhü < *vi-v-xhi |
| N/NPL | vidki < *vi-d-xhi |
| HPL | vibki < *vi-b-xhi |
Budukh is anSOV language, as seen in the following example:
Ma'lla'-cır
Mullah-ERG
lemér
donkey
Ma'lla'-cır lemér ğùtu-ri
Mullah-ERG donkey NHUM.PL:beat:PRES
'Mullah beat the donkeys'
It has possessors before possessed nouns:
Adjectives appear before the nouns that they modify:
q'usú
old
Mallá'
mullah
q'usú Mallá'
old mullah
'the old mullah'
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