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| Tabasaran | |
|---|---|
| Tabassaran | |
| табасаран чIалtabasaran ç̇al ихь чIалix ç̇al | |
| Pronunciation | [tɑbɑsɑrɑnt͡ʃʼɑl] [ixt͡ʃʼɑl] |
| Native to | North Caucasus |
| Region | SouthernDagestan |
| Ethnicity | Tabasarans |
Native speakers | 126,900 (2010 census)[1] |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Russia |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tab |
| Glottolog | taba1259 |
| ELP | Tabasaran |
 Map of Tabasarans in the Caucasus | |
 Tabasaran is classified as Vulnerable by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Tabasaran (also writtenTabassaran) is aNortheast Caucasian language of theLezgic branch. It is spoken by theTabasaran people in the southern part of theRussian Republic ofDagestan. There are two main dialects: North (Khanag) and South Tabasaran. It has a literary language based on the Southern dialect, one of the official languages of Dagestan.
Tabasaran is anergative language. The verb system is relatively simple; verbs agree with the subject in number, person and (in North Tabasaran) class. North Tabasaran has twonoun classes (that is,grammatical gender), whereas Southern Tabasaran lacks noun classes / gender.
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It is spoken in the basin of UpperRubas-nir and UpperChirakh-nir.
The post-alveolar sibilants may bewhistled.
| Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | ||
| Close | i | y | u |
| Mid | ɛ | ||
| Open | æ | ɑ | |
Vowels of Tabasaran are /i, y, ɛ, æ, ɑ, u/.[citation needed]
Peter von Uslar devised Cyrillic-based orthographies for many Caucasian languages, including Tabasaran.[3]
From 1931 to 1938, the Latin alphabet was used as a base for the Tabasaran writing system. The first book was published in 1932.[4]
Initially, the alphabet took the following form:[5]
a, b, c, cc, cь, ç, çь, d, e,ə, f, g,ƣ, h, i, j, k, kk,ⱪ, l, m, n, u, p, pp,ᶈ, q,ꝗ, r, s,, ,ş, şь, t, tt, t̨, y, v, x, ҳ, ӿ, z,ⱬ, zz,ƶ, ƶƶ, ƶь, '
Soon after, capital letters and the lettersO o and
were introduced. The alphabet then took the following form:[6]
| A a | B b | C c | Cь cь | Ç ç | Çь çь | D d | E e | Ə ə | F f | G g |
| Ƣ ƣ | H h | I i | J j | K k | Ⱪ ⱪ | L l | M m | N n | O o | P p |
 ᶈ | Q q | Ꝗ ꝗ | R r | S s | | Ş ş | Şь şь | T t |   | U u |
| V v | X x | Ҳ ҳ | Ӿ ӿ | Y y | Z z | Ⱬ ⱬ | Ƶ ƶ | | Ƶь ƶь | ' |
Tabasaran has been written usingCyrillic since 1938.[7]
| Letter | IPA | Letter | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| А а | /ɑ/ | Р р | /r/ |
| Аь аь | /æ/ | С с | /s/ |
| Б б | /b/ | Т т | /tʰ/ |
| В в | /v/ | Тт тт | /tː/ |
| Г г | /ɡ/,/ɢ/ | Тӏ тӏ | /tʼ/ |
| Гг гг | /ɣ/ | У у | /u/ |
| Гъ гъ | /ʕ/ | Уь уь | /y/ |
| Гь гь | /h/ | Ф ф | /f/ |
| Д д | /d/ | Х х | /ɦ/ |
| Е е | /ɛ/,/jɛ/ | Хъ хъ | /qʰ/ |
| Ё ё | /jo/ | Хь хь | /x/ |
| Ж ж | /ʒ/,/dʒ/ | Ц ц | /tsʰ/ |
| Жв жв | /ʒʷ/ | Цц цц | /tsːʰ/ |
| З з | /z/,/dz/ | Цӏ цӏ | /tsʼ/ |
| И и | /i/ | Ч ч | /tʃʰ/ |
| Й й | /j/ | Чв чв | /tʃʷʰ/ |
| К к | /kʰ/ | Чч чч | /tʃːʰ/ |
| Кк кк | /kː/ | Чӏ чӏ | /tʃʼ/ |
| Къ къ | /qːʰ/ | Ш ш | /ʃ/ |
| Кь кь | /qʼ/ | Шв шв | /ʃʷ/ |
| Кӏ кӏ | /kʼ/ | Щ щ | /ɕ/ |
| Л л | /l/ | Ъ ъ | /ʔ/ |
| М м | /m/ | Ы ы | /ɨ/ |
| Н н | /n/ | Ь ь | |
| О о | /o/ | Э э | /ɛ/ |
| П п | /pʰ/ | Ю ю | /y/,/ju/ |
| ПП пп | /pː/ | Я я | /æ/,/jɑ/ |
| Пӏ пӏ | /pʼ/ |
Note: /ё/ and /o/ are encountered only inloanwords fromRussian.
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Tabasaran is andagglutinating and primarilysuffixing language withergative-absolutive alignment.[8] It is highly probable that Tabasaran is anactive language of thefluid-S type.[citation needed]
Tabasaran nouns inflect for number and case, and they controlgender agreement. Tabasaran is unusual for northeast Caucasian languages in that it does not differentiate between masculine and feminine nouns. It does distinguish between human and non-human nouns, but only in the singular.[9]
bali-z zimz-ar ğä-r-q-ü
boy.OBL-DAT ant-PL.ABS PX.AOR-PL-see-AOR
"The boy saw some ants"
Tabasaran has 4 grammatical, or core, cases (absolutive,ergative,genitive, anddative), but the number of locative cases is debated. Tabasaran was listed in the 1997Guinness Book of World Records as having the largestcase system in the world, with 48. Hjelmslev (1935) claimed that Tabasaran had the 'empirical maximum' number of cases, with 52 (though 2 occur only on adjectives). However, such claims are contested, and other languages such asTsez would have even larger counts under such definitions.[10] Comrie & Polinsky (1998) analyze the system as having 14 or 15 cases depending on the dialect.[10][11]Babaliyeva (2023) identifies 46 cases[8], and Magometov (1965) identifies 47 in the southern dialect and 53 in the northern dialect.[12]
The grammatical cases are formed as follows:[8]
Example sentence using the absolutive, genitive, and dative cases:[8]
nežber
worker.ABS
ğula-z
village-DAT
qhadak-nu
return-SEQ
ğ-üru
come-EVT
nežber ča-n ğula-z qhadak-nu ğ-üru
worker.ABS self.OBL-GEN village-DAT return-SEQ come-EVT
"The worker returned to his village"
The analysis of cases from Babaliyeva (2023) identifies 7 locative cases:in 'in';ad 'near to';cont 'in vertical contact' or 'inside a mass';post 'behind';sub 'under';inter 'between' or 'among'; andsuper 'on'. The locative cases can be suffixed to the noun alone, or the elative, lative, and comitative cases are suffixed onto the locative forms of the noun, creating 28 cases:
| Elative | Lative | Comitative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| In- | -ʔ-an | -ʔ-na | -ʔ-di |
| Ad- | -h-an / -xh-an | -h-na / -xh-na | -h-di / -xh-di |
| Cont- | -k-an | -k-na | -k-di |
| Post- | -qh-an | -qh-na | -qh-di |
| Sub- | -kk-an | -kk-na | -kk-di |
| Inter- | -ğ-än | -ğ-na | -ğ-di |
| Super- | -l-an | -(ʔ)in-a | -(ʔ)in-di |
The additional 14 cases are formed by adding the directive suffix-di to the elative and lative series (with some changes in the lative series).
| Elative Series | Lative Series | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Inel-Dir | -ʔ-an-di | Inlat-Dir | -ʔ-na-di |
| Adel-Dir | -h-an-di / -xh-an-di | Adlat-Dir | -h-in-di / -xh-in-na |
| Contel-Dir | -k-an-di | Contlat-Dir | -k-in-di |
| Postel-Dir | -qh-an-di | Postlat-Dir | -qh-in-di |
| Subel-Dir | -kk-an-di | Sublat-Dir | -kk-in-di |
| Inter-Dir | -ğ-än-di | Interlat- | -ğ-in-di |
| Super-Dir | -l-an-di | Superlat-Dir | -(ʔ)in-a-di |
By contrast, the analysis from Comrie and Polinksy (1998) count each suffix as a case, rather than considering each combination of suffixes as a case. In addition to the 4 grammatical cases (identical to the ones described in Babaliyeva's analysis), there are 8 local cases in the northern dialect, and 7 in the southern dialect. These morphemes describe spatial orientation, or the reference point.
| Orientation | Suffix |
|---|---|
| 'in' (hollow space) | -ʔ |
| 'on' (horizontal) | -ʔin |
| 'behind' | -q |
| 'under' | -kk |
| 'at'[a] | -xy |
| 'near, in front of' | -h |
| 'among' | -ɣy |
| 'on' (vertical) | -k |
The local cases alone have an essive meaning, or a lack of motion. In order to express motion away or motion from an object, the allative suffix-na or ablative suffix-an (respectively) is added. The local cases and the dative can also take the translative suffix-di to mark the location as less specific.[10]
First- and second-person pronouns distinguish betweeninclusive and exclusive first person plural, and have irregular declensions, with the absolutive and ergative forms being identical.
| I | You (sg) | We (excl) | We (incl) | You (pl) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abs/Erg | uzu | uvu | uču | uxhu | učvu |
| Gen | yiz | yav | ič | ixh | ičv |
| Dat | uzu-z | uvu-z | uču-z | uxhu-z | učvu-z |
The third-person pronouns aredumu (singular) anddurar (plural).
Demonstrative pronouns show a proximal and distal distinction, as well as a distinction in elevation (higher or lower than the speaker). The emphatic particleha- can be prefixed to each demonstrative.[8]
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Proximal | mu | murar |
| Distal | t(u)mu | - |
| Anaphoric | dumu | durar |
| Higher | ğumu | - |
| Lower | kkumu | - |
There are threereflexive (anaphoric) pronouns:[8]
| 1-2 Sg | 3 Sg | 3 Pl | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abs | žvuv | učv | čib |
| Erg | žvuv-u | ča-v | čp-i |
| Gen | žvuv-a-n | ča-n | čp-i-n |
| Date | žvuv-a-z | ča-z | čp-i-v |
When adjectives are used in anattributive role, adjectives do not decline. E.g.,äxü äšq’ 'great love', andäxü älamat-ar 'great splendour-PL'.Substantive adjectives require a gender and number suffix, and then decline as if they were nouns.Predicative adjectives can be uninflected, inflected for gender/number, or followed by the adverbial suffix-di.[8]
| Human Sg | Non-human Sg | Plural | |
| Absolutive | äxü-r | äxü-b | äxü-dar |
| Ergative | äxü-r-i | äxü-b-di | äxü-dar-i |
| Genitive | äxü-r-i-n | äxü-b-di-n | äxü-dar-i-n |
Uwu aldakurawu. "Уву алдакураву." — "You are falling."
Uzuz uwu kkunduzuz. "Узуз уву ккундузуз." — "I love you."
Uwu fudžuwa? "Уву фужува?" — "Who are you?"
Fici wuna? "Фици вуна?" — "How are you?"
Zakurʕürza. "Закур гъюрза." — "I'll come tomorrow."
Uzu kana qheza. "Узу кана хъэза." — "I'll be back."
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)The proposedNorth Caucasian language family comprises theNortheast andNorthwest Caucasian language families. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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