Tsakhur language

Tsakhur belongs to the Lezgic group of the Northeast Caucasian language family. The Tsakhurs call their language ''''''. Related languages Among the languages of the Lezgic group, Rutul appears to be the closest one to Tsakhur. Other than these two, there are eight more languages in the Lezgic group, namely: Lezgian, Tabasaran, Aghul, Budukh, Kryts, Udi, and Archi. ==History==

The first written documentation of Tsakhur dates back to 1895 and is attributed to Roderich von Erckert. The first description of Tsakhur grammar was published by Adolf Dirr in 1913. In 2008, Asif Rustamov directed the first and so far only feature film in Tsakhur called Facing Back to the Qibla. ==Geographic distribution==

Tsakhur is spoken mostly in rural areas of Azerbaijan's Zaqatala and Qakh rayons, as well as mountainous parts of Dagestan's Rutul region. There are 15,900 Tsakhurs in Azerbaijan (1999 census) and 10,400 in Russia (2002 census). In 1989, 93% of them reported Tsakhur as their first language. == Official status ==

In Azerbaijan and Russia, Tsakhur is taught as a subject in primary schools (grades 1 to 4) in Tsakhur-populated regions. Newspapers and radio broadcast in Tsakhur are also available. It is one of twelve official languages of the Dagestan region in Russia where it is spoken. However, the language does not have an official status in Azerbaijan. ==Dialects==

The two major dialects of the Tsakhur language are Tsakh and Gelmets. ==Phonology==

Similar to many Northeast Caucasian languages, Tsakhur is known for its complex phonology and a large number of vowel phonemes (including 7 simple, 5 pharyngealized and 3 umlauted vowels). Its first in-depth phonological description was provided by Nikolai Trubetzkoy in 1931. Consonants The consonant inventory, according to Shulze's study of the language, of Tsakhur is shown below. Forms are phonemic unless numbered, in which case they are suspected to be phonemes but currently with incomplete evidence for this. The inventory shows some asymmetries, but exhibits series of palatalized, labialized, and pharyngealized phonemes. :# Suspected to be phonemes. Vowels ==Writing==

Latin (1934–1938) The alphabet for the Tsakhur language based on the Latin alphabet was compiled by A. N. Genko in 1934. 8 textbooks were published. However, after 4 years, teaching and publishing books in the Tsakhur language ceased. Cyrillic (1989–present) It was resumed only in 1989, but already in a new, Cyrillic alphabet. Latin (1996–present) The Latin script has been used for Tsakhur in Azerbaijan since 1996. It was later reformed. The first alphabet was as follows: A a, AӀ aӀ, B b, V v, Q q, Qъ qъ, D d, E e, I i, Y y, K k, G g, KӀ kӀ, Kь kь, Kъ kъ, L l, M m, N n, O o, OӀ oӀ, P p, PӀ pӀ, R r, T t, TӀ tӀ, U u, UӀ uӀ, Ç ç, ÇӀ çӀ, C c, I ı, IӀ ıӀ, Ƶ ƶ, ƵӀ ƶӀ, F f, X x, Xь xь, QӀ qӀ, Xъ xъ, H h, Ş ş, S s, Z z. Comparison chart | || | |} ==Grammar==

Tsakhur has 18 grammatical cases and has retained suffixaufnahme. Verbs may have singular and plural forms, and 7 grammatical moods. The tense system is complex. In contrast to the related languages, Tsakhur sentences can be formed by affective construction. Noun case Tsakhur exhibits a number of noun cases, including grammatical and local cases. The ergative and genitive cases show agreement with the head noun class, as shown below. Noun class Tsakhur has a system of noun class. Postpositions As with other related languages, Tsakhur uses a complex system of postpositions, mainly local ones. Numerals ==See also==