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Bezhta language

The Bezhta (or Bezheta) language (Bezhta: бежкьалас миц, bežƛʼalas mic, beƶⱡʼalas mic, pronounced [ˈbeʒt͡ɬʼɑlɑs mit͡s]), also known as Kapucha (from the name of a large village[3]), belongs to the Tsezic group of the North Caucasian language family. It is spoken by about 6,200 people in southern Dagestan, Russia[4]

Bezhta
Kapucha
бежкьалас миц
bežƛʼalas mic/beƶⱡʼalas mic
Pronunciation[ˈbeʒt͡ɬʼɑlɑs mit͡s]
Native toNorth Caucasus
RegionSouthern Dagestan
EthnicityBezhta people
Native speakers
6,800 (2006–2010)[1]
8,138 (2020 census)[2]
Northeast Caucasian
  • Tsezic
    • Bezhta–Hunzib–Khwarshi
      • Bezhta
Dialects
  • Bezhta proper
  • Tladal
  • Khocharkhota
  • Turk.Bezhta
Language codes
ISO 639-3kap
Glottologbezh1248
ELPBezhta
  Bezhta
Bezhta is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010)
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Bezhta can be divided into three dialects – Bezhta Proper, Tlyadal [ru] and Khocharkhota[4] – which are spoken in various villages in the region. Its closest linguistic relatives are Hunzib and Khwarshi.[5] Bezhta is unwritten, but various attempts have been made to develop an official orthography for the language. The Bezhta people use Avar as the literary language. The first book ever printed in Bezhta was the Gospel of Luke (1999).[6]

Phonology

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Bezhta has a rich consonantal and – unlike its relatives Tsez and Avar – a relatively large vowel inventory (16 distinct vowel phonemes), compared to other languages of the same family.[7]

Vowels

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Oral Nasal
Front Back Front Back
Close i iː y yː u uː ĩ ĩː ỹ ỹː ũ ũː
Mid e eː ø øː o oː ẽ ẽː ø̃ ø̃ː õ õː
Open æ æː ɑ ɑː æ̃ æ̃ː ɑ̃ ɑ̃ː

Consonants

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  Labial Alveolar Palato-
alveolar 		Velar Uvular Pharyngeal Glottal
central sibilant lateral
Nasal m n
Plosive/
Affricate 		voiceless p t t͡s t͡ɬ ~ k͡𝼄 t͡ʃ k q͡χ ʔ
ejective pʼ tʼ t͡sʼ t͡ɬʼ ~ k͡𝼄ʼ t͡ʃʼ kʼ q͡χʼ
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative voiceless s ɬ ʃ χ ħ h
voiced z ʒ ʁ ʕ
Sonorant w r l j

Morphology

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Bezhta is mostly agglutinative and the vast amount of locative cases makes its case system particularly rich. The verb morphology is relatively simple. It is an ergative language.[citation needed]

Numerals

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Unlike Tsez, Bezhta has a decimal system with the word for twenty being an exception.[8]

  Latin Cyrillic IPA
0 nol нол nol
1 hõs гьоᵸс hõs
2 qʼona къона qʼona
3 łana лъана ɬana
4 ṏqʼönä оьᵸкъоьнаь ø̃qʼønæ
5 łina лъина ɬina
6 iłna илъна iɬna
7 aƛna алIна atɬna
8 beƛna белIна betɬna
9 äčʼena аьчIена æt͡ʃʼena
10 acʼona ацIона at͡sʼona
20 qona хъона qona
100 hõsčʼitʼ / -čʼitʼ гьоᵸсчIитI / -чIитI hõst͡ʃʼitʼ / -t͡ʃʼitʼ
1000 hazay гьазай hazaj
  • Multiples of 10 higher than 20 are formed by adding the suffix -yig (-йиг) to the multiplier. Hence, the word for 30 is łanayig (лъанайиг).
  • Compound numbers are formed by juxtaposition, the smaller numbers following the greater ones. The number 47 is thus expressed as ṏqʼönäyig aƛna (оьᵸкъоьнаьйиг алIна).

Orthography

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Bezhta is typically unwritten. The orthography used in translations of biblical texts is as follows:[9][10]

А а Аь аь Ан ан Аьн аьн А̄ а̄ Б б В в Г г
Гъ гъ Гь гь ГӀ гӀ Д д Е е Ен ен Ж ж З з
И и Ин ин Ӣ ӣ Й й К к Къ къ Кь кь КӀ кӀ
Л л Лъ лъ ЛӀ лӀ М м Н н О о Оь оь Он он
Оьн оьн О̄ о̄ П п ПӀ пӀ Р р С с Т т ТӀ тӀ
У у Уь уь Ун ун Уьн уьн Ӯ ӯ Х х Хъ хъ ХӀ хӀ
Ц ц ЦӀ цӀ Ч ч ЧӀ чӀ Ш ш Э э Эн эн Ъ ъ

Sample of the Bezhta language

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This is a passage taken from the Gospel of Luke[11] written in a Cyrillic orthography based on Avar and Chechen, a Latinized transcription and one in IPA.

CYRILLIC LATIN TRANSCRIPTION IPA TRANSCRIPTION TRANSLATION
Гьогцо гьоллохъа нисос: Hogco holloqa nisos: [hoɡ.t͡so holː.o.qɑ ni.sos Jesus said to the followers:
Доьъа богьцалаъ вагьда̄ ниса: Dö'a bohcala' wahdā nisa: dɜʔ.ɑ boh.t͡sɑ.lɑʔ wɑh.dɑː ni.sɑ When you pray, pray like this:
«Йа̄ Або, Дибо ца̄ᵸ аьдамла̄ илагьияб бикӀзи йовала, «Yā Abo, Dibo cā̃ ädamlā ilahiyab bikʼzi yowala, jɑː ʔɑ.bo, di.bo t͡sɑ̃ː ʔa.dɑm.lɑː ʔi.lɑ.hi.jɑb bikʼzi jo.wɑ.lɑ "O Father, we pray that your name will always be kept holy,
Дибо Парчагьлъи йоᵸкъала; Dibo Parčahłi yõqʼala; di.bo pɑr.t͡ʃɑh.ɬi jõ.qʼɑ.lɑ we pray that your kingdom will come;
Шибаб водиъ баццас баьба илол нилӀа; Šibab wodi' baccas bäba ilol niƛa; ʃi.bɑb wo.diʔ bɑt͡sː.ɑs ba.bɑ ʔi.lol ni.tɬɑ give us the food we need for each day;
Илла мунагьла̄кьас кьодос тилӀки, судлӀо нисода илена къацӀцӀола илол кешлъи йо̄вакьас кьодос тилӀбакца. Illa munahlāƛʼas ƛʼodos tiƛki, sudƛo nisoda ilena qʼacʼcʼola ilol kešłi yōwaƛʼas ƛʼodos tiƛbakca. ʔi.lːɑ mu.nɑh.lɑːtɬʼ.ɑs tɬʼo.dos ti.tɬki, sud.tɬo ni.sɔ.dɑ ʔi.le.nɑ qʼɑt͡sʼː.o.lɑ ʔi.lol keʃ.ɬi joː.wɑ.tɬʼɑs tɬʼo.dos ti.tɬbɑk.t͡sɑ forgive us the sins we have done, because we forgive every person that has done wrong to us.
Ми илос гьаьл бикъелална уьᵸхолъа̄къа.» Mi ilos häl biqʼelalna ü̃xołāqʼa.» mi ʔi.los hal bi.qʼe.lɑl.nɑ ʔɨ̃.χo.ɬɑː.qʼɑ] And don't let us be tempted."

References

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  1. ^ Bezhta at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Том 5. «Национальный состав и владение языками». Таблица 7. Население наиболее многочисленных национальностей по родному языку
  3. ^ Shirin Akiner, Islamic Peoples of the Soviet Union, 2nd ed. (KPI, Distributed by Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986: ISBN 0-7103-0188-X), p. 253.
  4. ^ a b Ethnologue entry for Bezhta
  5. ^ Schulze, Wolfgang (2009). "Languages in the Caucasus" (PDF). p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 June 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  6. ^ Institute for Bible Translation. "Translators' News" (PDF). p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-09-01. Retrieved 2014-01-30.
  7. ^ Comrie, Bernard; Khalilov, Madzhid; Khalilova, Zaira (2015). Grammatika Bezhtinskogo Jazyka [A grammar of Bezhta]. Leipzig-Makhachkala: MPIEVA.
  8. ^ Ulrich, Alexis. "Bezhta numbers". Of Languages and Numbers. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  9. ^ Chalilov, Madžid Šaripovič (2017). Jazyk, folʹklor i ėtnografija bežtincev: = The language, folklore and etnography of the Bezhta people. Moskva: Institut perevoda Biblii. ISBN 978-5-91431-157-2.
  10. ^ Chalilov, Madžid Šaripovič (2017). Jazyk, folʹklor i ėtnografija bežtincev: = The language, folklore and etnography of the Bezhta people. Moskva: Institut perevoda Biblii. ISBN 978-5-93943-240-5.
  11. ^ "Gospel of Luke in Bezhta". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2006-03-12.
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