PEOPLES OF DAGESTAN AND LANGUAGE
Doç. Dr. Yücel OGURLU (Doç. Dr., University of Beykent, Faculy of Law )
It is one of the regions in which languages are concentrated
as in Indonesia,Caucasia and India. Though there are
many other reasons suggested for the variety of languages
in the region, natural and territorial obstacles are the most
important reasons for these variety. It is out of doubt that,
mountains, deep valleys, rivers caused these people to communicate
less and as a result new dialects came in to use. From
the tops of high Caucasia mountains to the hillsides, according
to some, there are 40 and according to some other there are
80 languages which are being used by these people.
There are Caucasian language, Turkii and Iranian languages
which are being spoken in Caucasi. Turkii languages are
known in Turkiye as scientific and ethnologic investigations
were made on them. As a result, we investigated languages in
Caucasia which are relatively less known in contrast to
Caucasian languages and on which we think there weren't
enough investigations carried out in Turkey.
After this introduction we want to give information about
the languages in Dagestan region. We start with the languages
matter in Dagestan, the most frequently asked questions on
our this issue.
The Official Language Matter in Dagestan
As mentioned in Turkey, there is not an independent language
in Dagestan called Dagestan Language. There are theree
different language groups in Dagestan which are independent
from each other, however they keep relativity between
each group itself. You will see proof of this relativity in later
stages.
There is a need for lingu franca (common language) in such
a territory where there are many various languages. As we
stated in our previous issue, though today common language
in Russian, Arabian language was very important from the 7th
century to 1917. As it was regarded as the language of
Dagestan philosophers, it was respected much. Again
Kumukian language had some importance. Even in the past,
families with sons knowing Kumukian language are said to
have an advantage. Apart from this, in Avar region, people
learned Avar languages as a common language and in southern
regions Azerbeijani Turkish was used as a common language.
The relations of the these languages significiantly
increased in that time. It is highly possible that words of
Lezgician language entered to Turkish word stock in this period.
It is known that many of subbranches of Lezgician language;
Rutul, Tsakhur, Agul are learned in either Soviet
schools or outside. This is not as much effective as it is used to
be in the past and instead of learning each others' language,
Russian which is regarded as more effective has become the
language of common people as Lingua Franca.
The effect of Azerbeijani and Kumukian ended almost in
1930s locally.
In 1994 Ground Laws of Dagestan, in stead of accepting one
language as the official language of Dagestan, they accepted
all standart languages which are being spoken in Dagestan by
considering the current conditions and history of the country.
Because the article of ground law suggets "all languages of
Dagestan".Avarian, Azerbeijani, Darginian, Kumukian, Lakian,
Lezgian, Nogayian, Russian, Tabasaranian, Tatian, and even
language of Chechnya. I don't want to state writing language
here because some other languages which aren't included also
have a written language. For example the tiniest Tatian language
is a writable language and has an alphabet. This language
is used in Dagestan press along with other languages.
Tsakhur, Agul and Rutul languages must also be regarded as
official languages as they have written languages as well. All
languages must be respected if it is to be sensitive in Dagestan
aspect. However being too much respective against other languages
will also prevent a language to be one and single official
language. And this situation will also strengten the current
dominancy of Russian language.Another suggestion could be
that a language that was used as a common language in
Dagestan might be official language. But I am sure that this
will not only be rejected but also will not be accepted under
current circumstances.
The chart below is figured out in 2002 head count related to
Russian connections of languages spoken in Dagestan. But this
point shouldn't be misunderstood when looking the chart. This
is not the whole population of Dagestan folks. This is because
that, Lezgis, Avars, Tsakhurs, Rutuls, Udis ve Tatlars living in
Azerbeijani aren't added to this population. On the other hand,
Azerbeijani language is alo spoken in Dagestan but the population
at the chart shows the population of Azerbeijani people
living in Dagestan and directly in Azerbeijan. Tiny folks in
Avars are also seen to record themselves as Avars according to
previous head counts.
Name of the Folk . . . . . . . . . . . .Population
Avars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .814473
Andis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21808
Arçi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
Akhvak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6376
96
Bagulal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
Bezhti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6198
Botlikh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Ginukh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .531
Godoberi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Gunzib . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .998
Dido . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15256
Karata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6052
Tyndil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Khvarþi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
C'amalal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Kumuk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .422409
Azeri (Including Terekeme) . . . . . . . .621840
Nogay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90666
Tat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2303
Lezgi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .411535
Agul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28297
Rutul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29929
Tabasaran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131785
Tsakhur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10366
Udin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3721
Dargin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .510156
Kaytag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Kubaçin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
Lak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156545
However this chart only includes the population of folks in
Russia. For example;
1. Languages from Caucasian Language GroupWe shall start with languages which are spoken in Dagestan
and which belong to Caucasian (North-East and East
Caucasian languages)language family. Avar, Andi, dido, Lak,
Dargin ve Lezgi and Chechnya language from Vaynakh group
are famous for their abundance of consonant letters. I think
that Chechnya language spoken in Dagestan by Chechnya people
is a member of North East Caucasia language family with
its dialect Ingus. If we take Avar language as an example there
are fortysix consonant letters while there are only six vowels.
The relationship between these languages we mentioned , are
out of doubt
a. Avar-Andi-Dido SubgroupThey form the biggest group of Dagestan. The subgroup of
Avar-Andi-Dido includes this sub-languages , dialects spoken
in higher points of Dagestan ; Akhvakh, Andi, Avar, Bagulal,
Bezhta, Botlikh, Chamalal, Dido, Godoberi, Hinukh, Hunzib,
Karata, Khvarshi, Tindi. We can say that these dialects are only
used in Dagestan. In Dagestan these languages are %29.4 of
all languages spoken. They started to use Latin Alphabet in
1920 and they started to use Cyrillic Alphabet in 1938. This
languages is spoken in higher regions of Dagesten. 556.000 in
Dagestan and 44.000 in Azerbeijan (1989). According to the
2002 head count Avars all over the Russia count up to
814.473. By 2009, it is estimated that Avars in Russia and
Azerbeijan may count up to a million.
We know that Avar language is spoken in Northern regions
of Azerbeijan.
Acceptance of Avar language and 14 dialects of it in
Northern regions as Lingua Franca contiuned in Soviet time as
it used to do in Gazavat time. In southern regions Lezgi language
had the same effect on language and dialects as how
Avar language had in North.
The most crowded family of Avars are seperated in to three
different groups in terms of language.
1-Avar
2- Andi
3-Dido(Tsez)The most crowded group is formed by Avars. These group is
ranged from Sulak River in north to Zakatali Region in
south.Andis are seperated in to sub groups such as; Bottlih,
Godoberi, Karatin, Bagvalal, Çamalal, Tindi and Achavis.
Hinuk, Cvarsin and Kapucins are the sub groups of Didos.
These are Avar language dialects ;Salatav, Kunzakh (Xunzax,
Kuzey Avar), Keleb, Bacadin, Untib, Shulanin, Kaxib, Hid,
Andalal-Gxdatl, Karax (Karakh), Batlux, Ancux (Antsukh),
Zakataly (Char). However Khunzakh (bolmats) had been the
language of warriors common language for 300 years. Avar
language is accepted as a common language which symbolized
13 different dialects. Bolmats is very important in those
regions people to identify themselves and written Avar language
is formed on the basis of Bolmats.
There are many sub branches of Avar languages which can
be regarded dialects. Let's give different examples for each;
a. Akhvakh: (they name themselves as Ashvado) They
live in 8 villages in Akhvakh and Shamil region and they use
their own language.They were 3500 people in the 1990 head
count and 6376 people in the 2002 head count.
b. Andi: (they name themselves as Khivannal) They live in
North Botlikh region, Andi (khiani in Andi language) and
Gagatli in 9 villages and they use their own language. Their
dialects are Munin, Rikvani, Kvanxidatl, Gagatl and Zilo. They
are approximately 20.000 people, in the 2002 head count they
were 21.808.
c. Botlikh (Buyhalji): They live in Tsudamin and Akvakh
region in 6 villages and they use their own language. Their
dialects are Botlikh and Zibirkhalin.They were 5000 people in
the 1990 head count and 16 people in 2002 head count.
d. Bagulal (Bagval): They live Tsudamin and Akvakh
regions in 6 villages and they use their own language. They
were 2000 people in the 1990 head count and only 40 people
in the 2002 head count.
e. Bezhta (Bezhta language= Kapucha) They live in 3 villages
centred by Bezhta and theu use their own language.
They were 5000 people in the 1990 head count and their
dialects are Bezhta, Tlyadaly, Khocharkhotin. They were 6198
people in the 2002 head count.
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f. Chamalal: They live in North Tsudamin region and they
use their own language. Their dialects are Gadyri (Gachitl-
Kvankhi), Gakvari (Agvali-Richaganik-Tsumada-Urukh),
Gigatl. They were 5000 people in the 1990 head count and in
the 2002 head count they were only 12 people.
g. Dido (Tsuntal, Tsez): They live in a few village in Tsuntin
(S'undin) region and they use their own language. Their
dialects are Didoi, Tsez, Cez, Tsezy, Tsuntin. They were 8000
people in the 1990 head count and they were 15256 people
according to the 2002 head count.
h. Godoberi: They live in Southern East regions of Botlikh
and Godobori's villages and they use their own language. In
the 1996 head counts they were 3000 people and in the 2002
head count they were 39 people.
i. Hinukh: They are approximately three groups of 150 people.
They live Tsuntin (S'undin) region and Khenokh they use
their own language. They were 300 people in the 1990 head
count and in the 2002 head count they were only 531 people.
j. Hunzib: They live in Northern East Uchastok region and
Gunzib village and they use their own language. They were
2000 people in the 1995 head count and 998 people in the
2002 head count.
k. Karata (they name themselves as Khkhiridi) They live in 10
villages in Akvakh and Khunzakh regions and they use their own
language. They were 6052 people in the 2002 head count.
l. Khvarshi (they name themselves as Atil'ko and Huani) :They live in Khvarshi (Huani in language Khvarshi ) village in
Tsudarmin village and they use their own language. They were
500 people in the 1990 head count and they were 128 people
in the 2002 head count. Their dialects are Xvarshi, Inxokvari.
m. Tindi: They live in 5 villages of Tindi in Tsudamin
region and they use their own language. They were recorded
as 44 people in the 2002 head count.
All of the languages above must be regarded as the sub
dialects of Avar language. Compare and contrast of certaion
terms between languages are of great importance at first. One
of these are digits. To give an example of this situation, we
should try to reveal the connection between these languages.
We will see detailed compare and contrast in later stages.
Source: Mark Rosenfelder, "Numbers in 5000 Languages"
The chart of digits above are just shown to give example
about the connection between languages. If it is proven that
these digits were not taken in different periods, this would be
enough to make connection between these languages. We will
make the same experiment on Dagestan languages with crosswise
method.
b. Dargwa-Lak Subgroup:This subgroup includes the languages spoken in the middle
regions of Dagestan.Though Lak language is a homogeneous
language, Dargwa language includes several different dialects.
Such as Kubachi dialect. Dargwa-Lak Subgroup includes
Dargwa and Lak languages which are spoken in mountainous
regions. It is known that these two languages are closely related
to each other.
Dargwa: (they name themselves as Dargala) Dargwa is the
second biggest ethno-linguistic group of Dagestan. It is spoken
in Akushin region, Dakhadayev region and Kaytag region.
Dargwans are spread to a range from north west of Derbent
Gate to the shores of Caspian Sea. There are Kumuks in north,
Avars in west, veteran Kumuks in south and Kaytaks in far
south. Their language looks like Lezgi language after their
own language Lak.. It is divided into subgroups such as Akuþa,
Sutkur, Sýrhal, Urkarak, Horakan, Kaytak (Haydak) and
Kubachis. They were 365.000 people in the 1993 head count
and in the later head count in 2002 they were 510.156,
Kaytags were 5 and Kubachis were 88 people.
Lak: (Kazikumukh) They live in the center of Dagestan. Laks
live in their own lak region and Kulin region. They are neighbours
with Dargwa in East and with Avars in west and north.
They are famous for their handicraft and jewel works. They live
in Akusha, Shoradin, Kurakh, Rutul and Dakhadayev districts
and apart from this they also live in Makhackale, Buynak,
Hasavyurt and Caspi. They were 112.100 people in the 1989
head count and 156.545 people in the 2002 head count.
c. Lezgi subgroupLezgi subgroup is placed in Eastern Dagestan and includes
Agul, Archi, Lezgi, Rutul, Tabasaran, Tsakhur (S'ah'ur)
dialects. This group forms the %21.5 of all Dagestan.
Lezgi: The fourth biggest ethno-linguistic language group
spoken in Dagestan.Turkish is widely spread between Lezgis
who are neighbours with Dargwas, Avars and Laks and in south
with Azerbeijani and Tatars. They are divided into subgroups
such as Tabasaran, Rutul, Agul, Budukh, Dzekh, Tsakhur, Udi
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and Khinalug.According to 1989 head count there were
257.000 people living in Dagestan and 171.400 people living in
Azerbeijani. According to the 2002 head count, this number
reached 411.535 in Russia. The last head count in Azerbeijani
is unknown. The overall estimated number in Russia and
Azerbeijani is approximately 700.000 people.
Tabasaran: This dialect is spoken in approximately 120
allocation units in Khucni, Khiv and Tabasaran regions. They
altered to Latin Alphabet in 1932 and to Cyrilic Alphabet in
1938. While they were 95.000 in 1989 head count, Tabasaran
reached 131.785 people in the 2002 head count.
Agul: Aguls who live 19 villages in Agul region speak Agul
language. They have various dialects. While they were 17.373
people in the 1989 head counts, they reached 28.297 in the
2002 head count.
Tsakhur (they name themselves as Iihibi): This language is
spoken in approximately 12 villages in the region of Rutul and
Tsakhur. It is spoken in the north of Azerbeijani. They were
7000 people in Dagestan and 13.000 people in Azerbeijani in
the 1989 head count and they reached 10.366 people in the
2002 head count.
Rutul (they name themselves as Mikhad): It is spoken in
approximately 20 villages in Rutul region (Myukhadar in
Rutul language). They have various dialects. They were
20.000 people in the 1993 head count and they reached
29.929 people in the 2002 head count.
Archi = (Arshishtib) This language is spoken in 8 villages
in Archib. They use Avar language as written language and
know Avar language well though they are placed in Lezgi
group.Though estimated about 1000-2000 people they were
only 89 people in the 2002 head count.
Besides dialects above, Khinalug, Budukh, Kyryts ve Udi (Uti,
Udin) are also among Lezgi language group, which are spoken in
Azerbeijani as two etno-linguistic languages. For example Udins
in Russia were 3721 people in the 2002 head count.
We keep the reason for our using language and dialect terms
for certain places to our next issues.
ut the history. Today only Kumuk, Nogay and
Azerbeijani (Terekeme) languages have survived in Dagestan.
These languages are known though a little, becuse there were
some scientific investigations carried out on them in Turkey.
Kumuk language, which is between the Nogay language in
North Dagestan and seaside, is from Kipcak group of Turkish
languages. There is one more dialect known as Terekeme,
which carries features of Kipcak group in Oguzs, spoken in the
south of Dagestan with Derbent dialect of Azerbeijani. An
interesting example of this dialect is spoken in Balikesir,
Manyas, Camli village in Turkey. Oguz group in the south of
Dagestan continues to improve with the effect of Azerbeijani
litarature and effect of language of press.
Kumuk: The third biggest ethno-linguistic group in Dagestan.
It has various dialects.
There are many connections of them between Caspians,
Kimaks, Karacay and Balkars. Makhaçkale, Kaspi, Kayakent,
Hasavyurt, Babayurt, Buynakski and even Izberbas cities are
among the places Kumuks live in. Kumuk Turkish seperates
into three dialects ;
1-Buynak
2-Hasavyurt
3-Kaytak. It forms
an important part of Dagestan culture along with other
Dagestan tribes. Their population was determined as 422.409
in the 2002 head count. They are vital part of Dagestan with
their population up to half a million.
Nogay: They live in the region from Nogay steppes to inner
Dagestan.Nogays have lived outside the Dagestan in
Krasnodar and Stravpol states in Caucasia since the end of
XVIII. century. These people use a similar Kipcak Turkish like
Kazakhstani and Karapkalpaks. They lost most of their population
in immigrations. They are not much different from other
Dagestan tribes. They share common Dagestan culture. They
were 90.666 people in all Russia in 2002 head count.Kumuk
languages is spoken in regions which are close to Kumuks.
Azerbeijanis and Terekemes: This is not a differentiation
according to linguistics. The first of these two groups
which almost speak same language is Shiite and second one is
Sunnite people. In others, there are some differences seen due
to the effect of Terekemes and Kipcaks. Azerbeijanis and
Terekemes were 621.840 people in the 2002 head count.
Azerbeijanis out of Dagestan were also added to this population.
The people living in Berekey, Velikent, Cemikent, Padar,
Memedkala, Deliçoban, Selik, Karadaðlý, Tatlar and Uluterekeme
villages in Dagestan are called Azerbeijanis and Terekemes
by Turkey and Dagestan.
3. Those Who Speak the Language group of IranWhen looked to whole Caucasi, two of Iran languages are
striking. First of them is Oset language. This language is spoken
in middle regions of Caucasia and there is not a mass
usage in Dagestan. Another language spoken in the southern
regions of Dagestan is Tat language which belongs to Indu-
European language family. Tat language is spoken by Muslim
Tats. A frequently asked question is that; Can Tat language
speaker and Oset language speaker understand each other? To
say clearly; "no" is the right answer for this. Their common
points in basical terms are even unsimilar.
Muslim Tats live in region around Derbent. There are both
Shittes and Sunnites people in them as well. An important part
of Tats live in Azerbeijani, Bakü, Kuba, Þamahý, Derbent ve
Zakatali and even in southern part of Azerbeijan; Konakkent.
Most of Tats can speak Azerbeijani language as a secondary language.
They are tiny socities who speak the mixture of Persian
and Turkish languages. There are some suggestions that they are
relatives of Persians which came here 2000 years ago and they
are the grandsons of Jew Caspian Turks. Muslim Tats are populated
in Derbent and Kuba regions. They have no differences
from other Dagestan tribes. As Tats in Azerbeijani both speak
Azerbeijani and Tat languages, and as in some regions Tat language
is completely left, there is not a clear number about their
population. In Russia, according to the 2002 head count there
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were 2303 Tats. The real Tat population is in the Northern borders
of Dagestan and their population is unknown. Almost all of
the Tats can speak Azerbeijani Turkish language.
Highlander Jews:
There are limited number of Highlander Jews which almost
extinct due to immigrations. These people are also known as
Juhuri. As they continously immigrate to Israel, their number
is reducing day by day. This is not a seperation of language but
this is the seperation of religion in fact. These Jews speak the
same language with Muslim Tats with tiny differences. There
are 12.600 of them in the region. These people live in
Magaramkent (Maharremkent) and Derbent regions.
CONCLUSIONThough there are investigations on languages related to
Turkii ( Turkic) group and Kumuk, Nogay and Azerbijani
Turkish, there is not much information about Caucasic languages
and Iranic languages. Usage of linguistic studies as
politic clues in proving other thesis results in disinformation
and makes it diffucult to reach scientific facts.
Turkii languages spoken in Caucasia are languages which
are very similar to each other and can be understood with a little
effort. In the past, Turkish languages had many important
effects on Caucasia. Many Caucasian languages are seen to
adopt words from Turkish Kipcak and Oguz groups.
The number of the users of Caucasian languages increase in
accordance with the swift increase in population. Also, languages
of Caucasian group, effected the languages around, such as Avar
language and lend many words to these languages. It is understood
that almost all of the languages which are spoken by a few
hundreds of people would dissappear in Avar language.
In south, both Lezgi and Azerbeijani languages continue to
effect the languages around themselves. Both languages feed
tiny languages around. Lezgi language not only lend words to
other languages but also become a language to be learned by
other folks. Besides, Russian language effect is the most important
factor effecting the Dagesten languages.
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