Tabasaran language (original) (raw)

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Lezgic language of southern Dagestan, Russia

Tabasaran
Tabassaran
табасаран чIал _tabasaran ç̇al_ихь чIал ix ç̇al
Pronunciation	[tɑbɑsɑrɑn t͡ʃʼɑl][ix t͡ʃʼɑl]
Native to	North Caucasus
Region	Southern Dagestan
Ethnicity	Tabasarans
Native speakers	126,900 (2010 census)[1]
Language family	Northeast Caucasian LezgicSamurEastern SamurLezgi–Aghul–TabasaranTabasaran
Official status
Official language in	Russia Dagestan
Language codes
ISO 639-3	tab
Glottolog	taba1259
ELP	Tabasaran
Map of Tabasarans in the Caucasus
Tabasaran is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
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Tabasaran (also written Tabassaran) is a Northeast Caucasian language of the Lezgic branch. It is spoken by the Tabasaran people in the southern part of the Russian Republic of Dagestan. 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 an ergative language. The verb system is relatively simple; verbs agree with the subject in number, person and (in North Tabasaran) class. North Tabasaran has two noun classes (that is, grammatical gender), whereas Southern Tabasaran lacks noun classes / gender.

Geographical distribution

[edit]

It is spoken in the basin of Upper Rubas-nir and Upper Chirakh-nir.

Consonant phonemes of Tabasaran[2] | | Labial | Dental | Post-alveolar | Velar | Uvular | Epiglottal | Glottal | | | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | plain | sibilant | plain | labial | | | | | | | | | Nasal | m | n | | | | | | | | | | Plosive/Affricate | voiced | b | d | d͡z | d͡ʒ | d͡ʒʷ | ɡ | ɢ | | | | voiceless | p | t | t͡s | t͡ʃ | t͡ʃʷ | k | q | | ʔ | | | fortis | pː | tː | t͡sː | t͡ʃː | t͡ʃʷː | kː | qː | | | | | ejective | pʼ | tʼ | t͡sʼ | t͡ʃʼ | t͡ʃʷʼ | kʼ | qʼ | | | | | Fricative | voiceless | f | | s | ʃ | ʃʷ | x | | ʜ | | | fortis | fː | | sː | ʃː | ʃʷː | xː | | | | | | voiced | v | | z | ʒ | ʒʷ | ɣ | | ʢ | ɦ | | | Approximant | | l | | j | | | | | | | | Trill | | r | | | | | | | | |

The post-alveolar sibilants may be whistled.

| | 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_]

Cyrillic (19th century)

[edit]

Peter von Uslar's Tabasaran alphabet

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, ꟍ, ꟍꟍ, ş, şь, t, tt, t̨, y, v, x, ҳ, ӿ, z, ⱬ, zz, ƶ, ƶƶ, ƶь, '

Soon after, capital letters and the letters O 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	Ꟍ ꟍ	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	'

Cyrillic (1938–present)

[edit]

Tabasaran has been written using Cyrillic since 1938.[7]

Note: /ё/ and /o/ are encountered only in loanwords from Russian.

Tabasaran is and agglutinating and primarily suffixing language with ergative-absolutive alignment.[8] It is highly probable that Tabasaran is an active language of the fluid-S type.[_citation needed_]

Tabasaran nouns inflect for number and case, and they control gender 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]

dumu tup-si di-rğ-uru

3SG.ABS ball-SIMIL HSG-roll-EVT

"He rolls like a ball"

räq žiqi-b vu

way short-NHSG COP

"The way is short"

ğä-r-q-ü

PX.AOR-PL-see-AOR

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, and dative), but the number of locative cases is debated. Tabasaran was listed in the 1997 Guinness Book of World Records as having the largest case 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 as Tsez 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]

• The absolutive case is unmarked. E.g., xudul, "grandchild"
• There are multiple suffixes that can form the ergative: -i, -yi, -di, -ri, -li-, -ni, -u (-ü), -nu, -ru, -lu. -i and -di are the most productive forms. Tabasaran has an oblique stem, which is identical to the ergative case. E.g., tur-i, "sword"
• The genitive is formed by the suffix -n attached to the oblique stem_._ E.g., šüš-di-n gažin, "glass jug"
• The dative is formed by the suffix -z attached to the oblique stem_._ E.g., ğula-z, "village"

Example sentence using the absolutive, genitive, and dative cases:[8]

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'; and super '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:

Case Paradigm (Babaliyeva 2023)

| | 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).

Case Paradigm (Babaliyeva 2023)

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.

Local Cases (Comrie & Polinsky 1998)

1. ^ 'at' and 'near, in front of' are not distinguished in the southern dialect

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 between inclusive and exclusive first person plural, and have irregular declensions, with the absolutive and ergative forms being identical.

1st and 2nd Person Pronouns[8]

| | 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 are dumu (singular) and durar (plural).

Demonstrative pronouns show a proximal and distal distinction, as well as a distinction in elevation (higher or lower than the speaker). The emphatic particle ha- 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 three reflexive (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 an attributive role, adjectives do not decline. E.g., äxü äšq’ 'great love', and äxü 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]

Substantivization of äxü 'big'

| | 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?"

Zakur ʕürza. "Закур гъюрза." — "I'll come tomorrow."

Uzu kana qheza. "Узу кана хъэза." — "I'll be back."

1. ^ Tabasaran at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. ^ Consonant Systems of the North-East Caucasian Languages on TITUS DIDACTICA
3. ^ П. К. Услар (1979). Табасаранский язык (1200 ed.). Тбилиси: «Мецниереба». p. 1070.
4. ^ М. И. Исаев (1979). Языковое строительство в СССР (2650 ed.). М.: «Наука». pp. 158–179.
5. ^ t. şalbuzuv (1932). əxydariz alifar. mahac-qala.{{[cite book](/wiki/Template:Cite%5Fbook "Template:Cite book")}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
6. ^ T. Şalbuzov (1937). Bukvar. Mahacqala.{{[cite book](/wiki/Template:Cite%5Fbook "Template:Cite book")}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
7. ^ Исаев А. А. (1970). "О формировании и развитии письменности народов Дагестана" (I) (Социологический сборник ed.). Мх.: 173–232.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Babaliyeva, Ayten (2023). "Standard Tabasaran: short grammar sketch". Languages of the Caucasus. 6 (1). UC Berkeley. doi:10.5070/L96162766.
9. ^ Babaliyeva, Ayten (2013). Etudes sur la morphosyntaxe du tabasaran littéraire [_Studies on the morphosyntax of literary Tabasaran_] (in French).
10. ^ a b c Comrie, B. & Polinsky, M. (1998). "The great Daghestanian case hoax". Case, Typology and Grammar (pdf). doi:10.1075/tsl.38. ISBN 9789027298614.
11. ^ Blake, Barry J. (2001-09-20). Case (2 ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139164894.007. ISBN 978-0-521-80761-6.
12. ^ Magometov, A. A. (1965). "Tabasaranskij Jazyk (Issledovanie i Teksty)" [The Tabasaran Language (Investigation and Text)]. Mecniereba (in Russian). Tbilisi.

• Chanmagomedov, B.G.-K. & K.T. Šalbuzov, Tabasaransko-russkij slovarʼ, Moskva: Ilim, 2001, ISBN 5-02-022620-3 [Includes outline of Tabasaran grammar (Grammatičeskij očerk tabasaranskogo jazyka) by K.K. Kurbanov (p. 395-476)]
• Alekseev, Mixail E. and Sabrina X. Shixalieva. 2003. Tabasaranskij Jazyk. Moskva: Nauka.

• Tabasaran dictionary online from IDS (select simple or advanced browsing)
• Entry in the Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire
• Sample text
• Description at Languages of the World Archived 2019-12-18 at the Wayback Machine
• Entry at the Rosetta Project
• Tabasaran basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
• Tabasaran DoReCo corpus compiled by Natalia Bogomolova, Dmitry Ganenkov and Nils Norman Schiborr. Audio recordings of narrative texts with transcriptions time-aligned at the phone level, translations, and time-aligned morphological annotations.