Bezhta language
| Bezhta | |
|---|---|
| Ð±ÐµÐ¶ÐºÑŒÐ°Ð»Ð°Ñ Ð¼Ð¸Ñ† / bežƛʼalas mic | |
| Pronunciation | [ˈbeʒt͡ɬʼɑlɑs mit͡s] |
| Native to | Russia |
| Region | Southern Dagestan |
Native speakers | 6,800 (2006–2010)[1] |
|
Northeast Caucasian
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
kap |
| Glottolog |
bezh1248[2] |
The Bezhta (or Bezheta) language (Bezhta: Ð±ÐµÐ¶ÐºÑŒÐ°Ð»Ð°Ñ Ð¼Ð¸Ñ†, bežƛʼalas mic, pronounced [ˈbeÊ’t͡ɬʼɑlÉ‘s mitÍ¡s]), 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 can be divided into three dialects – Bezhta Proper, Tlyadal and Khocharkhotin[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.[6]
Phonology
Bezhta has a rich consonantal and – unlike its relatives Tsez and Avar – a relatively large vowel inventory (18 distinct vowel phonemes), compared to other languages of the same family.
Morphology
Bezhta is mostly agglutinative and the vast amount of locative cases makes its case system particularly rich. The verb morphology is relatively simple, though. It is an ergative language.
Numerals
Unlike Tsez, Bezhta has a decimal system with the word for twenty being an exception.
| Latin | Cyrillic | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | hõs | Ð³ÑŒÐ¾Ð½Ñ |
| 2 | qʼona | къона |
| 3 | łana | лъана |
| 4 | á¹qʼönä | оьнкъоьнаь |
| 5 | łina | лъина |
| 6 | iłna | илъна |
| 7 | aƛna | алIна |
| 8 | beƛna | белIна |
| 9 | äÄʼena | аьчIена |
| 10 | acʼona | ацIона |
| 20 | qona | хъона |
| 100 | hõsÄʼitʼ / -Äʼitʼ | гьонÑчIитI / -чIитI |
| 1000 | hazay | гьазай |
- 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 á¹qʼönäyig aÆ›na (оьнкъоьнаьйиг алIна).
Sample of the Bezhta language
This is a passage taken from the Gospel of Luke[7] 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 ниÑоÑ: | Hogco holloqa nisos: | [hoÉ¡.tÍ¡so holË.o.qÉ‘ ni.sos | Jesus said to the followers: |
| Доьъа богьцалаъ вагьда̄ ниÑа: | Dö'a bohcala' wahdÄ nisa: | dɜʔ.É‘ boh.tÍ¡sÉ‘.lÉ‘Ê” wÉ‘h.dÉ‘Ë ni.sÉ‘ | When you pray, pray like this: |
| «Йа̄ Ðбо, Дибо ца̄н аьдамла̄ илагьиÑб бикӀзи йовала, | «YÄ Abo, Dibo cÄ̃ ädamlÄ ilahiyab bikʼzi yowala, | jÉ‘Ë Ê”É‘.bo, di.bo tÍ¡sÉ‘ÌƒË Ê”a.dÉ‘m.lÉ‘Ë Ê”i.lÉ‘.hi.jÉ‘b bikʼzi jo.wÉ‘.lÉ‘ | "O Father, we pray that your name will always be kept holy, |
| Дибо Парчагьлъи йонкъала; | Dibo ParÄahÅ‚i yõqʼala; | di.bo pÉ‘r.t͡ʃɑh.ɬi jõ.qʼɑ.lÉ‘ | we pray that your kingdom will come; |
| Шибаб водиъ Ð±Ð°Ñ†Ñ†Ð°Ñ Ð±Ð°ÑŒÐ±Ð° илол нилӀа; | Å ibab wodi' baccas bäba ilol niÆ›a; | ʃi.bÉ‘b wo.diÊ” bÉ‘tÍ¡sË.É‘s ba.bÉ‘ Ê”i.lol ni.tɬɑ | give us the food we need for each day; |
| Илла Ð¼ÑƒÐ½Ð°Ð³ÑŒÐ»Ð°Ì„ÐºÑŒÐ°Ñ ÐºÑŒÐ¾Ð´Ð¾Ñ Ñ‚Ð¸Ð»Ó€ÐºÐ¸, ÑудлӀо ниÑода илена къацӀцӀола илол кешлъи Ð¹Ð¾Ì„Ð²Ð°ÐºÑŒÐ°Ñ ÐºÑŒÐ¾Ð´Ð¾Ñ Ñ‚Ð¸Ð»Ó€Ð±Ð°ÐºÑ†Ð°. | Illa munahlÄƛʼas ƛʼodos tiÆ›ki, sudÆ›o nisoda ilena qʼacʼcʼola ilol keÅ¡Å‚i yÅwaƛʼas ƛʼodos tiÆ›bakca. | Ê”i.lËÉ‘ mu.nÉ‘h.lÉ‘Ëtɬʼ.É‘s tɬʼo.dos ti.tɬki, sud.tɬo ni.sÉ”.dÉ‘ Ê”i.le.nÉ‘ qʼɑtÍ¡sʼË.o.lÉ‘ Ê”i.lol keʃ.ɬi joË.wÉ‘.tɬʼɑs tɬʼo.dos ti.tɬbÉ‘k.tÍ¡sÉ‘ | forgive us the sins we have done, because we forgive every person that has done wrong to us. |
| Ми Ð¸Ð»Ð¾Ñ Ð³ÑŒÐ°ÑŒÐ» бикъелална уьнхолъа̄къа.» | Mi ilos häl biqʼelalna ü̃xoÅ‚Äqʼa.» | mi Ê”i.los hal bi.qʼe.lÉ‘l.nÉ‘ ʔɨ̃.χo.ɬɑË.qʼɑ] | And don't let us be tempted." |
References
- ↑ Bezhta at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Bezhta". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ↑ Shirin Akiner, Islamic Peoples of the Soviet Union, 2nd ed. (KPI, Distributed by Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986: ISBN 0-7103-0188-X), p. 253.
- 1 2 Ethnologue entry for Bezhta
- ↑ Schulze, Wolfgang (2009). "Languages in the Caucasus" (PDF). p. 6. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- ↑ Institute for Bible Translation. "Translators' News" (PDF). p. 1.
- ↑ Gospel of Luke in Bezhta
External links
- Margus Kolga; Igor Tõnurist; Lembit Vaba; Jüri Viikberg (1993). "The Bezhtas". The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire.
- The Bezhta People and Language (P.J. Hillery)
- Bezhta Vocabulary List (from the World Loanword Database)
- Bezhta basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
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