Botlikh language
Northeast Caucasian language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Botlikh (also spelled Botlix) is an Andic language of the Northeast Caucasian language family spoken by the Botlikhs in the villages of Botlikh (Buikhe), Miarso and Ashino, as well as in Chontaul, Ankho and in Batlakhatli,[4] in southwestern Dagestan, Russia by approximately 5,000 people, according to the 2020 census.[2]
| Botlikh | |
|---|---|
| Botlix | |
| буйхалъи мицIцIи/bujxałi mic’c’i | |
| Pronunciation | [bujχaɬi mits’ːi] |
| Native to | North Caucasus |
| Region | Southwestern Dagestan[1] |
| Ethnicity | 3,788 Botlikh people (2020) |
Native speakers | 5,073 (2020 census)[2] c. 8,000 (2012)[3] |
Northeast Caucasian
| |
| Dialects |
|
| unwritten (transcribed using Cyrillic script) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bph |
| Glottolog | botl1242 |
| ELP | Botlikh |
Botlikh | |
 Botlikh is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010) | |
Dialects
Botlikh has two dialects, being Botlikh proper and Miarso. Differences in phonology and morphology are small, and the two are mutually intelligible.[4]
Phonology
Vowels
Botlikh has five basic vowels. Vowels can also be long or nasalized.[5]
Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | |||||||||||||||
| lenis | fortis | lenis | fortis | lenis | fortis | lenis | fortis | lenis | fortis | lenis | fortis | |||||
| Plosive | voiced | b ⟨б⟩ | d ⟨д⟩ | ɡ ⟨г⟩ | ||||||||||||
| voiceless | p ⟨п⟩ | t ⟨т⟩ | k ⟨к⟩ | |||||||||||||
| ejective | tʼ ⟨тӀ⟩ | kʼ ⟨кӀ⟩ | q͡χʼː ⟨къ⟩ | ʔ ⟨ъ⟩ | ||||||||||||
| Affricate | voiceless | t͡s ⟨ц⟩ | t͡sː ⟨цц⟩ | t͡ʃ ⟨ч⟩ | t͡ʃː ⟨чч⟩ | t͡ɬː ⟨лӀ⟩ | k͡xː ⟨кк⟩ | q͡χː ⟨хъ⟩ | ||||||||
| ejective | t͡sʼ ⟨цӀ⟩ | t͡sʼː ⟨цӀцӀ⟩ | t͡ʃʼ ⟨чӀ⟩ | t͡ʃʼː ⟨чӀчӀ⟩ | t͡ɬʼː ⟨кь⟩ | k͡xʼː ⟨кӀкӀ⟩ | ||||||||||
| voiced | d͜ʒ ⟨дж⟩ | |||||||||||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | v ⟨в⟩ | s ⟨с⟩ | sː ⟨сс⟩ | ʃ ⟨ш⟩ | ʃː ⟨щ⟩ | ɬ ⟨лъ⟩ | ɬː ⟨лълъ⟩ | çː ⟨хь⟩ | ɣ ⟨гь⟩ | xː ⟨хх⟩ | χ ⟨х⟩ | ʜ ⟨хӀ⟩ | h ⟨гь⟩ | ||
| voiced | z ⟨з⟩ | ʒ ⟨ж⟩ | j ⟨й⟩ | x ⟨х⟩ | ʁ ⟨гъ⟩ | ʕ ⟨гӀ⟩ | ||||||||||
| Approximant | m ⟨м⟩ | n ⟨н⟩ | r ⟨р⟩ | l ⟨л⟩ | ||||||||||||
Orthography
Botlikh is unwritten, and Botlikhs have mostly used Avar as their medium of written communication. When Botlikhs need to write their language, they use the Avar alphabet.[4] The following orthography is used in a Botlikh–Russian dictionary.[6]
| А а | Аᴴ аᴴ | Б б | В в | Г г | Гъ гъ | Гь гь | ГӀ гӀ | Д д | Дж дж | (Е е) | Ж ж | З з | И и |
| Иᴴ иᴴ | Й й | К к | Кк кк | Къ къ | Кь кь | КӀ кӀ | КӀкӀ кӀкӀ | Л л | Лъ лъ | Лълъ лълъ | ЛӀ лӀ | М м | Н н |
| О о | П п | ПӀ пӀ | Р р | С с | Сс сс | Т т | ТӀ тӀ | У у | Уᴴ уᴴ | Х х | Хх хх | Хъ хъ | Хь хь |
| ХӀ хӀ | Ц ц | Цц цц | ЦӀ цӀ | ЦӀцӀ цӀцӀ | Ч ч | Чч чч | ЧӀ чӀ | ЧӀчӀ чӀчӀ | Ш ш | Щ щ | Ъ ъ | Э э | Эᴴ эᴴ |
