Chechen language

Chechen (Noxçiyŋ Mott / Нохчийн мотт)
Spoken in	Republic of Chechnya ( Russian Federation )
speaker	approx. 1,354,000 ethnologue.com
Linguistic ; classification	Northeast Caucasian languages Nachish languages Wainach languages Chechen ;
Official status
Official language in	Chechnya ( Russian Federation )
Recognized minority / ; regional language in	Dagestan (Russian Federation)
Language codes
ISO 639 -1	ce
ISO 639 -2	che
ISO 639-3	che

Majority language Chechen (No. 3 in light green) in the environment of the Northeast Caucasian language family

Chechen (proper name: Noxçiyŋ mott / Нохчийн мотт) belongs to the group of Nakh languages within the Northeast Caucasian languages . It is mutually understandable with Ingush and intermediate dialects. Both languages together form the group of the Vainachian languages.

history

The written Chechen language was created after the October Revolution , and in the 1920s the Latin alphabet began to be used instead of the Arabic alphabet . In 1938 the Cyrillic alphabet was adopted with adaptations (digraphs) for the Chechen phonemes for which there are no equivalents in the Cyrillic alphabet (for example аь [æ], оь [ø], уь [y], хӀ [h]). In the last few years, a variant of the Latin alphabet that arose under the influence of Turkish (for example / ş / for [ʃ]) has been used again. Chechens living in Jordan , Turkey and Syria can generally speak this language fluently, but not write it. Furthermore, the variants of Chechen in Jordan, Syria and Turkey have borrowed words from the corresponding lingua franca, which are unknown in Caucasus Chechen and can therefore lead to (minor) difficulties in understanding (for example, the word for “bus” in Caucasus Chechen comes from Russian borrowed ( автобус , plural автобусаш), Chechens in Turkey have borrowed the Turkish word otobüs (отобуьс, plural отобуьсаш)).

Phonology

A characteristic of the Chechen language is its rich consonant and vowel system .

The Chechen language uses about 31 consonants (depending on the dialect and analysis). Unlike most other Caucasian languages, there are also many vowels and diphthongs , around 27 (depending on the dialect and analysis). No writing system previously used for this language has been able to accurately reproduce the vowels.

Consonants

	bilabial			alveolar			post- alveolar			palatal			velar			uvular			phase- ryngal			glottal
	ej.	sl.	sh.	ej.	sl.	sh.	ej.	sl.	sh.	ej.	sl.	sh.	ej.	sl.	sh.	ej.	sl.	sh.	ej.	sl.	sh.	ej.	sl.	sh.
Plosives	pʼ	p , pp	b	tʼ	t , tt	d							k '	k , xk	G	qʼ	q , qq						ʔ
Affricates				ts'	ts	dz	tʃʼ	tʃ	dʒ
Fricatives					s , ss	z		ʃ	ʒ					x	ɣ					H	ʕ		H
Nasals			m			n
Vibrants						r ( rʰ )
lateral approximants						l
central approximants			w									j

Vowels

	front		back
	ung.	ger.	ung.	ger.
closed	i , iː	y , yː		u , uː
closed diphthong	ie	yø		uo
half closed	e , eː			o , oː
open diphthong	iæ	yɶ		uɒ
almost open	æ , æː
open			a , aː

grammar

Chechen has 6 nominal classes or genera as well as 13 cases (including local cases ) and is an ergative language . The morphology shows a number of ablaut phenomena in both the noun and the verb . There are numerous tense forms . The basic word order is subject-object-verb , but object-verb-subject also occurs.

Nominal morphology

Nouns inflect according to case and number, usually with case suffixes. The local case mainly occurs in connection with place names (in the singular):

case	Singular	IPA	Plural	IPA
Nominative	бедар	/ bʲɛdər /	бедарш	/ bʲɛdərʃ /
Genitive	бедаран	/ bʲɛdarən /	бедарийн	/ bʲɛdariːn /
Ergative	бедаро	/ bʲɛdaruo /	бедарша	/ bʲɛdarʃə /
dative	бедарна	/ bʲɛdarnə /	бедаршна	/ bʲɛdarʃnə /
Instrumental	бедарца	/ bʲɛdərtsʰ /	бедаршца	/ bʲɛdarʃtsʰə /
Materialis	бедарах	/ bʲɛdarəx /	бедаршех	/ bʲɛdarʃɛx /
comparative	бедарал	/ bʲɛdarəl /	бедарел	/ bʲɛdarɛl /
Allative	бедаре	/ bʲɛdarie /	бедаршка	/ bʲɛdarʃkʰə /
Ablative II	бедарехьара	/ bʲɛdarieʜarə /	бедаршкара	/ bʲɛdarʃkʰarə /
Allative II	бедарехьа	/ bʲɛdarieʜə /	бедаршкахьа	/ bʲɛdarʃkʰaʜə /
Essive	бедарехь	/ bʲɛdarieʜ /	бедаршкахь	/ bʲɛdarʃkʰəʜ /
Comparative II	бедаралла	/ bʲɛdaralːə /
Prolative	бедарехула	/ bʲɛdariexulə /	бедаршкахула	/ bʲɛdarʃkʰaxulə /

Pronouns

In the personal pronouns, a distinction is made between an “inclusive” and an “exclusive” in the 1st person plural. In the first case, this means that the speaker includes the listener. For example, “we (incl.) Eat” must be understood as “I eat and you eat too”. In the case of the exclusive, the listeners are excluded from the action.

case	1SG	IPA	2SG	IPA	3SG	IPA	1PL included	IPA	1PL Exclusive	IPA	2PL	IPA	3PL	IPA
Nominative	со	/ sʷɔ /	хьо	/ ʜʷɔ /	и, иза	/ ɪ /, / ɪzə /	вай	/ vəɪ /	тхо	/ txʷʰo /	шу	/ ʃu /	уьш, уьзаш	/ yʃ /, / yzəʃ /
Genitive	сан	/ sən /	хьан	/ ʜən /	цуьнан	/ tsʰynən /	вайн	/ vəɪn /	тхан	/ txʰən /	шун	/ ʃun /	церан	/ tsʰierən /
Ergative	ас	/ ʔəs /	ахь	/ əʜ /	цо	/ tsʰuo /	вай	/ vəɪ /	оха	/ ʔɔxə /	аша	/ ʔaʃə /	цара	/ tsʰarə /
dative	суна	/ suːnə /	хьуна	/ ʜuːnə /	цунна	/ tsʰunːə /	вайна	/ vaɪnə /	тхуна	/ txʰunə /	шуна	/ ʃunə /	царна	/ tsʰarnə /
Instrumental	соьца	/ sɥœtsʰə /	хьоьца	/ ʜɥœtsʰə /	цуьнца	/ tsʰyntsʰə /	вайца	/ vaɪtsʰə /	тхоьца	/ txʰɥœtsʰə /	шуьца	/ ʃytsʰə /	цаьрца	/ tsʰærtsʰə
Materialis	сох	/ sʷɔx /	хьох	/ ʜʷɔx /	цунах	/ tsʰunəx /	вайх	/ vəɪx /	тхох	/ txʰʷɔx /	шух	/ ʃux /	царах	/ tsʰarəx /
comparative	сол	/ sʷɔl /	хьол	/ ʜʷɔl /	цул	/ tsʰul /	вайл	/ vəɪl /	тхол	/ txʰʷɔl /	шул	/ ʃul /	царел	/ tsʰarɛl /
Allative	соьга	/ sɥœgə /	хьоьга	/ ʜɥœgə /	цуьнга	/ tsʰyngə /	вайга	/ vaɪgə /	тхоьга	/ txʰɥœgə /	шуьга	/ ʃygə /	цаьрга	/ tsʰærgə /

Possessive pronouns

	1SG	2SG	3SG	1PL included	1PL Exclusive	2PL	3PL
attributive (my, yours)	сайн	хьайн	шен	вешан	тхайн	шайн	шайн
substantive (mine, yours)	сайниг	хьайниг	шениг	вешаниг	тхайниг	шайниг	шайниг

Verbal morphology

Verbs only congruent (if at all) with the class of the actant in the nominative. In this case the class letter changes (marked below with д *).

Со цхьан сахьтехь вогІур ву I (man) will come in an hour

Со цхьан сахьтехь йогІур ю I (woman) will come in an hour

Tenses are formed by ablaut or suffixes or both (there are a total of five conjugations, we are only listing one here). Many verbs can be derived using suffixes (causative etc.):

Tense	example
Imperative (= infinitive)	д * ига
Simple present tense	д * уьгу
Compound present tense	д * уьгуш д * у
Near past tense	д * игу
Attested past tense	д * игира
Perfect	д * игна
past continuous	д * игнера
Repeated simple past	д * уьгура
Possible future tense	д * уьгур
Real future tense	д * уьгур д * у

Tense	Basic form ("drink")	Causative ("soak")	Permit ("allow drinking")	Permitive causative ("soak permit")	Potential ("being able to drink")	Receptive ("start to drink")
Imperative (= infinitive)	мала	мало	малийта	малад * айта	малад * ала	малад * āла
Simple present tense	молу	малад * о	молуьйто	малад * ойту	малало	малад * олу
Near past tense	малу	малий	малийти	малад * айти	малад * ели	малад * ēли
Attested past tense	мелира	малийра	малийтира	малад * айтира	малад * елира	малад * ēлира
Perfect	мелла	малийна	малийтина	малад * айтина	малад * елла	малад * аьлла
past continuous	меллера	малийнер	малийтинера	малад * айтинера	малад * елера	малад * аьллера
Repeated simple past	молура	малад * ора	молуьйтура	малад * ойтура	малалора
Possible future tense	молур	малад * ер	молуьйтур	малад * ойтур	малалур	малад * олур
Real future tense	молур д * у	малад * ийр д * у	молуьйтур д * у	малад * ойтур д * у	малалур д * у	малад * олур д * у

Dialects

Allocation table for the various alphabets

Modern cyrillic alphabet	Name of the letters	Latin alphabet 1992-2000	Latin alphabet 1925–1938	Arabic alphabet 1922–1925	Cyrillic alphabet after Uslar	IPA
А а	а	A a, Ə ə	A a	آ	а	/ ə /, / ɑː /
Аь аь	аь	Ä Ä	Ä Ä	ا		/ æ /, / æː /
Б б	бэ	B b	B b	ب	б	/ b /
В в	вэ	V v	V v	و	в	/ v /
Г г	гэ	G g	G g	گ	г	/G/
ГӀ гӀ	гӀа	Ġ ġ	Gh gh	غ	г̧	/ ɣ /
Д д	дэ	D d	D d	د	д	/ d /
Е е	е	E e, Ie ie, Ye ye	E e, ever, ever	ە	е	/ e /, / ɛː /, / je /, / ie /
Ё ё	ё	Yo yo				/ jo /
Ж ж	жэ	Ƶ ƶ	Ž ž	ج	ж	/ ʒ /, / dʒ /
З з	зэ	Z z	Z z	ز	з	/ z /, / dz /
И и	и	I i	I i	اى	і	/ ɪ /
Й й	доца и	Y y	J j	ی	ј	/ y /
К к	ка	K k	K k	ک	к	/ k /
Кх кх	кха	Q q	Q q	ڤ	k	/ q /
Къ къ	къа	Q̇ q̇	Qh qh	ق	q	/ qʼ /
КӀ кӀ	кӀа	Kh kh	Kh kh	ࢰ	к̧	/ kʼ /
Л л	эл	L l	L l	ل	л	/ l /
М м	эм	M m	M m	م	м	/ m /
Н н	эн	N n, Ŋ ŋ	N n, Ŋ ŋ	ن	н, н̧	/ n /, / ŋ /
О о	о	O o, Uo uo	O o	او̃	о	/ o /, / ɔː /, / wo /, / uo /
Оь оь	оь	Ö ö	Ö ö	يۇ		/ ɥø /, / yø /
П п	пэ	P p	P p	ف	п	/ p /
ПӀ пӀ	пӀа	Ph ph	Ph ph	ڥ	п̧	/ pʼ /
Р р	эр	R r	R r	ر	р	/ r /
С с	эс	S s	S s	س	с	/ s /
Т т	тэ	T t	T t	ت	т	/ t /
ТӀ тӀ	тӀа	Th th	Th th	ط	т̧	/ tʼ /
У у	у	U u	U u	او	у	/ uʊ /
Уь уь	уь	Ü ü	Ü ü	ۇ		/ y /
Ф ф	эф	F f	F f	ف		/ f /
Х х	ха	X x	X x	خ	х	/ x /
Хь хь	хьа	Ẋ ẋ	X̌ x̌	ح	х̀	/ ʜ /
ХӀ хӀ	хӀа	H h	H h	ھ	һ	/H/
Ц ц	цэ	C c	C c	ﮃ	ц	/ ts /
ЦӀ цӀ	цӀа	Ċ ċ	Ch ch	ڗ	წ	/ tsʼ /
Ч ч	чэ	Ç ç	Č č	چ	ч	/ tʃ /
ЧӀ чӀ	чӀа	Ç̇ ç̇	Čh čh	ݗ	ჭ	/ tʃʼ /
Ш ш	ша	Ş ş	Š š	ش	ш	/ ʃ /
Щ щ	ща	Şç şç	Šč šč
Ъ ъ	чӀогӀа хьаьрк	'				/ ʔ /
Ы ы	ы	i
Ь ь	кӀеда хьаьрк
Э э	э	E e	E e	اە		/ e /
Ю ю	ю	Yu yu	Ju ju			/ ju /
Юь юь	юь	Yü yü	Jü jü			/ jy /
Я я	я	Ya ya	Yes / Yes			/Yes/
Яь яь	яь	Yä yä	Yeah yeah			/ yes /
Ӏ	Ӏа	J j	Y y	ع	ꜧ	/ ʡ /, / ˤ /

literature

Gugiev, Ch. G. [u. a.] 1940. Noxçiyn mettan grammatika . Groznyj. (in Chechen)
Klimov, Georgij A. 1994 [1986]. Introduction to Caucasian linguistics , translated from Russian and edited by Jost Gippert. Hamburg: Buske.
Nichols, Johanna. 1994. "Chechen". In: The Indigenous Languages of the Caucasus , Vol. 4, ed. by Rieks Smeets. Delmar / New York: Caravan Books pp. 1-77.
Nichols, Johanna; Vagapov, Arbi (2004): Chechen-English and English-Chechen Dictionary. London: Routledge. 0-415-31594-8
Алироев, Ибрагим Юнусович, Хамидова, З. Х. (2005): Чеченско-Русский Словарь. Москва (Chechen-Russian dictionary; contains short grammar)
Мациев, Ахмат Гехаевич (1961): Чеченско-Русский Словарь. Москва: Государственное Издательство Иностранных и Национальных Словарей.

Web links

Wikipedia in Chechen

Wiktionary: Chechen - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

German-Chechen dictionary and phrasebook / немцойн-нохчийн дошам а, къамелдийрг а
Languages of the World, Chechen . Ethnologue
Chechen alphabets
The Chechen language. ( Memento from June 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) University of Berkeley (English)
Audio sample for Chechen literature

Individual evidence

↑ According to the Dagestan Constitution, "Russian and the Languages of the Peoples of Dagestan" are official languages. It is unclear to what extent Chechen is actually considered a native language. See Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use : Respublika Dagestan. Land of Mountains: Mountain of Languages (PDF; 300 kB) 2004, p. 5
^ Romanization system of Chechen language . Eesti Keele Instituudi. July 20, 2003. Retrieved March 15, 2015.

[1] According to the Dagestan Constitution, "Russian and the Languages of the Peoples of Dagestan" are official languages. It is unclear to what extent Chechen is actually considered a native language. See Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use : Respublika Dagestan. Land of Mountains: Mountain of Languages (PDF; 300 kB) 2004, p. 5

[2] Romanization system of Chechen language . Eesti Keele Instituudi. July 20, 2003. Retrieved March 15, 2015.