Bezhta language

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Bezhta Бежкьа миц Bežƛʼa mic
Spoken in:	Russia
Region:	Southern Dagestan
Total speakers:	10,000
Language family:	North Caucasian (disputed) Northeast Caucasian Tsezic East Tsezic Bezhta
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	`cau`
ISO 639-2:	`cau`
ISO 639-3:	`kap`
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key.

The Bezhta language (also known as Kapucha) belongs to the Tsezic group of the North Caucasian language family. It is a language spoken by about 3000 people in southern Dagestan, Russia.

Bezhta can be further divided into three dialects — Bezhta Proper, Tljadali and Hoshar-Hota — which are spoken in various villages in the region. Its closest linguistic relatives are Hunzib, Tsez, Khvarshi and Hinukh. It is also related to the Avar language, but the two are not mutually intelligible. Bezhta is an unwritten language, but various attempts have been made to develop an official orthography for the language. The Bezhta people use Avar as literary language. The first book ever printed in Bezhta was the Gospel of Luke.

1 Phonology
2 Morphology
3 Numerals
4 Sample of the Bezhta language
5 External links

[edit] 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.

[edit] Morphology

The Bezhta language is a mostly agglutinative one 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.

[edit] Numerals

Different from Tsez, Bezhta has a decimal system with the word for twenty being an exception.

	Latin	Cyrillic
1	hõs	гьо^нс
2	qʼona	къона
3	łana	лъана
4	ṏqʼönä	оь^нкъоьнаь
5	łina	лъина
6	iłna	илъна
7	aƛna	алIна
8	beƛna	белIна
9	äčʼena	аьчIена
10	acʼona	ацIона
20	qona	хъона
100	hõsčʼitʼ / -čʼitʼ	гьо^нсчIитI / -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 ṏqʼönäyig aƛna (оь^нкъоьнаьйиг алIна).

[edit] Sample of the Bezhta language

This is a passage taken from the Gospel of Luke 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 нисос:	Hogco holloqa nisos:	[hoɡ.ʦo holː.o.qɑ ni.sos	Jesus said to the followers:
Доьъа богьцалаъ вагьда̄ ниса:	Dö'a bohcala' wahdā nisa:	dɜʔ.ɑ boh.ʦɑ.lɑʔ wɑh.dɑː ni.sɑ	When you pray, pray like this:
«Йа̄ Або, Дибо ца̄^н аьдамла̄ илагьияб бикӀзи йовала,	«Yā Abo, Dibo cā̃ ädamlā ilahiyab bikʼzi yowala,	jɑː ʔɑ.bo, di.bo ʦɑ̃ː ʔa.dɑm.lɑː ʔi.lɑ.hi.jɑb bikʼzi jo.wɑ.lɑ	"O Father, we pray that your name will always be kept holy,
Дибо Парчагьлъи йо^нкъала;	Dibo Parčahłi yõqʼala;	di.bo pɑr.ʧɑh.ɬi jõ.qʼɑ.lɑ	we pray that your kingdom will come;
Шибаб водиъ баццас баьба илол нилӀа;	Šibab wodi' baccas bäba ilol niƛa;	ʃi.bɑb wo.diʔ bɑʦː.ɑs ba.bɑ ʔi.lol ni.tɬɑ	give us the food we need for each day;
Илла мунагьла̄кьас кьодос тилӀки, судлӀо нисода илена къацӀцӀола илол кешлъи йо̄вакьас кьодос тилӀбакца.	Illa munahlāƛʼas ƛʼodos tiƛki, sudƛo nisoda ilena qʼacʼcʼola ilol kešłi yōwaƛʼas ƛʼodos tiƛbakca.	ʔi.lːɑ mu.nɑh.lɑːtɬʼ.ɑs tɬʼo.dos ti.tɬki, sud.tɬo ni.sɔ.dɑ ʔi.le.nɑ qʼɑʦʼː.o.lɑ ʔi.lol keʃ.ɬi joː.wɑ.tɬʼɑs tɬʼo.dos ti.tɬbɑk.ʦɑ	forgive us the sins we have done, because we forgive every person that has done wrong to us.
Ми илос гьаьл бикъелална уь^нхолъа̄къа.»	Mi ilos häl biqʼelalna ü̃xołāqʼa.»	mi ʔi.los hal bi.qʼe.lɑl.nɑ ʔɨ̃.χo.ɬɑː.qʼɑ]	And don't let us be tempted."