| Hunzib | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Russia |
| Region | Southern Dagestan |
Native speakers | 2000 |
North Caucasian
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | cau |
| ISO 639-3 | huz |
| ELP | Hunzib |
Hunzib is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by about 2000 people in the south of Dagestan, near the Russian border with Georgia.
Hunzib belongs to the Tsezic group of Northeast Caucasian languages. It is most closely related to Bezhta, with which it forms the Eastern branch of the Tsezic languages. Other Tsezic languages include Tsez, Hinukh, and Khvarshi.
Hunzib is not an offical language; nor is Hunzib written. It is spoken in the Tsuntinsky and Kizilyurtovsky districts in Dagestan and in two villages across the Russian border in Georgia.
Hunzib has 35 consonants. Three consonants, /x/, /ħ/, and /ʕ/ are only found in loanwords.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Lateral | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p b pʼ | t d tʼ | k g kʼ | q qʼ | ʔ | |||
| Fricative | s z | ɬ | ʃ ʒ | x | χ ʁ | ħ ʕ | h | |
| Affricate | ʦ ʦ' | tɬ͡ tɬ͡' | ʧ ʧ' | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||
| Liquid | r | l | ||||||
| Semivowel | w | j |
Vowels in Hunzib may be short, long, or nazalized.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ɨ | u |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| Low | a | ɑ |
Nouns in Hunzib come in five noun classes: male , female, and three classes for inanimate objects. There are a number of cases in Hunzib, including nominative (or absolutive), ergative, genitive and instrumental. A number of other case-like markers indicate direction and include dative, adessive, superessive, contactive, comitative, and allative declensions.
Verbs in Hunzib agree with their subjects in class and number.
Hunzib follows Subject Object Verb word order.