Kryts
кърыцIаь мез ġrəċä mez
цIека meз ċeka mez
Native toAzerbaijan
RegionQuba Rayon
EthnicityKryts people
Native speakers
5,000 (2007)[1]
Dialects
  • Kryts
  • Jek
  • Khaput
  • Yergyudzh
  • Alyk
Language codes
ISO 639-3kry
Glottologkryt1240
ELPKryts
Kryts is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger[2]

Kryts (Kryc) is a Lezgic language of the Northeast Caucasian language family spoken in parts of the Quba Rayon of Azerbaijan by 6,000 people in 1975.[1] Its dialects are Kryts, Jek, Khaput, Yergyudzh, and Alyk, which are all quite distinct to the point of only partial mutual intelligibility, therefore they could also be considered separate languages in a dialect continuum.[1]

Kryts is endangered,[3][4] classified as "severely endangered" by UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.[5]

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal/
Epiglottal
Glottal
plain lab. pal. plain lab. pal.
Stop voiceless p t k q ʔ
ejective kʼʷ kʼʲ qʼʷ qʼʲ
voiced b d ɡ ɡʷ (ɢ)
Affricate voiceless (t͡s) t͡ʃ
ejective t͡sʼ t͡ʃʼ
voiced (d͡z) d͡ʒ
Fricative voiceless f s ʃ x χ (ʜ) h
voiced v z ʒ ɣ ʁ ʁʷ ʕ
Nasal m n
Trill r
Approximant l j

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i (ɨ) u
Mid e
Open a

Orthography

In 2020, a dictionary was published in the Khaput variety, using the Latin script.[6]

A a B b C c Ç ç Ç' ç' D d E e Ә ә F f G g Ğ ğ Ğ' ğ'
H h H' h' Ĥ ĥ X x X' x' J j İ i I ı K k K' k' Q q Q' q'
Q̂ q̂ L l M m N n O o Ö ö P p P' p' R r S s Ş ş S' s'
T t U u Ü ü V v Y y Z z

References