Iberian-Caucasian languages by Levan Urushadze

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Iberian-Caucasian languages includes 38 languages spoken by about 8 million people. It comprises several unrelated families of languages, spoken in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe. In the Caucasus exist well-known scientific school of Iberian-Caucasian linguistics. The outstanding Georgian scientist, Academician Arnold Chikobava was founder of this school.

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Georgian (Kartvelian) languages (South Caucasus)

e.g. Georgian, Svan, Laz, Megrelian
Svans, Lazs and Megrelians (Megrels) are ethnic Georgians, ethnographic groups of the Georgian people. Svan, Laz and Megrelian are archaic dialects of the Proto-Georgian (Proto-Kartvelian) language.

North Caucasian

Northwest Caucasian languages or Abkhaz-Adygh languages

e.g. Abkhaz, Abaza, Adyghe, Kabardian, Cherkess, Ubykh, and Hattic

Alarodian

North-east Caucasian or Dagestan languages

e.g. Lezgian, Andi, Botlikh, Chamalal, Gigatl, Ghodoberi, Karata, Bagvalal, Tindi, Avar, Dido (Tsez), Hinukh (Ginukh), Hunzib, Bezhta, Khvarshi, Darwa, Kajtak, Kubachi, Lak, Aghul, Archi, Budukh, Khinalugh, Kryts, Akhvakh, Rutul, Tabassaran, Tsakhur and Udi

North-central Caucasian or Vaynakh languages

e.g. Chechen, Ingush, Batsb


Additional information about Iberian-Caucasian languages

South Caucasian (Kartvelian (Georgian)) and North Caucasian are two distinct, unrelated phyla even in Greenberg's classification. Generally, the former are spoken south of the Caucasus and the latter north of the Caucasus watershed. According to some linguists North Caucasian split in two about five thousand years ago giving rise to the northwest or Pontic group comprising: Circassian (= Adyghe + Kabard-Cherkess), Ubykh and Abkhaz; and the northeast or Caspian group which early split into western, central and southern branches. The western branch divided early into Nakh and Avar-Andi-Dido. The chief extant languages of these two are Chechen and Avar respectively. The central branch gave rise to Lak and Dargwa, the southern branch to Lezgi and Khinalugh.

Udi is an aberrant form of Lezgi and Dido an aberrant form of Avar.

The Caucasus has the largest concentration of ergative languages in Europe. Ergativity is relevant to all the languages of the Caucasus except for Mingrelian (Kartvelian (Georgian) language group), in which the ergative case has been levelled across all subjects of verbs. All of these language families are characterised by an ergative system; also, they tend to be verb-focused, with much information about nouns encoded in the verb.

See also

References

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