The modern Avar language (self-designation магӀарул мацӀ [maʕarul maʦʼ] "language of the mountains" or Авар мацӀ [awar maʦʼ] "Avar language") belongs to the Avar-Andi-Tsez subgroup of the Alarodian Northeast-Caucasian (or Nakh-Dagestani) language family.

Geographic distribution

It is spoken mainly in the eastern and southern parts of the Russian Caucasus republic of Dagestan, and the Balaken, Zakatala north-west region of Azerbaijan. The Republic of Dagestan dæɡɪˈstɑːn (IntEng ˈdeɪɡəstæn (AmEng (Респу́блика Дагеста́н Дагъистанлъул ДжумхIурият Daɣistanłul Azerbaijan ( English; Azərbaycan officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan Respublikası is the largest and most populous country in the South Some population of Avars live in other regions of Russia. There are also small communities of speakers living in the Russian republics of Chechnya and Kalmykia; in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Jordan, and the Marmara Sea region of Turkey. The Chechen Republic (ˈʧɛʧɨn rɪˈpʌblɨk Чече́нская Респу́блика Chechenskaya Respublika; Нохчийн Республика Noxçiyn Respublika The Republic of Kalmykia (Респу́блика Калмы́кия Kalmyk: Хальмг Таңһч is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan ( Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, qɑzɑqˈstɑn Казахстан, Kazakhstán,) officially the Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (الأردنّ al-Urdunn) is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern The Sea of Marmara ( Turkish: Marmara Denizi, Greek: Θάλασσα του Μαρμαρά or Προποντίς, Bulgarian Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches It has more than 1,400,000 speakers worldwide.

Official status

It is one of six literary languages of Dagestan, where it is spoken not only by Avars, but also serves as the language of communication between different groups.

Dialects

There are two main dialect groups: the northern (Avar literature), which includes Khunzakh, Kazbek, Gunib, Gumbet and others; and the southern (sub dialects), which includes Andalal, Gidatl', Antsukh, Charoda, Tlyarata, Cumada, Cunta and others. Gunib (Гуниб also spelled Ghunib, is an Aul (fortified village in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. Avar has fifteen spoken dialects, which by many linguists are considered separate languages: Avar, Bagulal, Chamalal, Budukh, Botlikh, Andi, Godoberi, Tindi, Karati, Akhvakh, Tsez (also known as Dido), Khwarshi, Hinukh, Hunzib and Bezhta, each named after its speaking tribe. Godoberi (also Ghodoberi) is an Andi language of the Dagestan family spoken in southern Dagestan, Russia by approximately 3000 Tindi is a North Caucasian language spoken in the Russian Republic of Dagestan. Tsez, also known as Dido ( цезйас мец cezyas mec or цез мец cez mec in Tsez is a Northeast Caucasian language Khwarshi is an Northeast Caucasian language spoken by more than 3000 people The Hinukh language (Hinukh гьинузас мец hinuzas mec, also known as Ginukh or Hinux) is a Northeast Caucasian language Hunzib is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by about 2000 people in the south of Dagestan, near the Russian border with Georgia. The Bezhta language (Bezhta бежкьалас миц, bežƛʼalas mic, also known as Kapucha) belongs to the Tsezic group of the North

Writing system

The Avar language has been written since the 15th century, in the old Georgian alphabet. The Georgian alphabet (ქართული დამწერლობა is the writing system currently used to write the Georgian language and other South Caucasian From the 17th century onwards it was written in a modified Arabic script known as Ajam, which is still known today. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa such as Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. As part of Soviet language planning policies the Ajam was replaced by a Latin alphabet in 1928, which was in turn replaced by the current Cyrillic alphabet in 1938. Year 1928 ( MCMXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Cyrillic alphabet (səˈrɪlɪk also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters is actually a family of Alphabets, subsets of which are used by Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. It is essentially the Russian alphabet plus one additional letter named palochka (Ӏ). Palochka or Páločka ( Majuscule: Ӏ minuscule: ӏ Russian: па́лочка a stick is a letter added to the Cyrillic alphabet As that letter is undisplayable on most computers, it is routinely replaced with capital Latin letter I (palochka has no uppercase form).

Orthography

History

The literary language is based on the болмацӀ (bolmacʼ) — bo = "army" or "country", and macʼ = "language" — the common language used between speakers of different dialects and languages. The bolmacʼ in turn was mainly derived from the dialect of Khunzakh, the capital and cultural centre of the Avar region, with some influence from the southern dialects. Nowadays the literary language is influencing the dialects, levelling out their differences.

The most famous figure of modern Avar literature is Rasul Gamzatov (died November 3, 2003), the People's Poet of Dagestan. Rasul Gamzatovich Gamzatov ( Avar: Расул ХIамзатов; Расу́л Гамза́тович Гамза́тов was probably the most famous poet writing Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Translations of his works into Russian have gained him a wide audience all over the former Soviet Union. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991

Samples

See also

• Dene-Caucasian languages

External links

• Ethnologue report for Avar
  • Avar course (in French)