This article should specify the language of its non-English content using {{lang}} or {{langx}}, {{transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and {{IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriate ISO 639 code. Wikipedia's multilingual support templates may also be used - notably xdq for Kaitag. See why. (January 2025)

Kaitag
Kaidak, Karakaitak, Karkaidak, Qaidaqlan, Xajdak
хайдакьан кув
A speaker of Kaitag.
Pronunciation	[χɑjdɑqʼɑn kʰuβ] [χajdaq'la]
Native to	North Caucasus
Region	Dagestan
Ethnicity	Kaitags
Native speakers	approx. 30,000 (2020)[1]
Language family	Northeast Caucasian Dargin Kaitag group Kaitag
Dialects	Upper Kaitag Lower Kaitag Shari (may be a separate language)
Writing system	Cyrillic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xdq
Glottolog	kajt1238
Linguasphere	42-BBB-bae
Kaitag

Kaitag (Kaitag: Хайдакьан кув [χɑjdɑqʼɑn kʰuβ]; also Kaidak, Karakaitak, Karkaidak, Qaidaqlan and Xajdak) is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken in Dagestan, Russia. It has sometimes been considered a divergent dialect of Dargwa due to it being part of the Dargin dialect continuum. The Routledge Ethnographic Handbook (2017) divided Kaitag into two dialects: northern (Magalis-Kaitak) and southern (Karakaitak).^[2] Recent results of the Association of the Russian Sociolinguists (2021) further developed it into three dialects: Lower Kaitag, Upper Kaitag and Shari, the latter of which may be a separate but closely related language.^[3]

Dialects

The languages consists of eight varieties, forming three dialects. Each of the Upper varieties corresponds to a historical province of the region.^[4]

• Upper Kaitag – Хъар Хайдакь (south-west).
  • Shurkkant – "The Cliff Dwellers" – Шурккант.
  • Qattagan – "The Gorge Dwellers" – Къаттагне.
  • Irchamul – "The Land of Nine" – Ирчӏамул.
• Lower Kaitag – Ххьар Хайдакь.
  • Barshamai – Баршамаӏъган.
  • Karatsan – Гъаӏрцӏнила.
  • Jibahni – Чӏивгьаӏн.
  • Sanchi – Сунклан.
• Shari – Шаӏръи.

Phonology

Alphabet

The Kaitag language is usually written in the Cyrillic script. The letters of the alphabet are (with their pronunciation given below in IPA transcription):

Lexicon

Most of Kaitag's vocabulary stems from proto-Northeast-Caucasian roots. Like with other languages of Dagestan, there is a considerable number of Arabic, Iranian, Turkic and recently Russian loanwords.

References

External links

• Kaytag dictionary