Lezgi language
Encyclopedia
Lezgian, also called Lezgi or Lezgin, is a language that belongs to the Lezgic languages
. It is spoken by the Lezgins
, who live in southern Dagestan
and northern Azerbaijan
. Lezgian is a literary language and an official language
of Dagestan
. It is classified as "vulnerable" by UNESCO
's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
, Qebele and Khachmaz (Kaçmaz) provinces of northeastern Azerbaijan. Lezgian is also spoken in Kazakhstan
, Kyrgyzstan
, Turkey
, Turkmenistan
, Ukraine
, and Uzbekistan
by immigrants from Azerbaijan
and Daghestan.
There is also small population in Balikesir
and Yalova
regions in Turkey. The lezgi people are concentrated mainly at Kirne (Ortaca) village of Balikesir
region.
The total number of speakers is about 783,720.
, namely: Lezgian, Tabasaran
, Rutul
, Aghul
, Tsakhur
, Budukh
, Kryts
, Udi
and Archi
. These languages have the same names as the ethnic groups.
Some of its dialects are considered very different from the standard form, including the Quba dialect spoken in Azerbaijan.
has two main allophones: [ɑ] and [ʌ]; the former prevails in closed syllables (especially before uvulars and /r/), the latter in open syllables. is very often rounded after labialized consonants, which may then lose their labialization.
es (also dubbed with the term "grammatical gender"). Standard Lezgian grammar features 18 grammatical case
s, produced by agglutinating suffixes, of which 12 are still used in spoken conversation.
нолхъ nolqʰ - zero
сад sad - one
кьвед qʷ’ed - two
пуд pud - three
кьуд q’ud - four
вад vad - five
ругуд rugud - six
ирид irid - seven
муьжуьд myʒyd - eight
кIуьд k’yd - nine
цIуд ts’ud- ten
цIусад ts’usad - eleven
цIикьвед ts’iqʷ’ed - twelve
цIипуд ts’ipud - thirteen
цIикьуд ts’iq’ud - fourteen
цIувад ts’uvad - fifteen
цIуругуд ts’urugud - sixteen
цIерид ts’erid - seventeen
цIемуьжуьд ts’emyʒud - eighteen
цIекIуьд ts’ek’yd - nineteen
къад qad - twenty
qadtsud - thirty
яхцIур jaxts’ur - forty
jaxtsurtsud - fifty
пудкъад pudqad - sixty
pudqadtsud - seventy
кьудкъад q’udqal - eighty
qudqaltsud - ninety
виш viʃ - one hundred
агъзур aɣeur - one thousand
Nouns following a number are always in the singular. Numbers precede the noun. "сад" and "кьвед" loose their final "-д" before a noun.
Lezgi numerals work in a similar fashion to the French ones, and are based on the vigesimal system in which "20", not "10", is the base number. "Twenty" in Lezgi is "къад", and higher numbers are formed by adding the suffix -ни to the word (which becomes "къанни" - the same change occurs in пудкъад and кьудкъад) and putting the remaining number afterwards. This way 24 for instance is къанни кьуд "20 and 4" and 37 къанни цIерид "20 and 17". Numbers over 40 are formed similarly (яхцIур becomes яхцIурни). 60 and 80 are treated likewise. For numbers over 100 we just put a number of hundreds then (if need be) the word with a suffix, then the remaining number 659 is thus ругуд вишни яхцIурни цIекIуьд. The same procedure follows for 1000, too... 1989 is агьзурни кIуьд вишни кьудкъанни кIуьд in Lezgi
Lezgic languages
The Lezgic languages are one the seven branches of the Northeast Caucasian language family. Lezgian and Tabasaran are literary languages.-Classification:* Peripheral: Archi – 1200 speakers* Samur ** Eastern Samur*** Udi – 5000 speakers...
. It is spoken by the Lezgins
Lezgins
The Lezgians are an ethnic group living predominantly in southern Dagestan and northeastern Azerbaijan and who speak the Lezgian language.- Historical concept :While ancient Greek historians, including Herodotus, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder, referred...
, who live in southern Dagestan
Dagestan
The Republic of Dagestan is a federal subject of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region. Its capital and the largest city is Makhachkala, located at the center of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea...
and northern Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
. Lezgian is a literary language and an official language
Official language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
of Dagestan
Dagestan
The Republic of Dagestan is a federal subject of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region. Its capital and the largest city is Makhachkala, located at the center of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea...
. It is classified as "vulnerable" by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
Geographic distribution
In 2002, Lezgian was spoken by about 397,000 people in Russia, mainly Southern Dagestan, and in 1999 by 178,400 people in mainly the Qusar, QubaQuba
Quba is a rayon in northeastern Azerbaijan. The capital is located on the Kudyal River at 41.37°N, 48.50°E....
, Qebele and Khachmaz (Kaçmaz) provinces of northeastern Azerbaijan. Lezgian is also spoken in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, and Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
by immigrants from Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
and Daghestan.
There is also small population in Balikesir
Balikesir
Balıkesir is the capital city of Balıkesir Province. Balıkesir is in the Marmara region of Turkey and has a population of 265,747 inhabitants. Old name is Karesi or Karasi.- History :...
and Yalova
Yalova
Yalova is a city located in northwestern Turkey, on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara, and is the capital of the Yalova Province. Yalova has a city population of 92,166, while the population of the Yalova Province is 202,531. as of 2009...
regions in Turkey. The lezgi people are concentrated mainly at Kirne (Ortaca) village of Balikesir
Balikesir
Balıkesir is the capital city of Balıkesir Province. Balıkesir is in the Marmara region of Turkey and has a population of 265,747 inhabitants. Old name is Karesi or Karasi.- History :...
region.
The total number of speakers is about 783,720.
Related languages
There are nine languages in the Lezgic language familyLezgic languages
The Lezgic languages are one the seven branches of the Northeast Caucasian language family. Lezgian and Tabasaran are literary languages.-Classification:* Peripheral: Archi – 1200 speakers* Samur ** Eastern Samur*** Udi – 5000 speakers...
, namely: Lezgian, Tabasaran
Tabasaran language
Tabasaran is a Northeast Caucasian language of the Lezgic branch. It is spoken by the Tabasaran people in southern part of the Russian Republic of Dagestan. There are two main dialects: North and South Tabasaran. It has a literary language based on the Southern dialect, one of six in the Dagestan...
, Rutul
Rutul language
Rutul is a language spoken by the Rutuls, an ethnic group living in Dagestan and some parts of Azerbaijan. It is spoken by 29,400 people in Dagestan and the remaining 110 in Azerbaijan...
, Aghul
Aghul language
Aghul, also spelled Agul, is a language spoken by the Aguls who live in southern Dagestan, Russia and in Azerbaijan. It is spoken by about 28,300 people .-Classification:...
, Tsakhur
Tsakhur language
Tsakhur is a language spoken by the Tsakhurs, an ethnic group, which populates northern Azerbaijan and southwestern Dagestan . It is spoken by about 13,000 people in Azerbaijan and by about 9,770 people in Dagestan...
, Budukh
Budukh language
Budukh or Budugh is a Samur language of the Northeast Caucasian language family spoken in parts of the Quba Rayon of Azerbaijan. It was reportedly spoken by approximately 1,000 Budukhs in 1990, but Authier reports at most 200 speakers....
, Kryts
Kryts language
Kryts , or Jek , is a Samur language of the Northeast Caucasian language family spoken in parts of the Quba Rayon of Azerbaijan by 6,000 people in 1975....
, Udi
Udi language
The Udi language, spoken by the Udi people, is a member of the Lezgic branch of the Northeast Caucasian language family. It is believed an earlier form of it was the main language of Caucasian Albania, which stretched from south Dagestan to current day Azerbaijan.The language is spoken by about...
and Archi
Archi language
Archi is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by the 1,200 Archis in the village of Archib, southern Dagestan, Russia and the six surrounding smaller villages...
. These languages have the same names as the ethnic groups.
Some of its dialects are considered very different from the standard form, including the Quba dialect spoken in Azerbaijan.
Vowels
| Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also... |
Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel... |
Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark... |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | rounded | |||
| Close Close vowel A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the... |
i (и) | y (уь) | u (у) | |
| Mid Mid vowel A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel... |
e (е; э) | |||
| Open Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue... |
æ (я) | a (а) | ||
has two main allophones: [ɑ] and [ʌ]; the former prevails in closed syllables (especially before uvulars and /r/), the latter in open syllables. is very often rounded after labialized consonants, which may then lose their labialization.
- /e/ is open ([ɛ]) in stressed syllables
- if a vowel plus /n/ sequence is not followed by a vowel, the /n/ may be deleted and the vowel nasalized. Thus /zun/ ('I') can be pronounced [zũ].
Consonants
There are 54 consonants in Lezgian. Characters to the right are the letters of the Lezgian Cyrillic Alphabet. Note that aspiration is not normally indicated in the orthography, despite the fact that it is phonemic.| Labial Labial consonant Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. This precludes linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue reaches for the posterior side of the upper lip and which are considered coronals... |
Dental | (Post)- alveolar Postalveolar consonant Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate... |
Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).... |
Uvular Uvular consonant Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. Uvulars may be plosives, fricatives, nasal stops, trills, or approximants, though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and... |
Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider... |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | lab. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | |||||
| Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
/m/ м | /n/ н | ||||||||
| Plosive | voiced | /b/ б | /d/ д | /dʷ/ дв | /g/ г | /gʷ/ гв | ||||
| voiceless | /p/ п | /t/ т | /tʷ/ тв | /k/ к | /kʷ/ кв | /q/ къ | /qʷ/ къв | /ʔ/ ъ | ||
| aspirated | /pʰ/ п | /tʰ/ т | /tʷʰ/ тв | /kʰ/ к | /kʷʰ/ кв | /qʰ/ хъ | /qʷʰ/ хъв | |||
| ejective | /pʼ/ пI | /tʼ/ тI | /tʷʼ/ тIв | /kʼ/ кI | /kʷʼ/ кIв | /qʼ/ кь | /qʷʼ/ кьв | |||
| Affricate Affricate consonant Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :... |
voiceless | /t͡s/ ц | /t͡sʷ/ цв | /t͡ʃ/ ч | ||||||
| aspirated | /t͡sʰ/ ц | /t͡sʷʰ/ цв | /t͡ʃʰ/ ч | |||||||
| ejective | /t͡sʼ/ цI | /t͡sʷʼ/ цIв | /t͡ʃʼ/ чI | |||||||
| Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or... |
voiced | /z/ з | /zʷ/ зв | /ʒ/ ж | /ʁ/ гъ | /ʁʷ/ гъв | ||||
| voiceless | /f/ ф | /s/ с | /sʷ/ св | /ʃ/ ш | /x/ ? | /χ/ х | /χʷ/ хв | /h/ гь | ||
| Approximant Approximant consonant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough or with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no... |
/l/ л | /w/ в | ||||||||
| Trill Trill consonant In phonetics, a trill is a consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the place of articulation. Standard Spanish <rr> as in perro is an alveolar trill, while in Parisian French it is almost always uvular.... |
/r/ р | |||||||||
Grammar
Lezgian is unusual for a Northeast Caucasian language in not having noun classNoun class
In linguistics, the term noun class refers to a system of categorizing nouns. A noun may belong to a given class because of characteristic features of its referent, such as sex, animacy, shape, but counting a given noun among nouns of such or another class is often clearly conventional...
es (also dubbed with the term "grammatical gender"). Standard Lezgian grammar features 18 grammatical case
Grammatical case
In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is an inflectional form that indicates its grammatical function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, a pronoun may play the role of subject , of direct object , or of possessor...
s, produced by agglutinating suffixes, of which 12 are still used in spoken conversation.
Cases
The four grammatical cases are:- Absolutive caseAbsolutive caseThe absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:...
(basic form of the word, no ending): marks the subject of an intransitive verb and the direct object of a transitive sentence. It is also used to mark a nominal predictate (who or what something turns into/becomes) and as a vocativeVocative caseThe vocative case is the case used for a noun identifying the person being addressed and/or occasionally the determiners of that noun. A vocative expression is an expression of direct address, wherein the identity of the party being spoken to is set forth expressly within a sentence...
. - Ergative caseErgative caseThe ergative case is the grammatical case that identifies the subject of a transitive verb in ergative-absolutive languages.-Characteristics:...
(various endings; the most common are: -ди, -a or -е; [-di, -a or e], which are added to the Absolutive): marks the subject of transitive verbs, and the subject of some compound intransitive verbs. - Genitive caseGenitive caseIn grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
(ending -н [-n]; added to the Ergative): marks possession. It is also used with the meaning 'of'. The genitive case precedes the noun that it modifies. - Dative caseDative caseThe dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
(ending -з [-z]; added to the Ergative): usually marks the indirect object of sentences, that is the recipient of an action. It is also used to mark the subject of some verbs (mainly about emotions) and to express a point of time and direction. - There are fourteen Locative caseLocative caseLocative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"...
s:- Adessive caseAdessive caseIn Uralic languages, such as Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian, the adessive case is the fourth of the locative cases with the basic meaning of "on". For example, Estonian laud and laual , Hungarian asztal and asztalnál...
(ending -в [-v]; added to the Ergative): marks the object of some verbs to mean 'near by'. - Adelative case (ending -вай [-vaj]; added to the Ergative): expresses movement from somewhere. It is also used with the verb 'to be able' and to express an accidental action.
- Addirective case (ending -вди [-vdi]; added to the Ergative): used as an instrumental caseInstrumental caseThe instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...
, but also sometimes used with its original meaning, 'in the direction of', and more rarely 'near by'. - The Postessive casePostessive caseIn linguistics, the postessive case is a noun case that indicates position behind something.This case is found in Northeast Caucasian languages like Lezgian and Agul. In Lezgian the suffix -хъ , when added to the ergative-case noun, marks the postessive case...
(ending -хъ [-qh]; added to the Ergative): means 'behind', 'in exchange for', and 'with.' In a construction with the verb ава (ava), it means 'there is'. - Postelative casePostelative caseIn linguistics, the postelative case is a noun case that indicates location from behind.This case is found in the Northeast Caucasian language Lezgian....
(ending -хъай [-qhaj]; added to the Ergative): can either mean 'from' or 'who is feared'. - Postdirective case (ending -хъди [-qhdi]; added to the Ergative): rarely used case, meaning 'toward(s)'.
- Subessive caseSubessive caseThe subessive case is a grammatical case indicating location under or below something. It occurs in Northeast Caucasian languages like Tsez and Bezhta....
(ending -к [-k]; added to the Ergative): means either 'below' or 'participates'. - Subelative case (ending -кай [-kaj]; added to the Ergative): means either 'from below', 'from', '(from) against', 'with' or 'out of'. It is also used to mark Y in the construction 'X becomes out-of-Y' and can express the topic of a sentence or the cause of emotions.
- Subdirective case (ending -кди [-kdi]; added to the Ergative): expresses cause, and can mean 'because' or 'of' (when in sentences such as 'the man died of a disease'.
- Inessive caseInessive caseInessive case is a locative grammatical case. This case carries the basic meaning of "in": for example, "in the house" is "talo·ssa" in Finnish, "maja·s" in Estonian, "etxea·n" in Basque, "nam·e" in Lithuanian and "ház·ban" in Hungarian.In Finnish the inessive case is typically formed by adding...
(endings -а or -е [-a or -e]; added to Absolutive): means 'at', 'in' or 'during/whilst'. - Inelative caseInelative caseThe inelative case expresses the notion "from inside" .It can be found in the Lezgian language. For example:*Варшавадай Тегьрандиз саки вад югъ рехъ ава.*Varshavadaj Tehrandiz saki vad jugh reqh ava....
(endings -ай or -ей [-aj or -ej]; added to Inessive): means 'out of' or 'in return for'. - Superessive caseSuperessive caseThe Superessive case is a grammatical declension indicating location on top of, or on the surface of something. Its name comes from Latin supersum, superesse: to be over and above....
(ending -л [-l]; added to the Inessive): means 'on', and also to express the cause of some emotions. - Superelative case (ending -лай [-laj]; added to the Inessive): means 'off', 'after' or 'than'.
- Superdirective case (ending -лди [-ldi]; added to the Inessive): means 'onto', 'until', 'in' (when followed by an adjective) and to mark the language being used.
- Adessive case
First Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Absolutive | буба buba | бубаяр bubajar |
| Ergative | бубади bubadi | бубайри bubajri |
| Genitive | бубадин bubadin | бубайрин bubajrin |
| Dative | бубадиз bubadiz | бубайриз bubajriz |
| Adessive | бубадив bubadiv | бубайрив bubajriv |
| Adelative | бубадивай bubadivaj | бубайривай bubajrivaj |
| Addirective | бубадивди bubadivdi | бубайривди bubajrivdi |
| Postessive | бубадихъ bubadiqʰ | бубайрихъ bubajriqʰ |
| Postelative | бубадихъай bubadiqʰaj | бубайрихъай bubajriqʰaj |
| Postdirective | бубадихъди bubadiqʰdi | буабайрихъди buabajriqʰdi |
| Subessive | бубадик bubadikʰ | бубайрик bubajrikʰ |
| Subelative | бубадикай bubadikʰaj | бубайрикай bubajrikʰaj |
| Subdirective | бубадикди bubadikʰdi | бубайрикди bubajrikʰdi |
| Inessive | бубада bubada | бубайра bubajra |
| Inelative | бубадай bubadaj | бубайрай bubajraj |
| Superessive | бубадал bubadal | бубайрал bubajral |
| Superelative | бубадалай bubadalaj | бубайралай bubajralaj |
| Superdirective | бубадалди bubadaldi | бубайралди bubajraldi |
Numbers
The numbers of Lezgi are:нолхъ nolqʰ - zero
сад sad - one
кьвед qʷ’ed - two
пуд pud - three
кьуд q’ud - four
вад vad - five
ругуд rugud - six
ирид irid - seven
муьжуьд myʒyd - eight
кIуьд k’yd - nine
цIуд ts’ud- ten
цIусад ts’usad - eleven
цIикьвед ts’iqʷ’ed - twelve
цIипуд ts’ipud - thirteen
цIикьуд ts’iq’ud - fourteen
цIувад ts’uvad - fifteen
цIуругуд ts’urugud - sixteen
цIерид ts’erid - seventeen
цIемуьжуьд ts’emyʒud - eighteen
цIекIуьд ts’ek’yd - nineteen
къад qad - twenty
qadtsud - thirty
яхцIур jaxts’ur - forty
jaxtsurtsud - fifty
пудкъад pudqad - sixty
pudqadtsud - seventy
кьудкъад q’udqal - eighty
qudqaltsud - ninety
виш viʃ - one hundred
агъзур aɣeur - one thousand
Nouns following a number are always in the singular. Numbers precede the noun. "сад" and "кьвед" loose their final "-д" before a noun.
Lezgi numerals work in a similar fashion to the French ones, and are based on the vigesimal system in which "20", not "10", is the base number. "Twenty" in Lezgi is "къад", and higher numbers are formed by adding the suffix -ни to the word (which becomes "къанни" - the same change occurs in пудкъад and кьудкъад) and putting the remaining number afterwards. This way 24 for instance is къанни кьуд "20 and 4" and 37 къанни цIерид "20 and 17". Numbers over 40 are formed similarly (яхцIур becomes яхцIурни). 60 and 80 are treated likewise. For numbers over 100 we just put a number of hundreds then (if need be) the word with a suffix, then the remaining number 659 is thus ругуд вишни яхцIурни цIекIуьд. The same procedure follows for 1000, too... 1989 is агьзурни кIуьд вишни кьудкъанни кIуьд in Lezgi
External links
- Appendix:Cyrillic script
- Notes on the Lezgi language
- the Lezgi language
- Languages of the World report
- Lezgi Sites