Aghul language
Northeastern Caucasian language
title: "Aghul language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["northeast-caucasian-languages", "languages-of-azerbaijan", "languages-of-russia", "endangered-caucasian-languages", "languages-written-in-cyrillic-script", "indigenous-languages-of-european-russia", "indigenous-languages-of-europe", "indigenous-languages-of-asia", "definitely-endangered-languages"] description: "Northeastern Caucasian language" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aghul_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Northeastern Caucasian language ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Aghul |
| nativename | агъул чӀал |
| states | North Caucasus, also spoken in Azerbaijan |
| region | Southeastern Dagestan |
| ethnicity | Aghuls |
| speakers | 33,182 |
| date | 2020 census |
| ref | |
| nation | Russia |
| Dagestan | |
| familycolor | Caucasian |
| fam1 | Northeast Caucasian |
| fam2 | Lezgic |
| fam3 | Samur |
| fam4 | Eastern Samur |
| fam5 | Lezgi–Aghul–Tabasaran |
| script | Cyrillic |
| iso3 | agx |
| glotto | aghu1260 |
| glottoname | Aghulic |
| glotto2 | aghu1253 |
| glottorefname2 | Aghul |
| agency | |
| map | File:Northeast Caucasus languages map en.svg |
| mapcaption | |
| map2 | Lang Status 60-DE.svg |
| mapcaption2 | |
| :: |
| states = North Caucasus, also spoken in Azerbaijan | region = Southeastern Dagestan | ethnicity = Aghuls | speakers = 33,182 | date = 2020 census | ref = | nation = Russia Dagestan | familycolor = Caucasian | fam1 = Northeast Caucasian | fam2 = Lezgic | fam3 = Samur | fam4 = Eastern Samur | fam5 = Lezgi–Aghul–Tabasaran | script = Cyrillic | iso3 = agx | glotto = aghu1260 | glottoname = Aghulic | glotto2 = aghu1253 | glottorefname2 = Aghul | agency = | map = File:Northeast Caucasus languages map en.svg | mapcaption = | map2 = Lang Status 60-DE.svg | mapcaption2 =
Aghul is a Lezgic language spoken by the Aghuls in Azerbaijan and Southern Dagestan in Russia. It is spoken by about 33,200 people (2020 census).
Classification
Aghul belongs to the Eastern Samur group of the Lezgic branch of the Northeast Caucasian language family. Glottolog splits the Aghul language between the Qushan/Koshan group and other Aghul dialects due to the Qushan dialects being unintelligible with the other dialects.
Geographic distribution
In 2002, Aghul was spoken by 28,300 people in Russia, mainly in Southern Dagestan, as well as 32 people in Azerbaijan.
Related languages
There are nine languages in the Lezgian language family, namely: Aghul, Tabasaran, Rutul, Lezgian, Tsakhur, Budukh, Kryts, Udi and Archi.
Phonology
Aghul has contrastive epiglottal consonants. Aghul makes, like many Northeast Caucasian languages, a distinction between tense consonants with concomitant length and weak consonants. The tense consonants are characterized by the intensiveness (tension) of articulation, which naturally leads to a lengthening of the consonant, so they are traditionally transcribed with the length diacritic. The gemination of the consonant itself does not create its tension, but morphologically tense consonants often derive from adjoining two single weak consonants. Some Aghul dialects have a large number of permitted initial tense consonants.
Vowels
::data[format=table title="Vowels of AghulMagometov, Aleksandr Amarovic. 1970. Agul'skij jazyk: (issledovanie i teksty). Tbilisi: Izdatel'stvo "Mecniereba"."]
| Front | Central | Back | Close | Mid | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
Consonants
::data[format=table title="Consonant phonemes of Aghul{{cite web|url=http://titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de/didact/caucasus/nekklaut.htm#XFN9|title=Titus Didactica: North-East Caucasian Consonant Systems|first=Jost|last=Gippert|website=titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de}}"] | Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyn- geal | Glottal | plain || sib. | plain || lab. | Nasal | Plosive/ Affricate | voiced | voiceless | fortis | lenis | ejective | Fricative | voiceless | fortis | lenis | voiced | Trill | Approximant | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::
- The glottal stop transcribed here is named rather ambiguously a "glottalic laryngeal" by the source.
Alphabet
The Aghul alphabet was devised in the 1990s. Ever since then, it has been used as a language of education, with primers, textbooks, and dictionaries published. ::data[format=table]
| ы | ь | Э э | Ю ю | Я я | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
Grammar
Case
There are four core cases: absolutive, ergative, genitive, and dative, as well as a large series of location cases. All cases other than the absolutive (which is unmarked) and ergative take the ergative suffix before their own suffix.
Adjectives
Independent and predicative adjectives take number marker and class marker; also, case if used as nominal. As attribute they are invariable. Thus idžed "good", ergative, idžedi, etc. -n, -s; pl. idžedar; but Idže insandi hhuč qini "The good man killed the wolf" (subject in ergative case).
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
::data[format=table]
| Aghul | Tokip | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zun | čin (ex), xin (in) | či (ex), xi (in) | či, xi | ||||
| wun | čun | čun | ču | ||||
| :: |
Sample text
|Іисайи пуная гебурис: – ДуьгІе акье миштти: «Дад, Ве ттур гирами хьурай; Ве Паччагьвел адирай. ТІалаб аркьая чин Вакес гьер ягьас гуни. Гъил гьушен че гунагьарилас, чинна гьил гьуршанду кІилди час Іайвелар аркьаттарилас. ХІа темехІера хьас амарта час». |c1= |ˡisaji punaja geburis: – Du’gˡe ak’e mištti: "Dad, Ve ttur girami x’uraj; Ve Paččag’vel adiraj. Tˡalab ark’aja čin Vakes g’er jag’as guni. G″il g’ušen če gunag’arilas, činna g’il g’uršandu kˡildi čas ˡajvelar ark’attarilas. Xˡa temexˡera x’as amarta čas." |c2= |And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.}}
References
Bibliography
References
- [https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/Tom5_tab7_VPN-2020.xlsx Том 5. «Национальный состав и владение языками». Таблица 7. Население наиболее многочисленных национальностей по родному языку]
- "Aghul".
- {{Harvcoltxt. Ladefoged. Maddieson. 1996
- Magometov, Aleksandr Amarovic. 1970. Agul'skij jazyk: (issledovanie i teksty). Tbilisi: Izdatel'stvo "Mecniereba".
- Gippert, Jost. "Titus Didactica: North-East Caucasian Consonant Systems".
- (2022-05-21). "Агульский язык".
- "Aghul lp".
- "Photo".
- "Bible Gateway passage: Luke 11 - King James Version".
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