Caucasian languages

Introduction
Kartvelian (South Caucasian) languages
- Languages of the group
  - Georgian
  - Mingrelian
  - Laz
  - Svan
- Linguistic characteristics
  - Phonology
  - Grammatical characteristics
  - Vocabulary
- Proto-Kartvelian
North Caucasian languages
- Abkhazo-Adyghian languages
  - Phonology
  - Grammatical characteristics
- Nakho-Dagestanian languages
  - The Avar-Andi-Dido languages
  - The Lak-Dargin languages
  - The Lezgian languages
- Linguistic characteristics
  - Phonology
  - Grammatical characteristics
  - Vocabulary

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Caucasian languages summary

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Related Questions

About how many people speak Caucasian languages?
How are East Georgian and West Georgian dialects divided geographically?
How did Russian culture spread into the Caucasus from the 16th century onward?
How did invasions and migration affect the cultures and languages of the Caucasus?
How did the Caucasus function as a link between Europe and Asia?
How does the Svan vowel system differ from the vowel systems of other Kartvelian languages?
How does the vowel system of Chechen differ from those of many other Caucasian languages?
How many Caucasian languages are spoken in the Caucasus region?
How old is the Georgian literary tradition?
What are voiced, voiceless aspirated, and glottalized stops in Caucasian languages?
What features led linguists to reconstruct a Proto-Kartvelian language?
What kinds of vowels occur in the Nakho-Dagestanian languages?
Where are Abkhaz and Abaza spoken?
Where are Caucasian languages spoken?
Where are Chechen and Ingush spoken?
Where is Georgian spoken outside the Republic of Georgia?
Which Caucasian language has the greatest number of speakers?
Which Caucasian languages have glottalized consonants?
Which Indo-European languages are spoken in the Caucasus region?
Which Northeast Caucasian language is unwritten and spoken by only a few thousand people in Georgia?
Which Semitic-speaking people settled in the Caucasus after World War I?
Which Turkic languages are spoken in the Caucasus besides Azerbaijani?
Which distinctive types of consonants occur in Abkhazo-Adyghian languages?
Which languages are excluded from the Caucasian language group despite being spoken in the Caucasus?
Which languages belong to the Nakh branch of the Northeast Caucasian family?
Which languages belong to the Northwest Caucasian or Abkhazo-Adyghian family?
Which languages belong to the South Caucasian or Kartvelian family?
Which three language families make up the Caucasian languages?
Why did Arab geographers call the Caucasus the “Mountain of Languages”?
Why do linguists treat North Caucasian and South Caucasian as separate language families?
Why do some Dagestanian languages have more complex consonant systems than vowel systems?
Why does the Caucasus have such a large number of languages in a small area?
Why is Azerbaijani not classified as a Caucasian language?
Why is a genetic connection between Caucasian languages and Basque considered inconclusive?

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Sorosoro - South Caucasian Languages

Vocabulary

in Caucasian languages in

North Caucasian languages

Also known as: Ibero-Caucasian languages, Paleocaucasian languages(Show More)

Written by

T.E. Gudava

Professor of Linguistics, Tbilisi State University, Georgian S.S.R.

T.E. GudavaAll

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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

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History

The original vocabulary of the North Caucasian languages has been fairly well preserved in the modern languages, although many words have been borrowed from Arabic (through Islām), the Turkic languages, and Persian. There are also loanwords that have been taken from the neighbouring languages (Georgian, Ossetic). Russian, which was a major influence from the late 19th century, was for decades the main source for new words, especially technical terminology.

T.E. Gudava