Which three language families make up the Caucasian languages?

The Caucasian languages are indigenous to the Caucasus region and are classified into three distinct language families:1

• Northwest Caucasian (also known as Abkhazo-Adyghian)12
• Northeast Caucasian (also known as Nakho-Dagestanian)12
• South Caucasian (also known as Kartvelian or Iberian)13

While some linguists have explored potential genetic links between the Northwest and Northeast groups, the three families are currently viewed as separate because there is insufficient evidence of regular sound correspondences to group them together definitively. It is important to note that this classification excludes languages introduced to the region in historical times, such as Indo-European and Turkic languages.1