Botlikh language

Botlikh (also spelled Botlix) is an Andic language of the Northeast Caucasian language family spoken by the Botlikhs in the villages of Botlikh (Buikhe), Miarso and Ashino, as well as in Chontaul, Ankho and in Batlakhatli, in southwestern Dagestan, Russia by approximately 5,000 people, according to the 2020 census.

Botlikh
Botlix
Буйхалъи мицIцIи/Bujxałi mic’c’i
Pronunciation	[bujχaɬi mits’ːi]
Native to	North Caucasus
Region	Southwestern Dagestan
Ethnicity	3,788 Botlikh people (2020)
Native speakers	5,073 (2020 census) c. 8,000 (2012)
Language family	Northeast Caucasian Avar–Andic Andic Akhvakh–Tindi Karata–Tindi Botlikh–Tindi Botlikh
Dialects	Botlikh proper Miarso
Writing system	unwritten (transcribed using Cyrillic script)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bph
Glottolog	botl1242
ELP	Botlikh
Botlikh
Botlikh is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010)

Dialects

Botlikh has two dialects, being Botlikh proper and Miarso. Differences in phonology and morphology are small, and the two are mutually intelligible.

Phonology

Vowels

Botlikh has five basic vowels. Vowels can also be long or nasalized.

Botlikh vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Mid	e	o
Open		a

Consonants

Botlikh consonants

		Labial	Dental		Alveolar				Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Pharyngeal	Glottal
					central		lateral
			lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis
Plosive	voiced	b ⟨б⟩	d ⟨д⟩								ɡ ⟨г⟩
	voiceless	p ⟨п⟩	t ⟨т⟩								k ⟨к⟩
	ejective		tʼ ⟨тӀ⟩								kʼ ⟨кӀ⟩			q͡χːʼ ⟨къ⟩		ʔ ⟨ъ⟩
Affricate	voiceless		t͡s ⟨ц⟩	t͡sː ⟨цц⟩	t͡ʃ ⟨ч⟩	t͡ʃː ⟨чч⟩		t͡ɬː ⟨лӀ⟩				k͡xː ⟨кк⟩		q͡χː ⟨хъ⟩
	ejective		t͡sʼ ⟨цӀ⟩	t͡sʼː ⟨цӀцӀ⟩	t͡ʃʼ ⟨чӀ⟩	t͡ʃʼː ⟨чӀчӀ⟩		t͡ɬʼː ⟨кь⟩				k͡xːʼ ⟨кӀкӀ⟩
	voiced				d͜ʒ ⟨дж⟩
Fricative	voiceless	v ⟨в⟩	s ⟨с⟩	sː ⟨сс⟩	ʃ ⟨ш⟩	ʃː ⟨щ⟩	ɬ ⟨лъ⟩	ɬː ⟨лълъ⟩		çː ⟨хь⟩	ɣ ⟨гь⟩	xː ⟨хх⟩	χ ⟨х⟩		ʜ ⟨хӀ⟩	h ⟨гь⟩
	voiced		z ⟨з⟩		ʒ ⟨ж⟩				j ⟨й⟩		x ⟨х⟩		ʁ ⟨гъ⟩		ʕ ⟨гӀ⟩
Approximant		m ⟨м⟩	n ⟨н⟩		r ⟨р⟩		l ⟨л⟩

Orthography

Botlikh is unwritten, and Botlikhs have mostly used Avar as their medium of written communication. When Botlikhs need to write their language, they use the Avar alphabet. The folowing orthography is used in a Botlikh-Russian dictionary.

А а

Аᴴ аᴴ

Б б

В в

Г г

Гъ гъ

Гь гь

ГӀ гӀ

Д д

Дж дж

(Е е)

Ж ж

З з

И и

Иᴴ иᴴ

Й й

К к

Кк кк

Къ къ

Кь кь

КӀ кӀ

КӀкӀ кӀкӀ

Л л

Лъ лъ

Лълъ лълъ

ЛӀ лӀ

М м

Н н

О о

П п

ПӀ пӀ

Р р

С с

Сс сс

Т т

ТӀ тӀ

У у

Уᴴ уᴴ

Х х

Хх хх

Хъ хъ

Хь хь

ХӀ хӀ

Ц ц

Цц цц

ЦӀ цӀ

ЦӀцӀ цӀцӀ

Ч ч

Чч чч

ЧӀ чӀ

ЧӀчӀ чӀчӀ

Ш ш

Щ щ

Ъ ъ

Э э

Эᴴ эᴴ

Further reading

• Alekseev, M.; Azaev, X. (2019). Botlixsko-russkij slovar' (in Russian). Moscow: Academia.
• Dirr, Adolf (1928). Einführung in das Studium der Kaukasischen Sprachen mit einer sprachenkarte (in German). Leipzig: Verlag der Asia Major.
• Gamzatova, G. G. (2000). Jazyki Dagestana. Jazyki Narodov Rossii (in Russian). Machackala: Rossijskaja Akademija Nauk.
• Gudava, Togo E. (1962). ბოთლიხური ენა: გრამატიკული ანალიზი, ტექსტები, ლექსიკონი [The Botlikh language: Grammatical analysis, texts, lexicon] (in Georgian). Tbilisi: Sak'art'velos SSR mec'nierebat'a akademiis gamomc'emloba.
• Gudava, Togo E. (1976). "Iberijsko-kavkazskie jazyki". Jazyki narodov SSSR (in Russian). Vol. IV. Moskva: Nauka. pp. 293–306.
• Moroz, George; Naccarato, Chiara; Verhees, Samira (14–16 October 2019). Variation in two dictionaries of Botlikh (PDF). Документирование языков и диалектов коренных малочисленных народов России. St. Petersburg. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2022.
• Saidova, P. A.; Abusov, M. G. (2012). Botlixsko-russkij slovar' (in Russian). Makhachkala: IJaLI.

External links

• The peoples of the Red Book: Botlikhs