Ingush language
| Ingush | |
|---|---|
| гӏалгӏай мотт (Ghalghai mott) | |
| Pronunciation | [ˈʁəlʁɑj mot] |
| Native to | Russia |
| Region | Ingushetia, Chechnya |
| Ethnicity | Ingush |
Native speakers | 350,000 (2020)[1] |
| Cyrillic (current) Georgian, Arabic, Latin (historical) | |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Russia |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | inh |
| ISO 639-3 | inh |
| Glottolog | ingu1240 |
 | |
Ingush (/ˈɪŋɡʊʃ/; Гӏалгӏай мотт, Ghalghai mott, pronounced [ˈʁəlʁɑj mot]) is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by about 500,000 people, known as the Ingush, across a region covering the Russian republics of Ingushetia and Chechnya.
Classification
[edit]Ingush and Chechen, together with Bats, constitute the Nakh branch of the Northeast Caucasian language family. There is pervasive passive bilingualism between Ingush and Chechen.[3]
Geographic distribution
[edit]Ingush is spoken by about 353,000 people (2020),[1] primarily across a region in the Caucasus covering parts of Russia, primarily Ingushetia and Chechnya. Speakers can also be found in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belgium, Norway, Turkey and Jordan.[citation needed]
Official status
[edit]Ingush is, alongside Russian, an official language of Ingushetia, a federal subject of Russia.
Writing system
[edit]It is possible that during the period of 8–12th century, when the Temples like Tkhaba-Yerdy emerged in Ingushetia, a writing system based on a Georgian script emerged. This is attested by the fact that a non-Georgian name, 'Enola', was found written on the arc of Tkhaba-Yerdy.[4] Furthermore, Georgian text was found on archaeological items in Ingushetia that could not be deciphered.[5]
Ingush became a written language with an Arabic-based writing system at the beginning of the 20th century. After the October Revolution it first used a Latin alphabet, which was later replaced by Cyrillic.
| А а | Аь аь | Б б | В в | Г г | Гӏ гӏ | Д д | Е е |
| Ё ё | Ж ж | З з | И и | Й й | К к | Кх кх | Къ къ |
| Кӏ кӏ | Л л | М м | Н н | О о | П п | Пӏ пӏ | Р р |
| С с | Т т | Тӏ тӏ | У у | Ф ф | Х х | Хь хь | Хӏ хӏ |
| Ц ц | Цӏ цӏ | Ч ч | Чӏ чӏ | Ш ш | Щ щ | Ъ ъ | Ы ы |
| Ь ь | Э э | Ю ю | Я я | Яь яь | Ӏ ӏ |
Phonology
[edit]Vowels
[edit]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | и/i [ɪ] | varies [ɨ] | у/u [ʊ] |
| Mid | э/e [e] | varies [ə] | о/o [o] |
| Low | аь/ea [æ] | а/a [ɑː] |
The diphthongs are иэ /ie/, уо /uo/, оа /oɑ/, ий /ij/, эи /ei/, ои /oi/, уи /ui/, ов /ow/, ув /uw/.
Consonants
[edit]The consonants of Ingush are as follows,[6] including the Latin orthography developed by Johanna Nichols:[7]
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| palatalized | plain | |||||||||
| Nasal | m ⟨м, m⟩ | n ⟨н, n⟩ | ||||||||
| Plosive | voiceless | p ⟨п, p⟩ | t ⟨т, t⟩ | t͡s ⟨ц, c⟩ | t͡ʃ ⟨ч, ch⟩ | kʲ ⟨к, jk⟩ | k ⟨к, k⟩ | q ⟨кх, q⟩ | ʡ ⟨ӏ, w⟩ | ʔ ⟨ъ, ʼ⟩ |
| ejective | pʼ ⟨пӏ, pʼ⟩ | tʼ ⟨тӏ, tʼ⟩ | t͡sʼ ⟨цӏ, cʼ⟩ | t͡ʃʼ ⟨чӏ, ch’⟩ | kʲʼ ⟨кӏ, jkʼ⟩ | kʼ ⟨кӏ, kʼ⟩ | qʼ ⟨къ, qʼ⟩ | |||
| voiced | b ⟨б, b⟩ | d ⟨д, d⟩ | ɡʲ ⟨г, jg⟩ | ɡ ⟨г, g⟩ | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f ⟨ф, f⟩ | s ⟨с, s⟩ | ʃ ⟨ш, sh⟩ | χ ⟨х, x⟩ | ʜ ⟨хь, hw⟩ | h ⟨хӏ, h⟩ | |||
| voiced | ʋ ⟨в, v⟩ | z ⟨з, z⟩ | ʒ ⟨ж, zh⟩ | ʁ ⟨гӏ, gh⟩ | ||||||
| Approximant | l ⟨л, l⟩ | j ⟨й, j⟩ | ||||||||
| Trill | voiceless | r̥ ⟨рхӏ, rh⟩ | ||||||||
| voiced | r ⟨р, r⟩ | |||||||||
Single consonants can be geminated by various morphophonemic processes.
Dialects
[edit]Ingush is not divided into dialects with the exception of Galanchoz (native name: Галай-Чӏож/Галайн-Чӏаж), which is considered to be transitional between Chechen and Ingush.[8]
Grammar
[edit]Ingush is a nominative–accusative language in its syntax, though it has ergative morphology.[9][10]
Case
[edit]The most recent and in-depth analysis of the language[10] shows eight cases: absolutive, ergative, genitive, dative, allative, instrumental, lative and comparative.
| Cases | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Absolutive | -⌀ | -azh / -ii, -i[a] |
| Ergative | -uo / -z, -aa[b] | –azh |
| Genitive | -a, -n[c] | -ii, -i |
| Dative | -na, aa[c] | -azh-ta |
| Allative | -ga | -azh-ka |
| Instrumental | -ca | -azh-ca |
| Lative | -gh | -egh |
| Comparative | -l | -el |
- ^ The choice of -azh vs. -ii is lexically determined for the nominative, but other cases are predictable.
- ^ -uo is the only productive form. -z appears with personal names, kin terms, and other nouns referring to humans. -aa occurs with some declensions and is increasingly unproductive in colloquial use.
- ^ a b Allomorph after vowels
Tenses
[edit]| Stem | Suffix | Tense | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive Stem (INFS) |
{-a} | Infinitive (INF) | laaca |
| {-a} | Imperative (IMP) | laaca | |
| Present Stem (unmarked) |
--- | Generic Present (PRES) | loac |
| {-az&} | Simultaneous Converb (SCV) | loacaz& | |
| {-ar} | Imperfect (IMPF) | loacar | |
| {-agDa} | Future (FUT) | loacadda | |
| Past Stem (PAST) |
{-ar} | Witnessed Past (WIT) | leacar |
| {-aa}/{-na} | Anterior Converb (ACV) | leacaa | |
| {-aa} + {-D} / {-na} + {-D} | Perfect (PERF) | leacaad | |
| {-aa} + {-Dar} / {-na} + {-Dar} | Pluperfect (PLUP) | leacaadar |
Numerals
[edit]Like many Northeast Caucasian languages, Ingush uses a vigesimal system, where numbers lower than twenty are counted as in a base-ten system, but higher decads are base-twenty.
| Orthography | Phonetic | Value | Composition |
|---|---|---|---|
| cwa | [t͡sʕʌ] | 1 | |
| shi | [ʃɪ] | 2 | |
| qo | [qo] | 3 | |
| d.i'1 | [dɪʔ] | 4 | |
| pxi | [pxɪ] | 5 | |
| jaalx | [jalx] | 6 | |
| vorh | [vʷor̥] | 7 | |
| baarh | [bar̥] | 8 | |
| iis | [is] | 9 | |
| itt | [itː] | 10 | |
| cwaitt | [t͡sʕɛtː] | 11 | 1+10 |
| shiitt | [ʃitː] | 12 | 2+10 |
| qoitt | [qoitː] | 13 | 3+10 |
| d.iitt1 | [ditː] | 14 | 4+10 |
| pxiitt | [pxitː] | 15 | 5+10 |
| jalxett | [jʌlxɛtː] | 16 | 6+10 |
| vuriit | [vʷʊritː] | 17 | 7+10 |
| bareitt | [bʌreitː] | 18 | 8+10 |
| tq'iesta | [tqʼiːestə̆] | 19 | |
| tq'o | [tqʼo] | 20 | |
| tq'ea itt | [tqʼɛ̯æjitː] | 30 | 20+10 |
| shouztq'a | [ʃouztqʼə̆] | 40 | 2×20 |
| shouztq'aj itt | [ʃouztqʼetː] | 50 | 2×20+10 |
| bwea | [bʕɛ̯æ] | 100 | |
| shi bwea | [ʃɪ bʕɛ̯æ] | 200 | 2×100 |
| ezar | [ɛzər] | 1000 | loan from Persian |
- Note that "four" and its derivatives begin with noun-class marker. d- is merely the default value.
Pronouns
[edit]| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
| exclusive | inclusive | ||||||
| Nominative | so | txo | vai | hwo | sho/shu | yz | yzh |
| Genitive | sy | txy | vai | hwa | shyn | cyn/cun | caar |
| Dative | suona | txuona | vaina | hwuona | shoana | cynna | caana |
| Ergative | aaz | oaxa | vai | wa | oasha | cuo | caar |
| Allative | suoga | txuoga | vaiga | hwuoga | shuoga | cynga | caarga |
| Ablative | suogara | txuogara | vaigara | hwuogara | shuogara | cyngara | caargara |
| Instrumental | suoca(a) | txuoca(a) | vaica(a) | hwuoca | shuoca(a) | cynca | caarca(a) |
| Lative | sogh | txogh | vaigh | hwogh | shogh | cogh | caaregh |
| Comparative | sol | txol | vail | hwol | shol | cul/cyl | caarel |
Word order
[edit]In Ingush, "for main clauses, other than episode-initial and other all-new ones, verb-second order is most common. The verb, or the finite part of a compound verb or analytic tense form (i.e. the light verb or the auxiliary), follows the first word or phrase in the clause".[13]
Muusaa
Musa
vy
V.PROG
hwuona
2S.DAT
telefon
telephone
jettazh
strike.CVsim
It's Musa. It's Musa on the phone for you. (After answering the phone.)
References
[edit]- ^ a b Ingush at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
- ^ "Ingush in Russian Federation". UNESCO WAL. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ Nichols & Sprouse (2004), p. 1.
- ^ Chentieva 1958, p. 13.
- ^ Chentieva 1958, p. 14.
- ^ Nichols (2011), p. 20.
- ^ Nichols (2011), pp. 19–21.
- ^ Koryakov 2006, p. 25.
- ^ Nichols (2008).
- ^ a b Nichols (2011).
- ^ Handel (2003), p. 6.
- ^ Nichols (2011), p. 174-175.
- ^ Nichols (2011), pp. 678ff.
Bibliography
[edit]English sources
[edit]- Handel, Zev (2003). "Ingush inflectional verb morphology: a synchronic classification and historical analysis with comparison to Chechen" (PDF). Current Trends in Caucasian, East European and Inner Asian Linguistics. pp. 123–175. doi:10.1075/cilt.246.11han. Archived from the original (PDF) on Feb 1, 2017.
- Nichols, Johanna; Sprouse, Ronald L. (2004). Ingush-English and English-Ingush Dictionary. Routledge.
- Nichols, Johanna (2008). "Case in Ingush syntax". Case and Grammatical Relations. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 57–74. doi:10.1075/tsl.81.04nic.
- Nichols, Johanna (2011-03-15). Ingush Grammar (PDF). Berkeley, California; Los Angeles; London: University of California Press. pp. 1–806.
Russian sources
[edit]- Chentieva, Maryam (1958). Oshaev, Khalid (ed.). История Чечено-Ингушской письменности [The History of Checheno-Ingush writing] (in Russian). Grozny: Checheno-Ingush Book Publishing House. pp. 1–86.
- Dudarov, Abdul-Mazhit (2017). Akieva, Petimat (ed.). История эволюции ингушского письма [History of the evolution of Ingush writing] (PDF) (in Russian). Nazran: Kep. pp. 1–224. ISBN 978-5-4482-0015-1.
- Koryakov, Yuriy (2006). "Реестр Кавказских языков" [Register of Caucasian languages] (PDF). Атлас кавказских языков [Atlas of Caucasian languages] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow: Piligrim. pp. 21–41. ISBN 5-9900772-1-1.
External links
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