Rutul language

Rutul is a language spoken by the Rutuls, an ethnic group living in Dagestan (Russia) and some parts of Azerbaijan. It is spoken by 30,000 people in Dagestan (2010 census)[3] and 17,000 (no date) in Azerbaijan.[4] The word Rutul derives from the name of a Dagestani village where speakers of this language make up the majority.[5]

Rutul
мыхӀабишды чӀел myxʼabišdy č̣el
Pronunciation[mɨxabiʃdɨ t͡ʃʼɛl]
Native toNorth Caucasus, Azerbaijan
RegionSouthern Dagestan, Russian–Azerbaijani border
EthnicityRutul
Native speakers
36,400 (2010 census)[1]
Cyrillic
Official status
Official language in
 Dagestan
Language codes
ISO 639-3rut
Glottologrutu1240
ELPRutul[2]
Rutul in the Caucasus

Rutul is endangered in Russia[6] and classified as "definitely endangered" by UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.[7]

Classification

Rutul belongs to the Lezgic group of the Northeast Caucasian language family. The Rutuls call their language myxʼabišdy čʼel.

History

Rutul was not a written language until the writing system for it (based on Cyrillic) was developed in 1990. A Latin alphabet was developed in 2013 based on the Shin-Shorsu dialect.[8] Speakers are often bilingual or multilingual, having a good command of the Azeri, Lezgian and/or Russian languages. There are 8 dialects and 2 subdialects of Rutul. The literary version of the language remains in the process of development. In the Rutul-populated regions of southern Russia, Rutul is taught in primary schools (grades 1 to 4).[5]

Phonology

Vowels
Vowel phonemes[9]
Front Central Back
Close i iː y ɨ ɨː u uː
Mid ɛ eː
Open æ ɑ ɑː

Consonants
Consonant phonemes[9]
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn-
geal		 Glottal
plain lab. plain lab. plain lab. plain lab.
Nasal m n
Plosive voiced b d ɡ ɡʷ ɢ ɢʷ
voiceless p t k kʷ q qʷ ʡ ʔ
ejective pʼ tʼ kʼ kʷʼ qʼ qʷʼ
Affricate voiced d͡z d͡ʒ d͡ʒʷ
voiceless t͡s t͡sʷ t͡ʃ t͡ʃʷ
ejective t͡sʼ t͡sʷʼ t͡ʃʼ t͡ʃʷʼ
Fricative voiceless (f) s sʷ ʃ ʃʷ x xʷ χ χʷ ħ h
voiced z (ʒ) ɣ ʁ ʁʷ ʢ
Trill r ʜ
Approximant w l j

Among the languages of the Lezgic group, Tsakhur appears to be the closest relative of Rutul.[10] Other than these two, there are seven more languages in the Lezgic group, namely: Lezgian, Tabasaran, Aghul, Budukh, Kryts, Udi and Archi.

Rutul alphabet

See also

References
  1. "Rutul". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Rutul.
  3. Информационные материалы об окончательных итогах Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года
  4. Rutul language at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
  5. (in Russian) ETHEO: Rutul Language
  6. Published in: Encyclopedia of the world’s endangered languages. Edited by Christopher Moseley. London & New York: Routledge, 2007. 211–280.
  7. UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger
  8. Clarkson, Jonathan; Iurkova, Elena (December 2015). "Important Factors in the Development of an Orthography: Shin-Shorsu Rutul—a Case Study". SIL Forum for Language Fieldwork 2015-002. SIL International. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  9. G. X. Ibragimov. 2004. Rutul'skij Jazyk. Machacala: Maxačkala: Dagestanskij Gosudarstvennyj Pedagogičeskij Universitet.
  10. (in Russian) The Tsakhur language. The ETHEO Project. Last updated 11 October 2005. Retrieved 26 December 2006
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