Ingush (/ˈɪŋɡʊʃ/; Гӏалгӏай мотт, Ghalghai mott, pronounced [ˈʁəlʁɑj mot]) is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by about 350,000 people,[1] known as the Ingush, across a region covering the Russian republics of Ingushetia, Chechnya, North Ossetia, as well as the countries Turkey, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, et al.[3]
| 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 | |
 Ingush is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger[2] | |
Classification
editIngush and Chechen, together with Bats, constitute the Nakh branch of the Northeast Caucasian language family. There is pervasive passive bilingualism between Ingush and Chechen.[4]
Geographic distribution
editIngush is spoken by about 350,000-400,000 people (2020) in Russia, primarily in the North Caucasian republics of Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Chechnya. Speakers can also be found in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belgium, Norway, Turkey and Jordan.[1][3]
Official status
editIngush is, alongside Russian, an official language of Ingushetia, a federal subject of Russia.
Writing system
editIt 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.[5] Furthermore, Georgian text was found on archaeological items in Ingushetia that could not be deciphered.[6]
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
editVowels
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
editThe consonants of Ingush are as follows,[7] including the Latin orthography developed by Johanna Nichols:[8]
| 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
editIngush 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.[9]
Grammar
editIngush is a nominative–accusative language in its syntax, though it has ergative morphology.[10][11]
Case
editThe most recent and in-depth analysis of the language[11] 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 | -aa, -na[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
editLike 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
editIn 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".[14]
Muusaa
Musa
vy
V.PROG
hwuona
2S.DAT
telefon
telephone
jettazh
strike.CVsim
It's Musa on the phone for you. (After answering the phone.)
References
edit- ^ a b c Ingush at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
- ^ "Ingush in Russian Federation". UNESCO WAL. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Ингушский язык" [The Ingush language]. minlang.iling-ran.ru. Minority languages of Russia: A project of the Institute of Linguistics (Russian Academy of Sciences). Retrieved August 4, 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
editEnglish 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. Typological Studies in Language. Vol. 81. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 57–74. doi:10.1075/tsl.81.04nic. ISBN 978-90-272-2994-6.
- 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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