# Kaitag language

Kaitag (Kaitag: Хайдакьан кув; also Kaidak, Karakaitak, Karkaidak, Qaidaqlan) is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken in Dagestan, Russia. It has sometimes been considered a divergent dialect of Dargwa due to it being part of the Dargin dialect continuum. The Routledge Ethnographic Handbook (2017) divided Kaitag into two dialects: northern (Magalis-Kaitak) and southern (Karakaitak). Recent results of the Association of the Russian Sociolinguists (2021) further developed it into three dialects: Lower Kaitag, Upper Kaitag and Shari, the latter of which may be a separate but closely related language.

## Dialects

The languages consists of eight varieties, forming three dialects. Each of the Upper varieties corresponds to a historical province of the region.
* Upper Kaitag – Хъар Хайдакь (south-west).
** Shurkkant – "The Cliff Dwellers" – Шурккант.
** Qattagan – "The Gorge Dwellers" – Къаттагне.
** Irchamul – "The Land of Nine" – Ирчӏамул.
* Lower Kaitag – Ххьар Хайдакь.
** Barshamai – Баршамаӏъган.
** Karatsan – Гъаӏрцӏнила.
** Jibahni – Чӏивгьаӏн.
** Sanchi – Сунклан.
* Shari – Шаӏръи.

## Phonology
### Vowels

| | Front | Back |
| close | | u |
| near-close | ɪ | |
| open-mid | ɛ | |
| near-open | æ | |
| open | | ɑ |

### Consonants

Consonants form by series of voiced, aspirated, fortis, ejective, and labialized variants. The palatal fricative [ç] might be the voiceless post-palatal fricative, which can be more precisely transcribed as [ç̠] or [x̟].
| | | Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Alveolar | Palatal | Palatal | Velar | Velar | Uvular | Uvular | Glottal | Glottal |
| | | Bilabial | Dental | plain | labialized | plain | labialized | plain | labialized | plain | labialized | plain | labialized |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | | | | | | | | | | |
| Plosive | voiced | b | d | | | | | g | gʷ | | | ʔ | |
| Plosive | aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | | | | | kʰ | kʷʰ | qʰ | qʷʰ | ʔ | |
| Plosive | fortis | pː | tː | | | | | kː | kʷː | qː | qʷː | ʔ | |
| Plosive | ejective | pʼ | tʼ | | | | | kʼ | kʷʼ | qʼ | qʷʼ | ʔ | |
| Affricate | aspirated | | t͡sʰ | t͡ʃʰ | t͡ʃʷʰ | | | | | | | | |
| Affricate | fortis | | t͡sː | t͡ʃː | t͡ʃʷː | | | | | | | | |
| Affricate | ejective | | t͡sʼ | t͡ʃʼ | t͡ʃʷʼ | | | | | | | | |
| Fricative | voiced | β | z | ʒ | ʒʷ | | | | | ʁ | ʁʷ | | |
| Fricative | plain | | s | ʃ | ʃʷ | ç | çʷ | | | χ | χʷ | h | hʷ |
| Fricative | fortis | | sː | ʃː | ʃʷː | çː | çʷː | | | χː | χʷː | | |
| Trill | Trill | | | r | | | | | | | | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | | l | | | j | | | | | | | |

## Alphabet

The Kaitag language is usually written in the Cyrillic script. The letters of the alphabet are (with their pronunciation given below in IPA transcription):
| а [ɑ]~[a] | аӏ [æ] | б [b] | в [β] | г [g] | гв [gʷ] | гъ [ʁ] | гъв [ʁʷ] | гь [h] | гьв [hʷ] | д [d] | е [ɛ]~[e] | ж [ʒ] | жв [ʒʷ] | з [z] | и [ɪ]~[i] | й [j] |
| к [kʰ] | кв [kʷʰ] | кк [kː] | ккв [kʷː] | кӏ [kʼ] | кӏв [kʷʼ] | хъ [qʰ] | хъв [qʷʰ] | къ [qː] | къв [qʷː] | кь [qʼ] | кь [qʷʼ] | л [l] | м [m] | н [n] | п [pʰ] | пп [pː] |
| пӏ [pʼ] | с [s] | сс [sː] | т [tʰ] | тт [tː] | тӏ [tʼ] | у [u] | х [χ] | хв [χʷ] | хх [χː] | ххв [χʷː] | хь [ç] | хьв [çʷ] | ххь [çː] | ххьв [çʷː] | ц [t͡sʰ] | цц [t͡sː] |
| цӏ [t͡sʼ] | ч [t͡ʃʰ] | чв [t͡ʃʷʰ] | чч [t͡ʃː] | ччв [t͡ʃʷː] | чӏ [t͡ʃʼ] | чӏв [t͡ʃʷʼ] | ш [ʃ] | шв [ʃʷ] | шш [ʃː] | шшв [ʃʷː] | ъ [ʔ] | | | | | |

## Lexicon

Most of Kaitag's vocabulary stems from proto-Northeast-Caucasian roots. Like with other languages of Dagestan, there is a considerable number of Arabic, Iranian, Turkic and recently Russian loanwords.
Swadesh list for Kaitag :
| No. | English | Kaitag |
| 1 | I | ду |
| 2 | you (singular) | и |
| 3 | he | гье |
| 4 | we | нисса (excl.), ниххьва (incl.) |
| 5 | you (plural) | нишша |
| 6 | they | гьетти |
| 7 | this | гьеж |
| 8 | that | гьет |
| 9 | here | гьежин |
| 10 | there | гьетин |
| 11 | who | ча |
| 12 | what | ци |
| 13 | where | квацци |
| 14 | when | цикъел |
| 15 | how | цигле |
| 16 | not | аккву (n.), а(й)- (v.) |
| 17 | all | сукке |
| 18 | many | дахъ |
| 19 | some | чумилра |
| 20 | few | кам |
| 21 | other | дикӏар |
| 22 | one | ца |
| 23 | two | чӏве |
| 24 | three | аӏв |
| 25 | four | угъ |
| 26 | five | шве |
| 27 | big | хвала |
| 28 | long | ухъен |
| 29 | wide | баӏъу |
| 30 | thick | буцц |
| 31 | heavy | декӏ |
| 32 | small | никӏва |
| 33 | short | кутӏ |
| 34 | narrow | гъваӏрцӏ |
| 35 | thin | букӏал |
| 36 | woman | ххьулум |
| 37 | man (adult male) | мургул |
| 38 | man (human being) | мейдам |
| 39 | child | даӏргьаӏ |
| 40 | wife | ххьади |
| 41 | husband | сув |
| 42 | mother | уба |
| 43 | father | атта |
| 44 | animal | мицӏираг |
| 45 | fish | кӏас |
| 46 | bird | ахьлиъаӏн |
| 47 | dog | ххваӏ |
| 48 | louse | нез |
| 49 | snake | цӏецӏи |
| 50 | worm | милкъваӏ |
| 51 | tree | ккалкка |
| 52 | forest | дуцца |
| 53 | stick | миргъаӏ |
| 54 | fruit | удар |
| 55 | seed | шва |
| 56 | leaf | кӏаппар |
| 57 | root | йамппа |
| 58 | bark (of a tree) | кам |
| 59 | flower | жуже |
| 60 | grass | кьар |