# Khinalug language

Khinalug (also spelled Khinalig, Khinalugi, Xinalug(h), Xinaliq or Khinalugh) is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by about 3,000 people in the villages of Khinalug and Gülüstan, Quba in the mountains of Quba Rayon, northern Azerbaijan. It forms its own independent branch within the Northeast Caucasian language family.
Khinalug is endangered, and classified as "severely endangered" by UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

## History

Khinalug is the language of the village Khinalug in the Quba district of Azerbaijan. It has been tentatively classified by previous researchers as a member of the Lezgian family of the Dagestani branch of Northeast Caucasian languages Although Khinalug is the official language of the village, it is mostly spoken by villagers in informal circumstances, while the national language Azerbaijani is used formally for educational purposes and to communicate with non-Khinalug speakers. Khinalug is considered to be a threatened language. In recent years, the road leading to the villages where it is spoken has fallen into disrepair, leaving the area mostly isolated.

## Phonology

The Khinalug language previously had its own script. Alexander Kibrik and a team of 13 linguists from Moscow State University visited the village in 2005. In 2007 they developed a Latin orthography for Khinalug, in collaboration with local school teachers in the village. It is presented in angle brackets on the tables below.

### Consonants

Consonants :
| | | Labial | Dental | Postalveolar/ Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal |
| Nasal | Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | | | | | |
| Plosive | voiceless lenis | p ⟨p⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ | | k ⟨k⟩ | q ⟨q⟩ | | ʔ ⟨ʔ⟩ |
| Plosive | voiceless fortis | pː ⟨pp⟩ | tː ⟨tt⟩ | | kː ⟨kk⟩ | qː ⟨qq⟩ | | |
| Plosive | voiced | b ⟨b⟩ | d ⟨d⟩ | | ɡ ⟨g⟩ | | | |
| Plosive | ejective | pʼ ⟨p'⟩ | tʼ ⟨t'⟩ | | kʼ ⟨k'⟩ | | | |
| Affricate | voiceless lenis | | t͡s ⟨c⟩ | t͡ʃ ⟨ç⟩ | k͡x ⟨kx⟩$^3$ | q͡χ ⟨x̂⟩ | | |
| Affricate | voiceless fortis | | t͡sː ⟨cc⟩ | t͡ʃː ⟨çç⟩ | | | | |
| Affricate | voiced | | | d͡ʒ ⟨j⟩ | | | | |
| Affricate | ejective | | t͡sʼ ⟨c'⟩ | t͡ʃʼ ⟨ç'⟩ | | q͡χʼ ⟨q'⟩ | | |
| Fricative | voiceless | f ⟨f⟩ | s ⟨s⟩ | ʃ ⟨ş⟩ | x ⟨kh⟩$^2$ | χ ⟨x⟩ | ħ ⟨hh⟩$^4$ | h ⟨h⟩ |
| Fricative | voiced | v ⟨v⟩ | z ⟨z⟩ | ʒ ⟨z̧⟩$^1$ | ɣ ⟨gh⟩$^2$ | ʁ ⟨ğ⟩ | ʕ ⟨ʕ⟩$^4$ | |
| Trill | Trill | | r ⟨r⟩ | | | | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | | l ⟨l⟩ | j ⟨y⟩ | w ⟨w⟩ | | | |
$^1$ The cedilla in the orthography is in the middle of the bottom of the <z>, as is typical of Russian linguistics.
$^2$ Kh and gh are rare.
$^3$ Kx is very rare.
$^4$ The pharyngeal sounds mostly appear in Arabic loanwords.

### Vowels

Khinalug has nine vowels and four diphthongs.
| | Front | Front | Back | Back |
| | unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded |
| High | i ⟨i⟩ | y ⟨ü⟩ | ɯ ⟨ı⟩ | u ⟨u⟩ |
| Mid | e ⟨e⟩ | ø ⟨ö⟩ | | o ⟨o⟩ |
| Low | æ ⟨ə⟩ | | a ⟨a⟩ | |
Diphthongs include: [iu] [ui] [oe] [oa].

## Alphabet

Khinalug Cyrillic alphabet :
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 |
| А | А̃ | Аь | Б | В | Г | Гъ | ГӀ | ГӀв | Д | Дж | Дз | Е | Е̃ | Ж | З | И | И̃ | Й | К | Кв | Кк | Кх | Кхв | Кхкх | Къв | Кь | КьӀ | КӀ | КӀв | Л | Лъ | М | Н | О | О̃ | Оь |
| а | а̃ | аь | б | в | г | гъ | гӀ | гӀв | д | дж | дз | е | е̃ | ж | з | и | и̃ | й | к | кв | кк | кх | кхв | кхкх | къв | кь | кьӀ | кӀ | кӀв | л | лъ | м | н | о | о̃ | оь |
| 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 |
| П | Пв | ПӀ | Р | С | Т | Тт | ТӀ | ТӀв | ТӀтӀ | У | У̃ | Уь | Ф | Х | Хъ | Хъв | Хь | ХӀ | Ӏ | Ӏъ | Ц | Цв | Цц | ЦӀ | ЦӀв | Ч | Чч | ЧӀ | ЧӀв | Ш | Шв | Ъ | Ы | Э | Ә | Ә̃ |
| п | пв | пӀ | р | с | т | тт | тӀ | тӀв | тӀтӀ | у | у̃ | уь | ф | х | хъ | хъв | хь | хӀ | Ӏ | Ӏъ | ц | цв | цц | цӀ | цӀв | ч | чч | чӀ | чӀв | ш | шв | ъ | ы | э | ә | ә̃ |
The version below was created by scientists from Frankfurt University in 2013, following research into Khinalug phonology by Moscow specialists.
Khinalug Latin alphabet (2013) :
| a | b | c | ç | ĉ | ċ | d | e | ə | f |
| g | ğ | ĝ | h | ĥ | ḣ | x | x̂ | ı | i̇ |
| j | k | k̂ | k̇ | q | q̂ | q̇ | l | m | n |
| o | ö | p | p̂ | ṗ | r | s | ŝ | ş | t |
| t̂ | ṫ | u | ü | v | y | z | ẑ | ż | |
Kibrik's alphabet from above is presented again, this time in table form.
| A a | B b | C c | Cc cc | C' c' | Ç ç | Çç çç | Ç' ç' | Ə ə | F f |
| G g | Gh gh | Ğ ğ | H h | Hh hh | İ i | I ı | J j | K k | Kk kk |
| K' k' | Kh kh | Kx kx | L l | M m | N n | O o | Ö ö | P p | Pp pp |
| P' p' | Q q | Qq qq | Q' q' | R r | S s | Ş ş | T t | Tt tt | T' t' |
| U u | Ü ü | V v | X x | Y y | Z z | Z̧ z̧ | ʕ | | |

## Vocabulary

The following words were phonetically transcribed from Khinalug:
| Khinalug singular | Khinalug plural | Translation |
| arhaz | arhazırdır | pen (enclosure for livestock) |
| c’imir | c’imirdir | sparrow |
| izin | izindir | gingiva |
| kırab | kırabırdır | galoshes |
| mısır | mısırdır | rope |
| nek’id | nek’idirdir | back |
| t’uk’un | t’uk’undur | cheek |
| t’umbol | t’umboldur | prune |
| ustot | ustoturdur | pepper |
| ustul | ustuldur | table |
| dalıg | dalιgιrdιr | work |
| culoz | culozurdur | tooth |
| jalkan | jalkandιr | mane |
| kotuk | kotukurdur | tree stump |
| mekteb | mektebirdir | school (compare: maktab) |
| mizer | mizerdir | textile |
Note: ı is roughly pronounced as the e in "fallen". u is roughly pronounced as the ou in "coup".

## Audio samples

| Recording by Kamal Kabir-oglu Khasammadov of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, 2.2.2–3 | Khinalug (phonetic): Iylesh toxun, ment’ekhiyly talashpy chshyi yaza? De inq’qalsh me Juliet’dam inq’me. | English: But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. |
| Recording by Kamal Kabir-oglu Khasammadov of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, 3.1.57 & 84 | Khinalug (phonetic): Tagvual sam Tagondaval lishirji deme […] De kin k’ulluqurval, kin bitiyn inqxer kir me. | English: To be, or not to be, that is the question […] Thus conscience does make cowards of us all. |
| Recording by Kamal Kabir-oglu Khasammadov of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 36, ll.1–2 | Khinalug (phonetic): Yaxe chkne yem, kin djyre kotka djmin q’iq’aly djyresh konde mheppetysh saj me. | English: Let me confess that we two must be twain, Although our undivided loves are one[.] |
| Recording by Kamal Kabir-oglu Khasammadov of a line from Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s The Leopard | Khinalug (phonetic): Djym q’yy kin yag’yqalm Chendj kui ukkoetti q’yy, kin hoz shyspqrt koa. | English: If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change. |