Bezhta language
Bezhta (also called Bezheta or Kapucha) is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by the Bezhta people. About 7,000 people speak Bezhta.
| Bezhta | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| бежкьалас миц bežƛʼalas mic / beƶⱡʼalas mic | ||||
| Pronunciation | /ˈbeʒt͡ɬʼɑlɑs mit͡s/ | |||
| Native to | North Caucasus | |||
| Region | Southern Dagestan | |||
| Ethnicity | Bezhta people | |||
| Native speakers | 6,800 (2006–2010)e18 | |||
| Language family | Northeast Caucasian
| |||
| Language codes | ||||
| ISO 639-3 | kap | |||
| ||||
Bezhta has three dialects. They are Bezhta proper, Tlyadal and Khocharkhotin.[1]
Phonology
Bezhta has many consonants, shown below in the International Phonetic Alphabet.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Alveolopalatal | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | lateral | central | |||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | q | ʔ | ||||
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | |||||||
| ejective | pʼ | tʼ | kʼ | qʼ | ||||||
| Affricate | voiceless | t͡s | t͡ɬ ~ k͡ʟ̝̊ | t͡ʃ | ||||||
| ejective | t͡sʼ | t͡ɬʼ ~ k͡ʟ̝̊ʼ | t͡ʃʼ | |||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | s | ɬ | x | ʃ | χ | ħ | h | ||
| voiced | z | ʒ | ʁ | ʕ | ||||||
| Trill | r | |||||||||
| Approximant | l | w | j | |||||||
Bezhta has eight vowel qualities. These are /æ/, /ɑ/, /e/, /ø~ə/, /o/, /i/, /y~ɨ/ and /u/. All Bezhta vowels can also be nasalised. /æ/, /ɑ/, /e/, /o/, /i/ and /u/ can also be long, and /ɑ/ and /e/ can be long and nasalised.[2]
Writing
Bezhta is rarely written, and people who speak Bezhta usually write in Avar instead. When it is written, Bezhta is usually written in the Cyrillic script.[2]