Editing Northeast Caucasian languages

{{Short description|Language family}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2008}}
{{For|the Iranian language subgroup|Caspian languages}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox language family
| name        = Northeast Caucasian
| altname     = East Caucasian<br/>Nakh-Daghestanian<br/>North Caspian<br/>Caspian
| acceptance  =
| ethnicity   =
| region      = [[Caucasus]]
| familycolor = Caucasian
| family      = One of the world's primary [[language family|language families]]
| protoname   = [[Proto-Northeast Caucasian language|Proto-Northeast Caucasian]]
| child1      = [[Avar–Andic languages|Avar–Andic]]
| child2      = [[Dargin languages|Dargic]]
| child3      = ''[[Khinalug language|Khinalug]]''
| child4      = ''[[Lak language|Lak]]''
| child5      = [[Lezgic languages|Lezgic]]
| child6      = [[Nakh languages|Nakh]]
| child7      = [[Tsezic languages|Tsezic (Didoic)]]
| glotto      = nakh1245
| glottorefname = Nakh–Daghestanian
| map         = Northeast Caucasian languages.png
| mapcaption  = 
{{div col|colwidth=9em}}
{{legend|#86CF8C|[[Avar–Andic languages|Avar–Andic]]}}
{{legend|#4693B2|[[Dargin languages|Dargic]]}}
{{legend|#FF3300|[[Khinalug language|Khinalug]]}}
{{legend|#3C3276|[[Lak language|Lak]]}}
{{legend|#CAFE5B|[[Lezgic languages|Lezgic]]}}
{{legend|#E2E27E|[[Nakh languages|Nakh]]}}
{{legend|#FFA3B1|[[Tsezic languages|Tsezic]]}}
{{div col end}}
}}
[[File:Northeast Caucasus languages map en.svg|thumb|Main areas of Northeast Caucasian languages]]

The '''Northeast Caucasian languages''', also called '''East Caucasian''', '''Nakh-Daghestani''' or '''Vainakh-Daghestani''', or sometimes '''Caspian languages''' (from the [[Caspian Sea]], in contrast to ''[[Pontic languages]]'' for the [[Northwest Caucasian languages]]), is a [[language family|family of languages]] spoken in the [[Republics of Russia|Russian republics]] of [[Dagestan]], [[Chechnya]] and [[Ingushetia]] and in Northern [[Azerbaijan]] as well as in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and [[diaspora]] populations in [[Western Europe]] and the [[Middle East]]. According to [[Glottolog]], there are currently 36 Nakh-Dagestanian languages.

==Name of the family==
Several names have been in use for this family. The most common term, ''Northeast Caucasian'', contrasts the three established families of the Caucasian languages: ''Northeast Caucasian'', ''[[Northwest Caucasian languages|Northwest Caucasian]]'' (Abkhaz–Adyghean) and ''South Caucasian'' ([[Kartvelian languages|Kartvelian]]). This may be shortened to ''East Caucasian''. The term ''Nakh(o)-Dagestanian'' can be taken to reflect a primary division of the family into Nakh and Dagestanian branches, a view which is no longer widely accepted, or ''Dagestanian'' can subsume the entire family. The rare term ''North Caspian'' (as in bordering the Caspian Sea) is only used in opposition to the use of ''North Pontic'' (as in bordering the Black Sea) for the Northwest Caucasian languages.

==Linguistic features==
===Phonology===
Historically, Northeast Caucasian phonemic inventories were thought to be smaller than those of the neighboring [[Northwest Caucasian languages|Northwest Caucasian family]]. However, more recent research has revealed that many Northeast Caucasian languages are much more phoneme-rich than previously believed, with some languages containing as many as 70 consonants.<ref name="Hewitt2004">{{cite book|last=Hewitt|first=George|title=Introduction to the Study of the Languages of the Caucasus|year=2004|publisher=Lincom Europa|location=Munich}}</ref>{{rp|49}}

In addition to numerous [[Coronal consonant|front]] obstruents, many Northeast Caucasian languages also possess a number of [[Laryngeal consonant|back]] consonants, including [[uvular consonant|uvulars]], [[pharyngeal consonant|pharyngeals]], and glottal stops and fricatives. Northeast Caucasian phonology is also notable for its use of numerous [[secondary articulation]]s as contrastive features. Whereas English consonant classes are divided into voiced and voiceless phonemes, Northeast Caucasian languages are known to contrast voiced, voiceless, [[ejective consonants|ejective]] and [[fortis and lenis|tense]] [[Phone (phonetics)|phones]], which contributes to their large phonemic inventories. Some languages also include palatalization and labialization as contrastive features.<ref name="Hewitt2004" />{{rp|49–54}} Most languages in this family contrast tense and weak consonants. Tense consonants are characterized by the intensiveness of articulation, which naturally leads to a lengthening of these consonants.

In contrast to the generally large consonant inventories of Northeast Caucasian languages, most languages in the family have relatively few vowels, although more on average than the Northwest Caucasian languages.<ref name="Matthews 1951 88">{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=W.K.|title=Languages of the U.S.S.R.|year=1951|publisher=Russel & Russel|location=New York|page=88}}</ref>  However, there are some exceptions to this trend, such as [[Chechen language|Chechen]], which has at least twenty-eight vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs.<ref name="Hewitt2004" />{{rp|58}}

{{Pie chart|label1=[[Chechen language|Chechen]]|value1=33.6|label2=[[Avar language|Avar]]|value2=18.9|label3=[[Lezgian language|Lezgian]]|value3=16.3|label4=[[Dargwa language|Dargwa]]|value4=12.1|label5=[[Ingush language|Ingush]]|value5=8.0|label6=[[Lak language|Lak]]|value6=3.8|label7=Others|value7=7.3|caption=Percentage of Northeast Caucasian languages by speakers}}

===Morphology===
These languages can be characterized by strong [[suffix]]al [[agglutination]]. Weak tendencies towards [[inflection]] may be noted as well. [[Noun]]s display covert [[Noun class|nominal classification]], but partially overt cases of secondary origin can be observed too. The number of noun classes in individual languages range from two to eight. Regarding [[grammatical number]], there may be a distinction between singular and [[plural]], plurality itself may impact the class to which a noun belongs.<ref name="Hewitt2004" />{{rp|80}} In some cases, a grammatical [[collective number|collective]] is seen. Many languages distinguish ''[[List of grammatical cases#Place and time|local]]'' versus ''functional'' cases,<ref name="Hewitt2004" />{{rp|81–82}} and to some degree also ''[[nominative case|casus rectus]]'' versus ''[[oblique case|casus obliquus]]''.

The inflectional paradigms are often based on partially classifying productive [[word stem|stem]] extensions ([[absolutive case|absolutive]] and [[oblique case|oblique]], [[ergative case|ergative]] and [[genitive case|genitive]] inflection.){{Clarify|date=April 2013}} Localization is mostly conveyed by [[Preposition and postposition|postpositions]], but it can be also partly based on [[preverb]]s. [[Noun phrase]]s exhibit incomplete class [[Agreement (linguistics)|agreement]], group inflection{{Clarify|date=April 2013}} (on the noun) with partial [[Noun adjunct|attributive]] oblique marking, which may, in turn, carry a partially [[determiner (linguistics)|determining]] function.

Verbs do not agree with [[grammatical person|person]], with a few exceptions like [[lak language|Lak]], in which first and second persons are marked with the same suffix and verbs agree with the [[Patient (grammar)|P argument]], and [[hunzib language|Hunzib]] in which verbs agree with [[Agent (grammar)|A argument]]. [[Evidentiality]] is prominent, with reported, sensory and [[epistemic]] moods all appearing as a way of conveying the evidence. [[Epistemic modality]] is often tied to the tense.

====Ergativity====

Most Northeast Caucasian languages exhibit an [[ergative–absolutive language|ergative–absolutive morphology]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Dixon|first=R.M.W.|title=Studies in Ergativity|year=1987|publisher=Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.|location=Amsterdam|page=133}}</ref> This means that objects of transitive sentences and subjects of intransitive sentences both fall into a single grammatical case known as the absolutive. Subjects of transitive sentences, however, carry a different marking to indicate that they belong to a separate case, known as the ergative.<ref name="VanValin">{{cite journal|last=Van Valin Jr.|first=Robert D.|authorlink=Robert Van Valin Jr.|title=Grammatical Relations in Ergative Languages|journal=Studies in Language|volume=5|year=1981|issue=3|pages=361–394 |url=http://linguistics.buffalo.edu/people/faculty/vanvalin/rrg/Van%20Valin%20Grammatical%20Relations%20in%20ergative%20languages.pdf |access-date=28 Feb 2025 |doi=10.1075/sl.5.3.05van}}</ref> This distinction can be seen in the following two Archi sentences. Objects and subjects of intransitive sentences carry no suffix, which is represented by the null suffix, -<small>∅</small>. Meanwhile, agents of transitive sentences take the ergative suffix, -mu.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Intransitive sentence<ref name="VanValin" /> !! Transitive sentence
|-
| {{interlinear|buwa-∅ d-irxːin|Mother-∅ II.SG-work|Mother works.}}
| {{interlinear|buwa-mu xːalli-∅ b-ar-ši b-i|mother-ERG bread-∅ III.SG-bake-PROG II.SG-AUX|Mother is baking the bread.}}
|}

====Noun classes====
Northeast Caucasian languages have between two and eight noun classes.<ref name="Matthews 1951 88"/>  In these languages, nouns are grouped into grammatical categories depending on certain semantic qualities, such as animacy and gender. Each noun class has a corresponding agreement prefix, which can attach to verbs or adjectives of that noun. Prefixes may also have plural forms, used in agreement with a plural noun.<ref name="Plaster">{{cite book|last=Plaster|first=Keith|title=Noun classes grow on trees: noun classification in the North-East Caucasus|url=http://scholar.harvard.edu/kplaster/publications/noun-classes-grow-trees-noun-classification-north-east-caucasus|publisher=Language and Representations (Tentative)|access-date=20 April 2013|display-authors=etal}}</ref> The following table shows the noun–adjective agreement paradigm in the Tsez language.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Noun class<ref name="Plaster"/> !! Adjectival phrase example
|-
| I (men)
| {{interlinear|Ø-igu aħo|I.AGR.SG-good shepherd|Good shepherd}}
|-
| II (women)
| {{interlinear|y-igu baru|II.AGR.SG-good wife|Good wife}}
|-
| III (animals and inanimates)
| {{interlinear|b-igu ʕomoy|III.AGR.SG-good donkey|Good donkey}}
|-
| IV (other inanimates)
| {{interlinear|r-igu ʕoƛ’|IV.AGR.SG-good spindle|Good spindle}}
|}

In many Northeast Caucasian languages, as well as appearing on adjectives and verbs, agreement can also be found on parts of speech which are not usually able to agree in other language families – for example on adverbs, postpositions, particles, and even case-marked nouns and pronouns.<ref>{{Citation|last=Foley|first=Steven|title=Agreement in Languages of the Caucasus|date=25 February 2021|url=https://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190690694.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190690694-e-23|work=The Oxford Handbook of Languages of the Caucasus|pages=843–872|editor-last=Polinsky|editor-first=Maria|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190690694.013.23|isbn=978-0-19-069069-4|access-date=1 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Aristar|first=Anthony|date=September 1992|title=Greville Corbett, Gender. (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Pp. xix + 363.|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022226700015449|journal=Journal of Linguistics|volume=28|issue=2|pages=542–547|doi=10.1017/s0022226700015449|s2cid=146676617 |issn=0022-2267}}</ref> In the example from Archi below, doːʕzub ‘big’ and abu ‘made’, but also the adverb ditːabu ‘quickly’ and the personal pronouns nenabu ‘we’ and belabu ‘to us’, all agree in number and gender with the argument in the absolutive case, χʕon ‘cow’.

{{interlinear|indent=2
|nena&lt;b&gt;u doːʕzu-b χʕon b-ela&lt;b&gt;u ditːa&lt;b&gt;u χir a&lt;b&gt;u
|1PL.INCL.ERG&lt;III.SG&gt; be.big.ATTR-III.SG cow(III)[SG.ABS] III.SG-1PL.INCL.DAT&lt;III.SG&gt; quickly&lt;III.SG&gt; behind &lt;III.SG&gt;make.PFV
|‘We quickly drove the big cow to us (home).’ <ref>{{Cite web|date=25 August 2016|editor-last=Bond|editor-first=Oliver|editor2-last=Corbett|editor2-first=Greville G.|editor3-last=Chumakina|editor3-first=Marina|editor4-last=Brown|editor4-first=Dunstan|title=Archi|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198747291.001.0001|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198747291.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-874729-1}}</ref>
}}

This kind of clausal agreement has been labelled ‘external agreement’.<ref>{{Cite web|title=External agreement - Surrey Morphology Group|url=https://www.smg.surrey.ac.uk/projects/external-agreement/|access-date=1 July 2021|website=www.smg.surrey.ac.uk}}</ref> The same term is also used for the (cross-linguistically even rarer) phenomenon where a converb agrees with an argument which lies outside the converb's own clause. This is seen in the following example from Northern Akhvakh, where mīʟō ‘not having gone’ has a masculine adverbial suffix (-ō), agreeing with hugu ek’wa ‘the man’.

{{interlinear|indent=2
|[ĩk’a ri-da-la m-īʟ-ō] hu-gu ek’wa-la w-uʟ’-u-wudi.
|long time-INT-ADD N-go.NEG-M[ADV] DIST-LL man-ADD M-die-M-PF3
|‘Shortly after that ({{lit}} ‘long time not having gone’), the man died.’ <ref>{{Citation|last=Creissels|first=Denis|title=External agreement in the converbal construction of Northern Akhvakh|date=13 January 2012|url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110280692.127/html|work=Clause Linkage in Cross-Linguistic Perspective|pages=127–156|editor-last=Gast|editor-first=Volker|place=Berlin, Boston|publisher=DE GRUYTER|doi=10.1515/9783110280692.127|isbn=978-3-11-028069-2|access-date=1 July 2021|editor2-last=Diessel|editor2-first=Holger}}</ref>
}}

==Language classification==
{| align="right"
|- border="0"
| [[File:Nakho-Dagestanian Family Tree.png|thumb|center|upright=2.27|Traditional classification ([[#refNicho03|Nichols (2003)]])]]
|- border="0"
| [[File:Northeast Caucasian Family Tree.png|thumb|center|upright=2.27|Latest attempt at internal classification ([[#refSchul09|Schulze (2009)]])]]
|- border="0"
| [[File:Northeast Caucasian Splits.png|thumb|center|upright=2.27|Branching without relative chronology ([[#refSchul09|Schulze (2009)]])]]
|}
{{Clear}}
A long-time classification divided the family into Nakh and Dagestanian branches, whence the term Nakho-Dagestanian.<ref name="notNicho03">See [[#refNicho03|Nichols (2003)]]</ref> However, attempts at reconstructing the protolanguage suggest that the Nakh languages are no more divergent from Dagestanian than the various branches of Dagestanian are from each other,<ref name="notSchul09">See [[#refSchul09|Schulze (2009)]]</ref> although this is still not universally accepted. The following outline, based on the work of linguist [[Bernard Comrie]] and others, has been adopted by ''[[Ethnologue]]''. An Avar–Andi–Dido branch was abandoned, but has been resurrected as the "New Type" languages in Schulze (2009, 2013) and Lak–Dargwa has likewise returned.

One factor complicating internal classification within the family is that the diachronic development of its respective branches is marked both by an extreme degree of diffusion and divergence followed by secondary ''convergence'', which complicates the comparative method.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Wolfgang Schulze|editor1-last=Joseph|editor1-first=Brian|editor2-last=Fritz|editor2-first=Mathias|editor3-last=Klein|editor3-first=Jared|date=2017|publisher=De Gruyter Mouton|isbn=978-3-11-018614-7|page=106|title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics|chapter=The comparative method in Caucasian linguistics |quote=The twenty-nine languages of East Caucasian are marked by both an extreme degree of diffusion/divergence and secondary convergence, which renders the application of the comparative method more difficult.}}</ref>

Population data is from ''Ethnologue'' 16th ed.

===Avar–Andic family===
{{Main|Avar–Andic languages}}

Spoken in the Northwest Dagestan highlands and western Dagestan. Avar is the lingua franca for these and the [[Tsezic languages]] and is the only literary language.
[[#refSchul09|Schulze (2009)]] gives the following family tree for the Avar–Andic languages:

{{tree list}}
* '''Avar–Andic family'''
** [[Avar language|Avar]] (761,960)
** [[Andic languages]]
*** [[Andi language|Andi (Qwannab)]] (5,800)
*** Akhvakh–Tindi
**** [[Akhvakh language|Akhvakh]] (210 as of 2010)
**** Karata–Tindi
***** [[Karata language|Karata (Kirdi)]] (260 as of 2010)
***** Botlikh–Tindi
****** [[Botlikh language|Botlikh]] (210 as of 2010)
****** [[Godoberi language|Godoberi]] (130 as of 2010)
****** [[Chamalal language|Chamalal]] (500 as of 2010)
****** Bagvalal–Tindi
******* [[Bagvalal language|Bagvalal]] (1,450)
******* [[Tindi language|Tindi]] (2,150)
{{tree list/end}}

Figures retrieved from Ethnologue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com|title=Ethnologue|access-date=14 March 2015}}</ref> These languages are spoken in the following [[Raion|rayons]] of [[Dagestan]]: [[Axvax]], [[Botlikhsky District|Botlikh]], [[Buynaksk]] (Shura), [[Čarodinsky]] (Tsurib), [[Gergebil]], [[Gumbetovsky]] (Baklul), [[Gunib]], [[Karabudaxkent]], [[Kazbekovsky]] (Dylym), [[Lavaša]], [[Tsumada]] (Agvali), [[Untsukul]], [[Xebda]], [[Xunzaq]] and [[Zaqatala District|Zaqatala]] rayon in [[Azerbaijan]].

===Dargic (Dargin) dialect continuum===
{{Main|Dargin languages}}
Spoken by 492,490 in Dagestan, as well as Azerbaijan, Central Asia and Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ethnologue report for Dargwa|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/language/dar|access-date=18 April 2013}}</ref> Dargwa proper is a literary language.{{Tree list}}
Dargin
** Northern-central group
*** [[Mehweb language|Mehweb]] (1,300)
***  Gapshima (2,300)
*** Muira (35,000)
*** Tsudaqar-Usisha-Butri
**** [[Tsudaqar language|Tsudaqar]] (35,000)
**** Usisha-Butri (8,000)
***Northern Dargwa (133,000)
**** [[Kadar dialect|Kadar]]
**** Murego-Gubden
**** Mugi
**** Upper Mulebki
**** Aqusha
***** Aqusha proper
***** Levashi
**** [[Urakhi dialect|Urakhi]]
** Southern group
*** Ashti-Kubachi
**** Ashti
**** [[Kubachi language|Kubachi]]
*** Sanzhi-Itsari (1,500-2,000)
**** Sanzhi
**** [[Itsari language|Itsari]]
***Sanakari-Chakhrizhi (900, unclassified)
*** Amuzgi-Shiri (1,500-2,000)
****Amuzgi
****Shiri
*** Southwestern Dargwa (14,000)
**** Tanti (800)
**** Sirhwa 
**** Upper Vurkuni
** [[Chirag language|Chirag]] (2,100-2,400)
** Kaitag group
*** Shari (1,200)
*** [[Kaitag language|Kaitag]] (24,000)
{{Tree list/end}}Dargwa is spoken in the following rayons of [[Dagestan]]: [[Akushinsky District|Aquša]], [[Kaytagsky District|Kaitak]], [[Kayakentsky District|Kayakent]], [[Kubači]], [[Sergokalinsky District|Sergokala]]. Figures derived from Koryakov 2021.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Koryakov |first=Yuri |date=2021-01-01 |title=Коряков (2021) Даргинские языки и их классификация [Dargwa languages and their classification] |url=https://www.academia.edu/50908006 |journal=Дурхъаси хазна. Сборник статей к 60-летию Р. О. Муталова / Ред. Т. А. Майсак, Н. Р. Сумбатова, Я. Г. Тестелец. М.: Буки Веди, 2021. — 480 с. — |isbn=978-5-6045633-5-9}}</ref>

===Khinalug (Xinalug) isolate===
{{Main|Khinalug language}}
Spoken in [[Quba]] region of [[Azerbaijan]].
* [[Khinalug language|Khinalug (Xinalug)]] (1,000 speakers)<ref>{{cite web|title=Ethnologue report for Khinalugh|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/language/kjj|access-date=18 April 2013}}</ref>

===Lak isolate===
{{Main|Lak language}}
Spoken in the Central Dagestan highlands. Lak is a literary language.
* [[Lak language|Lak]] (152,000 speakers)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/language/lbe |title=Ethnologue report for Lak |access-date=18 April 2013}}</ref>
Lak is spoken in two rayons of [[Dagestan]]: [[Kumukh|Kumux]] and Kuli (Vači).

===Lezgic family===
{{Main|Lezgic languages}}
Spoken in the Southeast [[Dagestan]] highlands and in Northern [[Azerbaijan]]. The [[Lezgian language]] or, as the [[Lezgian people]] themselves call it, Лезги чlал (''lezgi ch'al''), is the biggest in terms of the number of native speakers of all the languages of the Lezgic group (other languages from this group include Tabasaran, Udi, Tsakhur and Rutul). They are spoken in the following rayons of [[Dagestan]]: [[Agulsky District|Agul]], [[Akhtynsky District|Akhty]], [[Derbentsky District|Derbent]] (Kvevar), Kasumxur, [[Kurakhsky District|Kurakh]], [[Magaramkentsky District|Magaramkent]], [[Rutulsky District|Rutul]], [[Tabasaransky District|Tabasaran]], [[Usukhchay]], [[Khivsky District|Khiv]] and [[Quba District (Azerbaijan)|Quba]] and [[Zaqatala District|Zaqatala]] in [[Azerbaijan]].

Tabasaran was once thought to be the language with the largest number of grammatical cases at 54, which could, depending on the analysis, instead be the [[Tsez language]] with 64.

Lezgian and Tabasaran are literary languages.

{{tree list}}
* '''Lezgic family'''
** Peripheral: [[Archi language|Archi]] (970 speakers)
** Samur (or ''Nuclear Lezgian'')
*** Eastern Samur
**** [[Tabasaran language|Tabasaran]] (128,900)
**** [[Lezgian language|Lezgian]] (655,000)
**** [[Aghul language|Aghul]] (29,300)
**** [[Udi language|Udi]] (6,590)
*** Southern Samur
**** [[Kryts language|Kryts]] (5,000)
**** [[Budukh language|Budukh]] (1,000)
*** Western Samur
**** [[Rutul language|Rutul]] (47,400)
**** [[Tsakhur language|Tsakhur]] (23,673)
{{tree list/end}}

All figures retrieved from Ethnologue.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com|title=Ethnologue|access-date=18 April 2013}}</ref>

===Nakh family===
{{Main|Nakh languages}}
Spoken in [[Chechnya]], [[Ingushetia]] and [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]. Chechen and Ingush are official languages of their respective republics.

{{tree list}}
* '''Nakh family'''
** [[Bats language|Bats]] (3,420 speakers in Georgia in 2000)<ref name="EthBbl">{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=bbl|title=Bats|work=Ethnologue|access-date=14 March 2015}}</ref>
** [[Vainakh languages]]
*** [[Chechen language|Chechen]] (1,350,000)<ref name="EthChe">{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=che|title=Chechen|work=Ethnologue|access-date=14 March 2015}}</ref>
*** [[Ingush language|Ingush]] (322,900)<ref name="EthInh">{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=inh|title=Ingush|work=Ethnologue|access-date=14 March 2015}}</ref>
{{tree list/end}}

===Tsezic (Didoic) family===
{{Main|Tsezic languages}}
Spoken mostly in Southwest Dagestan. None are literary languages. Formerly classified geographically as East Tsezic (Hinukh, Bezta) and West Tsezic (Tsez, Khwarshi, Hunzib), these languages may actually form different subgroupings{{clarify|date=August 2013}} according to the latest research by [[#refSchul09|Schulze (2009)]]:

{{tree list}}
* '''Tsezic family'''
** Tsez–Hinukh
*** [[Tsez language|Tsez (Dido)]] (17,574)
*** [[Hinukh language|Hinukh (Hinux, Ginukh)]] (635)
** Bezhta–Hunzib–Khwarshi
*** [[Bezhta language|Bezhta (Kapucha)]] (8,138)
*** [[Hunzib language|Hunzib (Gunzib)]] (3,466)
*** [[Khwarshi language|Khwarshi (Khvarshi)]] (8,500)<ref name=Khalilova2009>{{cite book|last=Khalilova|first=Zaira|title=A Grammar of Khwarshi|year=2009|publisher=LOT, Netherlands|location=University of Leiden|isbn=978-90-78328-93-3|url=https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/14522/a+Grammar+of+Khwarshi.pdf}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>
{{tree list/end}}

All figures except for Khwarshi were retrieved from the [[2021 Russian census]]. These languages are spoken in the [[Tsuntinsky District|Tsunta]] and Bezhta areas of [[Dagestan]].

==Disputed connections to other families==
===North Caucasian family===
{{Main|North Caucasian languages}}
Some linguists such as [[Sergei Starostin]] think that the Northeast and [[Northwest Caucasian languages]] are part of a wider [[North Caucasian languages|North Caucasian]] family,<ref>{{cite book |last=Pereltsvaig |first=Asya |author-link=Asya Pereltsvaig |title=Languages of the World: An Introduction|year=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|page=65}}</ref> citing shared vocabulary and typological features as evidence.<ref name="Matthews 1951 87–88">{{cite book |last=Matthews |first=W.K.|title=Languages of the U.S.S.R.|year=1951|publisher=Russell & Russell|location=New York|pages=87–88}}</ref>  This proposed family does not include the neighboring [[Kartvelian languages]].<ref name="Matthews 1951 87–88"/> This hypothesis is questioned by some linguists.<ref>Nichols, J. 1997 "Nikolaev and Starostin's ''North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary'' and the Methodology of Long-Range Comparison: an assessment". Paper presented at the 10th Biennial Non-Slavic Languages (NSL) Conference, Chicago, 8–10 May 1997.</ref>

===Connections to Hurrian and Urartian===
{{Main|Alarodian languages}}
Some linguists—notably [[Igor M. Diakonoff]] and Starostin—see evidence of a genealogical connection between the Northeast Caucasian family and the extinct languages [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]] and [[Urartian language|Urartian]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Dʹi︠a︡konov |first=Igorʹ Mikhaĭlovich |title=Hurro-Urartian as an Eastern Caucasian language |last2=Starostin |first2=S. A. |date=1986 |publisher=R. Kitzinger |isbn=978-3-920645-39-1 |series=Münchener Studien zur Sprachwissenschaft |location=München}}</ref> Hurrian was spoken in various parts of the [[Fertile Crescent]] in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Urartian was the language of [[Urartu]], a powerful state that existed between 1000 BC or earlier and 585 BC in the area centered on [[Lake Van]] in current [[Turkey]]. The two languages are classified together as the [[Hurro-Urartian languages|Hurro-Urartian family]]. Diakonoff proposed the name ''Alarodian'' for the inclusion of Hurro-Urartian into Northeast Caucasian.

Some scholars, however, doubt that the language families are related<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smeets |first=Rieks |date=1989 |title=On Hurro-Urartian as an Eastern Caucasian language |journal=Bibliotheca Orientalis |volume=XLVI |issue=3/4 |pages=260–280}}</ref> or believe that, while a connection is possible, the evidence is far from conclusive.<ref>{{Citation
 | last = Zimansky
 | first = Paul
 | editor-first1 = Gregory
 | editor-first2 = Sharon
 | editor-last1 = McMahon
 | editor-last2 = Steadman
 | chapter = Urartian and the Urartians
 | pages = 548–559
 | date = September 2011
 | title = The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000–323 BCE)
 | doi = 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195376142.013.0024
 | quote = Sayce, for example, considered a relationship with Georgian, 'or with any of the Caucasian languages such as Ude or Abkhas,' but admitted he lacked the tools to explore this. […] That Hurro-Urartian as a whole shared a yet earlier common ancestor with some of the numerous and comparatively obscure languages of the Caucasus is not improbable. […] Diakonoff and Starostin, in the most thorough attempt at finding a linkage yet published, have argued that Hurro-Urartian is a branch of the eastern Caucasian family […]. The etymologies, sound correspondences, and comparative morphologies these authors present are quite tentative and viewed with skepticism by many.
}}</ref><ref>{{Citation
| last1  = Gamkrelidze
| first1 = Thomas V.
| last2  = Gudava
| first2 = T.E.
| year=1998
| title = Caucasian Languages
| encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica
| url = https://www.britannica.com/topic/Caucasian-languages
| quote = theories relating Caucasian with […] the non-Indo-European and non-Semitic languages of the ancient Middle East also lack sufficient evidence and must be considered as inconclusive
}}</ref>

==Proto-language==<!---[[Proto-Northeast Caucasian]] redirects here--->
{{Infobox proto-language
| name             = Proto-Northeast Caucasian
| familycolor      = Caucasian
| ancestor         = 
| target          = Northeast Caucasian languages
|altname=Proto-Nakh-Dagestanian}}

Below are selected Proto-Northeast Caucasian reconstructions of basic vocabulary items by [[Johanna Nichols]], which she refers to as ''Proto-Nakh-Daghestanian''.<ref name="Nichols-2003">Nichols, Johanna. 2003. The Nakh-Daghestanian consonant correspondences. In Dee Ann Holisky and Kevin Tuite (eds.), ''Current Trends in Caucasian, East European and Inner Asian Linguistics: Papers in honor of Howard I. Aronson'', 207–264. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. {{doi|10.1075/cilt.246.14nic}}</ref>

:{| class="wikitable sortable"
! gloss !! Proto-Nakh-Daghestanian
|-
| eye || *(b)ul, *(b)al
|-
| tooth || *cVl-
|-
| tongue || *maʒ-i
|-
| hand, arm || *kV, *kol-
|-
| back (of body) || *D=uqq’
|-
| heart || *rVk’u / *Vrk’u
|-
| bile, gall || *sttim
|-
| meat || *(CV)=(lV)ƛƛ’
|-
| bear (animal) || *sVʔin / *cVʔin / *čVʔin
|-
| sun || *bVrVg
|-
| moon || *baʒVr / *buʒVr
|-
| earth || *(l)ončči
|-
| water || *ɬɬin
|-
| fire || *c’ar(i), *c’ad(i)
|-
| ashes || *rV=uqq’ / *rV=uƛƛ’
|-
| road || *D=eqq’ / *D=aqq’
|-
| name || *cc’Vr, *cc’Vri
|-
| die, kill || *D=Vƛ’
|-
| burn || *D=Vk’
|-
| know || *(=D=)Vc’
|-
| black || *alč’i- (*ʕalč’i-)
|-
| long, far || *(CV=)RVxx-
|-
| round || *goRg / *gog-R-
|-
| dry || *D=aqq’(u) / *D=uqq’
|-
| thin || *(C)=uƛ’Vl-
|-
| what || *sti-
|-
| one || *cV (*cʕV ?)
|-
| five || *(W)=ƛƛi / *ƛƛwi
|}

<small>'''Notation''': '''C''' = consonant; '''V''' = vowel; '''D''' = gender affix</small>

===Possible connections to the origin of agriculture===
The Proto-Northeast Caucasian language had many terms for [[agriculture]] and [[Johanna Nichols]] has suggested that its speakers may have been involved in the development of agriculture in the [[Fertile Crescent]] and only later moved north to the Caucasus.<ref>See [[#refWueth00|Wuethrich 2000]]</ref> Proto-NEC is reconstructed with words for concepts such as ''[[yoke]]'' (*...ƛ / *...ƛƛ’), as well as fruit trees such as ''[[apple]]'' (*hʕam(V)c / *hʕam(V)č) and ''[[pear]]'' (*qur / *qar; *qʕur ?),<ref name="Nichols-2003"/> that suggest agriculture was well developed before the proto-language broke up.

=== Phonology ===
A reconstructed phonology is given below from Diakonoff and Starostin (1986).<ref name=":0" />

The typical structure of a root is given as *CV(S)CV, if labialized and reduplicated phonemes are regarded as singular phonemes.

==== Consonants ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+
! colspan="3" rowspan="2" |
! colspan="4" |Consonants
! colspan="2" |Sonants
|-
!<small>voiceless</small><br><small>(aspirated)</small>
!<small>intensive</small><br><small>(unaspirated)</small>
!<small>glottalized</small>
!<small>voiced</small>
!<small>liquid</small>
!<small>nasal</small>
|-
! rowspan="2" |Labial
! colspan="2" |<small>stop</small>
|p
|pː
|pʼ
|b
|
|m
|-
! colspan="2" |<small>fricative</small>
|f
|fː
|
|
|w w<sub>1</sub>{{Efn|The phonetic difference between w and w<sub>1</sub> is unclear.}}
|
|-
! rowspan="6" |Dental
! colspan="2" |<small>stop</small>
|t
|tː
|tʼ
|d
|r j
|n
|-
! rowspan="2" |<small>fricative</small>
!<small>plain</small>
|s
|sː
|
|z
|
|
|-
!<small>pal.</small>
|sʲ
|sʲː
|
|zʲ
|
|
|-
!<small>affricate</small>
!<small>pal.</small>
|t͡ɕ
|t͡ɕː
|t͡ɕʼ
|d͡ʑ
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |<small>bifocal</small><br><small>fricative</small>
|ʃ
|ʃː
|
|ʒ
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |<small>bifocal</small><br><small>affricate</small>
|t͡ʃ
|t͡ʃː
|t͡ʃʼ
|d͡ʒ
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |Lateral
! colspan="2" |<small>fricative</small>
|ɬ
|ɬː
|
|ɮ
|l l<sub>1</sub>{{Efn|The phonetic difference between l and l<sub>1</sub> is unclear.}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" |<small>affricate</small>
|t͡ɬ
|t͡ɬː
|t͡ɬʼ
|d͡ɮ
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |Velar
! colspan="2" |<small>stop</small>
|k
|kː
|kʼ
|g
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |<small>fricative</small>
|x
|xː
|
|ɣ
|
|
|-
! rowspan="4" |Uvular
! rowspan="2" |<small>stop</small><br><small>(affricate)</small>
!<small>plain</small>
|q
|qː
|qʼ
|ɢ
|
|
|-
!<small>phar.</small>
|q
|qː
|qʼˤ
|ɢ
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |<small>fricative</small>
!<small>plain</small>
|χ
|χː
|
|ʁ
|
|
|-
!<small>phar.</small>
|χˤ
|χːˤ
|
|ʁˤ
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |Pharyngeal
! colspan="2" |<small>stop</small>
|
|
|
|ʡ
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |<small>fricative</small>
|ħ
|
|
|ʕ
|
|
|-
!Glottal
! colspan="2" |<small>stop</small>
|
|ʔ
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="3" |Aspiration
|h
|
|
|
|
|
|}
<references group="lower-alpha" />

==== Vowels ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |Front
! rowspan="2" |Central
! rowspan="2" |Back
|-
!<small>unrounded</small>
!<small>rounded</small>
|-
!High
|i
|y
|ɨ
|u
|-
!Mid
|e
|
|ə
|o
|-
!Low
|æ
|
|
|a
|}
Vowels were either short or long.

==See also==
* [[Northwest Caucasian languages]]
* [[North Caucasian languages]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{citation|first = Johanna|last = Nichols|author-link = Johanna Nichols|editor-last = Tuite|editor-first = Kevin|editor2-last = Holisky|editor2-first = Dee Ann|contribution = The Nakh-Daghestanian Consonant Correspondences|contribution-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=REPC96ddSc0C&q=Current+Trends+in+Caucasian,+Inner+Asian+Nakh-Daghestanian&pg=PA207|title = Current Trends in Caucasian, East European, and Inner Asian Linguistics: Papers in Honor of Howard I. Aronson|year = 2003|pages = 207–251|place = Amsterdam|publisher = Benjamins|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=REPC96ddSc0C&q=Current+Trends+in+Caucasian,+Inner+Asian|isbn = 978-1-58811-461-7|ref=refNicho03}}
*{{citation|first = Wolfgang|last = Schulze|contribution = The Languages of the Caucasus|contribution-url = http://wschulze.userweb.mwn.de/lgxcauc.pdf|title = The Languages of the Caucasus|date= 21 April 2013|publisher = IATS University of Munich|ref=refSchul09}}
*{{citation|first = Wolfgang|last = Schulze|contribution = Personalität in den ostkaukasischen Sprachen|contribution-url = http://www.lrz.de/~wschulze/mwpct4.pdf|title = Munich Working Papers in Cognitive Typology|year = 2007|publisher = IATS University of Munich|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120221231605/http://www.lrz.de/~wschulze/mwpct4.pdf|archive-date = 21 February 2012|ref=refSchul07}}
*{{citation|first = Wolfgang|last = Schulze|editor1= M. Haspelmath| contribution = Die kaukasischen Sprachen|title = La typologie des langues et les universaux linguistiques|volume = 2|pages = 1774–1796|publisher = Mouton de Gruyter|location = [[Berlin]]/[[New York City|New York]]|year=2001|ref=refSchul01|display-editors=etal}}
*{{citation|last=Wuethrich|first=Bernice|date=19 May 2000|title=Peering Into the Past, With Words|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=288|issue=5469|pages=1158|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/288/5469/1158|doi=10.1126/science.288.5469.1158|s2cid=82205296|postscript=.|ref=refWueth00}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{sister project |project=wiktionary |text=[[Wiktionary]] has a list of reconstructed forms at '''''[[Wiktionary:Appendix:Proto-Nakh-Daghestanian reconstructions|Appendix:Proto-Nakh-Daghestanian reconstructions]]'''''}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100819194552/http://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/ids/ Various Northeast Caucasian language dictionaries online from IDS] (select simple or advanced browsing)
* [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/commonwealth/ethnocaucasus.jpg CIA linguistic map of the Caucasus]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190924185347/https://multidagestan.com/ Atlas of Multilingualism in Dagestan]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190330155048/https://ids.clld.org/contributions Intercontinental Dictionary Series] (contain online dictionaries of various Northeast Caucasian languages)

{{Languages of the Caucasus}}
{{Northeast Caucasian languages}}
{{Language families}}
{{Eurasian languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Northeast Caucasian Languages}}
[[Category:Northeast Caucasian languages| ]]
[[Category:Agglutinative languages|Caucasian languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Languages of Russia]]
[[Category:Language families]]