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Sanzhi language

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Sanzhi
Sanzhi Dargwa
сунглан гъай sunglan ʁaj
Pronunciation[sunglan ʁaj]
Native toRussia
RegionDagestan
EthnicitySanzhi Dargwa (sunglan-te)
Native speakers
250 (2019)
Northeast Caucasian
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Glottologsanz1248
ELPSanzhi Dargwa
  Sanzhi (and Itsari)

Sanzhi (Sanzhi: sunglan ʁaj, also called Sanzhi Dargwa)[1] is an endangered Dargin language spoken by about 250 people in Dagestan,[2] part of the Northeast Caucasian family and closely related to Itsari. It is considered critically endangered due to its obsolescence in favor of Russian.[3][4][5] The language is unwritten.[6]

History

[edit]

In the 1970s, the Sanzhis left their original village of Sanzhi, which is believed to have been inhabited for around 10,000 years,[7] and moved to the lowlands, predominantly the village of Druzhba.[3] In the summers, however, they still return to Sanzhi to do various activities like fishing and berry picking.[2]

Phonology

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Consonants

[edit]
[8]
Bilabial Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal/
Epiglottal		 Glottal
plain lab. plain lab.
Stop plain p t k kʷ q[a] qʷ ʡ ʔ
voiced b d g gʷ
ejective pʼ tʼ kʼ kʼʷ qʼ qʼʷ
geminate pː tː kː kːʷ qː qːʷ
Fricative plain s ʃ x xʷ χ χʷ ħ h
voiced z ʒ ʁ ʁʷ
geminate sː ʃː xː χː χːʷ
Affricate plain t͡s t͡ʃ
ejective t͡sʼ t͡ʃʼ
geminate t͡sː t͡ʃː
Naal m n
Liquid r l
Semivowel w j
  1. ↑ /q/ and /qʷ/ are realized with significant affrication, such that they are pronounced more like /q͡χ/ and /q͡χʷ/. This is not present in the ejective /q’/ and the geminates /qː/ and /qːʷ/.

Younger speakers tend to pronounce the labialized consonants as plain ones.

Vowels

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Sanzhi has 7 vowels, 4 plain ones and 3 pharyngealized vowels.

[9]
Front Central Back
plain phar. plain phar. plain phar.
Close i [iˁ] u uˁ
Mid e
Open a aˁ

/i/ has the allophones [ı], [i]; [ıˁ], [iˁ], /e/ can be realized as [e] or [], and /u/ is realized as [u], [ʊ]; /uˁ/ is also pronounced as [ʊˁ].

[aˁ] is by far the most common pharyngealized vowel, as [uˁ] is much rarer and has only one known minimal pair. Only a few words have [iˁ], and even speakers are uncertain about it.

Syllable structure

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Possible syllables in native words are as follows:

V, VC, VCC, CV, CVC and CVCC

The general structure is (C)V(C)(C).

Simple underived verbs, however, are much more limited in their structure; only [r], [l] and [ʡ] are permitted in the onset.[10]

Morphology

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Nouns

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Nouns in Sanzhi Dargwa are marked for gender, number, and case. It distinguishes between three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter); has a singular-plural distinction in number; and has for grammatical cases (absolutive, ergative, dative, genitive) in addition to many spatial cases.[11] Typical of Northeast Cauccasian languages, it displays ergative-absolutive alignment.

Gender

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Sanzhi has a gender system typical of other Northeast Caucasian languages. They can appear as prefixes, suffixes, or infixes, and typically are not marked on nouns.

Gender Agreement Affixes[12]
Singular 1st/2nd Plural 3rd Plural
Masc. w/∅ d b
Fem. r d b
Neuter b d

Number

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The singular is unmarked, and the plural can be marked by several suffixes. The most productive suffixes are -e, -be, -te, and -me.[13] Examples:

t'ult > t'ult-e 'bread'

bazar > bazar-te 'market'

Stem vowels may also undergo vowel mutation during this process: χabar > χabur-te ‘story, news’.[14]

Case

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Sanzhi Dargwa has 4 grammatical cases, 19 semantic cases, and 1 directional suffix.

Grammatical Cases
[edit]

The core grammatical cases are absolutive, ergative, genitive, and dative, which appear as suffixes. Case endings are typically attached to an oblique stem. For singular nouns, the oblique stem is identical to the ergative case.

Grammatical Case Suffixes[15]
Case Suffix Singular Plural
Absolutive -∅ juldaš 'friend' juldaš:-e
Ergative -l(i) juldaš-li juldaš:-a-l
Genitive -la (-lla) juldaš-la juldaš-a(l)-la
Dative -j juldaš-li-j juldaš:-a-li-j

Since Sanzhi Dargwa has absolutive-ergative alignment, the absolutive case occurs on the sole argument of an intransitive verb, or as the patient/theme of transitive or ditransitive verbs.[16]

du-l

1SG-ERG

ka-d-iq:-an=da

DOWN-NPL-carry.IPFV-PTCP=1

qix-be-∅

nut-PL-ABS

du-l ka-d-iq:-an=da qix-be-∅

1SG-ERG DOWN-NPL-carry.IPFV-PTCP=1 nut-PL-ABS

‘I will bring nuts.’

The ergative case suffix -li (with allomorphs -ni, -ri, and -l) occurs on the agent of transitive and ditransitive predicates.[17]

hin-ni

water-ERG

heχ

DEM.DOWN

lus

around

b-ik'-aq-u

N-move.IPFV-CAUS-PRS

hin-ni heχ lus b-ik'-aq-u

water-ERG DEM.DOWN around N-move.IPFV-CAUS-PRS

The water turns this around

The genitive case suffix -la (with allomorphs -na, -ra, and -lla) is used to denote various relations such as possession, material, and units of measurement.

niš:a-la

1PL-GEN

sungli-la

Sanzhi.person.OBL-GEN

š:i-l-c:e-b

village-OBL-IN-N

niš:a-la sungli-la š:i-l-c:e-b

1PL-GEN Sanzhi.person.OBL-GEN village-OBL-IN-N

In our village of Sanzhi

xujal

five

litru-la

liter-GEN

čaˁʁir-la

wine-GEN

kanister

canister

xujal litru-la čaˁʁir-la kanister

five liter-GEN wine-GEN canister

Five liter canister of wine

guž-la

strength-GEN

admi

person

guž-la admi

strength-GEN person

Strong person

It is also used on the arguments of most postpositions.[18]

qal-la

house-GEN

sala

in.front

qal-la sala

house-GEN in.front

In front of the house

The dative case (-j) can be used as an experiencer with affective predicates:[19]

dam

1SG.DAT

I

simi

anger

am

d-ulq-u

NPL-direct.IPFV-PRS

angry

dam simi d-ulq-u

1SG.DAT anger NPL-direct.IPFV-PRS

I am angry

Lit. 'anger directs to me'

For beneficiaries:

b-irq'-an=da

N-do.IPFV-PTCP=1

rurs:i-j

girl-DAT

ʡaˁħ

good

meq

wedding

b-irq'-an=da rurs:i-j ʡaˁħ meq

N-do.IPFV-PTCP=1 girl-DAT good wedding

(I) will make a big wedding for my daughter

And for temporal duration:

du-l

1SG-ERG

b-irq'-id

N-do.IPFV-1.PRS

dars

homework

ca

one

saˁʡaˁt-li-j

hour-OBL-DAT

du-l b-irq'-id dars ca saˁʡaˁt-li-j

1SG-ERG N-do.IPFV-1.PRS homework one hour-OBL-DAT

I will do the homework in one hour

Semantic Cases
[edit]

Typical of Dagestanian languages, the semantic cases, also known as "spatial" cases, are organized along two dimensions: location and direction (i.e., movement).[20]

Direction
Lative Essive Ablative
Location LOC "in, on" -le, -ja, -a -le-b, -ja-b, -a-b -le-r(-ka), -ja-r(-ka), -a-r(-ka)
AD "at, close to" -š:u -š:u-b -š:u-r(-ka)
IN "in, on, at" -c:e -c:e-b -c:e-r(-ka)
SUB "under" -gu -gu-b -gu-r(-ka)
ANTE "in front" -sa -sa-b -sa-r(-ka)
POST "behind" -hara -hara-b -hara-r(-ka)
  • Lative denotes direction to a goal
  • Essive denotes a stative location at a reference point
  • Ablative denotes movement away from a reference point, or movement through/along a point

Examples:[21]

tusnaq-le-w=uw

prison-LOC-M=Q

iž

this

ʡaˁrmija-le-w=uw?

army-LOC-M=Q

tusnaq-le-w=uw iž ʡaˁrmija-le-w=uw?

prison-LOC-M=Q this army-LOC-M=Q

"Is he in prison or in the army?"

hel-i-š:u-rka

that-OBL-AD-ABL

k-aq:-ib-le

DOWN-carry-PRET-CVB

kaʁar

letter

hel-i-š:u-rka k-aq:-ib-le kaʁar

that-OBL-AD-ABL DOWN-carry-PRET-CVB letter

"From him (they) brought a permission (lit. 'letter')"

il

that

durħuˁ

boy

t:ura

outside

ha-w-q-un

UP-M-go.PFV-PRET

ca-w

COP-M

hel

that

zamana

time

q:ap-li-c:e-r

sack-OBL-IN-ABL

il durħuˁ t:ura ha-w-q-un ca-w hel zamana q:ap-li-c:e-r

that boy outside UP-M-go.PFV-PRET COP-M that time sack-OBL-IN-ABL

"At this time, that boy came out of the sack"

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Koryakov, Yuri (2021-01-01). "Коряков (2021) Даргинские языки и их классификация [Dargwa languages and their classification]". 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.
  2. 1 2 Forker 2019, p. 1.
  3. 1 2 Forker 2019.
  4. ↑ "Dictionaria -". dictionaria.clld.org. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  5. ↑ "Languages". DOBES. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  6. ↑ Forker 2019, p. 7.
  7. ↑ "Архивы Санжи". WelcomeDagestan.ru. Retrieved 2025-03-14.
  8. ↑ Forker 2019, p. 20.
  9. ↑ Forker 2019, p. 24.
  10. ↑ Forker 2019, p. 23-24.
  11. ↑ Forker, Diana (2020). A Grammar of Sanzhi Dargwa. Berlin: Language Science Press.
  12. ↑ Forker 2020, p. 43.
  13. ↑ Forker 2020, p. 45.
  14. ↑ Forker 2020, pp. 45–46.
  15. ↑ Forker 2020, p. 55.
  16. ↑ Forker 2020, p. 56.
  17. ↑ Forker 2020, p. 57.
  18. ↑ Forker 2020, p. 59.
  19. ↑ Forker 2020, p. 61.
  20. ↑ Forker 2020, p. 63.
  21. ↑ Forker 2020, pp. 67–70.

Sources

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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sanzhi_language&oldid=1360345745"