цез мец

Tsez

NE Caucasian

FamilyNE Caucasian Speakers~15K (severely endangered) ScriptCyrillic CountriesRussia Official inNo (recognized minority) Vitalityseverely endangered ISO 639-3ddo

Tsez (autonymously Цез мец, also called Dido) is a Northeast Caucasian language of the Tsezic branch, spoken by around 15,000 people in the Tsuntinsky District of the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, near the Georgian border. Linguistically, Tsez is famous in linguistic typology for having one of the largest case inventories in the world — approximately 64 case forms when counting all the spatial-orientational paradigms — used by typologists Bernard Comrie and Maria Polinsky as a benchmark example for "extreme" agglutinative case morphology. Other features include ergative-absolutive alignment, large consonant inventories with pharyngealization and ejectives, and noun class agreement (4 classes). Tsez has historically been an unwritten language, with the post-Soviet era seeing the development of community Cyrillic orthographies based on Avar conventions, but no major literary tradition exists.

Where it is spoken

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87 core words in Tsez

Water

лъи

ɬi

Fire

цӏи

tsʼi

Sun

бухъ

buq

Moon

буци

butsi

Star

ца

tsa

Night

нешохӏоси гъуди

neʃoħosi ʁudi

Rain

хъема

qema

Snow

иси

isi

Wind

лъаци

ɬaci

Earth

ракь

ratɬʼ

Stone

гъуӏл

ʁˤul

Mountain

хӏон

ħon

Sea

ралъад

raɬad

Mother

эни

eni

Father

обу

obu

Daughter

кид

kid

I

ди

di

You

ми

mi

We

эли

eli

Name

ци

tsi

Person

инсан

insan

Head

къиӏм

qˤʼim

Eye

озури

ozuri

Ear

ахӏа

aħa

Nose

маӏли

mˤali

Mouth

гьахъу

haqu

Tooth

кӏицу

kʼitsu

Tongue

мец

mets

Hand

рекьа

retɬʼa

Foot

рори

rori

Heart

рокӏу

rokʼu

Bone

лӏуза

tɬuza

Blood

ийо

ijo

Love

уйла

ujla

Tree

гъун

ʁun

Dog

гъваӏй

ʁʷˤaj

Cat

кӏетӏу

kʼetʼu

Fish

бесуро

besuro

Bird

агъи

aʁi

Butterfly

кьандилу

tɬʼandilu

Egg

кӏенечӏ

kʼenetʃʼ

Bear

зе

ze

Horse

гулу

ɡulu

House

гъуӏткӏу

ʁˤutkʼu

Milk

гъаӏ

ʁaʕ

Honey

нуци

nutsi

Salt

цийо

tsijo

Wine

ша

ʃa

Iron

гер

ɡer

Wheel

аӏгъур

aˤʁur

Silk

дарай

daraj

Book

тӏек

tʼek

Eat

иша

iʃa

Drink

хӏалӏа

ħatɬa

Sleep

кеца

ketsʼa

One

сис

sis

Two

къӏано

qˤʼaːno

Three

лъоӏно

ɬoˤno

Four

уйно

ujno

Five

лъено

ɬeno

Hundred

бишон

biʃon

Hello

салам

salam

Thank you

баркалла

barkalːa

Good

игу

iɡu

New

эцӏну

etsʼnu

Red

цӏуда

tsʼuda

White

алукӏа

alukʼa

Black

хъаӏба

qˤaba

Green

цӏицӏира

tsʼitsʼira

Blue

нига

ˈniɡa

Cuckoo

куку

kuku

Tea

чай

tʃaj

Sugar

чакар

tʃakar

Sources

Words compared

Compared with languages in the same classification: NE Caucasian

Meaning TsezKhvarshiHunzibAvarAndiLakDargwa
Water лъи /ɬi/ лъа /ɬa/ лъыᴴ /ɬɨ̃/ лъим /ɬim/ лъен /ɬen/ щин /ɕːin/ шин /ʃin/
Fire цӏи /tsʼi/ цӏа /tsʼa/ цӏə /tsʼə/ цӏа /tsʼa/ цӏай /tsʼaj/ цӏу /tsʼu/ цӏа /tsʼa/
Sun бухъ /buq/ бухъ /buqχ/ бохъ /boqχ/ бакъ /baqʼ/ миллӏи /milːi/ баргъ /barʁ/ берхӏи /beɾħi/
Moon буци /butsi/ буца /butsa/ боцо /botso/ моцӏ /motsʼ/ борцӏцӏо /bortsʼːo/ барз /barz/ бац /bats/
Star ца /tsa/ цӏирис /tsʼiris/ ца /tsa/ цӏва /tsʼʷa/ цӏцӏа /tsʼːa/ цӏуку /tsʼuku/ зубари /zubari/
Night нешохӏоси гъуди /neʃoħosi ʁudi/ нишохо /niʃoho/ нише /niʃe/ сордо /sordo/ релъо /reɬo/ хьхьу /xːu/ дуги /duɡi/
Rain хъема /qema/ хъема /qema/ вəдə /wədə/ цӏад /tsʼad/ цӏцӏа /tsʼːa/ гъарал /ʁaral/ марка /ˈmarka/
Snow иси /isi/ иса /isa/ əᴴз /ə̃z/ гӏазу /ʕazu/ анзи /anzi/ марххала /marxːala/ дяхӏи /daˤħi/
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