Botlikh language

Botlikh (also spelled Botlix) is an Andic language of the Northeast Caucasian language family spoken by the Botlikhs in the villages of Botlikh (Buikhe), Miarso and Ashino, as well as in Chontaul, Ankho and in Batlakhatli, in southwestern Dagestan, Russia by approximately 5,000 people, according to the 2020 census.

Dialects

Botlikh has two dialects, being Botlikh proper and Miarso. Differences in phonology and morphology are small, and the two are mutually intelligible.

Phonology

Vowels

Botlikh has five basic vowels. Vowels can also be long or nasalized.

Botlikh vowels
	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Mid	e	o
Open		a

Consonants

Botlikh consonants
	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
central	lateral
lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis	lenis	fortis
Plosive	voiced	b ⟨б⟩	d ⟨д⟩								ɡ ⟨г⟩
voiceless	p ⟨п⟩	t ⟨т⟩								k ⟨к⟩
ejective		tʼ ⟨тӀ⟩								kʼ ⟨кӀ⟩			q͡χʼː ⟨къ⟩		ʔ ⟨ъ⟩
Affricate	voiceless		t͡s ⟨ц⟩	t͡sː ⟨цц⟩	t͡ʃ ⟨ч⟩	t͡ʃː ⟨чч⟩		t͡ɬː ⟨лӀ⟩				k͡xː ⟨кк⟩		q͡χː ⟨хъ⟩
ejective		t͡sʼ ⟨цӀ⟩	t͡sʼː ⟨цӀцӀ⟩	t͡ʃʼ ⟨чӀ⟩	t͡ʃʼː ⟨чӀчӀ⟩		t͡ɬʼː ⟨кь⟩				k͡xʼː ⟨кӀкӀ⟩
voiced				d͜ʒ ⟨дж⟩
Fricative	voiceless	v ⟨в⟩	s ⟨с⟩	sː ⟨сс⟩	ʃ ⟨ш⟩	ʃː ⟨щ⟩	ɬ ⟨лъ⟩	ɬː ⟨лълъ⟩		çː ⟨хь⟩	ɣ ⟨гь⟩	xː ⟨хх⟩	χ ⟨х⟩		ʜ ⟨хӀ⟩	h ⟨гь⟩
voiced		z ⟨з⟩		ʒ ⟨ж⟩				j ⟨й⟩		x ⟨х⟩		ʁ ⟨гъ⟩		ʕ ⟨гӀ⟩
Approximant	m ⟨м⟩	n ⟨н⟩		r ⟨р⟩		l ⟨л⟩

Orthography

Botlikh is unwritten, and Botlikhs have mostly used Avar as their medium of written communication. When Botlikhs need to write their language, they use the Avar alphabet. The following orthography is used in a Botlikh–Russian dictionary.

А а

Аᴴ аᴴ

Б б

В в

Г г

Гъ гъ

Гь гь

ГӀ гӀ

Д д

Дж дж

(Е е)

Ж ж

З з

И и

Иᴴ иᴴ

Й й

К к

Кк кк

Къ къ

Кь кь

КӀ кӀ

КӀкӀ кӀкӀ

Л л

Лъ лъ

Лълъ лълъ

ЛӀ лӀ

М м

Н н

О о

П п

ПӀ пӀ

Р р

С с

Сс сс

Т т

ТӀ тӀ

У у

Уᴴ уᴴ

Х х

Хх хх

Хъ хъ

Хь хь

ХӀ хӀ

Ц ц

Цц цц

ЦӀ цӀ

ЦӀцӀ цӀцӀ

Ч ч

Чч чч

ЧӀ чӀ

ЧӀчӀ чӀчӀ

Ш ш

Щ щ

Ъ ъ

Э э

Эᴴ эᴴ