Andi is a Northeast Caucasian language belonging to the Avar–Andic branch spoken by about 5,800 ethnic Andi (2010) in the Botlikh people region of Dagestan. The language is spoken in the villages Andi village (along the river Andi-Koisu),[ The peoples of the Red Book: Akhvakhs] Gunkha, Gagatli, Ashali, Rikvani, Chanko, Zilo, and Kvanxidatl.
Dialects
There are four main dialects, Munin,
Rikvani,
Kvanxidatl, and Gagatl, which appear quite divergent. However, the dialects can be said to vary between villages: the "upper-group" contains Andi, Gagatl, Rikvani, and Zilo (where Andi and Zilo are considered their own dialects), whereas the "lower-group" contains Munin and Kvanxidatl. The upper-group lacks the affricate sound
кьI.
Phonology
Andi has 43 consonants:
There are five vowels: .
Orthography
Although Andi is usually unwritten, there are attempts to write the language using Russian Cyrillic script. Speakers generally use
Avar language or
Russian language as their literary language(s).
[ ] There have been some 19th-century texts written in Andi.
The 2015 translation of the Gospel of Luke uses the following alphabet: А а, Б б, В в, Г г, Гъ гъ, Гъгъ гъгъ, Гь гь, Д д, Е е, Ё ё, Ж ж, ЖӀ жӀ, З з, И и, Й й, К к, Кк кк, Къ къ, Кь кь, КӀ кӀ, КӀкӀ кӀкӀ, Л л, Лъ лъ, Лълъ лълъ, М м, Н н, О о, П п, Р р, С с, Сс сс, Т т, ТӀ тӀ, У у, Ф ф, Х х, Хх хх, Хъ хъ, Хь хь, Ц ц, Цц цц, ЦӀ цӀ, ЦӀцӀ цӀцӀ, Ч ч, Чч чч, ЧӀ чӀ, ЧӀчӀ чӀчӀ, Ш ш, Щ щ, ъ, ы, ь, Э э, Ю ю, Я я
A 2018 primer uses the following alphabet:
| А а | Б б | В в | Г г | ГӀ гӀ | Гь гь | Гъ гъ | ГъӀ гъӀ | Д д | Е е |
| Ё ё | Ж ж | Жъ жъ | ЖъӀ жъӀ | З з | И и | Й й | К к | КӀ кӀ | Кь кь |
| Къ къ | КъӀ къӀ | Л л | ЛӀ лӀ | Ль ль | Лъ лъ | ЛъӀ лъӀ | М м | Н н | О о |
| П п | ПӀ пӀ | Р р | С с | Т т | ТӀ тӀ | У у | Ф ф | Х х | ХӀ хӀ |
| Хь хь | Хъ хъ | Ц ц | ЦӀ цӀ | ЦъӀ цъӀ | Ч ч | ЧӀ чӀ | ЧъӀ чъӀ | Ш ш | Щ щ |
| Ъ ъ | Ь ь | Ӏ | Э э | Ю ю | Я я |
Grammar
Andi has 7 different series of localization: the meaning "inside" changes by number (singular
-ла/-а, plural
-хъи:
гьакъу-ла 'in a home',
гьакъоба-хъи 'in houses'). Number categories are expressed through
ablaut (
имуво воцци в-усон 'The father found the brother', but
имуво воццул в-осон 'The father found the brothers'). In the village
Andi village, there is a difference between the speech of men and women; a man will say, for example,
дин meaning 'I',
мин meaning 'you',
гьекIа 'person', but a woman will say
ден 'I',
мен 'you',
гьекIва 'person'.
Further reading