Supporting and celebrating global linguistic diversity
Classification: Northeast Caucasian
·threatened
The Khvarshi language belongs to the Dido subgroup of the northwestern group of the Dagestan languages and is divided into two: the Khvarshi and the Inhokari dialects. The Inhokari dialect has in turn three vernaculars. Loan-words have been absorbed into the Khvarshi vocabulary throughout the centuries, from the Avar, Arab, Turkish and Georgian languages. In the 20th century Russian has exerted the strongest influence particularly in terms of political and technical vocabulary. The Khvarshi do not have a written language of their own, instead, they use that of the Avar. Avar has become the common language for communication and the mother tongue has been reduced to home usage within the Khvarshi community. The Khvarshi language has been little researched. The first records of the language were made by R. Erckert at the end of the 19th century. During the past 50 years it has been studied more seriously by E. Bokareva, D. Lomaishvili and E. Lomadze.
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Khwarshi, Xvarshi, хваршинский язык, ხვარშიული ენა, Kedaes hikwa, Khvarshin, Khwarshi, |
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Northeast Caucasian, Daghestanian, Tsezic |
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none |
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ISO 639-3 |
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khv |
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As csv |
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Information from: “Europe and North Asia” (211-282) . Tapani Salminen (2007) , C. Moseley · London & New York: Routledge
Information from: “Europe and North Asia” (211-282) . Tapani Salminen (2007) , C. Moseley · London & New York: Routledge
Avar
Village of Khvarshi in Tsumada County.
Information from: “A Grammar of Khwarshi” (499) . Zaira Khalilova (2009) LOT
"According to the last population
census from 2002, there are 128 Khwarshi speakers. Such small numbers are due to the fact that most Khwarshi speakers have registered themselves as Avar speakers."
"However, according to our estimated data and according to the rural
administrations for 2009, the number of Khwarshi speakers is more than 8500. The following estimates have been made: 1500 Khwarshi speakers live in mountainous areas in the Tsumada district, with 140 in Upper Inkhokwari, 330 in Lower Inkhokwari, 100 in Kwantlada, 270 in Santlada, 360 in Khonokh, 110 in Khwayni, and
220 in Khwarshi. In the lowland part of Daghestan there are more than 7000 Khwarshi speakers in the following settlements: in Oktyabrskoe there are 1590 Inkhokwari speakers and 730 Kwantlada speakers; in Pervomayskoe there are 1200 Santlada speakers; in Mutsalaul there are more than 2000 speakers of Khwarshi Proper; in Komsomolskoe
there are 500 Khwarshi Proper, and 300 Khwayni speakers; in Kizilyurt there are 100Khwarshi Proper, and 500 Inkhokwari speakers; in Kizlyar and the Kizlyar districts there are 100 Inkhokwari and 70 Kwantlada speakers."
"Avar is a lingua franca between all people of the Avar-Andi-Tsezic group. As
mentioned, Avar is used at the political, cultural, and educational levels."
Russian; Avar;
"Khwarshi is a non-written language. Within the community Khwarshi is used on a day-to-day basis and in almost every domain of communication. In addition, most Khwarshi people (except for children of pre-school age) are proficient in Avar and Russian, used mainly for external communication. Khwarshi is not studied at school, nor is it the language of teaching. Instead, Russian is taught as the first language in school and is also the language of instruction. Avar is usually taught as a second language. The languages of mass media are Avar and Russian."
"Avar is a lingua franca between all people of the Avar-Andi-Tsezic group. As
mentioned, Avar is used at the political, cultural, and educational levels.!
"However, according to our estimated data and according to the rural
administrations for 2009, the number of Khwarshi speakers is more than 8500. The following estimates have been made: 1500 Khwarshi speakers live in mountainous areas in the Tsumada district, with 140 in Upper Inkhokwari, 330 in Lower Inkhokwari, 100 in Kwantlada, 270 in Santlada, 360 in Khonokh, 110 in Khwayni, and
220 in Khwarshi. In the lowland part of Daghestan there are more than 7000 Khwarshi speakers in the following settlements: in Oktyabrskoe there are 1590 Inkhokwari speakers and 730 Kwantlada speakers; in Pervomayskoe there are 1200 Santlada speakers; in Mutsalaul there are more than 2000 speakers of Khwarshi Proper; in Komsomolskoe
there are 500 Khwarshi Proper, and 300 Khwayni speakers; in Kizilyurt there are 100Khwarshi Proper, and 500 Inkhokwari speakers; in Kizlyar and the Kizlyar districts there are 100 Inkhokwari and 70 Kwantlada speakers."
Information from: “The World Atlas of Language Structures” . Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer · Oxford University Press
Information from: “The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire” . Andrew Humphreys and Krista Mits ·
Avar
Russian
Avar has become the common language for communication and the mother tongue has been reduced to home usage within the Khvarshi community.
The Khvarshi do not have a written language of their own, instead, they use that of the Avar.
The Khvarshis live in villages in the eastern region of mountainous Dagestan on the right bank of the upper reaches of the River Andi-Koisu. Administratively, these five villages (Khvarshi, Inhokari, Kvantlyada, Santlyada and Khvainy) belong to the Khvarshi and Inhokari village Soviets in the Tsumada district in Dagestan.