Urakhi dialect

Urakhi
Qaba, Khyurkili
хӀурхъила лугъат къаьба
Pronunciation	[ħuˁrqila luʁat] [ɢæβa]
Native to	Russia
Region	Dagestan
Ethnicity	Urakhi Dargins
Native speakers	35,000 in traditional areas (2002)
Language family	Northeast Caucasian Dargin North-Central North Dargwa Urakhi
Standard forms	Literary Dargwa
Writing system	Cyrillic (Uslar)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	urax1238
North Dargwa, with Urakhi at the lower right of the section

Urakhi (also Khyurkili) is a dialect of North Dargwa spoken by around 35,000 people in Sergokalinsky District, the northern portions of Akushinsky District and in the villages of Gerga and Krasnopartizansk in Kayakentsky District. Along with the Aqusha dialect, it formed the basis for the literary Dargwa language.

Phonology

Urakhi does not have vowel length or consonant gemination, in contrast with other varieties. The affricates [d͡ʒ] and [d͡z] are also preserved, in contrast with Tsudaqar and related varieties. The system of phonemic fortis and lenis has been lost, in accordance with the related Aqusha dialect, replaced by the corresponding voiced consonants.

Orthography

Urakhi was one of the bases for the literary Dargwa language, along with Aqusha. Peter von Uslar created an orthography for Urakhi in 1892 in his grammar.

а	ӕ	в	ԝ	г	ӷ	гᷱ	д
е	ж	ђ	з	ӡ	һ
і	ј	к	қ		кᷱ	л	м
н	о	п	ԥ	ԛ		р	с
т	ҭ	у	х	ц		ч
ш

External links

• Urakhi phrasebook and dictionary