What Is the Hardest Language in Caucasus?

The Caucasus languages are traditionally considered to be among the hardest in the world. Russian linguists include one of them - the Tabasaran language - into the three hardest languages in the world. Tabasaran is one of the languages spoken in Daghestan. It is considered to be one of the hardest languages of the world because it has many grammar cases.

Tabasaran has 46 or 52 cases. This is considered to be the biggest number in the world. Each case has its own ending added to nouns, some pronouns, and other words. However, the fact is that the Tabasaran language has a very logical structure of the cases and case endings.

There are 4 main cases and 42 or 48 local cases. The main cases are:
1) Nominative which is used as a subject with an intransitive verb and as a direct object with a transitive verb;
2) Genitive which denotes possession and equals "of" with a noun in English;
3) Dative which is used as an indirect object and equals "to" with a noun in English;
4) Ergative which is used as a subject with a transitive verb.

Nominative does not have an ending. Ergative has an ending that forms the indirect stem. The endings of all the other cases are joined to this stem.

The local cases mainly denote either static positions or movement directions. However, they also have some abstract meanings. The 42 or 48 local cases are divided into 7 or 8 series. Each of them contains 6 cases. The 7 series can be described by English prepositions:
1) in,
2) at or in front of,
3) on,
4) behind,
5) under,
6) between,
7) above.

The second series may be considered as two series because each case there may have two endings that have two different meanings:
1) at,
2) in front of.

In each group (series), each of the 6 cases denotes either position or direction:
1) Essive that denotes static position;
2) Ablative that denotes movement from something;
3) Lative that denotes movement to something;
4) Comitative that denotes movement through something;
5) Elative that denotes movement, directed from something (but it does not necessary begin from that exact place);
6) Allative that denotes movement, directed toward something (but it does not necessary ends in that exact place).

Each of the 7 or 8 series has its own ending. It is used to form Essives. Other cases have special endings depending on what they denote. All the cases that denote the same kind of movement have the same additional endings. Elatives and Allatives add one more ending (the same for both kinds of movement). Elatives add the ending of Ablatives and then this additional ending. Allatives add the ending of Latives and then the same additional ending.

So, the Tabasaran case system is very logical and orderly. Other Daghestan languages have less cases (around 20), but they are also quite orderly.

For example, the Avar language has 24 cases. The main cases are the same as in Tabasaran. They are formed in the same way. There are 20 local cases. They are divided into 5 series:
1) "on"
2) "at"
3) "inside of the substance or object"
4) "under"
5) "inside of the container"

The names of the cases are:
1) Locative which denotes static position;
2) Allative which denotes movement to something;
3) Ablative which denotes movement from something;
4) Translative which denotes movement through something.
Sometimes, Translative is substituted by Ablative. Thus, sometimes it is considered that there are 19 cases in Avar.

Each series has its own endings. Locative does not have an ending. So, the series endings are joined to the indirect stem (the form of Ergative). Allative, Ablative, and sometimes Transitive have their own endings which are joined to the indirect stem. The series endings follow them. Avar local cases also can have abstract meanings. So, the Avar case system is also very logical and orderly.

The Dargin language has 28 cases. 8 of them are main and 20 are local. The main cases are: nominative, genitive, dative, ergative, factitive, comitative, instrumentalis, and temative. The first four of them have the same functions as in Avar and Tabasaran. Factitive is used as a case of predicate. Comitative has the same function as the English preposition "with (somebody)." Instrumentalis is used as a case of a tool, like the English preposition "with (something)." Temative denotes an object of speech, like the English preposition "about."

There are 5 series of local cases:
1) "on"
2) "between," "inside a substance or an object"
3) "under"
4) "inside of a container"
5) "at," "near"

There are 5 cases in each series:
1) Lative;
2) Essive;
3) Allative;
4) Ablative.

Each series has its own endings. Lative does not have a special ending, only the series endings. Essive, Allative, and Ablative have their own endings which are joined to the series endings. Dargin local cases also can have abstract meanings. So, the Dargin case system is also very logical and orderly. The Dargin local case system is similar to the Avar system.

The Wainakh languages (Chechen, Ingush, and Batsbi) (I use the common linguistic terminology here) have about 20 cases each, but they are not so orderly.

For example, the Chechen language has 17 regular cases and also many postpositional constructions. 8 of the cases are local - the main local case and 7 derivative local cases (though the last of them is used quite seldom). Postpositions that denote "in", "on", and "under" can add endings of 7 derivative cases. Thus 8 local cases and 24 postpositional constructions can be viewed as 4 series of 8 cases/postpositional constructions. In the grammar of Wainakh and Daghestani languages the definitions of the series do not match.

The 7 series denote:
1) movement to something (Lative);
2) static position somewhere (Essive);
3) movement from something (Ablative);
4) movement directed toward something (Allative);
5) movement directed from something (Elative);
6) movement through something (Transitive I);
7) movement directed through something (Transitive II);
8) reaching something (Limitative).

The local cases and postpositional constructions (4 in each series) can be described by English prepositions:
1) "at" (local cases);
2) "in" (postpositions);
3) "on" (postpositions);
4) "under" (postpositions).

The endings are joined to the stem of the noun or postposition. The endings are formed in the following way:
1) the ending of Lative is -e or -ga; all the other endings are joined to the ending of Lative, however, postpositions do not have any ending in Lative and the endings of other cases are joined to their stem instead of the ending of Lative;
2) the ending of Essive is -kh;
3) the ending of Ablative is -ra;
4) the ending of Allative is -kha;
5) the ending of Elative is -khara;
6) the ending of Transitive I is -khula;
7) the ending of Transitive II is -khahula;
8) the ending of Limitative is -ts.

So, the ending of Elative is composed of the endings of Allative and Ablative; the ending of Transitive is composed of the endings of Allative and Translative.

In addition, some words have other two series of locative cases (these series are used very seldom):
1) comparative case (ending -l) that can be followed by the endings of locative cases;
2) substantive case (ending -kh) that also can be followed by the endings of local cases.
The first of these series is used with nouns that denote substances, materials, and liquids. The second series is used with nouns that denote entities of bigger objects.

There is no difference between the case endings and postpositions in the pronunciation. Both are unstressed. The difference is only in writing. So, postpositional constructions can be viewed as cases. This makes the number of cases in Chechen equal 55.

The Chechen language has Nominative, Genitive, Dative, and Ergative. There are also other cases:
1) Instrumental that equals the English prepositions "by" and "with";
2) Comparative that denotes comparison;
3) Substantive that equals the English preposition "about"; it can also have a meaning similar to Essive.

Comparative and Substantive have derivative forms. The derivative form of Comparative is Equative that denotes that two things have the same quantity of something. The derivative form of Substantive has a meaning that is similar to Translative.

There are also other postpositional constructions with other postpositions. This makes the number of the Chechen cases not less than the number of the Tabasaran cases. In general, the Chechen case system is less orderly than the Tabasaran case system.

Chechen, Tabasaran, and other Caucasus languages have other difficulties as well. So, it is quite hard to tell which of them is the hardest. In my opinion, the Caucasus languages have about the same level of difficulty.

How Many Wainakh and Adyg Nations Are There?

The word "Wainakh" means "our people" and is used by Chechens and Ingushs to denote both Chechens and Ingushs. Chechens and Ingushs have very similar languages and often consider that this is one language with different dialects. They often consider themselves as one nation. There are other Wainakh ethnic groups — Akkis who live in Daghestan, and Kistis and Batsbis who live in Georgia.

There is a common consensus that Batsbis are a separate Wainakh group. Most Batsbis consider themselves as Georgians, and not as Wainakhs. Unlike other Wainakhs who are Muslims, Batsbis are Christians. The Batsbi language is very different from other Wainakh languages because it contains many Georgian words. However, its grammar is similar to the grammar of other Wainakh languages. There is a Batsbi story that they originally lived in the same territory as other Wainakhs, but later moved to Georgia. Living in Georgia, they learned the Georgian language (all the Batsbis speak fluent Georgian) and borrowed many words from Georgian. So, originally they were a part of the Wainakh community, but then separated themselves from it. Now, they cannot be considered as a part of one Wainakh nation.

Most scientists consider Akkis and Kistis as two groups of Chechens and their languages as Chechen dialects. Most of Akkis, Kistis, and other Chechens think the same way. There are very few of Akkis and Kistis who consider themselves as different from Chechens. So, this matter is also quite clear.

However, the question whether Chechens and Ingushs are the same nation or not and whether they speak the same language or not, is not so simple. The problem is that most scientists consider them as two nations with two languages. However, many Chechens and Ingushs (not all of them) consider themselves as one nation with one language.

There are no definite criteria of the difference between a language and a dialect. According to N. F. Yakovlev, a well-known linguist who studied many North Caucasus languages, if people are able to understand one another speaking their native language, they speak the same language, though they may speak different dialects. Most Chechens and Ingushs are able to understand one another speaking their native languages.

In linguistics, in order to find out how close two languages or dialects to one another, scientists take 100 words of each of them and count how many of them match. However, this method is not used to make a difference between languages and dialects. The use of this method for Chechen and Ingush, for Chechen and Akki, and for Ingush and Akki gives similar results. This means that since Akki is considered to be a Chechen dialect, Ingush should not be considered as a separated language. Chechen and Ingush are two dialects of one Wainakh language. Chechens and Ingushs compose the same Wainakh nation.

The situation with Adygs (Circassians), another ethnic group in Caucasus, is somewhat similar. They consider themselves as one nation. However, scientists consider them as three national groups (Kabardians, Circassians, and Adygeans) with two languages (Kabardian (or Kabardian-Circassian) and Adygean).

Originally, Agygs (Circassians) were one nation in the northwest Caucasus. During the war with Russia that ended in 1864, they lost 95 % of their population and 90 % of their territory (Wainakhs lost 92 % of their population in that war). Most of the rest of Agygs were forced to migrate to Turkey. A number of Wainakhs migrated there also. Those Agygs who did not migrate, were forced to move from their villages to other territories that formerly were parts of Circassia. As a result, the number of Adygs decreased very significantly and they were scattered.

In the Soviet Union, Adygs had four (later three) national authonomous regions while Wainakhs had one. Agygs wer divided into three ethnic groups according to these three regions. This division was completely artificial. The division of the Adyg language was made also artificially. The difference between Kabardian and Adygean is about the same as the difference between Chechen and Ingush. Adygs are able to understand one another speaking their dialects. They are the same nation and speak the same language.

There is another ethnic group close to Adygs - Ubykhs. Adygs often consider them as a part of the Adyg nation. The Ubykh language is less similar to other Adyg dialects. In 1860s, all the Ubykhs migrated to Turkey. In 1992, the last Ubykh speaker reportedly died. However, there are also reports that there are other Ubykh speakers. I am not sure if Ubykh can be considered a dialect of Adyg. However, Ubykhs can be a part of Adyg nation even if their language is different. One nation can speak more than one language, and one language can be spoken by more than one nation. Probably, Ubykhs should be considered a part of the Adyg nation.