From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rutul is a language spoken by the Rutuls, an ethnic group living in
Dagestan (Russia) and some parts of Azerbaijan. It is spoken
by 29,400 people in Dagestan and the remaining 110 in
Azerbaijan.[1]
The word Rutul derives from the name of a Dagestani
village where speakers of this language make up the majority.[2]
Classification
Rutul belongs to the Lezgic group of the Northeast Caucasian
language family. Rutuls call their language myxʼabišdy
čʼel.
History
The term Rutul was first used in the 15th century to designate
Lezgic-speaking people in what is now southern Dagestan and
Azerbaijan's Shaki
Rayon. It has been in official use since after 1917. Rutul was
not a written language until the writing system for it (based on
the Cyrillic
alphabet) was developed in 1990. Speakers are often bilingual
or multilingual, having a good command of the Azeri, Lezgian and/or Russian
languages. There are 8 dialects and 2 sub-dialects of Rutul. The
literary version of the language remains in the process of
development. In the Rutul-populated regions of southern Russia,
Rutul is taught in primary schools (grades 1 to 4).[2]
Related
languages
Among the languages of the Lezgic group, Tsakhur
appears to be the closest relative of Rutul.[3]
Other than these two, there are seven more languages in the Lezgic
group, namely: Lezgian, Tabasaran, Aghul, Budukh, Kryts, Udi and Archi.
See also
References
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