Kaitag is a member of the Dargin branch of the Northeast Caucasian language family. It is spoken by about 21,000 people in the Kaytagsky District (Кайтагский район) of Dagestan Autonomous Republic in the southwest of the Russian Federation. It is classified as a dialect of Dargwa from 1938, and as a separate langauge before then and more recently.
Kaitag is also known as Kaitag, Kaitak, Kajtak, Kaytak, Xajdak, Sanchi or Sanzhi. Dialects include Upper Kaitag, Lower Kaitag and Shari.
Kaitag was written with the Arabic script from the end of the 15th century. In the 20th century the Cyrillic alphabet was adopted for Kaitag, although it was rarely used, and Kaitag speakers generally wrote in Dargwa. The modern Kaitag Cyrillic alphabet was developed in 2024–2026.
Download an alphabet chart for Kaitag (Excel)
Һар мейдам азатдеҳ челле чи һачӏурил це: цада йәрдицци, цада ихтийарцци. Һелттай әҡӏлу ра йәһ ра деччил дилле, цалццил ца уццбе гон бугара биккан це.
Hear a recording of this text by Magomed Magomedov
har ˈmejdam azatˈdex ˈtʃelle tʃihatʃʼuˈril tse: tsaˈda jærˈditsːi, tsaˈda iχtiˈjartsːi. helˈtːaj ˈæqʼlu ra jæh ra ˈdetʃːil ˈdille, ˈtsaltsːil tsa utsːˈbe gon buˈgara biˈkːan tse.
Har meydam azatdej ćelle ćihaćhuril ce: cada yærdicci, cada ixtiyarcci. Helttay æqhlu ra yæh ra deććil dille, calccil ca uccbe gon bugara bikkan ce.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Details provided by Magomed Magomedov.
Information about Kaitag
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaitag_language
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Кайтагский_язык
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/xdq/
https://paratype.github.io/cyrillic-languages/
https://minlang.iling-ran.ru/lang/kaytagskiy-yazyk
Aghul, Akhvakh, Andi, Archi, Avar, Bagvalal, Batsbi, Bezhta, Botlikh, Budukh, Caucasian Albanian, Chamalal, Chechen, Dargwa, Godoberi, Hinukh, Hunzib, Ingush, Kaitag, Karata, Khinalug, Khwarshi, Kryts, Kubachi, Lak, Lezgian, Rutul, Tabassaran, Tindi, Tsakhur, Tsez, Tsudaqar, Udi
Abaza, Abkhaz, Adyghe, Aghul, Akhvakh, Akkala Sámi, Aleut, Altay, Alyutor, Andi, Archi, Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian, Avar, Azeri, Bagvalal, Balkar, Baraba Tatar, Bashkir, Belarusian, Besermyan, Bezhta, Bosnian, Botlikh, Budukh, Bulgarian, Buryat, Chamalal, Chechen, Chelkan, Chukchi, Chulym, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Dargwa, Daur, Dolgan, Dungan, Enets, Erzya, Even, Evenki, Gagauz, Godoberi, Hinukh, Hunzib, Ingush, Interslavic, Itelmen, Juhuri, Kabardian, Kaitag, Kalderash Romani, Kalmyk, Karaim, Karakalpak, Karata, Karelian, Kazakh, Ket, Khakas, Khanty, Khinalug, Khorasani Turkic, Khwarshi, Kildin Sámi, Kili, Komi, Komi-Permyak, Komi-Yazva, Komi-Zyrian, Koryak, Krymchak, Kryts, Kubachi, Kumandy, Kumyk, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Lak, Lezgi, Lingua Franca Nova, Lithuanian, Ludic, Macedonian, Mansi, Mari, Moksha, Moldovan, Mongolian, Montenegrin, Nanai, Negidal, Nenets, Nganasan, Nivkh, Nogai, Old Church Slavonic, Oroch, Orok, Oroqen, Ossetian, Pontic Greek, Romanian, Rushani, Russian, Rusyn, Rutul, Selkup, Serbian, Shor, Shughni, Siberian Tatar, Sirenik, Slovio, Soyot, Tabassaran, Tajik, Talysh, Tat, Tatar, Teleut, Ter Sámi, Tindi, Tofa, Tsakhur, Tsez, Tsudaqar, Turkmen, Tuvan, Ubykh, Udege, Udi, Udmurt, Ukrainian, Ulch, Urum, Uyghur, Uzbek, Veps, Votic, Wakhi, West Polesian, Xibe, Yaghnobi, Yakut, Yazghulami, Yukaghir (Northern / Tundra), Yukaghir (Southern / Kolyma), Yupik (Central Siberian)
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page created 23.01.22. Last modified: 22.08.26
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