Lak language
| Lak | |
|---|---|
| лакку маз (lakːu maz) | |
| Native to | Russia |
| Region | Southern Dagestan |
| Ethnicity | Laks |
|
Native speakers
|
150,000 (2010 census) |
| Cyrillic (Lak alphabet) | |
| Official status | |
|
Official language in
|
Dagestan (Russia) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | lakk1252 |
Lak
|
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The Lak language (лакку маз, lakːu maz) is a Northeast Caucasian language forming its own branch within this family. It is the language of the Lak people from the Russian autonomous republic of Dagestan, where it is one of six standardized languages. It is spoken by about 157,000 people.
In 1864 Russian ethnographer and linguist P. K. Uslar wrote: "Kazikumukh grammar or as I called it for short in the native language, the Lak grammar, Lakku maz, the Lak language, is ready".
In 1890 a textbook was published on Lak grammar compiled by P.K. Uslar named as The Lak Language. It stated under the title "Lak alphabet": "The proposed alphabet is written for people who name themselves collectively Lak, genitive Lakral. From among these people each one is named separately Lakkuchu 'Lakian man,' the woman — Lakkusharssa 'Lakian woman.' Their homeland they name Lakral kIanu — 'Lak place.'"
Lak has throughout the centuries adopted a number of loanwords from Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and Russian. Ever since Dagestan was part of the USSR and later Russia, the largest portion of loanwords have come from Russian, especially political and technical vocabulary. There is a newspaper and broadcasting station in Lak language.
In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Dagestan of 1994, Lak language was named as the state language along with Russian and some other major languages spoken in Dagestan (about 20 local languages are unwritten and have no official status). Lak language is used as a teaching tool in elementary school and taught as a subject in secondary schools, vocational schools and universities. There is a Lak newspaper, "Ilchi".
The standard Lak language is based on the dialect of the city of Kumukh. This city should not be confused with the Kumyk ethnic group, a Turkic people also present in the Caucasus. To sum up, the Lak language has the following dialects: Kumukh, Vitskhi, Arakul, Balkhar, Shadni, Shalib, Vikhli, Kuli, and Kaya.
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Wikipedia