Tsakhur love poem

The love poem in itq Tsakhur translation (Caxur, Tsaxur, Sakhur, Tsakhury, Yikbi, Yiqny Miz, Yedna Miz, Yiksum, Yiqsum, Saxur dili, Yıqbışda miz, Tsakhna Miz, Ts’axna miz, Autonym : C’aiχna miz, Cʼäxna miz, Ts‘əxna miz).

She is tsakhur-speaker, moreover she understands all languages. She lives in the mountains in a small village, and makes very pretty jewelry. They are first for her. She wears them, tries them on her, and then sells them to the nearest town. Will one day, my poem reach her?

The Tsakhur language has been the subject of many research for 150 years, and we are beginning to have some indications about it. First, it is a Nakho-Dagestanian language, which belongs to the Lezgi group of the Northeast Caucasus languages. The two main dialects of Tsakhur are Tsakhur and Gelmets, each with its sub-dialects. For Tsakhur, these are: Muslakh, Mukhakh, Jinagh, Mishlesh and Suvagil; and for Gelmets, these are Gelmets and Mikik. Gelmets has a lot in common with Rutul, and for some : Tsakhur, Gelmets and Rutul form a chain of dialects (Schulze 1997).

Tsakhur is spoken in Dagestan and Azerbaijan by 90% of the Tsakhurs, perhaps 25,000 people. The word Tsakhur comes from the name of a village in Dagestan, Caxur (ts’a’x), where there are a large number of speakers of this Lezgian language. The Lezghian group includes about ten languages. These are in order of importance for their number of speakers: Lezgi, Tabasaran, Rutul, Tsakhur, Aghoul, Oudi, Boudoukh, Khinaloug, Kryts and Artchi.

It was in the 1930s that a literary language was created, a language that was taught in Azerbaijan and Dagestan. In Azerbaijan, this teaching was quickly interrupted, to only resume at the end of the 1980s with a semi-literary status. Although there is a strong Azerbaijani influence on Tsakhur, and that all this could have caused fear about the language, it seems that its use remains strong, even among urbanized Tsakhurs. We have also seen the emergence of radio programs and newspapers in Tsakhur language recently, in the regions of Dagestan and Azerbaijan where the speakers live.

The Tsakhurs, 30,000 people, refer to themselves as Jiqı, Yiqy (Jiqbı, Yiqby). Traditionally they are shepherds who live, where their pastures are, in the Samur valley, in the south of Dagestan in the district of Rutul, until further south, in Azerbaijan in the districts of Qax and Zaqatala.

The majority of Tsakhurs (2/3) live in Azerbaijan, sometimes in the villages where we found them, they are mixed with other ethnic groups.