Bats language

Bats
Batsba Moṭṭ ბაცბა მოტტ
Native to	North Caucasus
Region	Zemo-Alvani in Kakheti
Native speakers	(500 cited 1997) far fewer than 3,000 active (2007)
Language family	Northeast Caucasian Nakh Bats
Writing system	Georgian script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bbl
Glottolog	bats1242
ELP	Batsbi

Bats (Batsbur Mott' or Batsba Moṭṭ, also Batsi, Batsbi, Batsb, Batsaw, or Tsova-Tush) is the endangered language of the Bats people, a North Caucasian minority group. It is part of the Nakh family of Northeast Caucasian languages. It had 2,500 to 3,000 speakers in 1975.

There is only one dialect. It exists only as a spoken language, as Bats people use Georgian as their written language. The language is not mutually intelligible with either Chechen or Ingush, the other two members of the Nakh family.

History

Tusheti, the northeastern mountainous region of Georgia, is home to four tribes that consider themselves Tushetians: the Batsbi (also known as Tsovatush), the Gometsari, the Piriqiti, and the Chagma-Tush. Tsovatush people make up 50% of Tushetians. Only several hundred Tsovatush people speak Bats, whereas the other tribes (Gometsari, Piriqiti and Chagma-Tush) have lost the language. Evidence from toponymics indicates that the other three Tushetian tribes formerly spoke Bats, suggesting that all Tushetians once did and over time the Georgian language replaced Bats.

The mountainous terrain preserved the culture and traditions of Tushetians, but the history of isolation makes it more difficult to document them as only a few records exist.

Classification

Bats belongs to the Nakh family of Northeast Caucasian languages.

Geographic distribution

Most speakers of Bats live in the village of Zemo-Alvani, on the Kakhetia Plain, in the Akhmeta Municipality of Georgia. There are some families of Bats in Tbilisi and other bigger towns in Georgia.

Phonology

Vowels

Bats has a typical triangular five-vowel system with short–long contrast (except for u, which has no long form). Bats also has a number of diphthongs, ei, ui, oi, ai, ou, and au. All vowels and diphthongs have nasalized allophones that are the result of phonetic and morphophonemic processes; this is represented by a superscript n, as in kʼnateⁿ boy-GEN.

	Front	Back
High	i, iː	u
Mid	e [ɛ], eː	o [ɔ], oː
Low		a, aː

Consonants

Bats has a relatively typical consonant inventory for a Northeast Caucasian language. Unlike its close relatives, Chechen and Ingush, Bats has retained the lateral fricative /ɬ/. Also notable is the presence of two geminate ejectives, tːʼ and qːʼ, which are cross-linguistically rare.

Consonant Phonemes of Bats

			Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal(ized)	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Nasal			m	n
Plosive	aspirated	lenis	pʰ	tʰ	t͜sʰ	t͡ʃʰ	kʰ	qʰ		ʔ
	voiceless	fortis		tː				qː
	voiced		b	d	d͜z	d͡ʒ	g
	ejective	lenis	pʼ	tʼ	t͜sʼ	t͡ʃʼ	kʼ	qʼ
		fortis		tːʼ				qːʼ
Fricative	voiceless	lenis			s	ʃ	x		ħ	h
		fortis			sː		xː
		lateral			ɬ
	voiced		v		z	ʒ	ɣ		ʕ
Approximant		lenis		l		j
		fortis		lː
Flap					ɾ

Writing

Writing comparison table

Schiefner, 1856	Imnaishvili, 1977		Kadagidze, 1984		Mikeladze, 2012		Desheriev, 1953	Chrelashvili, 1999	IPA
	Georgian transcription	Latin transcription	Georgian transcription	Latin transcription	Georgian transcription	Latin transcription
a	ა	a	ა	a	ა, ⁀ა	A a, ⁀A ⁀a	а	а	IPA: [a]
						Ǎ ǎ, â	а͏̆	а͏̆	IPA: [ă]
		ā		ā		Ā ā	а̄	а̄	IPA: [aː]
						ā̄			IPA: [aː]
	აჼ	aⁿ	აჼ	aⁿ	აჼ, ⁀აჼ	à ã, ⁀à⁀ã	а̃	а̃	IPA: [ã]
						Ā̃ ā̃			IPA: [ãː]
b	ბ	b	ბ	b	ბ	B b	б	б	IPA: [b]
g	გ	g	გ	g	გ	G g	г	г	IPA: [ɡ]
d	დ	d	დ	d	დ	D d	д	д	IPA: [d]
e	ე	e	ე	e	ე	E e	е, э	е	IPA: [e]
					⁀	Ē ē, ⁀Ē ⁀ē		е̄	IPA: [eː]
		ĕ		ĕ		ě, ê	е͏̆	е͏̆	IPA: [ĕ]
	ეჼ	eⁿ	ეჼ	eⁿ	ეჼ	Ẽ ẽ	е̃	е̃	IPA: [ẽ]
						Ē̃ ē̃			IPA: [ẽː]
w	ვ	v	ვ	v	ვ	V v	в	в	IPA: [v]
z	ზ	z	ზ	z	ზ	Z z	з	з	IPA: [z]
t̔	თ	t	თ	t	თ	T t	т	т	IPA: [tʰ]
	თთ	tt	თჾ	tჾ	თჾ	tჾ	тт	тт	IPA: [tː]
i	ი	i	ი	i	ი, ⁀ი	I i, ⁀I ⁀i	и	и	IPA: [i]
						Ī ī	ӣ	ӣ	IPA: [iː]
		ĭ		ĭ		î	и͏̆	и͏̆	IPA: [ĭ]
	იჼ	iⁿ	იჼ	iⁿ	იჼ	Ĩ ĩ	и̃	и̃	IPA: [ĩ]
						Ī̃ ī̃			IPA: [ĩː]
k	კ	ḳ	კ	ḳ	კ	Ḳ ḳ	кӀ	кӀ	IPA: [kʼ]
l	ლ	l	ლ	l	ლ	L l	л	л	IPA: [l]
	ლლ	ll	ლჾ	lჾ	ლჾ	lჾ	лл	лл	IPA: [lː]
l͓	ლʻ	lʻ	ლʻ	lʻ	ლʻ	lʻ	лъ	лъ	IPA: [ɬ]
m	მ	m	მ	m	მ	M m	м	м	IPA: [m]
n	ნ	n	ნ	n	ნ	N n	н	н	IPA: [n]
j	ჲ	j	ჲ	j	ჲ	J j	й	й	IPA: [j]
					ჲჼ	j̇̃			IPA: [j̃]
o	ო	o	ო	o	ო, ⁀ო	O o, ⁀O ⁀o	о	о	IPA: [o]
						Ō ō	о̄	о̄	IPA: [oː]
						ō̄			IPA: [oː]
		ŏ		ŏ		ǒ, ô	о͏̆	о͏̆	IPA: [ŏ]
	ოჼ	oⁿ	ოჼ	oⁿ	ოჼ	Õ õ	о̃	о̃	IPA: [õ]
						Ō̃ ō̃			IPA: [õː]
p	პ	p̣	პ	p̣	პ	P̣ p̣	пӀ	пӀ	IPA: [pʼ]
z̔	ჟ	ž	ჟ	ž	ჟ	Ž ž	ж	ж	IPA: [ʒ]
r	რ	r	რ	r	რ	R r	р	р	IPA: [ɾ]
	რʻ	rʻ			რʻ	rʻ			IPA: [ɾ̥]
s	ს	s	ს	s	ს	S s	с	с	IPA: [s]
	სს	ss	სჾ	sჾ	სჾ	sჾ	сс	сс	IPA: [sː]
t	ტ	ṭ	ტ	ṭ	ტ	Ṭ ṭ	тӀ	тӀ	IPA: [tʼ]
	ტტ	ṭṭ	ტჾ	ṭჾ	ტჾ	ṭჾ	тӀтӀ	тӀтӀ	IPA: [tʼː]
u	უ	u	უ	u	უ, ⁀უ	U u, ⁀U ⁀u	у	у	IPA: [u]
						Ū ū		ӯ	IPA: [uː]
		ŭ		ŭ		Ǔ ǔ, û	у͏̆	у͏̆	IPA: [ŭ]
	უჼ	uⁿ	უჼ	uⁿ	უჼ, ⁀უჼ	Ũ ũ, ⁀Ũ ⁀ũ	у̃	у̃	IPA: [ũ]
p̔	ფ	p	ფ	p	ფ	P p	п	п	IPA: [pʰ]
k̔	ქ	k	ქ	k	ქ	K k	к	к	IPA: [kʰ]
g̔	ღ	ɣ	ღ	ɣ	ღ	Ɣ ɣ	гӀ	гӀ	IPA: [ɣ]
q	ყ	q̣	ყ	q̣	ყ	Q̣ q̣	къ	къ	IPA: [qʼ]
	ყყ	q̣q̣	ყჾ	q̣ჾ	ყჾ	q̣ჾ	къкъ	къкъ	IPA: [qʼː]
s̔	შ	š	შ	š	შ	Š š	ш	ш	IPA: [ʃ]
					შჾ	šჾ			IPA: [ʃː]
c̔	ჩ	č	ჩ	č	ჩ	Č č	ч	ч	IPA: [t͡ʃʰ]
c	ც	c	ც	c	ც	C c	ц	ц	IPA: [t͡sʰ]
ʒ	ძ	ʒ	ძ	ʒ	ძ	Ʒ ʒ	дз	дз	IPA: [d͡z]
c̣	წ	c̣	წ	c̣	წ	C̣ c̣	цӀ	цӀ	IPA: [t͡sʼ]
c̣̔	ჭ	č̣	ჭ	č̣	ჭ	Č̣ č̣	чӀ	чӀ	IPA: [t͡ʃʼ]
x	ხ	x	ხ	x	ხ	X x	х	х	IPA: [x]
	ხხ	xx	ხჾ	xჾ	ხჾ	xჾ	хх	хх	IPA: [xː]
q	ჴ	q	ჴ	q	ჴ	Q q	кх	кх	IPA: [qʰ]
	ჴჴ	qq	ჴჾ	qჾ	ჴჾ	qჾ	ккх	кхкх	IPA: [qː]
ʒ̔	ჯ	ǯ	ჯ	ǯ	ჯ	Ǯ ǯ	дж	дж	IPA: [d͡ʒ]
x̣	ჰ	h	ჰ	h	ჰ	H h	хӀ	хӀ	IPA: [h]
ḥ	ჰჾ	hჾ	ჰ⁊	h⁊	ჰ⁊	H⁊ h⁊/Ⱨ ⱨ	хь	хь	IPA: [ħ]
	ჵ	ꞷ	ჵ		ჵ	ꞷ	Ӏъ	Ӏъ	IPA: [ʡ]
ʼ	ʻ	ʻ	ჺ	ʻ	ჺ/ع	ʻ	Ӏ	Ӏ	IPA: [ʕ]
—	ʼ	ʼ	ჸ	ʼ	ჸ	ʼ	ʼ	ъ	IPA: [ʔ]
—	—	—	—	—	—	—	ф	—	IPA: [f]
—		w	—	—	—	—	—	—	IPA: [w]

Grammar

The first grammar of Bats, Über die Thusch-Sprache, was compiled by the German orientalist Anton Schiefner (1817–1879), making it into the first grammar of an indigenous Caucasian language based on sound scientific principles.

Noun classes

Traditional analyses posit that Bats has eight noun classes, the highest number among the Northeast Caucasian languages; however, a more recent analysis gives only five classes. This analysis (not unlike analyses of Lak) yields the grouping shown below:

Label	Singular	Plural	Description	Members
M	v	b	male humans	mar "husband" ʕuv "shepherd" voħ "son"
F	j	d	female humans	nan "mother" pstʼu "wife" joħ "daughter"
D	d	d	various	bader "child" kʼuit’ĭ "cat" dokʼ "heart" ditx "meat"
Bd	b	d	animals	carkʼ "tooth" maiqĭ "bread" qʼar "rain"
J	j	j	various	pħu "dog" ča "bear" matx "sun"
*Bd/J	b	j	body parts (15 nouns)	bak "fist" bʕarkʼ "eye" čʼqʼempʼŏ "throat"
*D/J	d	j	body parts (4 nouns)	batʼr "lip", larkʼ "ear" tʼotʼ "hand", čʼamaǧ "cheek"
*B/B	b	b	only 3 nouns	borag "knit slipper" čekam "boot" kakam "autumn wool"

Under this analysis, the additional three classes are examples of inquorate gender, where the number of items displaying this behavior are insufficient to constitute an independent grouping. Furthermore, they can be explained as inflecting one class in the singular, and another in the plural, e.g. the B/B group agrees as if it belonged to the Bd class in the singular but the male human class in the plural.

Noun cases

Batsbi makes use of nine noun cases total, though in the majority of nouns, the ergative and instrumental cases have a common form.

	nekʼ 'knife'		cokʼal 'fox'
Cases	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	nekʼ	nekʼi	cokʼal	cokʼli
Genitive	nekʼen	nekʼan	cokʼlen	cokʼlan
Dative	nekʼen	nekʼin	cokʼlen	cokʼlin
Ergative/Instrumental	nekʼev	nekʼiv	cokʼlev	cokʼliv
Contacting case	nek’ex	nekʼax	cokʼlex	cokʼlax
Allative	nekʼegŏ	nekʼigŏ	cokʼlegŏ	cokʼligŏ
Adverbial	nekʼeǧ	nekʼiǧ	cokʼleǧ	cokʼliǧ
Commitive case	nekʼcin, nekʼecin	nekʼicin	cokʼlecin	cokʼlicin

Numerals

Like most of its relatives, Bats' numerals are vigesimal, using 20 as a common base. This is mainly evident in the construction of higher decads, so that 40 (šauztʼqʼ) is formed from 2 × 20 and 200 (icʼatʼqʼ) formed from is 10 × 20. When modifying nominals, the numeral precedes the noun it modifies.

Basic numbers

1	cħa	11	cħajtʼː	1+10
2	ši	12	šiitʼː	2+10
3	qo	13	qoitʼː	3+10
4	Dʕivʔ	14	Dʕevajtʼː	4+10
5	pxi	15	pxiitʼː	5+10
6	jetx	16	jetxajtʼː	6+10
7	vorɬ	17	vorɬajtʼː	7+10
8	barɬ	18	barɬajtʼː	8+10
9	isː	19	tʼqʼexc’	20–1
10	itʼː	20	tʼqʼa

Higher decads

21	tʼqʼacħa	20+1
22	tʼqʼaš	20+2
30	tʼqʼaitʼː	20+10
31	tʼqʼacħaitʼː	(20+1)+10
32	tʼqʼašiitʼː	(20+2)+10
40	šauztʼqʼ	2×20
50	šauztʼqʼaitʼː	(2×20)+10
60	qouztʼqʼ	3×20
70	qouztʼqʼaitʼː	(3×20)+10
80	Dʕe(v)uztʼqʼ	4×20
90	Dʕe(v)uztʼqʼaitʼː	(4×20)+10
100	pxauztʼqʼ	5×20
120	jexcʼatʼqʼ	from jetxcʼatʼqʼ 6x20
160	barɬcʼatʼqʼ	8×20
200	icʼatʼqʼ	from itʼːcʼatʼqʼ 10x20
1000	atas	from Georgian

In Bats, as in its closest relatives Chechen and Ingush, the number four (Dʕivʔ) begins with a noun-class marker, represented by D (by default, or another capital letter for the other classes). This marker will agree in class with the class of the nominal which the number modifies, even if that nominal is not overtly expressed and is only apparent through pragmatic or discursive context, as in Vʕivʔev (four (males)). This is seen in the word four itself as well as its derivatives.

Verbs

Bats has explicit inflections for agentivity of a verb; it makes a distinction between "as woʒe" (I fell down through no fault of my own) and "so woʒe" (I fell down and it was my own fault).

External links

• The Red Book of Peoples of the Russian Empire: The Bats
• Languages of the World report Archived 2006-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
• Bats basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database