| Itsari | |
| Nativename: | ицӀран гъай[1] |
| States: | North Caucasus |
| Region: | Dagestan |
| Speakers: | 2,000 |
| Date: | 2003 |
| Ref: | [2] |
| Familycolor: | Caucasian |
| Fam1: | Northeast Caucasian |
| Fam2: | Dargin |
| Glotto2: | icar1234 |
| Glottoname2: | Icari |
| Pronunciation: | pronounced as /[ic’ran ʁaj]/ |
| Ethnicity: | Dargins |
| Script: | unwritten |
| Fam3: | Southern |
| Fam4: | Sanzhi-Itsari |
| Also Known As: | Icari |
Itsari (Icari, Itsari:) is a language in the Dargin dialect continuum spoken in Dagestan, Russia spoken in the village Itsari, as well as in Kizlyarsky District, Druzhba, and other villages and cities, both in and outside of Dagestan, by about 2,000 people.[2] It is often considered a divergent dialect of Dargwa. Ethnologue lists it as a dialect of Dargwa but recognizes that it may be a separate language. Its closest relative is Sanzhi, which has about 200 speakers and is considered to be an endangered language.[3]
In the village of Itsari, the Itsari language is used for all purposes except writing, as the residents of Itsari use standard written Dargwa or Russian as their written language. The younger population is shifting to Russian as their primary language.