Bats language explained

Bats
Nativename:	ბაცბა მოტტ
States:	North Caucasus
Region:	Zemo-Alvani in Kakheti
Speakers:	500
Date:	1997
Ref:	^[1]
Speakers2:	far fewer than 3,000 active (2007)
Familycolor:	Caucasian
Fam1:	Northeast Caucasian
Fam2:	Nakh
Script:	Georgian script^[2]
Iso3:	bbl
Glotto:	bats1242
Glottorefname:	Bats
Notice:	IPA

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 pronounced as //u//, which has no long form).

	Front	Back
High	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Mid	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Low	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/

Bats also has a number of diphthongs: pronounced as //ei//, pronounced as //ui//, pronounced as //oi//, pronounced as //ai//, pronounced as //ou//, and pronounced as //au//.^[3]

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 .

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.^[4]

Consonant Phonemes of Bats^[5]
			Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal(ized)	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Nasal			pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Plosive	aspirated	lenis	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
	voiceless	fortis		pronounced as /ink/				pronounced as /ink/
	voiced		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
	ejective	lenis	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
	ejective	fortis		pronounced as /ink/				pronounced as /ink/
Fricative	voiceless	lenis			pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
		fortis			pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
		lateral			pronounced as /ink/
	voiced		pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
Approximant	lenis		pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/				pronounced as /ink/
fortis		pronounced as /ink/
Flap					pronounced as /ink/

Writing

Writing comparison table

Schiefner, 1856^[6]	Imnaishvili, 1977		Kadagidze, 1984		Mikeladze, 2012		Desheriev, 1953	Chrelashvili, 1999	IPA
Schiefner, 1856^[6]	Georgian transcription	Latin transcription	Georgian transcription	Latin transcription	Georgian transcription	Latin transcription	Desheriev, 1953	Chrelashvili, 1999	IPA
a	ა	a	ა	a	ა, ⁀ა	A a, ⁀A ⁀a	а	а	pronounced as /a/
	ა	a	ა	a		Ǎ ǎ, â	а͏̆	а͏̆	pronounced as /ă/
		ā		ā		Ā ā	а̄	а̄	pronounced as /aː/
		ā		ā		ā̄	а̄	а̄	pronounced as /aː/
	აჼ	aⁿ	აჼ	aⁿ	აჼ, ⁀აჼ	Ã ã, ⁀Ã ⁀ã	а̃	а̃	pronounced as /ã/
	აჼ	aⁿ	აჼ	aⁿ		Ā̃ ā̃	а̃	а̃	pronounced as /ãː/
b	ბ	b	ბ	b	ბ	B b	б	б	pronounced as /b/
g	გ	g	გ	g	გ	G g	г	г	pronounced as /ɡ/
d	დ	d	დ	d	დ	D d	д	д	pronounced as /d/
e	ე	e	ე	e	ე	E e	е, э	е	pronounced as /e/
	ე	e	ე	e	⁀	Ē ē, ⁀Ē ⁀ē	е, э	е̄	pronounced as /eː/
		ĕ		ĕ		ě, ê	е͏̆	е͏̆	pronounced as /ĕ/
	ეჼ	eⁿ	ეჼ	eⁿ	ეჼ	Ẽ ẽ	е̃	е̃	pronounced as /ẽ/
	ეჼ	eⁿ	ეჼ	eⁿ		Ē̃ ē̃	е̃	е̃	pronounced as /ẽː/
w	ვ	v	ვ	v	ვ	V v	в	в	pronounced as /v/
z	ზ	z	ზ	z	ზ	Z z	з	з	pronounced as /z/
t̔	თ	t	თ	t	თ	T t	т	т	pronounced as /tʰ/
t̔	თთ	tt	თჾ	tჾ	თჾ	tჾ	тт	тт	pronounced as /tː/
i	ი	i	ი	i	ი, ⁀ი	I i, ⁀I ⁀i	и	и	pronounced as /i/
	ი	i	ი	i		Ī ī	ӣ	ӣ	pronounced as /iː/
		ĭ		ĭ		î	и͏̆	и͏̆	pronounced as /ĭ/
	იჼ	iⁿ	იჼ	iⁿ	იჼ	Ĩ ĩ	и̃	и̃	pronounced as /ĩ/
	იჼ	iⁿ	იჼ	iⁿ		Ī̃ ī̃	и̃	и̃	pronounced as /ĩː/
k	კ	ḳ	კ	ḳ	კ	Ḳ ḳ	кӀ	кӀ	pronounced as /kʼ/
l	ლ	l	ლ	l	ლ	L l	л	л	pronounced as /l/
l	ლლ	ll	ლჾ	lჾ	ლჾ	lჾ	лл	лл	pronounced as /lː/
l͓	ლʻ	lʻ	ლʻ	lʻ	ლʻ	lʻ	лъ	лъ	pronounced as /ɬ/
m	მ	m	მ	m	მ	M m	м	м	pronounced as /m/
n	ნ	n	ნ	n	ნ	N n	н	н	pronounced as /n/
j	ჲ	j	ჲ	j	ჲ	J j	й	й	pronounced as /j/
j	ჲ	j	ჲ	j	ჲჼ	j̇̃	й	й	pronounced as /j̃/
o	ო	o	ო	o	ო, ⁀ო	O o, ⁀O ⁀o	о	о	pronounced as /o/
						Ō ō	о̄	о̄	pronounced as /oː/
						ō̄	о̄	о̄	pronounced as /oː/
		ŏ		ŏ		ǒ, ô	о͏̆	о͏̆	pronounced as /ŏ/
	ოჼ	oⁿ	ოჼ	oⁿ	ოჼ	Õ õ	о̃	о̃	pronounced as /õ/
	ოჼ	oⁿ	ოჼ	oⁿ		Ō̃ ō̃	о̃	о̃	pronounced as /õː/
p	პ	p̣	პ	p̣	პ	P̣ p̣	пӀ	пӀ	pronounced as /pʼ/
z̔	ჟ	ž	ჟ	ž	ჟ	Ž ž	ж	ж	pronounced as /ʒ/
r	რ	r	რ	r	რ	R r	р	р	pronounced as /ɾ/
r	რʻ	rʻ	რ	r	რʻ	rʻ	р	р	pronounced as /ɾ̥/
s	ს	s	ს	s	ს	S s	с	с	pronounced as /s/
s	სს	ss	სჾ	sჾ	სჾ	sჾ	сс	сс	pronounced as /sː/
t	ტ	ṭ	ტ	ṭ	ტ	Ṭ ṭ	тӀ	тӀ	pronounced as /tʼ/
t	ტტ	ṭṭ	ტჾ	ṭჾ	ტჾ	ṭჾ	тӀтӀ	тӀтӀ	pronounced as /tʼː/
u	უ	u	უ	u	უ, ⁀უ	U u, ⁀U ⁀u	у	у	pronounced as /u/
	უ	u	უ	u		Ū ū	у	ӯ	pronounced as /uː/
		ŭ		ŭ		Ǔ ǔ, û	у͏̆	у͏̆	pronounced as /ŭ/
	უჼ	uⁿ	უჼ	uⁿ	უჼ, ⁀უჼ	Ũ ũ, ⁀Ũ ⁀ũ	у̃	у̃	pronounced as /ũ/
p̔	ფ	p	ფ	p	ფ	P p	п	п	pronounced as /pʰ/
k̔	ქ	k	ქ	k	ქ	K k	к	к	pronounced as /kʰ/
g̔	ღ	ɣ	ღ	ɣ	ღ	Ɣ ɣ	гӀ	гӀ	pronounced as /ɣ/
q	ყ	q̣	ყ	q̣	ყ	Q̣ q̣	къ	къ	pronounced as /qʼ/
q	ყყ	q̣q̣	ყჾ	q̣ჾ	ყჾ	q̣ჾ	къкъ	къкъ	pronounced as /qʼː/
s̔	შ	š	შ	š	შ	Š š	ш	ш	pronounced as /ʃ/
s̔	შ	š	შ	š	შჾ	šჾ	ш	ш	pronounced as /ʃː/
c̔	ჩ	č	ჩ	č	ჩ	Č č	ч	ч	pronounced as /t͡ʃʰ/
c	ც	c	ც	c	ც	C c	ц	ц	pronounced as /t͡sʰ/
ʒ	ძ	ʒ	ძ	ʒ	ძ	Ʒ ʒ	дз	дз	pronounced as /d͡z/
c̣	წ	c̣	წ	c̣	წ	C̣ c̣	цӀ	цӀ	pronounced as /t͡sʼ/
c̣̔	ჭ	č̣	ჭ	č̣	ჭ	Č̣ č̣	чӀ	чӀ	pronounced as /t͡ʃʼ/
x	ხ	x	ხ	x	ხ	X x	х	х	pronounced as /x/
x	ხხ	xx	ხჾ	xჾ	ხჾ	xჾ	хх	хх	pronounced as /xː/
q	ჴ	q	ჴ	q	ჴ	Q q	кх	кх	pronounced as /qʰ/
q	ჴჴ	qq	ჴჾ	qჾ	ჴჾ	qჾ	ккх	кхкх	pronounced as /qː/
ʒ̔	ჯ	ǯ	ჯ	ǯ	ჯ	Ǯ ǯ	дж	дж	pronounced as /d͡ʒ/
x̣	ჰ	h	ჰ	h	ჰ	H h	хӀ	хӀ	pronounced as /h/
ḥ	ჰჾ	hჾ	ჰ_⌝	h_⌝	ჰ⁊	H⁊ h⁊/Ⱨ ⱨ	хь	хь	pronounced as /ħ/
ḥ	ჵ	ꞷ	ჵ		ჵ	ꞷ	Ӏъ	Ӏъ	pronounced as /ʡ/
ʼ	ʻ	ʻ	ჺ	ʻ	ჺ/ع	ʻ	Ӏ	Ӏ	pronounced as /ʕ/
—	ʼ	ʼ	ჸ	ʼ	ჸ	ʼ	ʼ	ъ	pronounced as /ʔ/
—	—	—	—	—	—	—	ф	—	pronounced as /f/
—		w	—	—	—	—	—	—	pronounced as /w/

Grammar

The first grammar of Bats,, 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.^[7]

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.^[5] This analysis (not unlike analyses of Lak) yields the grouping shown below:

Label	Singular	Plural	Description	Members
M	v	b	male humans	"husband" "shepherd" "son"
F	j	d	female humans	"mother" "wife" "daughter"
D	d	d	various	"child" "cat" "heart" "meat"
Bd	b	d	animals	"tooth" "bread" "rain"
J	j	j	various	"dog" "bear" "sun"
Bd/J	b	j	body parts (15 nouns)	"fist" "eye" "throat"
D/J	d	j	body parts (4 nouns)	"lip" "ear" "hand" "cheek"
B/B	b	b	only 3 nouns	"knit slipper" "boot" "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. In the majority of nouns, the ergative and instrumental cases have a common form.


	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
	nekʼ	nekʼi	cokʼal	cokʼli
Genitive	nekʼeⁿ	nekʼaⁿ	cokʼleⁿ	cokʼlaⁿ
	nekʼen	nekʼin	cokʼlen	cokʼlin
Ergative/Instrumental	nekʼev	nekʼiv	cokʼlev	cokʼliv
Contacting	nek’ex	nekʼax	cokʼlex	cokʼlax
	nekʼegŏ	nekʼigŏ	cokʼlegŏ	cokʼligŏ
	nekʼeǧ	nekʼiǧ	cokʼleǧ	cokʼliǧ
Comitative	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:

40 is formed from 2 20

200 formed from is 10 20^[5]

When modifying nominals, the numeral precedes the noun it modifies.

! 11
	1+10
2		12	2+10
3		13	3+10
4		14	4+10
5		15	5+10
6		16	6+10
7		17	7+10
8		18	8+10
9		19	20–1
10		20


20+1
22		20+2
30		20+10
31		(20+1)+10
32		(20+2)+10
40		2×20
50		(2×20)+10
60		3×20
70		(3×20)+10
80		4×20
90		(4×20)+10
100		5×20
120		from 6x20
160		8×20
200		from 10x20
1000		from Georgian

In Bats, as in its closest relatives Chechen and Ingush, the number four 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 (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:

(I fell down through no fault of my own)

(I fell down and it was my own fault)

References

Историко-сравнительный анализ фонетики нахских языков . Имнайшвили . Давид Силибистрович . Тбилиси . Мецниереба . 1977.
Микеладзе . М. . Гигашвили . К. . Цоватушинско-грузинско-русско-английский словарь . Тбилиси . 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191106143649/http://dspace.nplg.gov.ge/bitstream/1234/295254/1/Wovatushur_Qartul_Rusul_Inglisuri_Leqsikoni_Tomi_I.pdf . 2019-11-06.

External links

Notes and References

Web site: UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger . . en . 2018-04-17.
Web site: Batsbi alphabet, pronunciation and language. Omniglot.com. February 4, 2018.
HG1994
Hauk. Bryn. Hakim. Jacob. Summer 2019. Acoustic properties of singleton and geminate ejectives in Tsova-Tush. ICPhS 2019 Conference Proceedings.
Holisky, Dee Ann and Gagua, Rusudan, 1994. "Tsova-Tush (Batsbi)", in The indigenous languages of the Caucasus Vol 4, Rieks Smeets, editor. Caravan Books, pp. 147-212
Schiefner. Anton. Versuch über die Thusch-Sprache oder die khistische Mundart in Thuschetien. 1856. St. Petersburg.
[Kevin Tuite]