Terek
05-28-2011, 03:23 AM
During the past century, the languages of the North Caucasus have changed writing systems several times, from Arabic to Latin to Cyrillic. Some of the languages, for example Adyghe, used to be oral language, without writing. The major problem is, especially for those who would wish to preserve their language and teach it to their children, is that the Cyrillic alphabet is not always suitable for the language, and would make the pronounciation easier if it were written in Latin or Arabic.
The controversy is, that to impose the Arabic system might suggest religious reasons, or even support for the Caucasus Emirate. This is not true, the Caucasus Emirate actually considers using only the Arabic language for the entire region. In my opinion, the Arabic writing system is actually more in harmonly with the Chechen language, for example.
There are particular sounds that are most properly written in Arabic:
кх = q= ق
х1= h = ه
хь = ẋ= ح
1= ' = ع
г1 = gh or ġ = غ
ч1 = ç̇ = چع
and so on...
This Latin alphabet was used in Ichkeria during the 1990s.
As you can see, it becomes difficult to transliterate and the letters needed to be invented. For example, the capital city Grozny can be written in different ways:
Соьлжа-г1ала, Sölƶa-ġala, Sölža-ghala, سؤلژِّة غالة
*The capital name in Chechen does not mean Grozny (which means fearsome) it means city of Sölža or Sunzha the river.
Another problem with the Cyrillic alphabet is that it does not mean the same for each Caucasian language. It is impossible to pronounce consonants in Avar for example, such as Лъ кь etc without knowing already how to pronounce them... those combinations would not be the same in Kabardin... anyways, in my opinion, some languages should use the Arabic writing system as it is more consistent.
The controversy is, that to impose the Arabic system might suggest religious reasons, or even support for the Caucasus Emirate. This is not true, the Caucasus Emirate actually considers using only the Arabic language for the entire region. In my opinion, the Arabic writing system is actually more in harmonly with the Chechen language, for example.
There are particular sounds that are most properly written in Arabic:
кх = q= ق
х1= h = ه
хь = ẋ= ح
1= ' = ع
г1 = gh or ġ = غ
ч1 = ç̇ = چع
and so on...
This Latin alphabet was used in Ichkeria during the 1990s.
As you can see, it becomes difficult to transliterate and the letters needed to be invented. For example, the capital city Grozny can be written in different ways:
Соьлжа-г1ала, Sölƶa-ġala, Sölža-ghala, سؤلژِّة غالة
*The capital name in Chechen does not mean Grozny (which means fearsome) it means city of Sölža or Sunzha the river.
Another problem with the Cyrillic alphabet is that it does not mean the same for each Caucasian language. It is impossible to pronounce consonants in Avar for example, such as Лъ кь etc without knowing already how to pronounce them... those combinations would not be the same in Kabardin... anyways, in my opinion, some languages should use the Arabic writing system as it is more consistent.