Bezhta

Facts

Language: Bezhta
Alternate names: Bezheta, Kapucha, бежитинский язык, капучинский язык, бежкьалас миц, bežƛʼalas mic, Bexita, Bezhita, Bezhti, Kapuchin, Bechitin, Kupuca,
Language code: kap
Language family: North Caucasian, East Caucasian, Tsezic, East Tsezic (SIL classification)
Number of speakers: 6,200
Vulnerability: Threatened
Script: Cyrillic script.

More information:

Khvanal is Avar (See: [[Avar]]) name for both Bezhta and Hunzib (See: [[Hunzib]]). Muslim.

Caucasian language belonging to the Tsezic subgroup (also called Dido subgroup) of the northwestern group (Avar-Ando-Dido) of the Dagestan languages. Bezhta is also called the Kapucha language, a name which originates in the Georgian name for the village of Bezhita. There is no scholarly agreement on the genealogical classification of the Bezhta (Kapucha) language. E. Bokarev considers it to belong to the Dido subgroup, whereas Georgian linguist, E. Lomatadze, thinks it is a dialect of the Kapucha-Hunzib language. Bezhta is divided into three dialects: Bezhta, Tljadali and Hochar-Hota. The vocabulary has been greatly affected by Avar and Georgian, through which there have also been some borrowings from Arabic, Turkish and Persian. During the Soviet era the biggest influence was Russian. (The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire)