Itsari language

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Itsari
Icari
ицӀран гъай[1] ИцIрила гъай
Pronunciation	[its’ran ʁaj] [its’arila]
Native to	North Caucasus
Region	Dagestan
Ethnicity	Dargins
Native speakers	2,000 (2003)[2]
Language family	Northeast Caucasian Dargin Southern Sanzhi-Itsari Itsari
Writing system	unwritten
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	icar1234  Icari
Itsari (and Sanzhi)

Itsari (Icari, Itsari: ицӀран гъай^[1]) 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.^[3] Its closest relative is Sanzhi, which has only about 200 speakers and is considered to be an endangered language, as parents are now teaching their children Russian for practical purposes.^[4]

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.^[2]

Itsari has phonemic pharyngealization, as is evidenced by the minimal pair šam 'lamb' – šaӏm 'candle'.