Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 17, 2026

Kryts language

Kryts (Kryc) is a Lezgic language of the Northeast Caucasian language family spoken in parts of the Quba Rayon of Azerbaijan by 6,000 people in 1975. Its dialects are Kryts, Jek, Khaput, Yergyudzh, and Alyk, which are all quite distinct to the point of only partial mutual intelligibility, therefore they could also be considered separate languages in a dialect continuum.

Last revised
Jul 17, 2026
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Kryts
Kryc
кърыцIаь мез ġrəċä mez/qryc’ä mez
цIека meз ċeka mez/c’eka mez
Йергуьж мез
Pronunciation[ɢrɨts’æ mɛz]
Native toAzerbaijan
RegionQuba Rayon
EthnicityKryts people
Native speakers
5,000 (2007)1
Dialects
  • Kryts
  • Jek
  • Khaput
  • Yergyudzh
  • Alyk
Language codes
ISO 639-3kry
Glottologkryt1240
ELPKryts
  Kryts
Kryts is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger2

Kryts (Kryc) is a Lezgic language of the Northeast Caucasian language family spoken in parts of the Quba Rayon of Azerbaijan by 6,000 people in 1975.1 Its dialects are Kryts, Jek, Khaput, Yergyudzh, and Alyk, which are all quite distinct to the point of only partial mutual intelligibility, therefore they could also be considered separate languages in a dialect continuum.1

Kryts is endangered,34 classified as "severely endangered" by UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.5

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal/
Epiglottal 		Glottal
plain lab. pal. plain lab. pal.
Stop voiceless p t k kʷ kʲ q qʷ qʲ ʔ
ejective pʼ tʼ kʼ kʷʼ kʲʼ qʼ qʷʼ qʲʼ
voiced b d ɡ ɡʷ (ɢ)
Affricate voiceless (t͡s) t͡ʃ
ejective t͡sʼ t͡ʃʼ
voiced (d͡z) d͡ʒ
Fricative voiceless f s ʃ x χ (ʜ) h
voiced v z ʒ ɣ ʁ ʁʷ ʕ
Nasal m n
Trill r
Approximant l j
  • /ʁ/ may also be realized as [ɢ] or [qː], in complementary distribution.
  • Sounds /t͡s, d͡z/ only occur in other dialects of the language.
  • /h/ may vary from a glottal sound to an epiglottal fricative /ʜ/.

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i (ɨ) u
Mid e
Open a
  • /i/ can be heard as [ɨ], in free variation
  • The four vowels may also be pharyngealized as /iˤ, uˤ, eˤ, aˤ/.

Orthography

In 2020, a dictionary was published in the Khaput variety, using the Latin script.6

A a B b C c Ç ç Ç' ç' D d E e Ә ә F f G g Ğ ğ Ğ' ğ'
H h H' h' Ĥ ĥ X x X' x' J j İ i I ı K k K' k' Q q Q' q'
Q̂ q̂ L l M m N n O o Ö ö P p P' p' R r S s Ş ş S' s'
T t U u Ü ü V v Y y Z z
References

References

  • Authier, Gilles (2009). Grammaire kryz. Collection Linguistique (Société de linguistique de Paris). Vol. 93. Leuven: Peeters. ISBN 9789042923157.
External links