Udi language
The Udi language, spoken by the Udi people, is a member of the Lezgic branch of the Northeast Caucasian language family. It is believed an earlier form of it was the main language of Caucasian Albania, which stretched from south Dagestan to current day Azerbaijan. The Old Udi language is also called the Caucasian Albanian language and possibly corresponds to the "Gargarian" language identified by medieval Armenian historians. Modern Udi is known simply as Udi.
| Udi | |
|---|---|
| удин муз, udin muz | |
| Native to | Azerbaijan, Russia, Georgia |
| Region | Azerbaijan (Qabala and Oguz), Russia (North Caucasus), Georgia (Kvareli), and Armenia (Tavush) |
| Ethnicity | Udi people |
Native speakers | 3,800 in Azerbaijan (2011) 2,270 in Russia (2010), 90 in Georgia (2015) |
Early form | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | udi |
| Glottolog | udii1243 |
| ELP | Udi |
Udi is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
The language is spoken by about 4,000 people in the village of Nij, Azerbaijan, in Qabala District, in Oghuz District, as well as in parts of North Caucasus in Russia. It is also spoken by ethnic Udis living in the villages of Debetavan, Bagratashen, Ptghavan, and Haghtanak in Tavush Province of northeastern Armenia, and in the village of Zinobiani (former Oktomberi) in the Qvareli Municipality of the Kakheti province of Georgia.
Udi is endangered, classified as "severely endangered" by UNESCO's Red Book of Endangered Languages.