Barakhoeva N.M. The Typological Status of the Nakh Languages

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2025.5.5

Nina M. Barakhoeva

Doctor of Sciences (Philology), Associate Professor, Professor, Department of Ingush Language, Ingush State University, Magas, Russia; Leading Researcher, Center for Nakh Studies, Chechen State Pedagogical University, Groznyj, Russia

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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3289-5374

Abstract. The article describes the features of the manifestation of agglutinative and inflective ways of forming linguistic units (words, word forms, phrases, and sentences) in the Nakh languages in order to clarify the morphological type of these languages. The analysis is conducted at the phonetic, morphemic, morphological, word-formation, and syntactic levels of the language. Traditionally, the Nakh languages are classified by linguists as affixing languages, as one of the main methods of form and word formation is affixation. The study showed that the languages under consideration demonstrate signs of agglutination as the dominant method of form- and word formation: multifunctional affixes, affixal word formation, suffixal word inflection, phonetic changes of sounds at the junction of morphemes, clearly defined boundaries between morphemes, and the absence of personal verb conjugation. At the same time, signs of inflection (analyticity, syntheticity) were found. It has been established that inflection in the Nakh languages is a phenomenon of a later origin than agglutination, and that analyticity preceded syntheticity, the emergence of analyticity in the Nakh languages is due to the presence of a large number of verbal nominal forms, function words, and affixed words. Since the Nakh languages are characterized by both agglutinative (to a greater extent) and inflectional methods of form- and word formation, we consider it appropriate to classify them as affixing agglutinative-inflectional languages.

Key words: morphological classification of languages, types of languages, affixing languages, agglutinative languages, inflective languages, analyticity, syntheticity, Nakh languages.

Citation. Barakhoeva N.M. The Typological Status of the Nakh Languages. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 2. Yazykoznanie [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. Linguistics], 2025, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 62-72. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2025.5.5

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