The Caucasian Languages (of The Caucasus Mountains)

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  • čas přidán 28. 03. 2024
  • This video is all about the indigenous languages of the Caucasus region, including the Kartvelian, Northeast Caucasian, and Northwest Caucasian language families.
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    Special thanks to the following people for their language samples and feedback: David Gagnidze (Georgian); Sana Patuash, Apsha Rustam, and Asa Nash (Adyghe/Circassian).
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    Major sources used:
    docs.google.com/document/d/1v...
    Creative Commons images:
    docs.google.com/document/d/1x...

Komentáře • 2,8K

  • @Langfocus
    @Langfocus  Před 3 lety +603

    Improved Chechen samples by a native speaker: czcams.com/video/1eh1e-d_6-U/video.html
    Hi, everyone. I hope you like the new video. A couple of things to note: (1) "gvprtskvni" should be translated as "You (sg) peel us" rather than "They peel us".
    (2) Some people have commented that "Gvachvenen" (They will show us) should be "Gvachveneben". "Gvachvenen" is a casual reduced form of the more formal standard form "Gvachveneben". (3) It turns out that the Chechen speaker in the video is NOT a native speaker, even though I confirmed with him several times that he is a fluent native speaker. It seems he considers himself a native speaker because he is an ethnic Chechen, but he in fact learned it as a second language. It pisses me off to no end when people mislead me about this kind of thing. Really.

    • @noahapplehans8082
      @noahapplehans8082 Před 3 lety +5

      Paul!!! one question? Are you a polyglot???

    • @John_Weiss
      @John_Weiss Před 3 lety +13

      @@stevo54838 BTW, I happen to be a native English speaker with a love of phonology.
      The thing is, all native English speakers know about labialized consonants, because the one that we use is written in a weird way with a letter that we don't use anywhere else: *"qu"*!
      “Quick,” “squirrel,” ”quasi,” … we don't pronounce these as a 'k' followed by a 'w'. It'a always _the labialized-'k'_. And if you give it a try, like saying “k|wick” instead of "quick", you'll hear the difference.
      [I usually end up devoicing the 'w', however, when I try. Or sometimes a schwa-'e' slips in between the two.]
      Once you've wrapped your mouth around that, and can hear the difference, go back and listen to the part of this video with the samples of labialized consonants. You'll immediately hear something … “off” with the way he says the labialized-'k'.
      [For “extra credit” ;-) look up each of the labialized consonants on Wikipedia and listen to the sound-samples there. You'll also hear the difference.]

    • @stevo54838
      @stevo54838 Před 3 lety +6

      @@John_Weiss Ok John

    • @noamto
      @noamto Před 3 lety +7

      @@John_Weiss there's also another labialised consonant that most native English speakers should know, the old fashioned way of pronouncing "wh" like some still do in the southern US and in Scotland. I think there the labialisation is even clearer.
      I also think that initial R in English is slightly labialised (and not only in words where it clearly was historically according to spelling), at least in certain dialects.

    • @John_Weiss
      @John_Weiss Před 3 lety +3

      @@noamto I can see why you'd think that.
      But if you have a look at an IPA consonant chart, you'll see that 'wh' - and 'w', 'b', and 'p' - are not labialIZED consonants, they're *labial* consonants.
      So, 'wh' is an unvoiced labial fricative. It's kinda like a "voiceless-'w'". Wikipedia's a great reference for all of this, BTW.
      As for the 'r' in British English … hooboy. Rhotics are always kind of a mess. I saw another linguistics video on this very topic. Some speakers, when saying an 'r', put their tongue in the same position as when you say a 'v'. These people sound like they're saying, "vewy," instead of, "very." But they're *not labializing* anything.
      Other speakers have their tongues in the same position as when they say an 'l'.
      But that's British English. Here in North America, when we say an 'r' our tongues are curled so far back they may as well be touching our uvulas! 😆🤣🤣 Seriously, though, it's called a "retroflex-'r'". And in the US, that retroflex-'r' can turn into an "'r'-colored vowel". (See Wikipedia.) Yes, in US English, 'r' is sometimes a vowel!

  • @mikikaboom9084
    @mikikaboom9084 Před 3 lety +1624

    The Balkans: I have the most complicated demographics!
    The Caucasus: Hold my mountain

    • @DarthDookie
      @DarthDookie Před 3 lety +35

      This is terrific, haha, cheers!

    • @atavoidturk9025
      @atavoidturk9025 Před 3 lety +72

      new guinea: amatures

    • @solosunbeam
      @solosunbeam Před 3 lety +6

      🤣😂🤣😂. Love it.

    • @elimalinsky7069
      @elimalinsky7069 Před 3 lety +34

      Laughs in aboriginal Taiwanese.

    • @Georgian2go
      @Georgian2go Před 3 lety +5

      hi mikolaj We're a Georgian native (Anna) and a German (Raoul). We recently launched a Georgian Language and Culture themed channel, with our crew of little animated friends. So far, we uploaded five language videos, the culture related content is coming soon! Hope you enjoy it! If you enjoy the episodes enough, feel free to subscribe, it would help us spread the content better. Thanks so much and have a wonderful day. A+R from georgian2go PS: if you're a Georgian, please subscribe anyway, it helps us popularize the language and we'll be able to reach more people that way, massive thanks.

  • @marslanouk6627
    @marslanouk6627 Před 2 lety +265

    I am Circassian from the USA, I speak Abzagh, Bzadough and Kabardey fluently because my parents insisted on keeping our language and our culture within our home from a very early age. I was allowed to speak any language outside my home, however once I stepped foot in the door inside my house I immediately switched my language as well my culture. I have traveled to several countries and the Circassians are losing their language. Disheartened to say we already lost the Wibigh language.....I adore my culture, my dance and my very difficult languages. When I hear the sound of the accordion my heart overflows with extreme bliss.

    • @bratwurststattsucuk4517
      @bratwurststattsucuk4517 Před rokem +11

      there is lots of circassians in my area(turkey) and they sadly just speak turkish:/

    • @spkq-wx8eg
      @spkq-wx8eg Před rokem +9

      Адыгэ уей уей 🙂

    • @user-kf9zm1nw2w
      @user-kf9zm1nw2w Před rokem +1

      😊🤚👍

    • @ofilzag
      @ofilzag Před rokem +25

      Your parents are heros and you should be proud of them for preserving your culture and language. Now think of doing the same with your kids so your identity will never die.
      I'm not circassian, I'm from Africa, and I respect your people for their efforts to preserve this fascinating culture.

    • @mpforeverunlimited
      @mpforeverunlimited Před rokem +3

      How come you speak 3? Your parents are from 2 different places?

  • @Langfocus
    @Langfocus  Před 7 měsíci +4

    Hi, everyone! I hope you like the video.
    If you're learning a new language, try the world-famous *Pimsleur method* in its new-and-improved subscription format: ► imp.i271380.net/langfocus ► *Free trial - Use my link to gain access*
    (Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate link, so Langfocus gets a small referral fee - at no extra cost to you)

    • @banzai1691
      @banzai1691 Před měsícem

      A small correction: "khakh" in Chechen is not wool, but skin. in Chechen wool is called "t1arg1"

  • @gergelygalvacsy2251
    @gergelygalvacsy2251 Před 3 lety +1766

    “Let’s hear an example!” *speaker coughs into the microphone*

  • @dunnowy123
    @dunnowy123 Před 3 lety +388

    The Georgian script is Georgeous

    • @oskarchxeidze3490
      @oskarchxeidze3490 Před 3 lety +17

      Madloba 💓 დრო მოვა ისწავლი ქართულს

    • @mariko5370
      @mariko5370 Před 3 lety +11

      გეთანხმები! 👍❤️

    • @shauryaveerrajkumar3950
      @shauryaveerrajkumar3950 Před 3 lety +9

      Weird pun but ok

    • @myk1137
      @myk1137 Před 2 lety

      Just an alphabet like any other.

    • @l.m6038
      @l.m6038 Před 2 lety +10

      @@myk1137 ok we got it. Calm down now

  • @anastsay1442
    @anastsay1442 Před 3 lety +95

    I'm a Circassian native speaker and I can speak also English, German and Arabic fluently thanks to my Circassian mother tongue. Because in Circassian there are many difficult sounds as well as normal sounds that exist in German, Arabic and English, which of course helped me a lot become a fluent speaker in these languages. Thank you Mr.Paul for this amazing video. I'm a linguist and I love your videos very much. Kind regards from Austria

    • @Cherkesskiy
      @Cherkesskiy Před rokem +2

      Do you speak russian or circassian?My surname too Tsay,but I live in the Caucasus.

    • @user-vd7fu3sv6x
      @user-vd7fu3sv6x Před 10 měsíci

      @@Cherkesskiy он же сказал, что он native speaker, адыгэбзэкlэ зэрыпсалъэфыр ауэду занщlу къигъэлъэгъуа

  • @princekrazie
    @princekrazie Před 3 lety +514

    Gvprtskvni is what bananas say when they are about to die.

    • @aussieboxer9776
      @aussieboxer9776 Před 3 lety +5

      I like it!

    • @Netavi2009
      @Netavi2009 Před 3 lety +21

      We also say it when someone takes advantage of us financially and leaves us with no money. we use this word in past tense "gagvprtskveni/gagvptskvnes"

    • @keto-diet
      @keto-diet Před 3 lety +23

      lets talk from position of banana
      gagvprtskvnian - they are going to peel us
      gvrptskvian - they are peeling us
      gagvrptskvnes - they peeled us

    • @lucatoni5310
      @lucatoni5310 Před 3 lety +1

      Better could be just gvbrdgvnis

    • @followmearound123
      @followmearound123 Před 3 lety

      @@keto-diet :D vai chemo tao :D

  • @vigilant_crusty
    @vigilant_crusty Před 3 lety +1132

    Everybody gangsta until Georgian starts clustering consonants.

  • @islmhhh4987
    @islmhhh4987 Před 3 lety +1313

    I speak Circassian so I'm not afraid of any other language pronounciation :) Great video, thanks.

    • @TeutonicEmperor1198
      @TeutonicEmperor1198 Před 3 lety +12

      Do you live in Turkey ?

    • @iVo42928f
      @iVo42928f Před 3 lety +84

      Try Danish. Good luck with all the vowels and weird hiccup sounds

    • @user-jp7de3kc6p
      @user-jp7de3kc6p Před 3 lety +13

      Well that's weird (because ur name is written in katakana, so I assumed that you only Japanese and English), as the other guy said, any effective way to learn that language?

    • @Vasu1982ca
      @Vasu1982ca Před 3 lety +35

      sa oef there are a big plenty of the Soviet books, unfortunately, I suppose today only a little group of linguists investigate Caucasian languages (except Georgian)

    • @artemesiagentileschini7348
      @artemesiagentileschini7348 Před 3 lety +11

      even !xõó (language with 100+ consonants) tho it would be easier for you to do it

  • @stangaloway
    @stangaloway Před rokem +85

    Didn't think anyone in the world would be interested in us or in our languages. I'm pleasantly surprised - thank you.
    Best regards from Chechnya👍

    • @douglaspate9314
      @douglaspate9314 Před 9 měsíci +5

      I am totally interested. We have a Georgian community here in Andorra and I have heard it spoken up close and personal. I love the sound of the language. It feels deep and emotional and I know I would REALLY struggle to pronounce it

    • @castro_458
      @castro_458 Před 3 měsíci

      ​@@douglaspate9314comunidad de georgianos en Andorra? 🤔🤔🤔

    • @DemstarAus
      @DemstarAus Před měsícem

      ​@@castro_458there are pockets like this in many places. There is a community of Welsh speakers in Argentina.

  • @TWIINTIGER
    @TWIINTIGER Před 3 lety +197

    I’m Circassian/Adyghe and learning my language right now (which is quite challenging). Thank you for making this video about our language (and those of the Caucasus region), not many people know about us, so a channel as popular as yours talkIng about us is really cool to see!
    Wupso (thank you)

    • @moneykid1
      @moneykid1 Před 2 lety +4

      where you from7

    • @marisa1171
      @marisa1171 Před 2 lety +3

      Where or How u learning it?

    • @TheAssassin04
      @TheAssassin04 Před rokem +3

      And? Did you learn it, any progress??

    • @bod-essebod-esse4142
      @bod-essebod-esse4142 Před rokem +4

      I only knew about Circassians from reading "A Hero of Our Time" By M. Lermontov, and from a recipe called "Circassian chicken". Now I have been watching your dances on CZcams!

  • @pualamnusantara7903
    @pualamnusantara7903 Před 3 lety +726

    Arabic : I have the most throaty consonants!
    Caucasian languages : Hello there!

    • @ztac_dex
      @ztac_dex Před 3 lety +27

      mountains and steppes produce throaty consonants

    • @Vitalis94
      @Vitalis94 Před 3 lety +12

      General Kaukaz!

    • @omerfarukdemir758
      @omerfarukdemir758 Před 3 lety +9

      @Twój Stary I mean Arabic has not that many throaty consonants

    • @aluminiumknight4038
      @aluminiumknight4038 Před 3 lety +11

      @Twój Stary
      No one is offended, they are just talking

    • @romanr.301
      @romanr.301 Před 3 lety +13

      Twój Stary - Calm down. You sound far more offended and pissed than they do in their very mild remark.

  • @synthster7416
    @synthster7416 Před 2 lety +66

    I'm Circassian and Turkish, it is VERY interesting to watch this video. I had never seen a Western person talk about these languages and I love how well researched and spot on you are.

  • @user-sz6kw5tc4x
    @user-sz6kw5tc4x Před 3 lety +154

    I am Amharic speaker from Ethiopia. Much respect for Caucasian languages. I think they can pronounce any languages in this world. I saw so many sounds in Caucasian languages that i thought before they are only Amharic sounds.

    • @jokahasanov9615
      @jokahasanov9615 Před 2 lety +4

      እኔም እስማማለሁ ከዚ በፊት እኔም ቀ ጠ ጨ ጰ ጸ አማርኛ ብቻ ያለ ድምጻች እንደሆኑ አስቤ ነበር

    • @linkinparahybana9634
      @linkinparahybana9634 Před 2 lety

      Amharic has ejectives, right?

    • @lashachilashvili6558
      @lashachilashvili6558 Před rokem

      You ar caucasian arabizm

    • @mEDIUMGap
      @mEDIUMGap Před rokem +3

      There are no clicking sounds like those in Xosa in Caucasian languages

    • @anewwaveanewbeginning3606
      @anewwaveanewbeginning3606 Před 10 měsíci

      @@mEDIUMGap click sounds are only in South Africa, you don’t really find it anywhere else

  • @Zastrava
    @Zastrava Před 3 lety +238

    Georgian is a language I've been obsessed with since at least 2009-- it led me to delve deep into linguistics. Such a fascinating language and region, but fairly difficult to actually learn when you have lived in the Canadian Prairies and US Midwest where teaching materials are nigh impossible to get ahold of.

    • @MargaretNahmias
      @MargaretNahmias Před 3 lety +8

      And whose features are quite different from Indo European.

    • @Zastrava
      @Zastrava Před 2 lety +8

      @Alex Turner I've been trying off and on for a few years

    • @georgiancountryball202
      @georgiancountryball202 Před 2 lety +7

      Eh have you reached the verbs? If you did I’m sorry for your sacrifice because verbs literally are as hard as some easy to learn languages they can compete with other languages entire grammar with complexity

    • @randomdude4255
      @randomdude4255 Před 2 lety +1

      @@georgiancountryball202 I dont agree its not that hard, Have you tried learning french? Georgian verbs act like french but we have slightly more rules

    • @georgiancountryball202
      @georgiancountryball202 Před 2 lety +2

      @@randomdude4255 we can. Fill 100 pages of grammar for verbs and if something verbs are more complicated than you think in Georgia

  • @notatrollbutanorceacenato4782

    Greetings from the North Caucasus, the Republic of Adygea👋👋👋☺️

    • @wisamhatk5016
      @wisamhatk5016 Před 3 lety +10

      АДЫГЭ Уей Уей

    • @k.umquat8604
      @k.umquat8604 Před 3 lety +8

      Greetings from Izmit, Turkey

    • @RoScFan
      @RoScFan Před 3 lety +4

      Hey there. If i were to visit adyghea, kabardino or Cherkhessia What would be some interesting things to see? Do you have museums?

    • @danakuizheva624
      @danakuizheva624 Před 3 lety +6

      @@RoScFan there's a pretty interesting national museum in Maykop, Adyghea. Not very huge but neither is the town. We have great nature though

    • @notatrollbutanorceacenato4782
      @notatrollbutanorceacenato4782 Před 3 lety +8

      @National Autistic Socialism Today in the North Caucasus there are 7 republics: Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia-Alania, Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan, as well as 2 territories: Krasnodar and Stavropol, which are part of the Southern and North Caucasian federal districts

  • @taylormudford4621
    @taylormudford4621 Před 3 lety +169

    I've been studying Georgian for a few months now and have come to absolutely love the sound of ejective consonants and the harmonic clusters. Though the actual grammar for verbs (and split ergativity) are definitely mind bending and challenging.

    • @giorgi2702
      @giorgi2702 Před 3 lety +11

      Thanks for taking interest in my language! If you need help with Georgian, I can gladly help you!

    • @njnikusha
      @njnikusha Před 3 lety +1

      Thanks buddy ✌️

    • @georgenarushvili9433
      @georgenarushvili9433 Před 3 lety +1

      👏🤝🖐

    • @wtc5198
      @wtc5198 Před 2 lety +2

      This. Ejectives and other pronunciation difficulties wouldn't bother me, but the grammar is mindblowing.

  • @arifakyuz7673
    @arifakyuz7673 Před 3 lety +104

    Poles: My name is Grzegorz brzęczyszczyki-
    Georgians: *gvprtskvni*

    • @prometheus5770
      @prometheus5770 Před 3 lety +3

      how about mts'vrtneli (coach)

    • @BETOETE
      @BETOETE Před 3 lety +4

      make it simpler easier, like Gregor Breshishky.

    • @aluda2234
      @aluda2234 Před 3 lety

      @@prometheus5770 "MWVRTNELI" is the correct version no need to complicate the language and writing style further no man in georgia writes in that style only foreigners do and its annoying

    • @prometheus5770
      @prometheus5770 Před 3 lety +4

      ​@@aluda2234 I romanize Georgian only according to the national system from 2002 which you can find on Wikipedia. w for წ and y for ყ are not acceptable for me. They dont make any sense other then visual similarity. But who cares about that. Letters should indicate pronunciation

    • @Georgian2go
      @Georgian2go Před 3 lety

      hi arif We're a Georgian native (Anna) and a German (Raoul). We recently launched a Georgian Language and Culture themed channel, with our crew of little animated friends. So far, we uploaded five language videos, the culture related content is coming soon! Hope you enjoy it! If you enjoy the episodes enough, feel free to subscribe, it would help us spread the content better. Thanks so much and have a wonderful day. A+R from georgian2go PS: if you're a Georgian, please subscribe anyway, it helps us popularize the language and we'll be able to reach more people that way, massive thanks.

  • @njnikusha
    @njnikusha Před 3 lety +34

    At last Caucasian languages. Thanks for taking the time to do the content. Any Georgians here? 🇬🇪🇬🇪🇬🇪🇬🇪🇬🇪

  • @mazethewise1293
    @mazethewise1293 Před 3 lety +552

    Paul: There are lots of consonants.
    Me: oh like the Czech language?
    Local: sprvrknkpni
    Me: nope nothing alike

    • @003mohamud
      @003mohamud Před 3 lety +34

      *consonants. Languages with lots of vowels would be the polynesian languages like in hawaiian ʻāʻaua "coarse", ʻaeʻoia "to be well supplied", and uauoʻoa "distant voices"

    • @mazethewise1293
      @mazethewise1293 Před 3 lety +7

      Samatar Mohamed oh thanks that’s what I meant. I’ll edit it.

    • @NikaAbasheli
      @NikaAbasheli Před 3 lety +12

      Well, Georgian's heard it...and the answer is : vephkhvtmbrdghvneli

    • @chriswiddajonathan8941
      @chriswiddajonathan8941 Před 3 lety +5

      @@003mohamud try estonian.

    • @arrowackskorsou8194
      @arrowackskorsou8194 Před 3 lety +8

      And how are they able to still sing so beautifully I mean Georgian polyphonic singing is awesome!

  • @di_anso
    @di_anso Před 3 lety +92

    I'm kabardian, and watching your videos made me think that it'd be so nice to see a video from you about my language, but I never ever thought it would actually be a thing! I'm shocked and honored and very happy rn :D

    • @islmhhh4987
      @islmhhh4987 Před 2 lety +5

      Сэри ара!

    • @LeventAslanbogan
      @LeventAslanbogan Před 2 lety +3

      я чеченец ☝🏻💂🏻‍♂️

    • @sskuk1095
      @sskuk1095 Před 2 lety +1

      I was wondering how mutually intelligable the north caucasian languages are. Can you give me an answer?

    • @di_anso
      @di_anso Před 2 lety +7

      @@sskuk1095 Sure! Northwest Caucasian languages are for the most part mutually intelligible. Among those Circassian languages have very little difference between each other, but I probably would struggle to understand Abkhaz or Abaza. As for the Northeast languages, they are a completely different language family and I wouldn't understand them at all :)

    • @jessicaeurydicecano2036
      @jessicaeurydicecano2036 Před 2 lety +8

      I used to have a friend from Nalchik, and she always told me that kabardian was the most difficult thing ever. She was teaching me russian and I was amazed that there was something more difficult than that lol. Of course I didn't know much about languages back then, so I thought russian was the hardest thing ever hahaha. It makes me kinda nostalgic to hear about the language and the region. Hope you're doing well!!

  • @muradcaucasus2396
    @muradcaucasus2396 Před 3 lety +22

    Greetings from Caucasus mountains, from Lezgi people. Nice video.

    • @ginaibisi777
      @ginaibisi777 Před měsícem

      You are not Albanian are you😅

    • @muradcaucasus2396
      @muradcaucasus2396 Před měsícem +2

      @@ginaibisi777 Our ancestors are Caucasian Albanian. Not Balkanian one. Ancient Greek historians wrote about the folks leqs, gels, udi and others who lived in Caucasian Albania

  • @yousefal-kilani5108
    @yousefal-kilani5108 Před rokem +51

    My mother is Circassian, sadly she doesn't speak her own language of origin (she speaks Arabic) because her family came long ago to Jordan, but they are still holding onto their identity, I hope that I could learn and speak this language one day . Thank you for the video

  • @SylveonSimp
    @SylveonSimp Před 3 lety +283

    6:27 when somebody slays your villagers in aoe2

    • @moyofication
      @moyofication Před 3 lety +10

      That can't be more real than that 😂😂😂😂😂

    • @Ch4ngl
      @Ch4ngl Před 3 lety +3

      Really true😂

    • @Pangui008
      @Pangui008 Před 3 lety +8

      OMG! you almost made me spit my drink all over my computer! 😂😂😂😂

    • @NazguLMC
      @NazguLMC Před 3 lety +6

      The greatest comment! I almost wet myself)))

    • @masacatior
      @masacatior Před 3 lety +2

      🗡️⚔️🤪

  • @nahilkamil7396
    @nahilkamil7396 Před 3 lety +314

    Pronouncing the word for 'water' makes you thirsty

    • @masacatior
      @masacatior Před 3 lety +31

      Me gasping for water 6:27

    • @Mr.Nichan
      @Mr.Nichan Před 3 lety +7

      Actually, I think I remember hearing that ejectives use less water than normal (pulmonic) sounds because they don't involve breathing out of the lungs, but that might be total nonsense, and there's also the issue of irritation on the uvula with that ejective uvular fricative (which Paul erroneously calls a stop, no doubt because that's the standard description of Georgian): I have a conlang where I put ejective uvular stops in almost every past-tense verb, and the story I've started writing in it is kind of painful when I reread it too much.

    • @ViktorDonov22
      @ViktorDonov22 Před 3 lety +2

      @@masacatior lmao

    • @AnarchoPinkoEuroBr
      @AnarchoPinkoEuroBr Před 3 lety

      @@Mr.Nichan I wonder if you spoke a language with more use of the uvula natively, such as German, French, Arabic or Portuguese, you'd have the same difficulty? My native language is Portuguese (I'm assigned male from Rio de Janeiro - women tend to use velar and glottal more here -, so my rr can be palatal - ricota [voiced] -, pre-velar - ridículo [voiced] -, velar - marrom [voiceless], mármore [voiced] -, post-velar - horto [voiced], rua [voiceless] -, uvular - mercado [voiced trilled], largado [voiced fricative], carta [voiceless] -, pharyngeal - armário [voiced], arroz [voiceless] - or glottal - arma [breathy], reto [voiceless] -, though it is usually somewhat velar, uvular or between those; this might sound epic, but I actually struggle to tell the sound of the German, Hebrew and Arabic fricatives apart! In German -chr- clusters I only hear r) and I don't find those hurtful.

    • @pisicavesela1346
      @pisicavesela1346 Před 3 lety

      😂

  • @navier2287
    @navier2287 Před 3 lety +200

    Hey 🇬🇪 I am from Georgia. Thank you for this masterpiece.
    მადლობა ამ ყმაწვილს. ძალიან მიხარია, რომ მსგავს ვიდეოებს ვხვდები. ვიმედოვნებ მომავალში უფრო მეტი ადამიანი დაინტერესდება ქართული ენით.

    • @georgesracingcar7701
      @georgesracingcar7701 Před 2 lety +20

      Your alphabet is really cool, because every character has complex curves and swirls and spirals, which is something that seems very rare in European languages. There’s letters like K and L that are super straight and angular, but the Caucasian languages have cool curves instead. Although I hope it’s not hard to write.

    • @Caucassianwarrior
      @Caucassianwarrior Před 2 lety +8

      @@georgesracingcar7701 Armenian alphabet is cool too

    • @lazush2066
      @lazush2066 Před 2 lety +3

      @@georgesracingcar7701 Certainly, Georgian script is easier to learn than Arabic, Japanese gana and kana or Korean hangul for example

    • @gmerti7990
      @gmerti7990 Před 2 lety +5

      @ꅏꑀꁲꈜꑀ꒒ wow thats really beautiful and unique! Just as Georgian tho! There are only 14 scripts in the whole world so instead of making it a competition, we should appreciate each other! ორივე ძალიან ლამაზია:)

    • @rumeysadgn
      @rumeysadgn Před 2 lety +7

      Georgian alphabet is so aesthetic ♥

  • @liamtahaney713
    @liamtahaney713 Před 3 lety +515

    I really love the Georgian alphabet. I think it's one of, if not the most beautiful looking written language

    • @jam-trousers
      @jam-trousers Před 3 lety +17

      Check out Tibetan

    • @eddiepollau4577
      @eddiepollau4577 Před 3 lety +6

      Oh my gosh, same!!

    • @sdominik3945
      @sdominik3945 Před 3 lety +27

      in my opinion, tibetan or lao are better looking but georgian alphabet is still impressing!

    • @Drdpkmd
      @Drdpkmd Před 3 lety +16

      I remember having that same opinion the first time I saw the Georgian alphabet.
      I am a pediatrician and was seeing a
      newly-adopted child who had been born in Georgia. I was given his immunization certificate and had no idea how I was going to decipher it.

    • @kwj_nekko_6320
      @kwj_nekko_6320 Před 3 lety +5

      I saw a Georgian and an Armenian disrespecting each others' alphabets, and that's quite understandable. Both alphabets are claimed to be invented by St. Mesrop, and two neighboring nations (especially in a region like Caucasia where there were fierce conflicts) seldom go well together.

  • @pualamnusantara7903
    @pualamnusantara7903 Před 3 lety +203

    1:06 Oh, Sakartvelo, the land whose language has one if the most beautiful-looking script I've seen,yet contains ejectives consonants which can choke your throat, insane pronunciation and grammar rule, and the place where you call your mom "deda" and your dad "mama".

    • @giorgi2702
      @giorgi2702 Před 3 lety +13

      Pualam Nusantara Pretty accurate, but the ejectives are not as hard as they seem. In everyday speech, they're nowhere as harsh and hard as shown in the video. They're kinda just the non-aspirated consonants in everyday speech (think of Finnish, it has non-aspirated consonants, right? Now imagine if it also had aspirated sounds, that's kinda how our "ejectives" work) and not very ejective, unless you're trying to be mad at someone, or joking around.

    • @iVo42928f
      @iVo42928f Před 3 lety +15

      I have heard ppl complain on my mother-tongue Dutch having a throat-choking sound for 'g'. They clearly haven't heard this

    • @hiddennameromantic8820
      @hiddennameromantic8820 Před 3 lety +5

      Yes. deda is mom and Mama is father. It is hardest grammar! Verb is always hard!

    • @hiddennameromantic8820
      @hiddennameromantic8820 Před 3 lety +3

      @@lurji Ejectives are hardest. Grammar isn't scary. Grammar is hardest.

    • @sohopedeco
      @sohopedeco Před 3 lety +2

      Yet, it looks so similar to burmese that I can't tell them apart if no context is given.

  • @nick_g1126
    @nick_g1126 Před 3 lety +437

    "Gvprtskvni" means "You (Singular) Peel us"
    "They peel us" would be "Gvprstkvnian"

    • @vickyk1861
      @vickyk1861 Před 3 lety +67

      🙃🤪both are non pronounceable!

    • @user-br1nt8tb9h
      @user-br1nt8tb9h Před 3 lety +57

      @@vickyk1861 But georgians pronounce it quite smooth.

    • @vickyk1861
      @vickyk1861 Před 3 lety +26

      @@user-br1nt8tb9h I am sure they do! Just judging from myself 🙃😵😉

    • @freyrds8870
      @freyrds8870 Před 3 lety +7

      Don't forget to use some vowels while you're at it.

    • @restituororbis8988
      @restituororbis8988 Před 3 lety +15

      @@vickyk1861 i speak arabic and amazigh and i didn't any difficulty lol

  • @feleslucis-emanueldearaujo6237

    I'm quite interested on Georgian. I have a friend from Georgia and he is my best friend in the whole internet. I find all of these consonant clusters quite amazing and how they can make so many different consonants.

  • @814325
    @814325 Před 3 lety +51

    Brazilian greetigs! thanks for another amazing video, Paul. Georgian is one of the languages I want to learn. I happen to know one of the 190,000 native speakers of Abhaz. He recited the Lord's prayer in his language and it sounds out-of-this-worldly. Each of these Caucasian Languages deserved a video, in my humble opinion.

    • @m.i.m.m.i.m.6131
      @m.i.m.m.i.m.6131 Před 3 lety +9

      "Georgian is one of the languages I want to learn" ... Hello, very good and good luck in studying the Georgian language but, there is one thing that you should know without bad intentions I want to tell you, my friend, that the first thing there is no Abkhaz language because the Abkhaz are ethnic Georgians (there are Georgians who call them Svan or the Megrel and the Laz, they do have their ancient language but the Abkhaz do not, like other Georgian groups such as Ajarians, Gurians, Meskhetians, Kakhetians and others) and second "I happen to know one of the 190,000 native speakers of Abhaz " as I tell you, there are no Abkhazians as a nation they are Afsua of origin and They speak in the dialect of the Adyghe language from the North Caucasus and they are not 190,000 only 80,000 ..... and the question why this is the answer to the dirty things of "kremlin politicians"

    • @RandomGuy-rc6vd
      @RandomGuy-rc6vd Před 2 lety +1

      @@m.i.m.m.i.m.6131 if Abkhaz are “ethnic Georgians”, why do they speak completely different language? You’re victim of propaganda, my friend

    • @m.i.m.m.i.m.6131
      @m.i.m.m.i.m.6131 Před 2 lety +1

      @@RandomGuy-rc6vd Wow ... what a brilliant question you asked my little linguist, I represent your stupid mischievous face, you're probably very proud of yourself, yeah !? ))) pee and go to sleep

    • @RandomGuy-rc6vd
      @RandomGuy-rc6vd Před 2 lety +2

      @@m.i.m.m.i.m.6131 Bravo! You made the most childish and immature response possible without even bothering to answer my argument. 10/10

    • @georgiancountryball202
      @georgiancountryball202 Před 2 lety +1

      @M.I.M. M.I.M. Um sorry to intervene apkazians is kartwelian not Georgian it’s connected to us but not 100% ours and it’s occupied by Russia and given free will so even tho I’m Georgian you must find the mistake Abkhazia is not ours for now but it will be in future

  • @sleepytraveler369
    @sleepytraveler369 Před 3 lety +331

    Kartvelian is the coolest alphabet no doubt in my mind

  • @LodiJP
    @LodiJP Před 3 lety +177

    I once took a georgian course for a month and then went to georgia ^.^ they kind-of understood me, though didn't quite understand why anyone would learn georgian. it's certainly one of the most fascinating languages I ever dabbled in. 'mindbending', as you say, is absolutely the mot juste

    • @Georgian2go
      @Georgian2go Před 3 lety +11

      hey mate We're a Georgian native (Anna) and a German (Raoul). We recently launched a Georgian Language and Culture themed channel, with our crew of little animated friends. So far, we uploaded five language videos, the culture related content is coming soon! Hope you enjoy it! If you enjoy the episodes enough, feel free to subscribe, it would help us spread the content better. Thanks so much and have a wonderful day. A+R from georgian2go PS: if you're a Georgian, please subscribe anyway, it helps us popularize the language and we'll be able to reach more people that way, massive thanks.

    • @giorgikun
      @giorgikun Před 3 lety +1

      and what nationality you are?

    • @buraksimsek7264
      @buraksimsek7264 Před 3 lety +1

      hoe komt het dat je Japans zo vloeiend is?

    • @LodiJP
      @LodiJP Před 3 lety +2

      @@buraksimsek7264 omdat ik uit japan kom. Bedankt dat je (blijkbaar) mijn videos hebt bekeken ^.^

    • @MassachusettsTrainVideos1136
      @MassachusettsTrainVideos1136 Před rokem

      I am learning georgian

  • @Autodidact_Polymath
    @Autodidact_Polymath Před 3 lety +42

    Thank you so much! I am Circassian and we want to preserve our language!

    • @aaronmarks9366
      @aaronmarks9366 Před 2 lety +8

      More power to you! I am working with Indigenous people in the US on preserving their languages :)

    • @linkinparahybana9634
      @linkinparahybana9634 Před 2 lety +5

      @@aaronmarks9366 Amazing. What region of the US are you from and what languages do you work with

  • @FrenchComprehensibleInput
    @FrenchComprehensibleInput Před 3 lety +24

    Congratulations for reaching 1 million mate! 😍 You deserve it! 😃
    Let's give Paul a *THUMBS UP* ! 👍

  • @DreamerTaboo
    @DreamerTaboo Před 3 lety +95

    FINALLY! I was wait'n for something like that for a while.
    And btw the person who pronounced "bridge" (6:16) did it absolutely wrong. The very first sound (t') must be way way more 'harder' like in Georgian one on 6:07. Actually we (and by 'we' I mean Chechens or 'noh'chi' - this how we call our ethnicity in Chechen) have a lot of common with Georgians. For instance we have same calculation principals, for example 40 in Georgian and in Chechen will sound like 'twice-twenty', 30 will sound like 'twenty-plus-ten' which is drastically differentiate with our fellow neighbours. There even ethnicity who call themselves 'Batsbiycz' who use fusion of Chechen-ingush-Georgian language and consider themselves as a different nation with their own culture, which is fair, at least in some points.
    I'm very obliged to you for your work! Thanks for showing us how different and diverse world actually are!
    UPD: I watched the whole video till the end and I actually can't believe that the person who pronounces Chechen words are Chechen. He sound completely, 100%, absolutely wrong. I suppose he is not a native speaker. Word 'Kh'an' for instance must be pronounced with stress on 'A' sound, and 'A' must sound longer and double it self, like in Chinese (those who know what im talking about will get the point). Word 'Kh'an' must sound like 'Kh'Aan' where last 'n' sound pronounces quietly.
    UPD2: If you'll need a native Chechen speaker I would be happy to help you with that!

    • @ownpetard8379
      @ownpetard8379 Před 3 lety +1

      You are speaking of this guy (from the description): Amin Nazirov (Chechen) Now we know.

    • @DreamerTaboo
      @DreamerTaboo Před 3 lety +22

      @@ownpetard8379 Yes, maybe he defines himself as a Chechen, but the language he speaks definitely not a Chechen language. In other languages I may assume it's a dialect differences but 1. I speak all Chechen dialects. 2. There only 3 Chechen dialects and distinction between them are negligible. I suppose that Amin are not Chechen or he learned Chechen as his second language not first (which is happens quite frequently with Chechens who born in Europe for instance).

    • @Langfocus
      @Langfocus  Před 3 lety +65

      I asked that guy many times if he was a native speaker of Chechen and he insisted he was. He said “Yes, of course”. I asked because I thought his ejective consonants were off. So maybe he is a second language speaker but insists he is a native speaker because he is ethnically Chechen. If one of you can record the real Chechen sounds for me I will put them into an attached video and pin it in the comment section.
      This kind of thing really pisses me off, because people f*ck up a video that I spent 4 and a half weeks making.

    • @esetbulguch703
      @esetbulguch703 Před 3 lety +6

      Oh I was waiting for this comment 😅
      I mean unfortunately no matter how hard I tried I wasn't able to understand anything he said, though I expect to at least recognise these words after getting their translation))

    • @ownpetard8379
      @ownpetard8379 Před 3 lety +4

      @@Langfocus Yeah, your video is a bit spoiled, but consider you're Canadian and you wore an American Eagle shirt on camera for it!
      Just kidding. Love your work. Does a lot of good in many ways. I reckon you must have scaled about 2/3 rds of the Tower of Babel by now.

  • @cyonidee
    @cyonidee Před 3 lety +260

    Just thought: well, a few languages i'll never learn. Not because they're not charming in their own way, bt because i'll never learn how to pronounce in a thousand years

    • @hiddennameromantic8820
      @hiddennameromantic8820 Před 3 lety +5

      Don't worry , you can learn that.

    • @cyonidee
      @cyonidee Před 3 lety +12

      @@hiddennameromantic8820 my mother tongue is one of the most vocalic in the universe. i cant'explain how weird it sounds to me :D

    • @fromant65
      @fromant65 Před 3 lety +1

      @@cyonidee what's your mother tongue?

    • @cyonidee
      @cyonidee Před 3 lety +10

      @@fromant65 italian

    • @PainterVierax
      @PainterVierax Před 3 lety +5

      @@cyonidee then you should try to accustom with French to get a start to less vocalic languages.

  • @thegoodlydragon7452
    @thegoodlydragon7452 Před 3 lety +377

    The Devil actually went down to Georgia to steal consonants.

    • @legalvampire8136
      @legalvampire8136 Před 3 lety +24

      Surely to steal the vowels, as they have lots of consonants left? Ubykh, the last native speaker of which died in the 1990s, had 82 consonants and only 3 vowels.

    • @juarezj3092
      @juarezj3092 Před 3 lety +2

      Lmaoo!!

    • @RobertJones-bs9pf
      @RobertJones-bs9pf Před 3 lety +4

      He didn't steal enough.

    • @bruh-zs2xp
      @bruh-zs2xp Před 3 lety

      @@legalvampire8136 it's a joke

    • @Ida-xe8pg
      @Ida-xe8pg Před 3 lety

      @Legal Vampire *2 with much allophonyτακισμος

  • @Adiga911
    @Adiga911 Před 3 lety +17

    I would like to thank you Paul for this video, I am a Circassian who lives in Jordan (Middle East) and a proud speaker of western dialect of the circassian language.
    I am learning more of it still as a person learns as he lives.
    again I thank you and as we say it.
    Тхьаогъпсэу !!

    • @TheAssassin04
      @TheAssassin04 Před rokem

      Salam aleykum, did you learn abzakh since your childhooh from your parents?

  • @believeinpeace
    @believeinpeace Před 3 lety +47

    Well Paul, again you leave me in awe.
    So many languages and so much to learn from them. Thank you!

    • @Georgian2go
      @Georgian2go Před 3 lety

      hi inez We're a Georgian native (Anna) and a German (Raoul). We recently launched a Georgian Language and Culture themed channel, with our crew of little animated friends. So far, we uploaded five language videos, the culture related content is coming soon! Hope you enjoy it! If you enjoy the episodes enough, feel free to subscribe, it would help us spread the content better. Thanks so much and have a wonderful day. A+R from georgian2go PS: if you're a Georgian, please subscribe anyway, it helps us popularize the language and we'll be able to reach more people that way, massive thanks.

  • @F2p7YshCn9
    @F2p7YshCn9 Před 3 lety +62

    I don't know much about the languages, but the Georgian alphabet(s?) is one of the most aesthetically pleasing writing systems I've seen (probably my second favourite alphabet after the Latin alphabet)

    • @F2p7YshCn9
      @F2p7YshCn9 Před 3 lety +2

      @Demy Troy Look at Vietnamese and think again. Or some of the interesting styles that exist (gothic, insular, etc)

    • @linkinparahybana9634
      @linkinparahybana9634 Před 2 lety +1

      My favorite is probably Glagolitic

    • @irmas-music
      @irmas-music Před rokem +4

      მადლობა

  • @tumblebugspace
    @tumblebugspace Před 3 lety +61

    My ethnicity is considered "white" here in the U.S.A., and we are often called Caucasian, but I know we're not! Fascinating languages in this region, and also CRAZY beautiful dancing the Russians call Lezghinka (named for the Lezgin people) that is danced in some variation all throughout the Caucasus. Glad to be a Patreon supporter, and thanks for another informative video!

    • @dorlaretz5901
      @dorlaretz5901 Před 3 lety +5

      Not that kind of caucasian

    • @welive1099
      @welive1099 Před 2 lety +15

      It's also funny since lots of people indigenous to the caucuses aren't really white at all, but more of a yellow/tan skin color, but in North America, everyone that has lighter skin is just called Caucasian. Most Americans don't even know that there's an actual place called Caucuses, and there are actual Caucasian people.

    • @realerthanyourdad_
      @realerthanyourdad_ Před 2 lety

      @@welive1099 You're kinda right, but it depends where you live more. Western Georgians are mostly pale while east Georgians are kinda tan.

    • @user-zd9eq2pn8p
      @user-zd9eq2pn8p Před rokem +1

      На самом деле это avar dance.

    • @manygor2687
      @manygor2687 Před rokem

      @@welive1099
      Anyone with lighter skin IS white (including Koreans). Supporting the idea that only Germanic people are whites have its origin in hit ler's racial theories.

  • @annbarto2117
    @annbarto2117 Před 3 lety +20

    Thank you so much for talking about the Circassian language! I'm circassian myself and I find it difficult explaining everything about it to other people. Unfortunately it's becoming one of the forgotten languages so thank you for talking about it!

  • @orchards0
    @orchards0 Před 3 lety +143

    6:27 working out after a 3 month lockdown

  • @mccardrixx5289
    @mccardrixx5289 Před 3 lety +180

    My grandad is born Georgian,and speaks Russian and German well :)
    Sadly,he passed away last october :((((

  • @leila4181
    @leila4181 Před 3 lety +116

    Caucasus is the most beautiful place on earth. Black sea, Caspian sea and our great Mountains in between.
    I love my Homeland, although now I live far away, this is the only place where my soul belongs. If you haven't been in Dagestan, I feel really sorry for you. Salam to my caucasian brothers and sisters
    И мирного неба над головой.

  • @TeamSlow
    @TeamSlow Před 3 lety +18

    Hi Paul, thanks for these fascinating videos; I’m a longtime watcher. I think it would be interesting to hear more of the language than just these short examples. Have you considered including a short clip of someone either conversing or reading a monologue in the languages you discuss? Nothing very long, just enough to get a better sense of how the language sounds in conversation. Cheers.

  • @villevuorinen6642
    @villevuorinen6642 Před 3 lety +114

    6:26 When your character is taking damage from pool of toxic goo and can't get out.

  • @guillermo..4825
    @guillermo..4825 Před 3 lety +192

    There's a native american language in my country called Kaweskar that, as far as I know, also has the p' sound ^^.

    • @benl9047
      @benl9047 Před 3 lety +29

      A lot of people native to the Americas make/made those ejective sounds. The Incans, Mayans, Navajo and others.

    • @gerald4013
      @gerald4013 Před 3 lety +14

      Lakhota also has ejective consonants., including p', t', k', s' etc

    • @mbrosseau04
      @mbrosseau04 Před 3 lety +9

      Also Korean has several consonants with 3 similar properties.

    • @benl9047
      @benl9047 Před 3 lety +9

      By the way to expand on my earlier comment, the Chukchi language is spoken in Siberia, right where Siberia would have been connected to Alaska in the past and they also have ejectives, so it might be a distant relative of native American languages. Here's a link to how it sounds: czcams.com/video/KLndQe87ufc/video.html

    • @jacobnatseway3993
      @jacobnatseway3993 Před 3 lety +3

      Can vouch for my "native" language of Laguna.

  • @danakuizheva624
    @danakuizheva624 Před 3 lety +13

    As a native Adyghe I really appreciated this video. Thank you so much!

  • @pkate2199
    @pkate2199 Před 3 lety +61

    Georgian is so beautiful and unique. Ive just started to learn it. Its actually so hard tho..
    Kudos to those Georgians who use Mkhedruli for their comments - you guys help me a lot to practice my Georgian

    • @kapanadzeilia5822
      @kapanadzeilia5822 Před 3 lety +7

      მადლობა, ქეით. წარმატებებს გისურვებთ ქართული ენის შესწავლაში.

    • @paatazakarashvili9735
      @paatazakarashvili9735 Před 2 lety +1

      წარმატებები

  • @khavakhaut2856
    @khavakhaut2856 Před rokem +4

    Hello from Ingushetia!) Thank you for the video 😊

  • @user-rf7gd1fv9n
    @user-rf7gd1fv9n Před 3 lety +319

    I was once talking to a friend on the phone and I wanted to tell a joke but I gagged and started coughing. My friend then said: "Are you telling me the joke in kabardian?"

  • @mishagelenava2962
    @mishagelenava2962 Před 3 lety +29

    Finally we got a video about my languages. I say in plural because I speak Georgian and Mingrelian.
    The amazing linguistic diversity of the region is clearly due to geography. The Caucasus mountains are so high, especially northern Caucasus. That's why we get whole separate language groups there. And in the south where the mountains are lower, we get separate languages, but from bigger language families(Armenian is Indo-European, Azerbaijani is Turkic).

  • @brockorama
    @brockorama Před 3 lety +15

    I got to translate Circassian oral folk lore from French to English when I was in school. It was a fun project. (A French anthropologist in the 19th century recorded stories, wrote them in Circassian and translated them to French)

  • @momfriend9429
    @momfriend9429 Před 2 lety +16

    I'm circassian and I feel so incredibly proud to see my native language talked about ❤️❤️❤️❤️

  • @wyrorb2457
    @wyrorb2457 Před 3 lety +14

    These are some linguistic keys to appreciating my ancestors in a new way! I have felt so disconnected from my cultural story, things like this make me realize that I want to learn more. Amazing to think that my great great great great grandmother might have been speaking some of these old words. Thanks Paul!

    • @adridando1960
      @adridando1960 Před 2 lety +2

      На каком языке говорила бабушка твоя ???

    • @saraazar223
      @saraazar223 Před rokem +1

      Larp

  • @DarkTouch
    @DarkTouch Před 3 lety +10

    Nice! I am of Circassian decent, but a native English speaker. I used to speak arabic, but have forgotten it at a young age having been born and raised in the USA. My great grandmother was a refugee of the Circassian diaspora in the late 1800's and settled in Jordan where many other Circassians had fled to. They form quite an ethnic subculture there with significant influence. My great grandmother died at the age of 108 in the late 1970's. She and my grandmother spoke mainly Circassian, and my grandmother never learned arabic although she was born in Jordan until she died at age 100. I remember them speaking Circassian as a child, and my aunts and uncles spoke a few words here and there, but found the language difficult. I visited Adygea once on a geology field trip (oil company work in Moscow) and had food there reminding me of my childhood (chicken in walnut gravy, mulberry jam, stuffed grapeleaves). Not sure, but the only circassian word i know is SHOB, which means "hot" as in weather (please, i dont know the spelling, or even if it is a word), and maybe Shipspasta (walnut chicken with rice/wheat paste).

  • @Atantuo
    @Atantuo Před 3 lety +38

    "They peel us" must be the best example phrase I've ever heard :D
    It's from the classical Georgian epic poem "კარტოფილის ცხოვრება (Life of a Potato)", no?

  • @peterandersson3812
    @peterandersson3812 Před 3 lety +4

    I can understand why this video took some time to make! Impressive research and well done in summarizing it to the casual language nerd. I think NativeLang also made a video about the languages of this region. It’s great to get different styles and points-of-view. Thanks from a proud Patreon supporter!

  • @chelarkat
    @chelarkat Před 3 lety +5

    Thanks, Paul. I was so happy to hear a few words about my Circassian language in this video!

  • @1DMapler18
    @1DMapler18 Před 3 lety +4

    WAIT, i've been trying to piece my head around the concept of ergativity for the longest time (i'm a linguistics student) and i've never really put it together, but hearing your explanation of it made SO much sense omg thank you!! 😭😭😭

  • @nightshadow4203
    @nightshadow4203 Před 3 lety +3

    Thaaanks Paul, I was watching your chanel for years, waiting the episode of us Circassians, and now finally an in-depth informative one.. many thanks again
    Adighe wey wey 🤛🏼🤜🏼💪🏼👊🏼☝🏼
    Адыгэ уэи уэи ..

  • @lashalursmanashvili162
    @lashalursmanashvili162 Před 3 lety +6

    Im georgian and im so glad you make video about caucasian languages i never hoped about it. and your knoweledge is just so deep and amazing keep your job i learned many new things about my language from this video .

    • @mohammedamer4959
      @mohammedamer4959 Před 3 lety +1

      რატომ ქართული ენა ძალიან ძალიან მძიმე? (:

    • @giorgi2702
      @giorgi2702 Před 3 lety +1

      Mohammed Amer what?

    • @mohammedamer4959
      @mohammedamer4959 Před 3 lety +1

      @@giorgi2702 why the Georgian language is pretty hard?

    • @giorgi2702
      @giorgi2702 Před 3 lety +2

      Mohammed Amer Ohh! You actually said "Why the Georgian language so so heavy?". The correct way would be: "რატომ არის ქართული ასეთი ძნელი?" Are you learning Georgian? Also, the answer to your question is that Georgian is mostly hard because of its grammar, added with the fact that some of the letters are really hard to master for non-native speakers. Thanks for taking interest!

  • @giorgikvelashvili
    @giorgikvelashvili Před 3 lety +6

    Thank you, Paul. Your presentations are always great! One point I would add to your narrative: From those dozens of languages united in the three language families of the Caucasus only Georgian has its own original writing system (ქართული ანბანი - Georgian Alphabet) as well as the oldest literature.

  • @yasminekataw7329
    @yasminekataw7329 Před 3 lety +16

    Thank you for explaining all of this in such detail. I was hoping one day you would make a video on Caucasian languages. As a Circassian from Jordan, one tends to focus mostly on their own language or own dialect. This video has given me an insight into other Caucasian neighboring languages. :) Thank you!

  • @BjornHolmstrom
    @BjornHolmstrom Před 3 lety +95

    I am from Estonia and there are very few consonants in our language. For example, we pretty much don't have any "sh" or "ch" sounds. These are only in foreign loanwords, but people still tend to use "s" instead because it's easier.
    I studied in Georgia for a year with two other Estonian guys and boy, you should have seen our faces when we first saw the number of consonants and heard the throat sounds in our first Georgian class. Basically the first few months were us walking around our apartment practicing those throat sounds. That was a pretty funny sight, but I think we all got it pretty accurate in the end. However, there are some words that are unpronouncable to this day. Also, it seems to me that as I was trying really hard, I made more throat sounds than the locals who use the language much more freely and you can barely hear those sounds in some cases.

    • @Mediaflashmob
      @Mediaflashmob Před 3 lety +2

      you have a lot of vowels instead. 3 types of the lengh os vowels is crazy and very strange...

    • @fluffysaffron5719
      @fluffysaffron5719 Před 3 lety +4

      Yeah, I've also noticed that the sounds are much softer when you listen to people talking in everyday speech. What you said kind of makes me think of how when English speakers start learning German, a lot of them pronounce the consonants and especially the 'ch' sound really "harshly," like they've seen in old movies. (I'm a native English speaker, so my observations might not be totally accurate. It just seems like when I listen to German people speak German, the consonants seem softer, the voiced ones aren't voiced as hard, and some people pronounce the 'ch' as 'h' half the time. But a lot of English speakers seem to do CCCCCHHHH really hard, and not even always from the right place of articulation, because they think German is a 'harsh' language and really overemphasize that... anyway, sorry for going off on a tangent. I just think it's really interesting that other people noticed that sometimes you can barely hear those sounds when native speakers make them.)

    • @colchis.
      @colchis. Před 3 lety +1

      @@fluffysaffron5719 that happens 🙂 hard language is hard to study.

    • @esragungor2960
      @esragungor2960 Před 3 lety +1

      There are estonian villages at Abkhazia also :)

    • @georgiancountryball202
      @georgiancountryball202 Před 2 lety +1

      @Fluffy Saffron it’s because foreign people can’t pronounce pure Georgian they try hard while they must make it soft and it will glide but in Georgian sometimes those things will become hard when we literally stack 6 hard sounding letters in one word on top of each other it’s even hard for Georgian people

  • @idedimi
    @idedimi Před 3 lety +5

    My jaw was dropped for basically the entire video. I am bewildered by the consonants of these languages! Also thank you for explaining ergativity so succinctly!

  • @Kobulione
    @Kobulione Před 2 lety +27

    My favorite language is Kartvilian or Georgian . The Dance and choirs of the man's 👍 . With respect ♥️ from 🇦🇫 to the Georgia and Georgian people 🇬🇪

  • @Julia13jd
    @Julia13jd Před 3 lety +2

    Hello. I write from a small town between Moscow and St. Petersburg. I'm glad I found your channel, and now I can learn more about my language and other languages. And it's because of you and your hard work. I hope you keep making such useful and informative videos as this. Thank you again.

  • @Onnozelfilmpje
    @Onnozelfilmpje Před 3 lety +105

    I am going to give you an example of 6 consonants pronounced differently: puh, puh, puh, puh, puh, puh and puh.
    And I thought Mandarin was difficult with their xi, qi, ji...

    • @chriswiddajonathan8941
      @chriswiddajonathan8941 Před 3 lety +5

      When u thot that there couldnt be an even HARDER language for pronunciation

    • @Mr.Nichan
      @Mr.Nichan Před 3 lety +3

      @VobisPacem Similar things apply when you realize how different Caucasian consonants are pronounced. There are just more of them. On a side-note, though, I must admit that hearing what people actually say is important: For example, the example recording for a uvular stop in Georgian was actually a uvular fricative. Also, I was thrown off hearing a lot of the sounds as pronounced by native speakers, even though, when I listen, I hear that the IPA is mostly accurate, just imprecise, as IPA usually is.

    • @Georgian2go
      @Georgian2go Před 3 lety

      hi peter We're a Georgian native (Anna) and a German (Raoul). We recently launched a Georgian Language and Culture themed channel, with our crew of little animated friends. So far, we uploaded five language videos, the culture related content is coming soon! Hope you enjoy it! If you enjoy the episodes enough, feel free to subscribe, it would help us spread the content better. Thanks so much and have a wonderful day. A+R from georgian2go PS: if you're a Georgian, please subscribe anyway, it helps us popularize the language and we'll be able to reach more people that way, massive thanks.

    • @angelmendez-rivera351
      @angelmendez-rivera351 Před 3 lety +1

      VobisPacem Mandarin is still a very difficult language, though, and the most difficult part was never the phonology. Mandarin has some complicated grammar; it is a tonal language, which makes it inherently difficult; and its writing system consists of thousands of logograms as opposed to a phonetic scripture system. The nuances of the logograms also make vocabulary quite complex. Mandarin is not at all an easy language.

    • @angelmendez-rivera351
      @angelmendez-rivera351 Před 3 lety

      H. H. Whatever you mean by the IPA being imprecise?

  • @ufcjunkie7
    @ufcjunkie7 Před 3 lety +5

    My favorite channel. I m happy every time I see a notification

  • @citizenerased1992
    @citizenerased1992 Před 3 lety

    I absolutely love this channel! It's basically unique as there is no one else I have found who can explain some of the more confusing aspects of some of these complex languages in such an enjoyable and accessible way. I actually owe a debt to Paul as some of these videos came in extremely useful when I was studying for my degree in Linguistics (there are so many academic text books a person can absorb in a short space of time!)
    Keep up the good work! It's greatly appreciated no matter what format you end up settling on.

    • @Langfocus
      @Langfocus  Před 3 lety +1

      Everyone says they love it, but only one person is going to save it.

  • @claudiaratay2488
    @claudiaratay2488 Před 3 lety +3

    The examples of all of the different continents were absolutely fascinating. Thank you for another great video.

  • @ksanti_07
    @ksanti_07 Před 2 lety +20

    Thanks from Circassian! I have sometimes difficulties to speak native language, because our languages are unreal complex and even have to switch over to Russian, but despite this fact i try to speak. I hope my native tongue won't see the fate of the Irish and Scottish ( respect for them)

  • @matteoeichhorn4188
    @matteoeichhorn4188 Před 3 lety +3

    I just love the amount of research you are putting in your videos. You're the best!

  • @MahirSayar
    @MahirSayar Před 3 lety +71

    I am part Circassian and part Chechnian. I grew up hearing both, but even for me, pronouncing the contestants of Circassian (Adygabze) is still much more difficult than Chechnian (Noxchii Mott). Marsha ayla and Kebluh.. =]

    • @gokhanpala6573
      @gokhanpala6573 Před 3 lety +1

      Ne mutlu Türküm diyene 🇦🇿🇹🇷

    • @HadiBenoy
      @HadiBenoy Před 2 lety +9

      Salam du hun marshal 🙋🏻‍♂️

    • @MahirSayar
      @MahirSayar Před 2 lety

      @@gokhanpala6573 :)

    • @MahirSayar
      @MahirSayar Před 2 lety +1

      @Modu Laoshang No, but I have family there. I lived in England for most of my life.

    • @chernobeloye6325
      @chernobeloye6325 Před 2 lety +1

      @@MahirSayar nickname’den turk oldugunu zannetdimn

  • @evgeniistavropolski4872
    @evgeniistavropolski4872 Před 3 lety +37

    I was born and lived in the North Caucasus (Stavropol, Russia). It’s really multilingual/ethnic/religious region! People there usually know Russian, their regional language and their own dialect.

    • @user-pe8jm4um8w
      @user-pe8jm4um8w Před rokem +1

      Stavropol is Chechenia so you are Chechen

    • @alexpug5162
      @alexpug5162 Před rokem +3

      @@user-pe8jm4um8w What... Grozny is Chechenia, Stavropol is full Russian city)

    • @user-pe8jm4um8w
      @user-pe8jm4um8w Před rokem +2

      @@alexpug5162 Stavropol was Chechenia but Russians occupied it like Sochi Kuban Crime

    • @fuduufgjkuddyj6808
      @fuduufgjkuddyj6808 Před rokem

      @@user-pe8jm4um8w Сочи был как бы «столицей» адыгов, это не чеченская территория, как и Кубань

    • @user-pe8jm4um8w
      @user-pe8jm4um8w Před rokem

      @@fuduufgjkuddyj6808 Сочи и Кубань где находится и Ставрополь где находится?

  • @user-ye6zh9kg7n
    @user-ye6zh9kg7n Před 3 lety +5

    been waiting for this topic for so long~

  • @marinamarina5893
    @marinamarina5893 Před 2 lety +6

    That's quite an informative video about caucasian languages. I myself speak Dargin (Northeast Caucasian) but have never studied it to that extent. As far as I speak one of the dialects, there's no way to dig into the language much since it's an unwritten one. Despite all these facts, I can still confirm your theoretical information referring to the practical of mine. I'm really impressed as long as I've never noticed those features. Feeling my aboriginality to the bone. Thank you for your efforts.

  • @Schnitz13
    @Schnitz13 Před 3 lety +44

    One thing I find interesting about Georgian and the Kartvelian language is the script! We buy Borjomi mineral water and I love pondering the creation of this script, which is believed to resemble grape vines given that wines and viticulture have been part of Georgian culture for millennia!

  • @Israfel93
    @Israfel93 Před 3 lety +18

    I've dreamed of the day Georgian would get featured on this channel, I just find it so fascinating!
    One very interesting thing: in Spanish we also have polypersonality. For example, "dámelo" which means "give-(to me)-it."

    • @Georgian2go
      @Georgian2go Před 3 lety +1

      hi alex We're a Georgian native (Anna) and a German (Raoul). We recently launched a Georgian Language and Culture themed channel, with our crew of little animated friends. So far, we uploaded five language videos, the culture related content is coming soon! Hope you enjoy it! If you enjoy the episodes enough, feel free to subscribe, it would help us spread the content better. Thanks so much and have a wonderful day. A+R from georgian2go PS: if you're a Georgian, please subscribe anyway, it helps us popularize the language and we'll be able to reach more people that way, massive thanks.

    • @BukaGeorgia
      @BukaGeorgia Před 3 lety +3

      When i was learning spanish in school (in new york) it was very hard for me to put sentences together properly until I realized that if i started translating the sentences into my native Georgian rather than English, they would be more grammatically correct.

    • @arthurf.672
      @arthurf.672 Před 3 lety

      Por eso no me fue dificil aprender y comprender el castellano.

  • @Cherkesskiy
    @Cherkesskiy Před 3 lety +24

    Thank you!From Circassia!

    • @Cherkesskiy
      @Cherkesskiy Před 3 lety +1

      @ⲘⲒⲦⲤⲣⲀIⲙ assalam aleikum✋

    • @Georgian2go
      @Georgian2go Před 3 lety

      hi asch We're a Georgian native (Anna) and a German (Raoul). We recently launched a Georgian Language and Culture themed channel, with our crew of little animated friends. So far, we uploaded five language videos, the culture related content is coming soon! Hope you enjoy it! If you enjoy the episodes enough, feel free to subscribe, it would help us spread the content better. Thanks so much and have a wonderful day. A+R from georgian2go PS: if you're a Georgian, please subscribe anyway, it helps us popularize the language and we'll be able to reach more people that way, massive thanks.

  • @giorgim4185
    @giorgim4185 Před 3 lety +76

    როგორც იქნა, ამას რას მოვესწარი! :დ

    • @aramxut9495
      @aramxut9495 Před 3 lety +16

      როგორც იქნა ქართველურ ენათა ოჯახი ჩრდილიდან გამოდის.

    • @leonidas1724
      @leonidas1724 Před 3 lety +10

      როგორც იქნა მიხვდნენ.

    • @giogvarianashvili6309
      @giogvarianashvili6309 Před 3 lety +2

      ხო ერთი 5 წლია ველოდე

  • @ethanproctor6695
    @ethanproctor6695 Před 2 lety +8

    Mkhedruli, the main Georgian writing system, is so beautiful. It's my favorite one.

  • @ltmapk
    @ltmapk Před 3 lety +4

    An incredible piece of work! Very well done. Keep up the very good work!

  • @akiakdize87
    @akiakdize87 Před 2 lety +5

    Very informative description of Caucasian languages! I wished I could have listened your podcast, before I had started to learn Georgian thirty years ago.

  • @DewyPeters96
    @DewyPeters96 Před 3 lety +1

    Been waiting for this video for years! Thankyou Paul :)

  • @paulo9523
    @paulo9523 Před 3 lety +1

    OMG, your channel has really grown over the years. I'm an old subscriber, I've been following your channel since the 'Polyglot Popes' video (2015-16 I guess), I was even using my old youtube account back in the day.
    I've just noticed the number of subscribers after watching this video and I was shocked after seeing that you already reached 1 Million subs (I usually never check theses numbers), and I'm glad to see that people are interested in quality content.
    I've been accompanying your channel regularly since then, and probably it has been one of the few channels (If not the only one) that I still watch after all these years. Also it has incentivized me to learn more about languages, and I did, so I just wanted to Thank You!

    • @Langfocus
      @Langfocus  Před 3 lety +3

      Unfortunately the channel has not grow in over 3 years. The number of subscribers is entirely misleading. The views are the same. Most people subscribe for one language and watch nothing else, then vanish. So reaching a million isn’t important.
      I appreciate the thoughts, though.

    • @paulo9523
      @paulo9523 Před 3 lety +1

      @@Langfocus That's a shame. I guess I was mistaken and if that's the case, at least keep in mind that there are people out there that really appreciate your work.

  • @brdzolisunariani
    @brdzolisunariani Před 3 lety +12

    კარგი ვიდეოა , მადლობა ...
    Long live to Caucasia

    • @Georgian2go
      @Georgian2go Před 3 lety +1

      hi a tv We're a Georgian native (Anna) and a German (Raoul). We recently launched a Georgian Language and Culture themed channel, with our crew of little animated friends. So far, we uploaded five language videos, the culture related content is coming soon! Hope you enjoy it! If you enjoy the episodes enough, feel free to subscribe, it would help us spread the content better. Thanks so much and have a wonderful day. A+R from georgian2go PS: if you're a Georgian, please subscribe anyway, it helps us popularize the language and we'll be able to reach more people that way, massive thanks.

  • @greatdslayarr
    @greatdslayarr Před 3 lety +5

    Thank you for covering our little corner of the world :)
    Greetings from Dagestan!

  • @portulanka
    @portulanka Před 3 lety

    Fascinating video! Those consonants were wild - without! Great quality content as always Paul! And don't worry too much about the pronunciation, you've already done the job of raising interest on the languages and the area!

  • @NeedsEvidence
    @NeedsEvidence Před 3 lety +1

    Fascinating content. Thanks for the work, Paul.

  • @santaanna700
    @santaanna700 Před 3 lety +56

    6:27 9-yr-old me taking some serious damage in Mortal Kombat.

  • @yegirish
    @yegirish Před 3 lety +15

    Thanks for this video on my favourite linguistic topic! And for such a difficult language region, you managed to explain it pretty clearly.
    I tried learning some very basic Georgian when I visited a few years ago, and whoo boy, I could not get a handle on the ejective consonants. Even if you get them in theory, they're surprisingly hard in practice.
    Me: [points to infamous georgian grape moonshine] how do you say this in georgian?
    Patient Georgian person: ch'a ch'a
    Me: chacha?
    Them: no, CH'A CH'A
    Me: ch-h-a ch-h-a?
    Them: [shaking head disappointedly]

    • @cuteladybug8622
      @cuteladybug8622 Před 3 lety +1

      I'd never heard any of the Caucasian languages before watching this video, and they seem intimidating to learn.

    • @fluffysaffron5719
      @fluffysaffron5719 Před 3 lety +2

      Did you try the grape moonshine? Maybe that would have helped...
      Anyway, I had trouble with ejectives at first too (I wasn't learning them for Georgian, it was for something else) and for some reason, when I stopped practicing them and started working on practicing totally different sets of consonants for a while, and then went back to trying ejectives, I somehow was much better at them. I'm still not sure why! Maybe I just got used to moving my throat muscles in different ways, and taking pressure off myself to pronounce them helped.

    • @m.i.m.m.i.m.6131
      @m.i.m.m.i.m.6131 Před 3 lety

      @@cuteladybug8622 It has been well said but, you have not helped him ))))

  • @mwsc04
    @mwsc04 Před 3 lety

    Paul, thank you, I've wrestled with ergative case forever and all of the grammars never explained it as succinctly as you just did

  • @roset.hazighous7568
    @roset.hazighous7568 Před 3 lety +4

    I am obsessed with this area because my ancestry is from the beautiful Northern Caucasus 💚 Thanks for sharing this great video .

  • @user-dp3he7mh2p
    @user-dp3he7mh2p Před 2 lety +4

    Thank u for this amazing explanation!
    I'm avar( Dagestan) and was so happy to see how many people are interested in our North Caucasian culture!
    Баркала!

  • @LukaMamukelashvili
    @LukaMamukelashvili Před 3 lety +4

    Great vid. as a Georgian speaker I was not familiar with Chechen before. this gave me an idea of what it's like.