Avaric

Avaric, also called Avar, is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by the Avar people of Dagestan, Russia. It is the most widely used language in Dagestan after Russian, with speakers concentrated in central and southern Dagestan and in smaller communities in other parts of Russia and abroad. The language belongs to the Northeast Caucasian language family, within the Avar–Andic branch, and it comprises several dialects, generally grouped as Western Avar, Central Avar, and Eastern Avar. Dialects are mutually intelligible to varying degrees.

Avaric is an agglutinative language with a rich system of affixes marking tense, aspect, mood, number, case, and evidentiality. It has a large consonant inventory, including ejective consonants, and a relatively small vowel system. The typical word order is subject–object–verb, but morphology allows some flexibility. The language uses a Cyrillic-based writing system developed in the Soviet period, with additional letters used to represent sounds specific to Avaric.

Historically, Avaric is associated with the Avar people who formed principalities in the Caucasus and later came under Russian and Soviet rule. In the 20th century, the language underwent standardization for education and media, while Russian remained the dominant lingua franca in the region. Today, Avar remains a vital language in Dagestan, supported by local communities and institutions in multiethnic Dagestan and by language programs in education and media.

Related topics include the Avar people, Dagestan, and Northeast Caucasian languages.