Ingush language - Definition

Ingush language is a language spoken by approximately 230,315 people (1989) across a region covering Ingushetia, Chechnya, Uzbekistan and Russia.

Classification

Ingush and Chechen, together with Bats, constitute the Nakh language branch of the Northeast Caucasian language family.

Geographic distribution

Ingush is spoken by 230,315 people (1989) across a region covering Ingushetia, Chechnya, Uzbekistan and Russia.

Official status

Ingush is the official language of Ingushetia, a federal subject of Russia.

Writing system

Ingush became a written language with an Arabic-based writing system at the beginning of the 20th century. After the October revolution it first used a Latin alphabet which was later replaced by Cyrillic letters.

History

During Stalinist Russia Ingush-speakers were deported to Kazakhstan and Siberia. Much of their population and rights were lost in that time period.

External links

• Ethnologue report for Ingush (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=INH)
• Ingush Language Project at UC Berkeley (http://ingush.berkeley.edu:7012/)
• University of Graz - Language Server (http://languageserver.uni-graz.at/ls/desc?id=36&type=r)