The history of the Godoberis is unknown. The Godoberi language is the main thing distinguishes the cultural group from other groups in the area. When compared to other Andic languages, Godoberi is most similar to Chamalal and Botlikh. Some words are borrowed from by Avar, Turkish, and Arabic. After being incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century and then ruled by the Soviet Union in the 20th century, there is a strong Russian influence in the Godoberi language.
Geographic Distribution
Native speakers of Godoberi live in two villages: Godoberi and Zibirhali. These villages are located in the mountains on the left bank of the Andi-Koisu River in Southwest Dagestan, a republic of Russia.
Status
Godoberi is not a written language, and it is used only in the home. Schools teach Avar and Russian. Native speakers of Godoberi use Avar or Russian as a written language. These two languages are also used when speaking to people from neighboring communities. The number of Godoberi speakers appears to have been stable for the last 40 years.
Sounds/Phonology
Diphthongs are found only in Godoberi and in no other Daghestanain languages. There are 13 phonemic vowels: i, e, a, o, u, i:, e:, a:, o:, u:, ˜i, ã, ˜u. The accent system is extremely complex, especially for nouns.
initial stress
initial stress
initial/prefinal/final
final
final/prefinal
final/prefinal
final/initial
final/initial
final/prefinal/initial
Nominative
gédu 'cat'
íča 'mare'
ímu 'father'
qučá 'sheepskin'
buRá 'bull'
haí 'eye'
łerú 'feather'
set'íl 'finger'
ziní 'cow'
Genitive
géduLi 'cat'
íčLi 'mare'
imúLi 'father'
qučiLí 'sheepskin'
buRáLi 'bull'
háiLi 'eye'
łéruLi 'feather'
sét'ilaLi 'finger'
zináLi 'cow
Dative
gédułi 'cat'
íčałi 'mare'
ímułi 'father'
qučiłí 'sheepskin'
buRałí 'bull'
haiłi 'eye'
łérułli 'feather'
sét'ilałi 'finger'
zínałi 'cow'
Ergative
gédudi 'cat'
íčadi 'mare'
imudí 'father
qučidí 'sheepskin'
buRadí 'bull'
haidí 'eye
łérudi 'feather'
sét'iladi 'finger
zinadí 'cow'
Grammar
Morphology
Singular words have three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Plural words lack those three genders and instead have two noun classes: human or inanimate object. There are two types of adjectives: primary and participles. A majority of the primary adjectives do not have gender. The four types of participles are past, present, future, and non-future negative. The numerical system does not vary greatly from other languages. Verb morphology is also regular compared to other languages in the Andic language family.
