Caucasian Languages

Caucasian Languages, geographical group of languages spoken in Caucasia. This area contains one of the highest concentrations of languages in the world, with 39 languages making up the single Caucasian family, spoken by an estimated 8 or 9 million people. They are usually classified into three groups: North-western; North-eastern (possibly of common ancestry with the North-western group); and Southern, the leading member of which is Georgian, the language of Georgia and neighbouring areas. Caucasian languages tend to be agglutinative in type and show some inflection, but the three groups vary strikingly in their grammar and word formation. In general these languages are characterized by combinations of consonants, especially of gutturals and sibilants, which are difficult to pronounce.

Selected statistical data from Ethnologue: Languages of the World, SIL International.