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The North Caucasian languages, sometimes called simply Caucasic, are a pair of language families spoken in the Caucasus, chiefly in the north: the Northwest Caucasian family, also called ''Pontic, Abkhaz–Adyghe, Circassian,'' or ''West Caucasian''; and the Northeast Caucasian family, also called ''Caspian, (Nakho)–Dagestanian,'' or ''East Caucasian''. Some linguists, notably Sergei Starostin and Sergei Nikolayev, believe that the two groups sprang from a common ancestor about five thousand years ago.〔Nikolayev, S., and S. Starostin. 1994 ''North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary''. Moscow: Asterisk Press. (Available online ).〕 However, this proposal is difficult to evaluate, and remains controversial. There are some 34 to 38 distinct North Caucasian languages. ==Internal classification== Among the linguists who support the North Caucasian hypothesis, the main split between Northeast Caucasian and Northwest Caucasian is considered uncontroversial. Problems arise when it gets to the internal structure of Northeast Caucasian itself. So far no general agreement has been reached in this respect. The following classification is based on Nikolayev & Starostin (1994): : Abkhazo-Adyghean : Hattic : Nakh–Daghestanian :: Nakh :: Hurro-Urartian :: Daghestanian ::: Avar–Andi–Dido ::: Lezgic ::: Lak–Dargwa 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「North Caucasian languages」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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