ABSTRACT
The Northwest Caucasian (NWC) languages exhibit several traits that are typical both of languages indigenous to the Caucasus as well as those such as Armenian and Ossetic, both Indo-European, which have come to be spoken in the Caucasus within historical times. The problem of defining the NWC languages as a group distinct from the NEC and Kartvelian families is complicated by the diversity of the languages which make up the NWC family. The most striking phonological aspect of the NWC languages is their tendency to have complex consonantal systems, the elements of which enter into complex and difficult clusters. In addition many of these series show secondary modifications such as rounding, pharyngealization, and palatalization. All of the languages show rounding in the velar and uvular regions. The extensive use of the articulatory regions of the mouth together with the occurrence of secondary modifications at many of these points is unequaled by any other known group of languages.
