Cases of spirantization and despirantization in Darginian languages

The aim of the work is to identify cases of transition of occlusive sounds and affricates into spirants in the Darginian languages (East Caucasian family of languages). Previously, these languages were considered dialects of the same language, although they have many significant differences in grammatical structure and vocabulary. These features are especially pronounced in the phonetic system of the languages under consideration. Differences are observed both in the phonemic composition and in the various sound processes occurring in languages. Meanwhile, these processes have not yet been the object of comparative study, which complicates the task of creating a comparative historical phonetics of these languages. The article examines the processes of spirantization and despirantization occurring in various Darginian languages and dialects. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that a significant volume of previously unexplored phonetic material of Darginian languages and dialects has been introduced into scientific use, reflecting the process of spiranization. As a result of the study, the existing cases of the transition of occlusive sounds and affricates into spirants in the Northdargin, Tsudakhar-Sirkhin, Kaitag, Kubachin languages and their dialects were identified and analyzed. Two groups of spirantization cases have been identified: the first one is common, characteristic of most Darginian languages and dialects, and the particular which occurs in the same idiom. The article also considers the reverse process of despirantization that is the phenomenon of the transition of spirants into occlusive ones.