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Without a doubt, our most popular series has been “In Their Own Words,” in which we give you our listeners a chance to hear from the peoples of the North Caucasus directly. Not long ago we decided to try for one interview with every one of the 34 official languages of Dagestan—and some say there are more. Today we are privileged to meet Marat of the Tabasaran nation. Situated in southern Dagestan, the Tabasaran boast not a growing population, but they are also recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as possessing the most complex grammar in the world. This is no joke… but have a listen to learn details about that and much more unique to the Tabasaran!
Notes
In this interview our guest makes several citations about Tabasaran grammar. We want to acknowledge that various sorts of numerical tallies of languages are interesting and popular, but not undisputed. An even-handed treatment of the subject can be found here: scholar.harvard.edu/files/mpolinsky/files/DaghCaseHoax.pdf?m=1360038984
