Chechen-Ingush - Orientation

Identification. The Chechens and Ingush are the most numerous northern Caucasian group and territorially one of the largest. In view of their numbers, the strategic location of their territory, and the strong leading role of the Chechens in the resistance to the Russian conquest of the Caucasus, they figure with particular prominence in Russian artistic literature depicting the northern Caucasus. Although Chechen and Ingush are distinct languages and are not mutually intelligible, in areas of population overlap communication is achieved through passive bilingualism. Learning to communicate smoothly in an unfamiliar dialect area may require several days' time. There are Chechen communities in Jordan, Syria, and Turkey, formed when many Chechens and Ingush emigrated to Muslim countries after the Caucasus Wars in the mid-nineteenth century. These émigré communities retain the language (basically Chechen dialects, although some of the émigrés are of Ingush descent) and much of the culture. The language is especially well retained in Jordan, where children still learn it as their first language.

The Chechens and Ingush are relatively tall, with fair skin and hair color ranging from black to blond, with reddish shades being common. Stereotypically, in their own view, the Chechens and Ingush are thin and long-limbed, with thick hair and little male baldness. The two groups see themselves as physically identical to each other and physically distinct from their neighbors.

This article is based on available published sources—which are neither extensive, recent, nor of even quality—and on some elicitation and extremely limited field observation. The past tense is used for patterns reported of traditional life (some of which may still be observed) and the present tense for those reported or observed now (most of them traditional). The word "apparently" marks inferences.

Location. The traditional territory lies on and to the east of the principal road crossing the central Caucasus (leading to the Darial Pass and the Georgian Military Highway) and extends from just north of the Terek River in the southern part of the north Caucasian plains to the snow line; a few villages, speaking the distinctive Kisti dialect, are found to the south of the Caucasian crest, in eastem Georgia. At its greatest extent this territory reaches from about 42° to 44° N and about 45° to 46° E. The land ranges from plains and rolling foothills in the north to alpine terrain in the south. The northern lowlands enjoy rich soil, ample precipitation, and a long growing season; the mountain valleys also offer fertile soil and adequate-to-ample precipitation, with increasingly alpine conditions at higher elevations. The climate is continental, with hot and often humid summers and cold (though not harsh) winters. Much of the land is heavily forested. Lowland settlements are in natural plains; in mountain valleys there has been some clearing (presumably extensive in some areas).

Demography. The population in 1989 was 1,194,317 (956,879 Chechens and 237,438 Ingush); in 1979 it was 941,980 (755,782 Chechens and 186,198 Ingush); in 1926 it was 392,619 (318,522 Chechens and 74,097 Ingush). The birthrate is—and apparently always was—high.

Linguistic Affiliation. Chechen and Ingush, together with closely related Batsbi (or Ts'ova-Tush; spoken in Georgia), form the Nakh, or North-Central Caucasian, Branch of Northeast Caucasian (Nakh-Daghestanian), a stock not demonstrably related to any other (although connections to Hurrian-Urartian and to Northwest Caucasian have been sought). Typologically, Chechen and Ingush are verb-final, agglutinating, ergative, and case-marking languages, with six to eight nominal genders and with fixed initial stress, numerous vowels (phonemic length, diphthongs, sometimes nasalization), numerous consonants (three manners of articulation, including ejectives; eight points, including c, ch, uvulars, pharyngeals, glottals), but a simple root and syllable canon with geminate consonants and few clusters. Ingush has little or no internal dialect differentiation. Chechen comprises a number of dialects; a central lowlands dialect now serves as the official literary language and is the basis for the orthography. Chechen and Ingush were not traditionally written; prior to the Revolution, writing was in Arabic. Chechen and Ingush are now separate written languages. Latin orthographies were created in 1923 and replaced by Cyrillic in 1938. Both Latin and Cyrillic orthographies grossly underdifferentiate the vowel phonemes but render consonants well and economically. At present there is fairly extensive publication of textbooks, newspapers, and literature (as well as radio and television broadcasts and theater performances) in Chechen and Ingush, but almost no technical or scientific publication. Much of the population (especially among the Ingush) is fluent in Russian, and some (especially those who received primary or secondary education in Central Asia during the period of exile, 1945-1956) are bilingual and Russian-dominant.