The Information Channel Felist.Com -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Issue 23 06.09.02 Chechen culture Chechen Language The chechen language Chechen, together with Ingush and Bats, belongs to the Veinakh group of the Iberian-Caucasian family of languages. The Chechen and Ingush languages have developed a written tradition. Not so the Bats language. The earliest description of the Veinakh languages is found in the Big Comparative Dictionary of Russian Empress Catherine the Great (second half of the 18th century.) The Dictionary presents about 400 Chechen words and their Ingush and Bats equivalents. Baron P.K. Uslar described the Caucasian languages on instructions from the general staff of the Russian Army. His voluminous "The Chechen Language" came off print in 1888. It contains a grammar of the Chechen language. The languages of the Veinakh group are the widest spoken of the Northern Caucasus. Ethnic Chechens and Ingushis can communicate without a translator. The idea of "veinakh" ("our people") brings them close together. The Bats people live in the Pankisky Gorge of Georgia. Their language has come under a heavy influence of Georgian, which is why neither Chechens nor Ingushi can understand it. The Chechen language is also spoken by the Chechen communities of Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Syria. The Chechen language brings together a number of dialects and tongues. The Chechen language of the written tradition rests on the Grozny dialect of flatland Chechnya. Works of fiction, newspapers and magazines, textbooks and scholarly treatises have been written in that dialect of the Chechen language. Classical fiction writings have been translated into it. It was not until 1925 that written Chechen switched over from the Arabic to the Latin alphabet. In 1938 it gave up Latin for Cyrillic. An unsuccessful attempt to return to the Latin alphabet was made in 1992. As they opened up new frontiers, the Chechens and Ingushis could not help getting in close contact with other ethnic communities. That is why the Chechen word stock as many foreign borrowings: up to 500 words from Georgian, up to 700 words from the Turk languages,a good number of Arabic, Persian, Ossetian and Daghestani words, and a great many words from the Russian language. In the 16th century, the Veinakh tribes moved to the Cossack-populated fertile flatland. Trade interests encouraged contacts between the Russians and the Veinakhs. New borrowings enriched the word stock of the Chechen language. English, German and French borrowings entered the chechen language via Russian: take the Chechen equivalents for "export," "meeting," "parliament," "tanz," "kuche,""mundschtuk,""avantguarde," "mousquet,""boillon," "taxi." Even the phonetic system of the Chechen language has undergone change. The /f/, /l'/, /shch/, /r'/ sounds entered Chechen on the coattails of new words such as a factory, a broom, a secretary and a teacher. Even though they are hard to pronounce, Chechen words sound pleasing to the ear. Here are some of the easiest and frequentest-used words of the Chechen language: (more... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng§ion=clanguageeng&row=0) Famous Chechens Sportsmen Shamil Lakaev: Chechen karate hopeful In May 2002, Shamil Lakaev won the European kiokushinkai karate Cup in Hungary in what has become his biggest success up to date. His previous track record stands out for bronze at the 2001 European championship. 23-year-old S. Lakaev was born in Gudermes. He has been into karate for five years. His coach is Lechi Kurbanov, also from Gudermes, who is still successfuly participating in Russian and international tournaments. Back in his home town S. Lakaev coached boys from 7 to 12 years old. Now he is living and training in Moscow along with a group of other Chechen fighters sponsored by famous Chechen politician and businessman Malik Saidulaev. Welterweight Lakaev features on the undernational Russian karate team (more about famous chechens... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=famouseng) Roman Sadykov breathed new life into Terek FC Roman Sadykov is general manager of the Terek FC. He has been one with the best football team of the Chechen Republic for some 20 years now. He was born in the Zentoroi village in 1959. He made his first steps in football playing in the back-of-the-yard team coached by a local Khaidar Alkhanov, now the Minister of Sports and Physical Culture of the Republic. He was enrolled to the football school when he was in the ninth grade and in a year became goalkeeper with Argun-based Vainakh, a powerhouse in the republican football at the time. After doing service in the army, he featured for Novorchekassk-based Ermak, leader in the Rostov region league in 1981-1982. Roman Sadykov moved to second-division Belgorod-based Salut next year to take over from over-the-hill goalie B. Gordeev. After three solid seasons with the squad, R. Sadykov hooked up with Grozny Terek in 1985 to linger on for eight years. In 1993 he became general manager of the club. During the war in mid-1990s Terek broke up. In 2000, Roman Sadykov and H. Alkhanov breathed new life into the team to put it back in the game. They won support from head of the Chechen administration Akhmad Kadyrov, now honorary president of the Terek FC. R. Sadykov has two main things on the agenda now: selecting personnel and fund-raising. Alexander Koreshkov has been appointed head coach, a resounding name in the football community known, for one, for promoting Sratov-based Sokol to the top division. The lineup was juiced up by seasoned players who have top and first division caps behind them. The former state-owned farm Moskovsky has emerged as an economic prop for the team. Now, there is a linoleum-producing enterprise in the pipeline. The Chechen government has prized Terek with a car. All this will be a shot in the arm for the club, Roman Sadykov says. (more about famous chechens... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=famouseng) Chechen diary 05 September 2002 Russias Government has raised salaries for officials of Chechen courts Russias Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has signed a decree to raise wages of service and support staff and security guards of Chechen courts. Under the document, until the end of the year the rise in wages will be paid due to allocations provided in the federal budget for wages to corresponding categories of federal courts officials. The government instructed the Russian Finance Ministry to provide funding to cover these expenses by making provision for it in a separate chapter of the 2003 budget. According to the decree, the rise will be paid for particular conditions of working in Chechnya. (more from Chechen diary http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=diaryeng) 05 September 2002 Rebels from the Pankisi gorge can worsen the situation in Chechnya The Chairman of the Russian State Dumas committee for international affairs Dmitry Rogozin compares the situation in Georgias remote Pankisi gorge, used as a safe haven by Chechen rebels, with a poisonous knife that the republic of Georgia has stabbed into itself. He expressed confidence that Georgia will never settle the problem without Russia. The area is used as a hide-out for mainly Russian citizens who killed Russians on the territory of Russia, he pointed out, and hence, this country will hardly remain indifferent. He believes there will be no significant results, unless Russia is involved in military or police operations in the gorge to pursue the rebels. The Russian Interior Ministry does not rule out the possibility of escalating the situation in war-torn Chechnya in view of the special operation currently conducted by the Georgian army in the Pankisi gorge. The Deputy Interior Minister and Chief Commander of Russias interior troops Vyacheslav Tikhomirov is quoted as saying that the Georgian army is trying to flush the rebels out from Georgia and push them to Chechnya. Georgias media reports that over the past few months certain notorious rebels have permanently stayed on the countrys territory, and this was widely known in border areas. According to Tbilisi-based newspaper Khvalindeli dghe, several weeks ago warlord Ruslan Gelaev and members of his group were in the Tianet region near the Pankisi gorge. Local residents said the rebels intended to cross the border to Chechnya. (more from Chechen diary http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=diaryeng) 04 September 2002 On a Nozhai-Urt enterprise Russias most tasty jam (at least two kind of jam one made of walnut and the other mountain berry medlar) is manufactured in a food processing enterprise of the Nozhai-Urt region. The enterprise was awarded honorary diplomas for this product at the recent International agricultural and industrial display in Krasnodar. This plant in the village of Mesketi used to be the best one in the industry. Its jams, fruit butter, stewed fruit and various snacks were delivered to all regions of the former Soviet Union. Though the enterprise continues manufacturing, it is being actively restored. Equipment for producing plastic bottles for soft drinks and for noodles is being delivered. A new confectionary section has been recently built to engage about 100 people. The upgraded enterprise is equipped with new technique devices, which allow processing a wide range of sweets. According to the head of the Nozhai-Urt regional administration Isita Gairbekova, the first batch of chocolate will be handed over to orphans. A Nozhai-Urt concrete plant is functioning stably. Over the first six month 2400 tons of asphalt has been produced, the major part of which has been used for restoring roads in this mountain region. Roads of the overall length of 301 kilometers have been rebuilt. 30 km of them have asphalt covering, 241 gravel and 30 unpaved. Guide signs are being put in order. Guide-boards of residential areas have been already set up from the village of Ishkhoi-Urt up to the regional center. A new 750-meter long water pipe has been recently set going in Nozhai-Urt, that allowed improving pure drinking water supply for the residents of the region. (more from Chechen diary http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=diaryeng) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Religion in Chechnya Kunta-Khadzhi Kishiev the Chechen Mahatma Gandhi (continuation) The teaching of Kunta-Khadzhi Kishiev * If you want to love Allah love justice.Wish your neighbour what you wish yourself.Never try to be richer, higher or stronger than others.Share with the poor everything God has sent you.Beware of the envious. Let them envy your knowledge, fairness and generosity.Pray to Allah that nothing earned with someone elses blood and sweat would get attached to you. This is an insurmountable obstacle towards tarikat. * A war is preposterous. Distance yourselves from anything reminiscent of war, if the enemy has not come to take your faith and honour from you. Your power lies in your intelligence, patience and justice. The enemy will never stand up to this force and admit defeat sooner or later. No one can overpower you or your truth if you follow your faith with devotion. * The Almighty wants murids to spend their time doing good, that is, repair roads and bridges, clean up springs, grow trees along the roads and build mosques.A murid has to visit bed-ridden people, show interest in the needs of the elderly, the orphans and all feeble and sickly and do all he can to help them. A murid has to do other things that God might approve of, such as reconcile spouses that have fallen out, return mothers to their children and restore families. * Never respond to evil with evil, for it causes more evil. Any evil is against God. God alone has the power to punish the villains and pardon the benefactors. You will defeat the villains and violent by rejecting them, perfecting your souls and your Order. The clearer and more righteous the way you follow, the more difficult you will make it for villains and tyrants. They will succumb to the power of your truth, for they will feel that the Almighty is on your side. They will be defeated by God and your tarikat. Time is working for you, for it is working for justice. * Dont carry weapons. Stay away from them. Weapons remind you of violence and take you off your path to God. The power of weapons is nothing as compared to the power of human beings that follow the path of God. Any weapons testify to lack of confidence that the Almighty will come to your rescue at the right moment. Besides, Eblis constantly sends your hand groping for the dagger or gun. You are becoming a victim of Eblis. * Be hard-working. Dont shrink from the most difficult of work. He who doesnt earn his living lives at the expense of others. This is a sin, which equals to stealing. Learn to value and feel deep respect for every bread crumb, for this crumb is enough to feed a bird and an ant. You will save a soul made by God and none but Him is capable of creating even the smallest of being.Love the world created by its Great Maker and do all you can to preserve it. (in detail... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng§ion=religioneng&row=3) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chechen history Chechens one the worlds most ancient people (continuation) The structure of the Chechen society However, a constant threat coming from foreign enemies made the Chechen society relatively homogeneous and consolidated. Vainakhs institutes of tribal and military democracy and democratic principles of ruling the country lasted longer and developed in conditions different from those of other Caucasian peoples . Due to peculiarities of historical development (fighting against outside enemies) the level of social stratification among Chechens was not high and accordingly, social and class distinctions were underdeveloped. Whatever social conflicts flared up, they were effectively settled within the bounds of a tribe on the basis of common (Adat) and Islamic (Sharia) law. As a result, Chechens, who had a comparatively high level of spiritual, material and household culture, never knew feudalism in its classical form and lived in self-ruling communities. Every clan lived on its historical territory, which was in tribal ownership. All problems of fellow tribesmen on that territory were resolved by the council of elders. Government power and settlement of international, inter-tribal and inter-clan relations fell on elected members of the countrys council, known as mekhka kkhel, which dealt with issues that concerned all Chechen people. If it was necessary the council elected a temporary military chief of the country or byachcha. A characteristic feature of the Chechen society is maximum concentration of power on the local level and delegating power upward if need be. Traditional for the loosely-structured Chechen society was collective-decision making , formed on the basis of consensus. Independent Chechen communities never tolerated autocratic rule and tyranny and never bowed to superiours let alone elevated them. Most developed among the Vainakhs was the sense of honour, justice, equality and collectivism. This is a peculiar feature of Chechen mentality. (in detail... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng§ion=historyeng&row=2) Copyright CHECHNYA FREE.RU http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: http://felist.com/member/unsub?grp=news.media.chechnyafree http://felist.com/ mailto:ask@felist.com