Ibero-Caucasian Languages
The term Ibero-Caucasian (or Iberian-Caucasian) was proposed by Georgian linguist Arnold Chikobava for the union of the three language families that are specific to the Caucasus area, namely
- Kartvelian languages
- Northwest Caucasian, also called Abkhaz/Adygh or Circassian;
- Northeast Caucasian, now called (Nakh–)Dagestanian.
The Northeast family is assumed to include the Nakh languages (Batsbi, Chechen, and Ingush), which were formerly classified as a separate North-central Caucasian family.
The Ibero-Caucasian group would also include three extinct languages: Hattic, which has been connected by some linguists to the Northwest (Circassian) family, and Hurrian and Urartian, which have been connected to the Northeast (Nakh–Dagestanian) family. See the articles on the two families for more discussion.
Read more about Ibero-Caucasian Languages: Family Status, Family Name
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“No doubt, to a man of sense, travel offers advantages. As many languages as he has, as many friends, as many arts and trades, so many times is he a man. A foreign country is a point of comparison, wherefrom to judge his own.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)