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

• South Caucasian, also called Georgian or Kartvelian;
• 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.

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