The Digor or West Ossetians (, ) are a subgroup of the Ossetians (Alans). They speak the

Digor dialect Digor Ossetian (; ) also known as Digor Ossetic or Digor-Ossetic, is a dialect of the Ossetic language spoken by the Digor people. It is less widely spoken than Iron, the other extant Ossetian dialect. The two are distinct enough to sometimes ...

of the

Eastern Iranian The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages, having emerged during the Middle Iranian era (4th century BC to 9th century AD). The Avestan language is often classified as early Eastern Iranian. As opposed to the Middle-e ...

Ossetian language Ossetian ( , , ), commonly referred to as Ossetic and rarely as Ossete, is an Eastern Iranian language that is spoken predominantly in Ossetia, a region situated on both sides of the Russian-Georgian border in the Greater Caucasus region. ...

, which in

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, was considered a separate language until 1937. Since 1932, it has been considered just a dialect of Ossetian language. The speakers of the other dialect - Iron (East Ossetian) - do not understand Digor (West Ossetian), although the Digor usually understand East Ossetian, as it was the official language of the Ossetian people and was taught in schools. In the

2002 Russian Census The 2002 Russian census () was the first census of the Russian Federation since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, carried out on October 9 through October 16, 2002. It was carried out by the Russian Federal Service of State Statistics (Rossta ...

607 Digors were registered, but by the

2010 Russian Census The 2010 Russian census () was the second census of the Russian Federation population after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Preparations for the census began in 2007 and it took place between October 14 and October 25. The census The cen ...

, their number had dropped to only 223. It was estimated that there are 100,000 speakers of the dialect, most of whom identify as Ossetians. The Digor mainly live in Digorsky, Irafsky, Mozdoksky districts and

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz, formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () or Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia. It is located in the southeast of the republic at the foothills of the Caucasus, situated on the Terek (river), Terek River. ...

North Ossetia–Alania North Ossetia–Alania (; ), officially the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. It borders the country of Georgia (country), Georgia to the south, a ...

, also in

Kabardino-Balkaria Kabardino-Balkaria (), officially the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 904,200. Its capital is Nalchik. The area contains the highest mountain in ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

( Poyrazlı, Boğazlıyan).

Etymology

Scholars generally link the root ''dig''- with the Circassian

endonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...

''A-dyg-e'', where the suffix ''-or'' could be a mark of

plurality Plurality may refer to: Law and politics * Plurality decision, in a decision by a multi-member court, an opinion held by more judges than any other but not by an overall majority * Plurality (voting), when a candidate or proposition polls more ...

as found in many contemporary

Caucasian languages The Caucasian languages comprise a large and extremely varied array of languages spoken by more than ten million people in and around the Caucasus Mountains, which lie between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Linguistic comparison allows t ...

. This point of view was criticized by R. Bielmeier and D. Bekoev, they raised the ethnonym to "''tygwyr''" in the Iron dialect, meaning "''gathering, gathering, group''."

History

Middle Ages

The early medieval '' Ashkharatsuyts'' makes mention of the "nation of the Ash-Tigor Alans" (''azg Alanac' Aš-Tigor''), or simply the "Dikor nation" (''Dik'ori-n''), which is generally regarded as an early reference to the Digor. This fact, and other linguistic considerations, have led scholars to believe that Digor dialect became separated from Proto-Ossetian during the

Mongol conquests The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

Religion

Most Digors are Muslim. They were converted to

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

around the 17–18th centuries, under the influence of the neighboring

Kabarday The Kabardians (Kabardian language, Kabardian: Къэбэрдей адыгэхэр; Adyghe language, Adyghe: Къэбэртай адыгэхэр; ) or Kabardinians are one of the twelve major Circassians, Circassian tribes, representing one ...

people who introduced

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

to them. Starting from the 18th century, the ethnonym ''digor'' became widely used by travelers and in Russian official documents. Digoria was annexed to the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

quite late compared to the rest of

Ossetia Ossetia ( , ; or , or , ) is an Ethnolinguistics, ethnolinguistic region on both sides of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, largely inhabited by the Ossetians. The Ossetian language is part of the Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian b ...

. In the second half of the 19th century, large numbers of Muslim Digors emigrated to the Ottoman Empire.

Demographics

Digors make the majority of the Ossetians in Digoria, the western part of the

( Digorsky and Irafsky districts), and in

. In the beginning of the 19th century some families from Digoria resettled in

Mozdoksky District Mozdoksky District (; , ''Mæzdædžy rajon'') is an administrativeLaw #34-RZ and municipalLaw #16-RZ district (raion), one of the eight in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia. It is located in the north of the republic. The area of th ...

, where they reside in the settlements of Novo-Osetinskaya and Chernoyarskaya.

Sources

*Wixman. ''The Peoples of the USSR'', p. 58

References

{{authority control Ossetian people Peoples of the Caucasus Ethnic groups in Russia Muslim communities of Russia Muslim communities of the Caucasus