Ossetian

Ossetian is spoken on the slopes of the Caucasus Mountains, which divide the Russia from the Georgia. The area in Russia is known as the North Ossetian A.S.S.R. (capital: Vladikavkaz), while the area in the Georgia is called the South Ossetian Autonomous Region (capital: Tskhinvali). Ossetian speakers number about 500,000, 60 percent of whom live in the North Ossetian Republic, and 15 percent in the South Ossetian Autonomous Region.

Ossetian is an Iranian language—the only one of any consequence spoken in the Caucasus. There are two important dialects—Iron and Digor—the former, shown below, being the more widely spoken. Written Ossetian may be immediately recognized by its use of the æ, a letter to be found in no other language using the Cyrillic alphabet.