Chechens
The main language of the Chechen people is Chechen. Chechen belongs to the family of Nakh languages (Northeast Caucasian languages). Literary Chechen is based on the central lowland dialect. Other related languages include Ingush, which has speakers in the neighbouring Ingushetia, and Batsbi, which is the language of the people in the adjoining part of Georgia. At various times in their history, Chechens used Georgian, Arabic and Latin alphabets; as of 2008, the official one is now the Cyrillic script of Russia.
Chechen language
In closed syllables, long vowels become short in most dialects (not Kisti), but are often still distinct from short vowels (shortened , , , and vs. short , , , and , for example), though which remain distinct depends on the dialect. and are in complementary distribution ( occurs after pharyngealized consonants, whereas does not, and —identical with for most speakers—occurs in closed syllables, while does not) but speakers strongly feel that they are distinct sounds.