The separation of Nakh from common Northeast Caucasian has been tentatively dated to the Neolithic (ca.

[1] The Nakh languages are relevant to the glottalic theory of Indo-European, because the Vainakh branch has undergone the voicing of ejectives that has been postulated but widely derided as improbable in that family.

The language of the Malkhs[6] (whose name, malkh, refers to the sun) in the North Caucasus, who lived in modern day Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay–Cherkessia, and once briefly conquered Ubykhia and Abkhazia, is believed to be of Nakh affiliation.

The language of the Dvals is thought to be Nakh by many historians,[6][7][8][9] though there is a rivaling camp arguing for its status as a close relative of Ossetic.

Tsov and its relatives in the area may have contributed to the Hurro-Urartian substratum in the Armenian language.