 An Avar–Andi–Dido branch was abandoned, but has been resurrected as the "New Type" languages in Schulze (2009, 2013), and Lak–Dargwa has likewise returned.One factor complicating internal classification within the family is that the diachronic development of its respective branches is marked both by an extreme degree of diffusion and divergence followed by secondary "convergence", which complicates the comparative method.Population data is from "Ethnologue" 16th ed.