Adyghe language

Adyghe
West Circassian
Адыгабзэ (Кӏахыбзэ)
Native to	Russia (incl. Circassia: Adygea, Krasnodar region), Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Israel, Macedonia
Region	North Caucasus
Ethnicity	Circassians, Cherkesogai
Native speakers	590,000 (2010–2014)[1]
Language family	Northwest Caucasian Circassian Adyghe
Writing system	Cyrillic Latin Arabic
Official status
Official language in	Adygea (Russia)
Language codes
ISO 639-2	ady
ISO 639-3	ady
Glottolog	adyg1241[2]
Distribution of the Adyghe language in Adygea, Russia (2002).

Adyghe (/ˈædᵻɡeɪ/ or /ˌɑːdᵻˈɡeɪ/;^[3] Adyghe: Адыгабзэ, adyghabze IPA: [aːdəɣabza]), also known as West Circassian (КӀахыбзэ), is one of the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation, the other being Russian. It is spoken by various tribes of the Adyghe people: Abzekh,^[4] Adamey, Bzhedug;^[5] Hatuqwai, Temirgoy, Mamkhegh; Natekuay, Shapsug;^[6] Zhaney, Yegerikuay, each with its own dialect. The language is referred to by its speakers as Adygebze or Adəgăbză, and alternatively spelled in English as Adygean, Adygeyan or Adygei. The literary language is based on the Temirgoy dialect.

There are apparently around 128,000 speakers of Adyghe in Russia, almost all of them native speakers. In total, some 300,000 speak it worldwide. The largest Adyghe-speaking community is in Turkey, spoken by the post Russian–Circassian War (circa 1763–1864) diaspora; in addition to that, the Adyghe language is spoken by the Cherkesogai in Krasnodar Krai.

Adyghe belongs to the family of Northwest Caucasian languages. Kabardian (also known as East Circassian) is a very close relative, treated by some as a dialect of Adyghe or of an overarching Circassian language. Ubykh, Abkhaz, and Abaza are somewhat more distantly related to Adyghe.

The language was standardized after the October Revolution in 1917. Since 1936, the Cyrillic script has been used to write Adyghe. Before that, an Arabic-based alphabet was used together with the Latin.

Dialects

The West Circassian dialects family tree.

• The Black Sea coast dialects
  • Shapsug dialect (Adyghe: Шапсыгъабзэ)
    • North Shapsugs, Great Shapsugs, Kuban Shapsugs dialect (Шапсыгъэ шху).
      • Kfar Kama dialect (Кфар Камэм ишапсыгъэбзэ)
    • Temirgoy-Shapsugs, Pseuşko accent (Кӏэмгуе-шапсыгъ)
    • South Shapsugs, Small Shapsugs, Coastal Shapsugs Black Sea Shapsugs (Шапсыгъэ-цӏыкӏу) dialect.
    • Hakuchi dialect (ХьакӀуцубзэ, Къaрaцхaибзэ)
  • Natukhai dialect (Adyghe: Нэтӏхъуаджэбзэ)
  • Zhaney dialect
• The Kuban river dialects
  • Bzhedug dialect (Adyghe: Бжъэдыгъубзэ) : Spoken by the Circassians in Republic of Adygea and Biga district of Çanakkale city in Turkey.
  • Temirgoy (Adyghe: КӀэмыгуябзэ, КӀэмгуибзэ) : Literary Adyghe. Also spoken by the Circassians in Republic of Adygea.
  • Abzakh dialect (Adyghe: Aбдзэхабзэ) : Spoken by the Circassians in Rehaniya in Israel and the Circassians in Syria from Golan Heights.
  • Mamkhegh dialect
  • Yegeruqay dialect
  • Hatuqwai dialect
  • Mequash dialect

Phonology

Adyghe exhibits a large number of consonants: between 50 and 60 consonants in the various Adyghe dialects. All dialects possess a contrast between plain and labialized glottal stops. A very unusual minimal contrast, and possibly unique to the Abzakh dialect of Adyghe, is a three-way contrast between plain, labialized and palatalized glottal stops (although a palatalized glottal stop is also found in Hausa). The Black Sea dialect of Adyghe contains a very uncommon sound: a bidental fricative [h̪͆], which corresponds to the voiceless velar fricative [x] found in other varieties of Adyghe.

		Labial		Alveolar			Post-alveolar		Alveolo- palatal	Retroflex	Velar			Uvular		Pharyngeal	Glottal
		plain	lab.	plain	lab.	lat.	plain	lab.			plain	lab.	pal.	plain	lab.		plain	lab.
Nasal		m		n
Plosive	voiceless	p		t							k^1	kʷ	(kʲ)^2	q	qʷ		ʔ	ʔʷ
	voiced	b		d							ɡ^1	ɡʷ	(ɡʲ)^2
	ejective	pʼ	pʷʼ	tʼ	tʷʼ							kʷʼ	(kʲʼ)^2
Affricate	voiceless			t͡s	t͡sʷ		t͡ʃ			t͡ʂ
	voiced			d͡z	d͡zʷ		d͡ʒ
	ejective			t͡sʼ			t͡ʃʼ			t͡ʂʼ
Fricative	voiceless	f		s		ɬ	ʃ	ʃʷ	ɕ	ʂ	x			χ	χʷ	ħ
	voiced	v^1		z		n	ʒ	ʒʷ	ʑ	ʐ	ɣ			ʁ	ʁʷ
	ejective					ɬʼ	ʃʼ	ʃʷʼ
Approximant									j			w
Trill				r

1. Consonants that exist only in borrowed words.
2. In the Black Sea coast Adyghe dialects (e.g. Shapsug dialect and Natukhai dialect) there exist a palatalized voiced velar stop [ɡʲ], a palatalized voiceless velar stop [kʲ] and a palatalized velar ejective [kʲʼ] that were merged with [d͡ʒ], [t͡ʃ] and [t͡ʃʼ] in most Adyghe dialects.^{[7][8][9][10]}

In contrast to its large consonant inventory, Adyghe has only three phonemic vowels in a classic vertical vowel system.

	Central
Close-mid	ə
Open-mid	ɜ
Open	ɡ

Grammar

Adyghe, like all Northwest Caucasian languages, has a basic agent–object–verb typology, and is characterized by an ergative construction of the sentence.

Orthography

Cyrillic	Latin	IPA	Pronunciation	Words
А а	ā	[aː]		ачъэ (goat), апчъы (they count)
Б б	b	[b]		баджэ (wolf), бэ (a lot)
В в	v	[v]		кэнау
Г г	ɣ	[ɣ]		гыны (powder), чъыгы (tree)
Гу гу	g°	[ɡʷ]		гу (heart), гущыӏ (word)
Гъ гъ	ġ / ǧ	[ʁ]		гъатхэ (spring), гъэмаф (summer)
Гъу гъу	ġ° / ǧ°	[ʁʷ]		гъунэгъу (neighbor), гъунджэ (mirror)
Д д	d	[d]		дыджы (bitter), дахэ (pretty)
Дж дж	ǯʹ	[d͡ʒ]		джан (shirt), лъэмыдж (bridge)
Дз дз	ʒ	[d͡z]		дзыо (bag), дзын (to throw)
Дзу дзу	ʒ°	[d͡zʷ]		хьандзу (rick), хьандзуачӏ (lower rick)
Е е	e	[aj] [ja]		ешэн (to catch), еплъын (to look at)
(Ё ё)	ë	[jo]		ёлк
Ж ж	ž	[ʒ]		жэ (mouth), жакӏэ (beard)
Жъ жъ	ẑ	[ʐ]		жъы (old), жъажъэ (slow)
Жъу жъу	ẑ°	[ʒʷ]		жъун (to melt), жъуагъо (star)
Жь жь	žʹ	[ʑ]		жьыбгъэ (wind), жьао (shadow)
З з	z	[z]		занкӏэ (straight), зандэ (steep)
И и	i	[əj] [jə]		ихьан (to enter), икӏыпӏ
Й й	j	[j]		йод, бай (rich)
К к	k	[k]		кнопк, ручк
Ку ку	k°	[kʷ]		кушъэ (cradle), ку (cart)
Къ къ	q	[q]		къалэ (city), къэкӏон (to come)
Къу къу	q°	[qʷ]		къухьэ (ship), къушъхьэ (mountain)
Кӏ кӏ	č̣ʹ	[kʼ] [tʃʼ]		кӏымаф (winter), кӏыхьэ (long), кӏэ (tail), шкӏэ (calf)
Кӏу кӏу	ḳ°	[kʷʼ]		кӏон (to walk), кӏуакӏэ (strong)
Л л	l	[l]		лагъэ (painted), лы (meat)
	ɮ	([ɮ])
Лъ лъ	ł	[l]		лъэбэкъу (step), лъащэ (lame)
Лӏ лӏ	ḷ	[ɬʼ]		лӏы (man), лӏыгъэ (bravery)
М м	m	[m]		мазэ (moon), мэлы (sheep)
Н н	n	[ɮ]		нэ (eye), ны (mother)
О о	o	[aw] [wa]		мощ (that), коны (bin), о (you), осы (snow), ощхы (rain)
П п	p	[p]		пэ (nose), сапэ (dust)
Пӏ пӏ	ṗ	[pʼ]		пӏэ (bed), пӏэшъхьагъ (pillow)
Пӏу пӏу	ṗ°	[pʷʼ]		пӏун (to rise, to adopt), пӏур (pupil, apprentice)
Р р	r	[r]		рикӏэн (to pour into), риӏон (to tell him)
С с	s	[s]		сэ (i, me), сэшхо (sabre)
Т т	t	[t]		тэтэжъ (grandfather), тэ (we)
Тӏ тӏ	ṭ	[tʼ]		тӏы (ram), ятӏэ (dirt)
Тӏу тӏу	ṭ°	[tʷʼ]		тӏурыс (old), тӏурытӏу (pair)
У у	w	[əw] [wə]		ушхун (straighten), убэн (tamp, to make smooth)
Ф ф	f	[f]		фыжьы (white), фэен (to want)
Х х	x	[x]		хы (sea, six), хасэ (council)
Хъ хъ	χ	[χ]		хъыен (to move), пхъэн (to sow)
Хъу хъу	χ°	[χʷ]		хъун (to happen), хъурай (circle)
Хь хь	ḥ	[ħ]		хьэ (dog), хьаку (oven)
Ц ц	c	[t͡s]		цагэ (rib), цы (hair on body)
Цу цу	c°	[t͡sʷ]		цуакъэ (shoe), цу (ox)
Цӏ цӏ	c̣	[t͡sʼ]		цӏынэ (wet), цӏыфы (person)
Ч ч	č̍	[t͡ʃ]		чэфы (cheerful), чэты (chicken)
Чӏ чӏ	č̣	[t͡ʂʼ]		чӏыпӏэ (area), чӏыфэ (debt)
Чъ чъ	č	[t͡ʂ]		чъыгай (oak), чъыӏэ (cold)
Ш ш	š	[ʃ]		шы (brother), шыблэ (thunder)
Шъ шъ	ŝ	[ʂ]		шъэ (hundred), шъабэ (soft)
Шъу шъу	ŝ°	[ʃʷ]		шъугъуалэ (envious), шъукъакӏу (come – to plural)
Шӏ шӏ	ṣ̂	[ʃʼ]		шӏын (to do), шӏэныгъ (knowledge)
Шӏу шӏу	ṣ̂°	[ʃʷʼ]		шӏуцӏэ (black), шӏуфэс (greetings)
Щ щ	šʹ	[ɕ]		щагу (yard), щатэ (sour cream)
(Ъ ъ)	”	″
Ы ы	ə	[ə]		ыкӏи (and also), зы (one)
(Ь ь)	’	′
Э э	ă	[a]		ӏэтаж (floor), нэнэжъ (grandmother)
(Ю ю)	ju	[ju]		Юсыф (Joseph), Юныс (Jonah)
Я я	jā	[jaː]		яй (theirs), ябгэ (evil)
ӏ	ʾ	[ʔ]		ӏэ (hand), кӏасэ (like)
ӏу	՚°	[ʔʷ]		ӏукӏэн (to meet), ӏусын (to be near sitting), ӏудан (thread)

Adyghe dialect letters

Cyrillic	Latin	IPA	Pronunciation	Words	Dialects
Гь гь	ɡ’	([ɡʲ])		гьанэ (shirt), гьэгун (to play)	Shapsug and Natukhai dialects. Correspond to Дж дж.
Джь джь				джьанэ (shirt), джьэгун (to play)
Кь кь	k	([kʲ])		кьэт (chicken), кьэтыу (cat), кьэфы (cheerful)	Shapsug and Natukhai dialects, Correspond to Ч ч.
Кӏь кӏь	ḳ	([kʲʼ])		кӏьэ (tail), кӏьакӏьэ (egg), кӏьапсэ (rope)	Shapsug and Natukhai dialects, Correspond to Кӏ кӏ.
Сӏ сӏ	ṣ̣	([sʼ])		сӏэ (name), псӏы (lie)	Shapsug dialect, Correspond to Цӏ цӏ
Чъу чъу	č̍°	([t͡ɕʷ])		чъуакъо (shoe), чъу (ox)	Shapsug dialect, Abzakh dialect. Correspond to Цу цу
ӏь	ʾ’	([ʔʲ])		ӏьалэ (boy), ӏьэс (sits under)	Abzakh dialect

Labialized consonants

Гу [ɡʷ], Гъу [ʁʷ], Дзу [d͡zʷ], Ку [kʷ], Къу [qʷ], КIу [kʷʼ], ПIу [pʷʼ], ТIу [tʷʼ], Хъу [χʷ], Цу [t͡sʷ], Шъу [ʃʷ], ШIу [ʃʷʼ], Iу [ʔʷ].

In some dialects : Кхъу [q͡χʷ], Ху [xʷ], Чъу [t͡ɕʷ].

Writing system rules

• The letter ⟨ы⟩ [ə] is not written after a ⟨у⟩ [w], ⟨й⟩ [j] or a labialized consonant. For example, : унэ [wəna] "house" instead of уынэ, илъэс [jəɬas] "year" instead of йылъэс, шӏу [ʃʷʼə] "well" instead of шӏуы, цумпэ [t͡sʷəmpa] "strawberry" instead of цуымпэ.
• In case the letter ⟨у⟩ is the first letter of a word or when is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as [wə] ⟨уы⟩. For example, : унэ [wəna] "house" instead of уынэ, урыс [wərəs] "Russian" instead of уырыс, куу [kʷəwə] "deep" instead of кууы. When it's related to a consonant it becomes a vowel and pronounced as [əw]~[u] ⟨ыу⟩. For example, : чэту [t͡ʃaːtəw] "cat" instead of чэтыу, бзу [bzəw] "bird" instead of бзыу, дуней [dəwnej] "world" instead of дыуней.
• In case a labialized consonant is followed by a vowel ⟨э⟩ [a], instead of the letter ⟨у⟩ there is a ⟨о⟩. For example, : гъогу [ʁʷaɡʷ] "road" instead of гъуэгу, машӏо [maːʃʷʼa] "fire" instead of машӏуэ, шъо [ʃʷa] "you (plural)" instead of шъуэ.
• In case a labialized consonant is followed by a vowel ⟨а⟩ [aː] or ⟨и⟩ [i/əj], the labialized consonant letter is written fully. for example : цуакъэ [t͡sʷaːqa] "shoes", гуащэ [ɡʷaɕa] "princes", шъуи [ʃʷəj] "yours (plural).
• In case the letter ⟨о⟩ is the first letter of a word or when is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as [wa] ⟨уэ⟩. For example : о [wa] "you" instead of уэ, орэд [warad] "song" instead of уэрэд, онтэгъу [wantaʁʷ] "heavy" instead of уэнтэгъу, зао [zaːwa] "war" instead of зауэ, ныо [nəwa] "old woman" instead of ныуэ.
• In case the letter ⟨е⟩ is the first letter of a word or when is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as [ja] ⟨йэ⟩. For example, : еӏо [jaʔʷa] "he says" instead of йэӏо, еплъы [japɬə] "he sees" instead of йэплъы, мые [məja] "apple" instead of мыйэ, бае [baːja] "rich" instead of байэ, шъэжъые [ʂaʐəja] "knife" instead of шъэжъыйэ. When it's related to a consonant it becomes a vowel and pronounced as [aj]~[e] ⟨эй⟩. For example, : делэ [dajla] "fool" instead of дэйлэ, къедж [qajd͡ʒ] "read" instead of къэйдж, непэ [najpa] "today" instead of нэйпэ.
• In case the letter ⟨и⟩ is the first letter of a word or when is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as [jə] ⟨йы⟩. For example, : илъэс [jəɬas] "year" instead of йылъэс, иунэ [jəwəna] "his house" instead of йыуын, шӏои [ʃʷʼajə] "dirty" instead of шӏойы, дэи [dajə] "bad" instead of дэйы. When it's related to a consonant it becomes a vowel and pronounced as [əj]~[i] ⟨ый⟩. For example, : сиӏ [səjʔ] "I have" instead of сыйӏ, уиунэ [wəjwəna] "your house" instead of уыйуынэ, къины [qəjnə] "hard" instead of къыйны.

Vowels

The vowels are written ⟨ы⟩ [ə], ⟨э⟩ [a] and ⟨а⟩ [aː].

Other letters represent diphthongs: ⟨я⟩ represents [jaː], ⟨и⟩ [jə] or [əj], ⟨о⟩ [wa] or [o], ⟨у⟩ represent [u] or [w] or [wə] and ⟨е⟩ represents [aj] or [ja].

Writing systems

Modern Adyghe uses a Cyrillic alphabet with the addition of the letter ⟨Ӏ⟩ (palochka). Previously Arabic (before 1927) and Latin (1927–38) alphabets had been used.

• 

  Adyghe Arabic alphabet was used before 1927

• 

  Adyghe Latin alphabet 1927–38

• 

  Adyghe Latin alphabet 1927–38

• 

  Latin and Cyrillic alphabets compared

• 

  Latin alphabets compared

• 

  Arabic alphabets compared

Adyghe outside Circassia

Adyghe is taught outside Circassia in a Jordanian School for the Jordanian Adyghes, Prince Hamza Ibn Al-Hussein Secondary School in Amman. This school, which was established by the Adyghe Jordanians with support from the late king Hussein of Jordan, is one of the first schools for the Adyghe communities outside Circassia. It has around 750 Jordanian Adyghe students, and one of its major goals is to preserve Adyghe among newer Adyghe generations, while also emphasizing the traditions of the Adyghes.^[11]

Adyghe is spoken by Circassians in Iraq and by Circassians in Israel, where it is taught in schools in their villages. It is also spoken by many Circassians in Syria, although the majority of Syrian Circassians speak Kabardian.

UNESCO 2009 map of endangered languages

According to the UNESCO 2009 map entitled "UNESCO Map of the World's Languages in Danger", the status of the Adyghe language in 2009, along with all its dialects (Adyghe, Western Circassian tribes) and (Kabard-Cherkess, Eastern Circassian tribes), is classified as vulnerable.^[12]

Sample text

Ублапӏэм ыдэжь Гущыӏэр щыӏагъ. Ар Тхьэм ыдэжь щыӏагъ, а Гущыӏэри Тхьэу арыгъэ. Ублапӏэм щегъэжьагъэу а Гущыӏэр Тхьэм ыдэжь щыӏагъ. Тхьэм а Гущыӏэм зэкӏэри къыригъэгъэхъугъ. Тхьэм къыгъэхъугъэ пстэуми ащыщэу а Гущыӏэм къыримыгъгъэхъугъэ зи щыӏэп. Мыкӏодыжьын щыӏэныгъэ а Гущыӏэм хэлъыгъ, а щыӏэныгъэри цӏыфхэм нэфынэ афэхъугъ. Нэфынэр шӏункӏыгъэм щэнэфы, шӏункӏыгъэри нэфынэм текӏуагъэп.

Translation: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.

See also

• Adyge mak' (newspaper)

References

1. Adyghe at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016)
2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Adyghe". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
3. "Adyghe". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
4. Abzakh dialect (French)
5. Bzhedug dialect (French)
6. Shapsoug dialect (French)
7. Палатализация (смягчение) и аффрикатизация согласных (Russian)
8. Переднеязычные мягкие шипящие аффрикаты дж, ч, к1 (Russian)
9. Консонантная система уляпского говора в сопоставлении с аналогами других диалектов адыгских языков (Russian)
10. Studia Caucasologica I page 11 (English)
11. Circassians bid to save ancient language. Al Jazeera. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
12. "UNESCO Map of World's language in Danger" (PDF). Retrieved 24 June 2009.

External links

• Grammar of the Circassian Language. Useful site to learn the Adyghe grammar.
• Louis Loewe (1854). A dictionary of the Circassian language, English-Circassian-Turkish. George Bell.
• Adyghe alphabet, Omniglot.
• "Adyghe transliteration schemes" (PDF)..
• Adyghe sample, Language Museum.
• Learning Adyghe resource.
• Learn Circassian, International Centre for Circassian Studies (ICCS).
• Rferl North Caucasus Radio.
• Adyghe transliteration tool.
• Ancient Adyghe Abkhaz–Abaza Ubykh alphabet.
• How to count in Adyghe language.
• Adyghe language dictionary.
• Recordings of Adyghe language