The Abzakh dialect ( ady, Абдзахабзэ; kbd, Абдзахэбзэ) is one of the

Adyghe language Adyghe ( or ; ady, Адыгабзэ, Adygabzə, ), also known as West Circassian ( ady, link=no, кӏахыбзэ, khaxybzə), is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken by the western subgroups of Circassians. It is spoken mainly in Russia, a ...

dialects. The Abzakh dialect is spoken by the

Abzakh The Abzakh ( Circassian: Абдзэх, ''Abdzekh''; Russian: абадзехи; also known as Abdzakhs or Abadzekhs) are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of the twelve stars on the green-and-gold Circassian flag. Histori ...

which are one of the largest Circassian population in the diaspora outside

Republic of Adygea The Republic of Adygea (; russian: Республика Адыгея, Respublika Adygeya, p=ɐdɨˈɡʲejə; ady, Адыгэ Республик, ''Adıgə Respublik''), also known as the Adyghe Republic, is a republic of Russia. It is situated ...

alongside

Shapsugs The Shapsug ( ady, шапсыгъ , russian: шапсуги, tr, Şapsığlar, ar, الشابسوغ, he, שפסוגים) (also known as the Shapsugh or Shapsogh) are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes. Historically, the Shapsug tribe ...

Phonology

The un aspirated postalveolar

sibilant Sibilants are fricative consonants of higher amplitude and pitch, made by directing a stream of air with the tongue towards the teeth. Examples of sibilants are the consonants at the beginning of the English words ''sip'', ''zip'', ''ship'', and ...

affricate An affricate is a consonant that begins as a stop and releases as a fricative, generally with the same place of articulation (most often coronal). It is often difficult to decide if a stop and fricative form a single phoneme or a consonant pair. ...

consonants ч and чъ in most Adyghe dialects (e.g. Temirgoy) became щ and шъ in the Abzakh dialect. In the Abzakh dialects there exists a palatalized

glottal stop The glottal plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents thi ...

�ʲ and an

alveolo-palatal ejective fricative The alveolo-palatal ejective fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notatio ...

�ʼ which respectively correspond to кӏ ʃʼand чӏ ͡ʂʼin other Adyghe dialects.Переднеязычные твердые шипящие аффрикаты дж, чъ, ч1

Unique words

Grammar differences

Instrumental case

In the

Khakurinokhabl Khakurinokhabl (russian: Хакуринохабль; ady, Хьэкурынэхьабл, ''Hekurynehabl'') is a rural locality (an ''aul'') and the administrative center of Shovgenovsky District of the Republic of Adygea, Russia, located on the ...

sub-dialect of Abzakh, the instrumental case has the suffix -мӏе (-mʔʲa) or -ӏе (-ʔʲa) unlike other dialects that has the suffix -мкӏэ (-mt͡ʃa) or -кӏэ (-t͡ʃa). * Khakurinokhabl : ӏялэр Адыгэбзэӏе мэгущаӏэ ↔ Standard: Кӏалэр Адыгэбзэкӏэ мэгущаӏэ - "The boy speaks (using) Adyghe language". * Khakurinokhabl : Къэлэмымӏе сэтхэ ↔ Standard: Къэлэмымкӏэ сэтхэ - "I write (using) with the pencil".

Backward Prefix

In the Standard Adyghe, The prefix зэкӏэ- means backward. In the Abzakh dialect, it is зэӏе-. * Abzakh : ӏялэр зэӏекӏо ↔ Standard: Кӏалэр зэкӏэкӏо - "The boy walks backward". * Abzakh : ӏялэр зэӏеплъэ ↔ Standard: Кӏалэр зэкӏаплъэ - "The boy looks backward".

Under Prefix

In the Standard Adyghe, The prefix чӏэ- means under (toward under). In the Abzakh dialect, it is ӏе-. * Abzakh : Шъыгым ӏес ӏялэр ↔ Standard: Чъыгым чӏэс кӏалэр - "The boy sits under the tree". * Abzakh : ӏанэм ищӏэгъ ӏеплъ ↔ Standard: ӏанэм ичӏэгъ чӏаплъ - "Look under the table". * Abzakh : Лӏыр тучаным ӏехьэ ↔ Standard: Лӏыр тучаным чӏахьэ - "The man enters the shop".

Sample text

References

{{Reflist Adyghe language