Adyghe ( or ; ady, Адыгабзэ, Adygabzə, ), also known as West Circassian ( ady, link=no, кӏахыбзэ, khaxybzə), is a

Northwest Caucasian language The Northwest Caucasian languages, also called West Caucasian, Abkhazo-Adyghean, Abkhazo-Circassian, Circassic, or sometimes ''Pontic languages'' (from the historical region of Pontus, in contrast to ''Caspian languages'' for the Northeast Cauc ...

spoken by the western subgroups of

Circassians The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia in ...

. It is spoken mainly in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, as well as in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, where they settled after the

Circassian genocide The Circassian genocide, or Tsitsekun, was the Russian Empire's systematic mass murder, ethnic cleansing, and expulsion of 80–97% of the Circassian population, around 800,000–1,500,000 people, during and after the Russo-Circassian War ( ...

. It is closely related to the Kabardian (East Circassian) language, though some reject the distinction between the two languages in favor of both being

dialects The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

of a unitary

Circassian language Circassian , also known as Cherkess , is a subdivision of the Northwest Caucasian language family, spoken by the Circassian people. There are two Circassian languages, defined by their literary standards, Adyghe (; also known as West Circassian) ...

. The literary language is based on the

Temirgoy Temirgoy or Chemirgoy or Kemgui ( ady, КIэмгуй, '; or , '; or , '; russian: Темиргоевцы, ') are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of the twelve stars on the green-and-gold Circassian flag. They lived be ...

dialect. Adyghe and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

are the two official languages of the

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 ...

in the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. There are 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

, spoken by the

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

from the

Russian–Circassian War The Russo-Circassian War ( ady, Урыс-адыгэ зауэ, translit=Wurıs-adığə zawə; ; 1763–1864; also known as the Russian Invasion of Circassia) was the invasion of Circassia by Russia, starting in July 17, 1763 ( O.S) with the Ru ...

(–1864). In addition, the Adyghe language is spoken by the

Cherkesogai Cherkesogai (russian: link=no, Черкесогаи), or Circassian Armenians ( hy, չերքեզահայեր ''cherk'ezahayer''; Circassian: Адыгэ-ермэлы; russian: черкесские армяне, link=no; sometimes referred to as ...

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part of t ...

. Adyghe belongs to the family of

Northwest Caucasian languages The Northwest Caucasian languages, also called West Caucasian, Abkhazo-Adyghean, Abkhazo-Circassian, Circassic, or sometimes ''Pontic languages'' (from the historical region of Pontus, in contrast to ''Caspian languages'' for the Northeast Cauc ...

. Kabardian (also known as East Circassian) is a very close relative, treated by some as a dialect of Adyghe or of an overarching

. Ubykh, Abkhaz and Abaza are somewhat more distantly related to Adyghe.

Dialects

*The

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

coast dialects: ** Shapsug dialect ( ady, Шапсыгъабзэ) ***North Shapsugs, Great Shapsugs, Kuban Shapsugs (Шапсыгъэ шху) dialect **** 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, Къарацхаибзэ) ** Natukhai dialect ( ady, Нэтӏхъуаджэбзэ) **

Zhaney The Zhaney ( ady, Жьанэ, translit=Janə; russian: Жанеевцы, translit=Žaneevcy), or Janes, were one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of the twelve stars on the green-and-gold Circassian flag. History The Zha ...

dialect *The

Kuban River The Kuban; Circassian: Псыжъ, ''Psyẑ'' or Псыжь, ''Psyź'' ; abq, Къвбина, ''Q̇vbina'' ; Karachay–Balkar: Къобан, ''Qoban''; Nogai: Кобан, ''Qoban'') is a river in Russia that flows through the Western Caucas ...

dialects: ** Bzhedug dialect ( ady, Бжъэдыгъубзэ): spoken by Circassians in the

and the

Biga Biga may refer to: Places * Biga, Çanakkale, a town and district of Çanakkale Province in Turkey * Sanjak of Biga, an Ottoman province * Biga Çayı, a river in Çanakkale Province * Biga Peninsula, a peninsula in Turkey, in the northwest part ...

district of the city of

Çanakkale Çanakkale (pronounced ), ancient ''Dardanellia'' (), is a city and seaport in Turkey in Çanakkale province on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. The population of the city is 195,439 (2021 estimate). Çanakkale is ...

( ady, Кӏэмыгуябзэ, Кӏэмгуибзэ):

literary Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

standard of Adyghe. Also spoken by Circassians in the

Abzakh dialect The Abzakh dialect ( ady, Абдзахабзэ; kbd, Абдзахэбзэ) is one of the Adyghe language dialects. The Abzakh dialect is spoken by the Abzakh which are one of the largest Circassian population in the diaspora outside Republic o ...

( ady, Aбдзэхабзэ): spoken by Circassians in the village of

Rehaniya Rehaniya ( he, רִיחָנִיָּה, ar, الريحانية, ady, Рихьаные ) is a Circassian town in northern Israel. It is one of the only two Circassian towns in Israel, the other being Kfar Kama. Located about 8 km north of ...

and Circassians in Syria from the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

Mamkhegh The Mamkhegh or Mamheg ( ady, Мамхыгъ or ; russian: Мамхеги ) were one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of the twelve stars on the green-and-gold Circassian flag. Originally, the Mamkhegs lived in the terri ...

dialect ** Yegeruqay dialect **

Hatuqwai The Hatuqway ( ady, Хьатыкъуай, translit=Hatıqway; tr, Hatukay; ar, حتوقاي, links=, translit=Hatuqway; ; russian: Хатукай, translit=Khatukai) are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of the twelv ...

dialect ** Mequash dialect

Phonology

Adyghe exhibits a large number of

consonants In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wit ...

: between 50 and 60 consonants in the various Adyghe dialects. All dialects possess a contrast between plain and labialized

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 ...

s. A very unusual minimal contrast, and possibly unique to the

of Adyghe, is a three-way contrast between plain,

labialized Labialization is a secondary articulatory feature of sounds in some languages. Labialized sounds involve the lips while the remainder of the oral cavity produces another sound. The term is normally restricted to consonants. When vowels involve ...

and palatalized

s (although a palatalized glottal stop is also found in

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also * ...

and a labialized one is found in

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

). The

dialect of Adyghe contains a very uncommon sound: a

bidental ] In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion, a Bidental was a sacred shrine erected on the spot where lightning had struck. Creation Any remains and scorched earth at the spot were to be burned in a hole at the location by priests cal ...

Voiceless bidental fricative, fricative , which corresponds to the

voiceless velar fricative The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It was part of the consonant inventory of Old English and can still be found in some dialects of English, most notably in Scottish English, e.g. in ''loc ...

found in other varieties of Adyghe. # Consonants that exist only in

borrowed words A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because the ...

. # Note: Adyghe has many consonants that appear in dialects, and has a complex system of consonant

allophony In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor ''phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in ''s ...

. More information on those can be found at

Adyghe phonology Adyghe is a language of the Northwest Caucasian family which, like the other Northwest Caucasian languages, is very rich in consonants, featuring many labialized and ejective consonants. Adyghe is phonologically more complex than Kabardian, ha ...

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

vertical vowel system A vertical vowel system is the system of vowels in a language that requires only vowel height to phonemically distinguish vowels. Theoretically, rounding, frontness and backness could also be used in one-dimensional vowel systems; however, ''v ...

Grammar

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

Orthography

The official alphabet for Adyghe is the

Cyrillic script The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic languages, Slavic, Turkic languages, Turkic, Mongolic languages, ...

, which has been used since 1936. Before that, the

Arabic script The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used writing system in the world by number of countries using it or a script directly derived from it, and the ...

was used. In recent years, a new

Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern Italy ...

has been devised that seeks to include

phoneme In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west o ...

s from all the Adyghe and Kabardian dialects, as well as other

North Caucasian languages The North Caucasian languages, sometimes called simply Caucasic, is a proposed language family consisting of a pair of well established language families spoken in the Caucasus, predominantly in the north, consisting of the Northwest Caucasian ...

. * There are thirteen

labialised Labialization is a secondary articulatory feature of sounds in some languages. Labialized sounds involve the lips while the remainder of the oral cavity produces another sound. The term is normally restricted to consonants. When vowels involve ...

consonants; however, in some dialects, there are three additional ones: Кхъу , Ху , Чъу .

Orthography rules

* The letter is not written after a , or a labialised consonant. For example: унэ "house" instead of уынэ, илъэс "year" instead of йылъэс, шӏу "well" instead of шӏуы, цумпэ "strawberry" instead of цуымпэ. * In case the letter is the first letter of a word or when it is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as . For example: унэ instead of уынэ, урыс "Russian" instead of уырыс, куу "deep" instead of кууы. When it is related to a consonant, it becomes a vowel and pronounced as . For example: чэту "cat" instead of чэтыу, бзу "bird" instead of бзыу, дунай "world" instead of дыуней. * In case a labialised consonant is followed by a vowel , instead of the letter there is a . For example: гъогу "road" instead of гъуэгу, машӏо "fire" instead of машӏуэ, шъо "you (pl.)" instead of шъуэ. * In case a labialised consonant is followed by a vowel or , the labialised consonant letter is written fully. For example: цуакъэ "shoes", гуащэ "princes", шъуи "yours" (pl.). * In case the letter is the first letter of a word or when it is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as ɐ. For example, о "you" instead of уэ, орэд "song" instead of уэрэд, онтэгъу "heavy" instead of уэнтэгъу, зао "war" instead of зауэ, ныо "old lady" instead of ныуэ. * In case the letter is the first letter of a word or when it is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as . For example: еӏо "he says" instead of йэӏо, еплъы "he sees" instead of йэплъы, мые "apple" instead of мыйэ, бае "rich" instead of байэ, шъэжъые "knife" instead of шъэжъыйэ. When it's related to a consonant, it becomes a vowel and pronounced as . For example: делэ "fool" instead of дэйлэ, къедж "read" instead of къэйдж, непэ "today" instead of нэйпэ. * In case the letter is the first letter of a word or when is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as . For example: илъэс "year" instead of йылъэс, иунэ "his house" instead of йыуын, шӏои "dirty" instead of шӏойы, дэи "bad" instead of дэйы. When it's related to a consonant, it becomes a vowel and pronounced as . For example: сиӏ "I have" instead of сыйӏ, уиунэ "your house" instead of уыйуынэ, къины "hard" instead of къыйны.

Vowels

The vowels are written , and . Other letters represent

diphthongs A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...

: represents , or , or , represent or , and represents or .

Other writing systems

The language of Adyghe is officially written in the Cyrillic script but is also unofficially written in the Latin script, in a version of the

before 1927, and then a version of the Latin alphabet implemented by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

until 1938. File:Adyghe arabic alphabet.JPG, Adyghe Arabic alphabet used before 1927 File:Adyge alphabet 1927 (1).JPG, Adyghe

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and the o ...

used from 1927 to 1938 File:Adyge alphabet 1927 (2).JPG, Adyghe Latin alphabet used from 1927 to 1938 File:Adyghe alphabet cyrillic-latin.JPG, Adyghe Latin and Adyghe Cyrillic alphabets compared File:Adig alph 27-38.jpg, Adyghe Latin alphabet letters File:Adige arab alphabet.JPG, Adyghe Arabic alphabet letters

Examples of literary Adyghe

Native vocabulary

Loanwords

Adyghe outside Circassia

Adyghe is taught outside

Circassia Circassia (; also known as Cherkessia in some sources; ady, Адыгэ Хэку, Адыгей, lit=, translit=Adıgə Xəku, Adıgey; ; ota, چرکسستان, Çerkezistan; ) was a country and a historical region in the along the northeast ...

in a

ian school for the Jordanian Adyghes, Prince Hamza Ibn Al-Hussein Secondary School in the capital

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

. This school, which was established by the Adyghe Jordanians with support from the late

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Hussein of Jordan Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...

, 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 emphasising the traditions of the Adyghes. Adyghe is spoken by

Circassians in Iraq Circassians in Iraq (; ) refers to people born in or residing in Iraq who are of Circassian origin. Like all Iraqis, Circassians in Iraq faced various hardships in the modern era, as Iraq suffered wars, sanctions, , and civil strife. History Ir ...

and by

Circassians in Israel Circassians in Israel (; he, הצ'רקסים בישראל) are Israelis who are ethnic Circassians. They are a branch of the Circassian diaspora, which was formed as a consequence of the 19th-century Circassian genocide that was carried out b ...

, where it is taught in schools in their villages. It is also spoken by many

Circassians in Syria The Circassians in Syria ( Circassian: Сирием ис Адыгэхэр; ) refers to the Circassian diaspora settled in Syria (then part of the Ottoman Empire) in the 19th century. They moved to Syria after the Circassian genocide following ...

, although the majority of Syrian Circassians speak Kabardian.

Publications

There are many books written in or translated into Adyghe. An Adyghe translation of the Quran by Ishak Mashbash is available. The New Testament and many books of the Old Testament have been published in Adyghe by the

Institute for Bible Translation The Institute for Bible Translation (IBT) was founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 1973 by the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian-Croats, Croatian poet Borislav Arapović, its main task being to publish Bibles for "non-Slavic peoples in Slavic cou ...

in Moscow.

UNESCO 2009 map of endangered languages

According to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

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.

Sample text

Notes

References

External links

Grammar of the Circassian Language
Useful site to learn the Adyghe grammar. *

Omniglot. * .
Adyghe sample
Language Museum.

Learn Circassian
International Centre for Circassian Studies (ICCS).

Adyghe transliteration tool

Ancient Adyghe Abkhaz–Abaza Ubykh alphabet

How to count in Adyghe language

Adyghe language dictionary

{{Authority control Northwest Caucasian languages Languages of Iraq Languages of Jordan Languages of Russia Languages of Syria Languages of Turkey Agglutinative languages Endangered Caucasian languages Adygea Krasnodar Krai Vertical vowel systems Languages written in Cyrillic script