The Besleney ( Circassian: Bеслъэней, ''Bestləney'', ; russian: Бесленеевцы ) (also known as Beslenei or Baslaney) are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of the twelve stars on the green-and-gold

Circassian flag The Circassian flag (or the Flag of Adygea) is the national flag of the Circassians. It consists of a green field charged with twelve gold stars, nine forming an arc resembling a bow and three horizontal, also charged with three crossed arrow ...

. By character, culture and language, the Besleney are closest to

Kabardians The Kabardians ( Highland Adyghe: Къэбэрдей адыгэхэр; Lowland Adyghe: Къэбэртай адыгэхэр; russian: Кабардинцы) or Kabardinians are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of th ...

. The noble families of the Besleney were Kanoko and Shaloho, ancestors of Kabardian Prince Beslan, (the son of legendary

Prince Inal A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

), who established his own tribe of the same name.

Population

The majority of the Besleney live in the valley of Bolshaya and Malaya

Laba River The Laba (russian: Лаба; Circassian: Лабэжъ ''Labez̄'') is a river in Krasnodar Krai and Adygea of European Russia. It is a left tributary of the Kuban, which it joins at Ust-Labinsk. It is formed by the confluence of the Bolshaya ...

s and on the bank of

Urup Urup ( ja, 得撫島, Uruppu-to; russian: Уру́п, Urúp, ain, ウルㇷ゚, Urup) is an uninhabited volcanic island in the Kuril Islands chain in the south of the Sea of Okhotsk, northwest Pacific Ocean. Its name is derived from the Ainu la ...

in the Russian Republics of

Karachay-Cherkessia The Karachay-Cherkess Republic (russian: Карача́ево-Черке́сская Респу́блика, ''Karachayevo-Cherkesskaya Respublika''; krc, Къарачай-Черкес Республика, ''Qaraçay-Çerkes Respublika''; Cir ...

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 ...

and Adygea. They also extend to the valleys of Chetem, Fars, Psefir,

Kuban Kuban (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Кубань; ady, Пшызэ) is a historical and geographical region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Pontic–Caspian steppe, ...

(Western Circassia).

Language

The Besleney people speak the Besleney sub-dialect ( ady, Бэслъыныйбзэ) of the

Kabardian Adyghe dialect Kabardian (; ; ), also known as , is a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian language closely related to the Adyghe language, Adyghe (West Circassian) language. Circassian nationalism, Circassian nationalists reject the distinctio ...

(East Circassian). However, because the Besleney tribe lived at the center of

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 ...

, the Besleney dialect also shares a large number of features with dialects of the

West Adyghe dialect 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 ...

. Like the Adyghe Shapsug sub-dialect, there exist a palatalized

voiced velar plosive The voiced velar plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. Some languages have the voiced pre-velar plosive, which is articulated slightly more front compared with the place of articulation of the prototyp ...

, a palatalized

voiceless velar plosive The voiceless velar plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in almost all spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is k. The sound is a ver ...

and a palatalized

velar ejective The velar ejective is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . Features Features of the velar ejective: Occurrence See also * List of ...

, which were merged to , and in other Circassian dialects. The Besleney dialect also has an alveolar lateral ejective affricate , which corresponds to an

alveolar lateral ejective fricative The alveolar lateral ejective fricative is a type of consonantal sound, reported in the Northwest Caucasian languages and in Modern South Arabian languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . Feat ...

in most other varieties of Circassian.UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive - Recording Details for Kabardian Baslanei dialect
In the first word list calle

the words "man" and "quarter" are pronounced as and compare to Standard Kabardian and The Besleney dialect has a

voiceless glottal fricative The voiceless glottal fricative, sometimes called voiceless glottal transition, and sometimes called the aspirate, is a type of sound used in some spoken languages that patterns like a fricative or approximant consonant '' phonologically'', b ...

that corresponds to in other Circassian dialects.Консонантная система уляпского говора в сопоставлении с аналогами других диалектов адыгских языков

References

External links

UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive - Recording Details for Kabardian Beslenei dialect
{{authority control Circassians Circassian tribes Ethnic groups in Russia Muslim communities of Russia Kabardino-Balkaria Karachay-Cherkessia Adygea