Abaza (абаза бызшва,abaza byzshwa;Adyghe:абазэбзэ) is aNorthwest Caucasian language spoken byAbazins inRussia. The language has gone through several different orthographies based primarily on Latin and Cyrillic letters. Its consonant-to-vowel ratio is remarkably high; making it quite similar to many other languages from the same parent chain. The language evolved in popularity[clarification needed] in the mid to late 1800s, but has become an endangered language.[3]
Abaza is spoken by approximately 35,000 people in Russia, where it is written in aCyrillic alphabet, as well as another 10,000 inTurkey, where theLatin script is used.It consists of two dialects, the Ashkherewa dialect and the T'ap'anta dialect, which is the literary standard. The language also consists of five subdialects known as Psyzh-Krasnovostok, Abazakt, Apsua, Kubin-Elburgan and Kuvin.[4]
Abaza, like its relatives in the family ofNorthwest Caucasian languages, is a highlyagglutinative language. For example, the verb in the English sentence "He couldn't make them give it back to her" contains four arguments (a term used invalency grammar):he,them,it,to her. Abaza marks arguments morphologically, and incorporates all four arguments aspronominalprefixes on the verb.[5]
It has a large consonantal inventory (63 phonemes) coupled with a minimal vowel inventory (two vowels). It is very closely related toAbkhaz,[6] but it preserves a few phonemes which Abkhaz lacks, such as avoiced pharyngeal fricative. Work on Abaza has been carried out by W. S. Allen, Brian O'Herin, andJohn Colarusso.
Different forms of cultural assimilation contributed to its fall in use in areas of Russia, and over time its overall endangerment. The language can be broken into five different dialects and has several unique grammatical approaches to languages. The Abaza language was at its peak usage in the mid to late 19th century.
Abaza speakers along the Greater and Lesser Laba, Urup, and Greater and Lesser Zelenchuk rivers are from a wave of migrants in the 17th to 18th centuries who represent the Abaza speakers of today. The end of the Great Caucasian War in 1864 provided Russia with power and control of the local regions and contributed to the decrease in the popularity of pre-existing local languages prior to the war.
The Abaza language was not a written language until the Latin alphabet was adopted in 1932–1933 to write it. The Cyrillic script was later utilized to write the language in 1938. A small amount of books, pamphlets, and a newspaper were published in the Abaza language afterwards.[7]
The Abaza language is spoken in Russia and Turkey. Although it is endangered, it is still spoken in several regions in Russia. These include Kara-Pago, Kubina, Psyzh, El'burgan, Inzhich-Chukun, Koi-dan, Abaza-Khabl', Malo-Abazinka, Tapanta, Krasnovostochni, Novokuvinski, Starokuvinski, Abazakt and Ap-sua.[8]
The vowels[o,a,u] may have a/j/ in front of it. The vowels[e] and[i] are allophones of/a/ and/ə/ (respectively) before palatalized consonants, while the vowels[o] and[u] are allophones of/a/ and/ə/ (respectively) before labialized consonants. The vowels[e],[o],[i], and[u] can also occur as variants of the sequences /aj/, /aw/, /əj/ and /əw/.
Sultan Laguchev [ru], a singer-songwriter famous[citation needed] in Russia, writes and performs songs in the Abaza language, including "Абыгъь гӏважьква" and "БаъапI бара." He has written an additional song in Russian entitled "Мы абазины" ('We are Abazins') about Abazinia.
^Allen, W. S. (1956). "The Structure and System in the Abaza Verbal Complex".Transactions of the Philological Society.55:127–176.doi:10.1111/j.1467-968X.1956.tb00566.x.
^Dixon, R.M.W. (2000). "A Typology of Causatives: Form, Syntax, and Meaning". In Dixon, R.M.W. & Aikhenvald, Alexendra Y.Changing Valency: Case Studies in Transitivity. Cambridge University Press. p 57
^Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010)."Abkhaz".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. I: A-ak Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. pp. 33.ISBN978-1-59339-837-8.
^Клычев, Р. Н.; Чкадуа, Л. П. (2001). "Абазинский язык". In Institut âzykoznaniâ (ed.).Kavkazskie âzyki. Âzyki mira. Moskva: Academia.ISBN978-5-87444-079-4.
Генко А. Н. Абазинский язык. Грамматический очерк наречия Тапанта. Москва-Лениград: АН СССР, 1955.(in Russian)
Ломтатидзе К. В. Тапантский диалект абхазского языка (с текстами). Тбилиси: Издательство Академии Наук Грузинской ССР, 1944.(in Russian)
Ломтатидзе К. В. Ашхарский диалект и его место среди других абхазско-абазинских диалектов. С текстами. Тбилиси: Издательство Академии Наук Грузинской ССР, 1954.(in Russian)
Мальбахова-Табулова Н. Т. Грамматика абазинского языка. Фонетика и морфология. Черкесск, 1976.(in Russian)
Чирикба В. А. Абазинский язык. В: Языки Российской Федерации и Соседних Государств. Энциклопедия. В трех томах. Т. 1. A-И. Москва: Наука, 1998, с. 1–8.(in Russian)
Allen, W.S. Structure and system in the Abaza verbal complex. In: Transactions of the Philological Society (Hertford), Oxford, 1956, p. 127-176.
Bouda K. Das Abasinische, eine unbekannte abchasische Mundart. In: ZDMG, BD. 94, H. 2 (Neue Folge, Bd. 19), Berlin-Leipzig, 1940, S. 234–250.(in German)
O’Herin, B. Case and agreement in Abaza. Summer Institute of Linguistics, September 2002.
