Abkhaz,[b] also known asAbkhazian,[5][6] is aNorthwest Caucasian language most closely related toAbaza. It is spoken mostly by theAbkhaz people. It is one of the official languages ofAbkhazia,[a] where around 190,000 people speak it.[1] Furthermore, it is spoken by thousands of members of the Abkhazian diaspora inTurkey,Georgia's autonomous republic ofAdjara,Syria,Jordan, and several Western countries. 27 October is the day of the Abkhazian language inGeorgia.[7]
Abkhaz is aNorthwest Caucasian language[8][9] and is thus related toAdyghe. The language of Abkhaz is especially close toAbaza, and they are sometimes considered dialects of the same language,[10][11]Abazgi, of which the literary dialects of Abkhaz and Abaza are simply two ends of adialect continuum. Grammatically, the two are very similar; however, the differences in phonology are substantial, it also contains elements characteristic ofKabardian;[12][13] these are the main reasons for many others[14][15] to prefer keeping the two separate, while others[13][10] still refer to it as the Tapanta dialect of Abkhaz. Chirikba[16] mentions that there are possible indications thatproto-Northwest Caucasian, could have divided firstly intoproto-Circassian and to proto-Ubykh-Abkhaz;Ubykh then being the closest relative to Abkhaz, with it only later on being influenced by Circassian.
There is not an agreed number of speakers of Abkhaz, and there are widely different numbers. It is agreed that today most of the Abkhaz people do not live in Abkhazia. In the census conducted by the Republic of Abkhazia in 2011, Abkhazians comprised 50.8% of the population, around 122,175 people; of these 92,838 spoke it natively.[17][9] Only two of the original dialects are still spoken in Abkhazia. The Bzyp dialect is still spoken in its homeland northwest ofSukhumi, stretching from theBzyp River to the western environs of Sukhumi and the Psyrtskha valley, whereas the Abzhywa dialect is spoken south-east of Sukhumi.[9][18][19] The rest of the Abkhaz speaking population inhabits other neighbouring areas.
The exact number of Abkhazians and Abkhaz speakers in Turkey is not clear. The Turkish census denotes 13,951, but the figures are dubious, since the numbers of Abkhazians that came from the beginning of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th have been documented at around 30 thousand.[20]Ethnologue gives 150,000 Abkhazians living in Turkey, of these 50,000 still speak the language.[1] The head of the Abkhaz federation says there are in between 500 and 700 thousand Abkhazians in Turkey.[21] In general, Abkhaz seems to have been lost by most of the descendants, and bilingualism being low except in some specific areas, although there seems to be an effort for the new generation to learn the language with public schools being able to teach Abkhaz and together with 7,836 second language speakers.[22][23][9] Abkhazian villages are concentrated around the cities ofAdapazarı,Düzce,Sinop,Hendek andSamsun in the northern part, and in the west around cities such asBilecik,Inegöl andEskişehir; they are mainly found in the provinces ofSakarya andBolu in the western part, and near theÇoruh river in the north-east.[24][9][1]
Historically the dialects of Sadz, Ahchypsy and Tsabal were located in Abkhazia; Sadz being spoken from the Bzyp river to theMatsesta River, and further to the north-west bordering theSochypsta River.[25] Today they are exclusively spoken in the northwestern part of Turkey, specially in the Sakarya province, it being spoken in 14 villages.
The other major place where Abkhaz is spoken is inKarachay-Cherkessia, where the Northern dialects are spoken, although there they are considered as a separate language and form the literaryAbaza language.[26][27] They are spoken by 37,831 people in Russia,[28] mostly in the south ofStavropol Krai in the area aroundKislovodsk, and in the upperKuma river area.[9]
Abkhaz is also spoken as a minority language around the world. There is a considerable number of Abkhaz speakers inAdjara in southern Georgia, with the diaspora concentrating itself around the capitalBatumi,[29] with about 982 people considering Abkhaz their first language.[30] In the Russian census of 2010, 6,786 speakers of Abkhaz were reported inRussia.[28] In Ukraine there are around 1,458 according to the 2001 census, but of these only 317 speak Abkhazian.[31] There were also communities inSyria,Jordan andIraq with around 5,000 Abkhazians,[32][9] although this number could reach 10,000 according to the Abkhazia's Foreign Ministry.[33] The biggest western diaspora is inGermany, with around 5,000 speakers,[34] but other communities are found in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Austria, France, Belgium and so on.
The earliest indisputable extant written records of the Abkhaz language are in theArabic script, recorded by the Turkish travellerEvliya Çelebi in the 17th century.[35] Abkhaz has been used as a literary language for only about 100 years.
It was suggested that certain inscriptions onAncient Greek pottery which had been considered nonsense are in fact written in Abkhaz-Adydge languages.[36] The methodology of the research was criticised and the results called improbable.[37]
In 1918,Tbilisi State University became the first institution of higher education to teach Abkhazian language. The founders of the university began to take care of the development and scientific study of the Abkhazian language. At the meeting of the Council of Professors held at Tbilisi State University in 1918,Ivane Javakhishvili noted the scientific importance of studying Caucasian languages. In 1918, by the decision of the Council of Professors, Petre Charaia was invited to teach the Abkhazian language, and from 1925, this mission was continued byDimitri Gulia andSimon Janashia.[38][39]
Both Georgian and Abkhaz law enshrines an official status of the Abkhaz language in Abkhazia.
The 1992 law of Georgia, reiterated in the 1995constitution, grants Abkhaz the status of second official language in the territory of Abkhazia — along withGeorgian.
In November 2007, the de facto authorities of Abkhazia adopted a new law "on the state language of the Republic of Abkhazia" that mandates Abkhaz as the language of official communication. According to the law, all meetings held by the president, parliament, and government must be conducted in Abkhaz (instead of Russian, which is currently a de facto administrative language) from 2010, and all state officials will be obliged to use Abkhaz as their language of everyday business from 2015. Some, however, have considered the implementation of this law unrealistic and concerns have been made that it will drive people away from Abkhazia and hurt the independent press due to a significant share of non-Abkhaz speakers among ethnic minorities as well as Abkhaz themselves, and a shortage of teachers of Abkhaz. The law is an attempt to amend a situation where up to a third of the ethnic Abkhaz population are no longer capable of speaking their ethnic language, and even more are unable to read or write it; instead, Russian is the language most commonly used in public life at present.[40]
Abkhaz is generally viewed as having three major dialects:[41]
Abzhywa, spoken in the Caucasus, and named after the historical area ofAbzhywa (Абжьыуа), sometimes referred to asAbzhui, theRussified form of the name (Abzhuiski dialekt, derived from the Russian form of the name for the area,Абжуа).
Bzyb or Bzyp, spoken in the Caucasus and in Turkey, and named after theBzyb (Abkhaz:Бзыԥ) area.
Sadz, nowadays spoken only in Turkey, formerly also spoken between the riversBzyp and Khosta.
In some form or the other, all dialects are richer in phonemes than the standard Abzhywa dialect.[44] The only dialects spoken in Abkhazia are Abzhywa and Bzyp. Northern dialects which are the basis for literary Abaza are spoken inKarachay-Cherkessia, while the other dialects such as Sadz are spoken inTurkey due toRussian invasions in the 19th century.[45][46][47] While most differences are phonetic, differences in the lexicon are present, although mostly due to exterior contact.[48] Bzyp contains the most preserved lexicon, with few borrowings. Abzhywa has adopted many loans fromKartvelian, speciallyMingrelian; Sadz on the other hand has more words fromCircassian. Northern dialects in general have more loanwords from Persian, Arabic, Turkish and Circassian.
Abkhaz has a very large number of consonants (58 in the literary dialect), with three-wayvoiced/voiceless/ejective andpalatalized/labialized/plain distinctions. By contrast, the language has only two phonemically distinct vowels, which have severalallophones depending on the palatal and/orlabial quality of adjacent consonants.
Labialised alveolo-palatal fricatives are found in the Bzyp and Sadz dialects of Abkhaz, but not in Abzhywa. Plain alveolo-palatal consonants and the pharyngealised and labialised-pharyngealised uvular fricatives are unique to the Bzyp dialect.
The consonants highlighted inred and in brackets are the 4 kinds of labialisation described by Chirikba.[49]
The nature of the vowels of Abkhaz is not clear. Some linguists,[50][51][52] characterise the vowel system as a 2 degreevertical vowel system; with the two vowels being distinguished by height, 'ә' being the high/close vowel, and 'а' being the low/open. This system would very closely resemble the one found inAdyghe. The quality of 'ә' in this case, is usually represented as [ɨ] if the vowel is in a stressed position, and being unaffected by its neighbouring consonants.
Other linguists[53][54] however, mainly Russian ones, describe the vowels differently. They describe the sound of 'ә' being completely different from [ɨ], and by their descriptions being closer to [ə]. The 'а' is described as being particularly back, likely [ɑ].
Abkhaz has used theCyrillic script since 1862. The first alphabet was a 37-characterCyrillic alphabet invented by BaronPeter von Uslar. In 1909 a 55-letter Cyrillic alphabet was used. A 75-letter Latin script devised by a Russian/Georgian linguistNikolai Marr lasted for 2 years 1926–1928 (during theLatinization campaign). TheGeorgian script was adopted and used between 1938 and 1954, after that the initialCyrillic alphabet, designed in 1892 byDmitry Gulia together with Konstantin Machavariani and modified in 1909 by Aleksey Chochua, was restored to use.
Typical of Northwest Caucasian languages, Abkhaz is anagglutinative language that relies heavily on affixation.[55] It has anergative-absolutive typology, such that the subject of an intransitive verb functions identically to the object of atransitive verb.[56] Notably, Abkhaz expresses ergativity entirely through the ordering of subjects and objects within verb constructions[56] rather than through overtcase marking as most other ergative languages do.[57]
All Latin transliterations in this section utilize the system explicated in Chirikba (2003) (seeAbkhaz alphabet for the details).[58]
Abkhazmorphology features a highly complex verb system that could be called a "sentence in miniature."[59] Chirikba (2003) describes Abkhaz as a "verbocentric" language wherein verbs occupy the "central part of the morphology."[60] However, despite its complexity, Abkhaz verbal morphology is highly regular.[61]
Abkhaz, being an ergative language, makes a strong distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs, as well asdynamic and stative.
Stative verbs describe states of being, roughly analogous to copular phrases in English, as in дхәыҷуп (d-x˚əčә́-wə-p - "she is a child").[62] Dynamic verbs express direct actions, functioning more closely to standard English verbs. Dynamic verbs possess the full range ofaspect,mood andtense forms, in contrast to statives, which do not.[62]
Some verbs, called inversives, combine certain features of both stative and dynamic verbs.[62]
Another important verbal distinction in Abkhaz isfinite versus non-finite, referring to the duration of the action[clarification needed]. Finite verbs usually contain enough information to form a complete sentence, whereas non-finite verbs typically formdependent clauses.[62]
Finite
дызбеит
"I saw him/her""
Non-Finite
избаз
"whom I saw"
Verb stems can be derived in a number of ways, includingcompounding, affixation,reduplication or conversion from another part of speech.[63]
Roughly equivalent to the infinitive,[59] or to a so-called "verbal noun,"[64] theMasdar form of the verb resembles the English gerund. It is formed by the addition of a specific suffix to a bare verb stem, -ра (-ra) for a dynamic verb and -заара (-zaara) for a stative.[65]
However, the fully conjugated personal Abkhaz verb forms are "templatic," with each grammatical distinction occupying a specific "slot" or "position" within the broader verb template.[66] Verbs are thus formed by the addition of various affixes to the verb stem; these affixes express such distinctions as transitivity,person and stative/dynamic quality, occupying rigid positions within the overall verb structure.[59] There is a high degree ofagreement between verbs and other parts of speech.[59] Overall, the Abkhaz verb is constructed as follows:
Not all of these elements will necessarily co-occur in every verb. The individual parts of verb morphology are addressed below.
First Position
The first prefixing element of the verb complex expresses either thesubject of an intransitive verb in the absolutive construction, or thedirect object of a transitive verb in an ergative construction. The following table illustrates the various agreement markers which can occupy the first position.[68] These prefixes can either be in their long forms, containing the letters inside the parenthesis, or in the short forms that do not contain them. The rules for using them are the following:[69]
If the prefix is followed by a consonant cluster[clarification needed], the long form shall be used.
If the stress falls on the prefix, the long form shall be used
If the prefix is not followed by a consonant cluster, the short form shall be used.
If the stress does not fall on the prefix, the short form shall be used.
It is also possible for thepossessive prefix ҽы́- (čə́-) in a reflexive construction or the relative prefix иы́- (jә́-) in a non-finite construction to occupy this position.[70]
Example of an absolutive construction with the intransitive subject in the first slot highlighted[70]
The second position is occupied by the indirect object or by the prefix аи- (aj-) forreciprocal pronouns equivalent to "each other" or "one another" in English.[70]
Any indirect object occurring after the one in the second position occupies this position instead; a possessive prefix of stative verbs can also be placed here.[70]
Several aspect markers occupy this position as suffixes.[72]
Aspect
Suffix
Progressive
-уа (-wa)
Excessive
-цәа (-c°a)
Habitual
-ла (-la)
Repetitive
-х
Emphatic
-ӡ
Tense
Several tense markers occupy this position, dependent upon whether the verb in question is stative or dynamic. Dynamic verbs have a richly developed tense paradigm incorporating tense and aspect distinctions. The table below illustrates these various dynamic tense forms using the verb агара (agara – "to take").[73]
Finite
Non-Finite
Example
English
Present
-уа-ит(-wá-jt’)
-уа(-wa)
дыргоит (dərgawájt’)
"They are taking him."
Aorist
-ит(-jt’)
-∅
дырге́ит (dərgájt’)
"They took him."
Future 1
-п (-p’)
-ра (-ra)
дыргап (dərgáp’)
"They will take him."
Future 2
-шт (-št’)
-ша (-ša)
дыргашт (dərgášt’)
"They will probably take him."
Perfect
-ҳьа-ит (-x’ájt’)
-хьоу (-x’áw)
дыргахьеит (dərgax’ájt’)
"They have taken him."
Imperfect
-уан (-wán)
-уаз (-wáz)
дыргон (dərgawán)
"They took him."
Past Indefinite
-н (-n)
-з (-z)
дырган (dərgán)
"They took him and then..."
Future Conditional 1
-рын (-rә́n)
-рыз (-rəz)
дыргарын (dərgarә́n)
"They would take him."
Future Conditional 2
-шан (-šan)
-шаз (-šaz)
дыргашан (dərgášan)
"They had to take him."
Pluperfect
-хьан (-x’án)
-хьаз (-x’az)
дыргахьан (dərgax’án)
"They had taken him."
Stative verbs, by contrast, lack this rich tense system, as illustrated below using the verb а́цәара (ácºara - "to be sleeping").[74]
Finite
Non-Finite
Example
English
Past
-н
-з
дыцәан (dә́cºan)
"he was sleeping."
Present
-уп
-у
дыцәоуп (dә́cºawp)
"he is sleeping."
Negation (Stative)
The negation prefix m- occupies this position in a stative verb construction.[71]
The final position in the verb complex can accommodate any one of several mixed purpose markers.[71]
Purpose
Suffix
Dynamic-Finite
-ит (-jt')
Stative-Finite
-п (-p')
Conditional
-р (-r)
Emphatic
-еи (-aj)
Interrogative
-ма (-ma)
Subjunctive
-аа(и)т//-заа(и)т (-aajt'//-zaajt')
Theimperative takes a few possible forms, depending upon the type of verb. Dynamic verbs form the imperative by the addition of agreement suffixes to a bare verb stem; intransitives include the subject and indirect object makers, whereas transitives include the direct object and absolutive. Thus[75]
Like verbs, Abkhaz nouns are formed by the addition of various prefixes and suffixes to a static noun stem.[60] Noun stems can be derived according to several different processes, including compounding, reduplication, or the addition of a derivational affix.[77]
The affixes mark number,definiteness and possession, as well as some case-like elements.[60] Taken as a whole, the entire morphological structure of the Abkhaz noun is as follows:
As with verbs, not all of these elements can occur at the same time. The individual parts of noun morphology are addressed below.
Article Affixes
There is a range of definiteness in Abkhaz. Thosearticles adhering to definite/generic categories appear as prefixes in the broader noun structure, whereas the indefinite is suffixed.[79]
Affix
Category
Example
а-
Generic
ауаҩы́ (awajºә́ - "person")
а́-
Specific
уи а́уаҩы (wә́j áwajºә́ - "this person")
-к
Indefinite
уаҩы́к (wajºә́k - "some person")
The absence of either article affix implies a zero reference implying universal quantifiers, or to express the total lack of a referent.
There are some semantic differences in article usage between the different dialects of Abkhaz.[80]
Inflectional Prefixes
Pronominal prefixes in Abkhaz
These are possessive prefixes which express grammatical person andnoun class.[78] They come in two forms, the full and short ones. The full ones contain the vowels inside the parenthesis, whereas the short ones do not.
These few prefixes add numeric information to the noun complex. Often, this takes the form of a numeral.[78]
рыхҩы-ԥацәа
rəxjºә́-pacºa
рыхҩы-ԥацәа
rəxjºә́-pacºa
"theirthree(HC) sons"
Inflectional SuffixesThese suffixes convey either plural number or case-like adverbial information. Plural markers are addressed further below; the other possible inflectional suffixes are the following:[78]
The third-person singular non-human possessive marker, attached to alocative or directional postposition
Locative -ҿы́ (-č’ә́) or directional -хьы́ (-x’ә́)postpositions
Abkhaz distinguishes singular and plural; the singular is unmarked, whereas the plural is indicated by noun class-dependent suffixes.[81] There are several pluralizing suffixes, but the two most commonly used refer generally to the human and non-human noun classes.[81] There are instances where explicitly human nouns take non-human plural markers.[82]
Suffix
Noun Class
Example
-цәа (-cºa)
Human
а́бацәа (ábacºa – "fathers")
-қәа (-kºa)
Non-Human
аҽқәа́ (ačkºa - "horses")
There are also several plural endings that are of much narrower use.[81]
Suffix
Example
Usage
-аа
а́ԥсуаа (ápswaa - "Abkhazians")
Collective, referring to ethnicities, groups
-(а)ра (-(a)ra)
аса́ра (asára - "lambs")
Collective, with the added meaning of animal young (in some nouns with -s ending)
Nouns in Abkhaz are classified broadly according to a human/non-human paradigm, with the human class itself further subdivided into masculine and femininegender.[80] Gender is a fairly weak concept in Abkhaz grammar, and gender distinctions undergo a fair degree of neutralization in several contexts, including personal pronouns, verb agreement and possession marking.[81] This class and gender system distinguishes Abkhaz from the other Northwest Caucasian languages.[81]
Vocative Affixes
Although there is no specialvocative declension, the prefix уа- (wa-), when attached to a noun stem, can express a vocative form.
It is common ineveryday speech to use a short version of the pronoun which omits the suffix -рá (-rá), although this is done less frequently with third-person pronouns.
In addition to noun-marking,possession can be indicated by adding the suffix -тәы́ (-t’˚ә́) to the short version of a personal pronoun. Thus:
Morphologically, adjectives are very similar to nouns, differing only in their syntactic function.[86] Similarly to nouns, adjective stems can be derived by compounding, reduplication and affixation.[87] When usedattributively, adjectives follow the noun that they modify. Predicative adjectives, or those derived by suffixation, precede the noun.[86] Adjectives are formed according to the following paradigm:
The possessive prefix r- is used to show possessive agreement.[88]
рҭоурыхтә
rtawrә́xt’º
ҭагылазаашьа
tagә́lazaaš’a
рҭоурыхтә ҭагылазаашьа
rtawrә́xt’º tagә́lazaaš’a
"their historical situation"
Adjective Suffixes
These suffixes are added to the adjective stem to show agreement with the noun being modified.[88]
Agreement
Suffix
Intensive
-ӡа
Plural
-кәа (-k˚a)
Instrumental
-ла (-la)
Adverbial
-с (-s)
Comparative
-ҵас (-c’as)
Irreal
-шәа (-šºa)
Privative
-да (-da)
Thecomparative form of an adjective is formed using the comparative particle аиҳá (ajhá - "more"), which precedes the adjective. The superlative form is indicated by the intensifier suffix -ӡа.[88] Thus:
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."
^abThe political status of Abkhazia is disputed. Having unilaterally declared independence fromGeorgia in 1992, Abkhaziais formally recognised as an independent state by 5 UN member states (two other states previously recognised it but then withdrew their recognition), while the remainder of the international community recognizes it asde jure Georgian territory. Georgia continues to claim the area as its own territory, designating it asRussian-occupied territory.
^Gippert, Jost (1992). "The Caucasian Language Material in Evliya Çelebi's 'Travel Book'". In Hewitt, George (ed.).Caucasian Perspectives. München: Lincom. p. 9.ISBN978-3-929075-01-4.
^Mayor, Adrienne; Colarusso, John; Saunders, David (2014). "Making Sense of Nonsense Inscriptions Associated with Amazons and Scythians on Athenian Vases".Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.83 (3):447–493.doi:10.2972/hesperia.83.3.0447.S2CID8068881.
^Kassian, Alexei (December 2016). "Un-Making Sense of Alleged Abkhaz-Adyghean Inscriptions on Ancient Greek Pottery".Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia.22 (2):177–198.doi:10.1163/15700577-12341301.
^Hewitt, George (2008). "Cases, arguments, verbs in Abkhaz, Georgian and Mingrelian."Case and Grammatical Relations: Studies in Honor of Bernard Comrie, edited by Greville G. Corbett and Michael Noonan, Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p.80
^Hewitt, George (1999). "Morphology Revisited: Some Peculiarities of the Abkhaz Verb."Studies in Caucasian Linguistics edited by Helma van den Berg, Leiden: CNWS, p.197
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