Circassian[a] (Adyghe:Адыгабзэ;Kabardian:Адыгэбзэ), also known asCherkess (/tʃɜːrˈkɛs/chur-KESS), is a subdivision of theNorthwest Caucasian language family, spoken by theCircassian people. There are two main variants of the Circassian language, defined by their literary standards,Adyghe (кӀахыбзэ; also known as West Circassian) andKabardian (къэбэрдейбзэ; also known as East Circassian). The languages are highlymutually intelligible with one another, but differ to a degree where they would be considered clear-cut dialects. The earliest extant written records of the Circassian language are in theArabic script, recorded by the Turkish travellerEvliya Çelebi in the 17th century,[1] although theGreek andGeorgian alphabets were adapted for them in ancient and medieval times.[2]
There is consensus among the linguistic community about the fact that Adyghe and Kabardian are typologically distinct languages.[3][4][5] However, the local terms for these languages refer to them as dialects. The Circassian people call themselvesадыгэ (adyge; English: Adyghe) in their native language. In the southwestern part of European Russia, there is also aFederal Subject calledAdygea (Russian:Адыгея,Adygeya), enclaved withinKrasnodar Krai, which is named after the Circassianendonym. In theRussian language, the Circassian subdivision is treated as a group of languages and calledадыгские (adygskie, meaning the Adyghe languages), whereas the Adyghe language is calledадыгейский (adygeyskiy, meaning the language of those in [the Republic of] Adygea). The termsCircassian andCherkess are sometimes used in several languages as synonyms for theNorthwest Caucasian languages in general or the Adyghe language in particular.
Kabardian language (also known asEast Circassian,Adyghe:Къэбэрдейбзэ;Qeberdeýbze,Russian:Кабардино-черкесский) — The language of the east Circassian tribes :Kabarday andBaslaney. The Alphabet is based on theKabardian dialect.
The following example shows an ergative–absolutive case marking system while using the same verb "break" in both intransitive and transitive forms:
Ergative language
Sentence:
ӏанэр мэкъутэ.
Лӏым ӏанэр екъутэ.
Word:
ӏанэ-р
мэкъутэ
Лӏым
ӏанэр
екъутэ
Gloss:
The table-ABS
breaks
The man-ERG
the table-ABS
breaks
Function:
S
VERBintrans
A
O
VERBtrans
Translation:
"The table breaks."
"The man breaks the table."
Here, "table" has the absolutive case mark -р /-r/ while "man" has the ergative case mark -м /-m/. The verb "break" is in the intransitive form "мэкъутэ" and the transitive form "екъутэ". The example above specifically shows SOV order, but Circassian allows any order.
