Adyghe language

Adyghe language (адыгэбзэ, adygabze, adəgăbză), also known as West Circassian (see: Circassian language), is one of the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation, the other being Russian. It is spoken by various tribes of the Adyghe people: Abzekh,^[1] Adamey, Bzhedug;^[2] Hatukuay, Kemirgoy, Makhosh; Natekuay, Shapsug;^[3] Zhane, Yegerikuay, each with its own dialect. The language is referred to by its speakers as Adygebze or Adəgăbză, and alternatively spelled in English as Adygean, Adygeyan or Adygei.

There are apparently around 128,000 speakers of the language on the native territory in Russia, almost all of them are native speakers. In the whole world, some 300,000 speak the language. The largest Adyghe-speaking community is in Turkey, spoken by the post Russian–Circassian War (c. 1763–1864) diaspora, in addition to that the Adyghe language is spoken by the Cherkesogai in Krasnodar Krai.

Adyghe belongs to the family of Northwest Caucasian languages. Kabardian is a very close relative, treated by some as a dialect of Adyghe or of an overarching Circassian language. The Ubykh, Abkhaz, and Abaza languages are also close relatives thereof.

The language was standardized after the October Revolution. Since 1938, Adyghe has used Cyrillic. Before that, an Arabic-based alphabet was used together with the Latin.

Phonology

Adyghe exhibits a large number of consonants: between fifty and sixty consonants in the various Adyghe dialects. All dialects possess a contrast between plain and labialized glottal stops. A very unusual minimal contrast, and possibly unique to the Abdzakh dialect of Adyghe, is a three-way contrast between plain, labialized and palatalized glottal stops (although a palatalized glottal stop is also found in Hausa). The Black Sea dialect of Adyghe contains a highly unusual sound: a bidental fricative [h̪͆] which corresponds to the voiceless velar fricative [x] found in other varieties of Adyghe.

Below is a table of the standard vowels of Adyghe. All vowels except for /i/ can have a /j/ before it.

Grammar

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

Orthography

The modern orthography is based on the Cyrillic alphabet with the addition of the special letter Ӏ (palochka). Previously Arabic (before 1927) and Latinised (1927–38) alphabets were used:

Adyghe outside Circassia

Adyghe is taught outside Circassia in a Jordanian School for the Jordanian Adyghes, Prince Hamza Ibn Al-Hussein Secondary School in Amman. This school, which was established by the Adyghe Jordanians with support from His Majesty the late King Hussein of Jordan, 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 emphasizing the traditions of the Adyghes.^[4]

Adyghe is spoken by Circassians in Israel and taught in schools in their villages.

UNESCO 2009 map of endangered languages

According to the UNESCO 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.^[5]

See also

• Hakuchi Adyghe dialect

References

External links

• Adyghe alphabet on Omniglot
• Adyghe transliteration schemesPDF
• Adyghe Alphabet and Cyrillic Board
• Adyghe sample at Language Museum
• Adyghe on Ethnologue
• Learning Adyghe resource
• Rferl North Caucasus Radio
• Adyghe transliteration tool