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Adyghe is a polysynthetic language [ citation needed ] with an ergative verb-final clause structure and rich verb morphology.
Adyghe is an ergative-absolutive language, unlike nominative-accusative languages, such as English, where the single argument of an intransitive verb ("She" in the sentence "She walks.") behaves grammatically like the agent of a transitive verb ("She" in the sentence "She finds it."), in ergative-absolutive language, the subject of an intransitive verb behaves like the object of a transitive verb, and differently from the agent of a transitive verb. For example, the word ӏанэ "table" in the intransitive sentence ӏанэр мэкъутэ "the table is breaking" behaves grammatically different from the word ӏанэ "table" in the transitive sentence кӏалэм ӏанэр ехъутэ "the boy breaks the table.".
Nouns in Adyghe can have the following roles in a sentence:
In intransitive verbs the subject is in the absolutive case thus it indicates that the subject is changing (created, altered, moved, or ended).
Лӏыр
Кӏалэ-р
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar
boy.ABS
мао
мао
maːkʷʼa]
(s)he is hitting
"The man is hitting."
Дэпкъыр
Дэпкъы-р
[dapqər
wall.ABS
мэкъутэ
мэкъутэ
maqʷəta]
it is being destroyed
"The wall is being destroyed."
Лӏыр
Лӏы-р
[ɬʼər
man.ABS
дэпкъым
дэпкъы-м
dapqəm
wall.OBL
ео
ео
jawa]
(s)he is hitting
"The man is hitting the wall."
In transitive verbs the subject is in the ergative case thus it indicates that the subject causes change to the object which gets the absolutive case.
Кӏалэм
Кӏалэ-м
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam
boy.ERG
дэпкъыр
дэпкъы-р
dapqər
wall.ABS
ыкъутагъ
ыкъутагъ
əqʷətaːʁ]
(s)he destroyed
"The boy destroyed the wall."
Лӏым
[ɬʼəm
man.ERG
мыжъор
məʒʷar
rock.ABS
дэпкъым
dapqəm
wall.OBL
тедзэ
tajd͡za]
(s)he is throwing at
"The man is throwing the rock at the wall."
It is important in Adyghe to distinguish between intransitive and transitive verbs. The verb's conjugation and the roles of the noun cases depend on it. A fault in this can change the meaning of the sentence drastically, switching the roles of the subject and object. For instance, look at the following two sentences:
кӏалэм
кӏалэ-м
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam
boy.ERG
пшъашъэр
пшъашъэ-р
pʂaːʂar
girl.ABS
елъэгъу
елъэгъу
jaɬaʁʷə]
(s)he is seeing
"The boy is seeing the girl."
кӏалэм
кӏалэ-м
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam
boy.OBL
пшъашъэр
пшъашъэ-р
pʂaːʂar
girl.ABS
еплъы
еплъы
japɬə]
(s)he is looking at
"The girl is looking at the boy."
Even though the noun cases of the word boy кӏалэ are the same (In the Ergative-Oblique case marked as -м), they behave grammatically differently because the verb еплъын "to look" is considered an intransitive verb in contrast to the verb елъэгъун "to see" which is transitive.
A Circassian noun can be in one of the following two states: singular or plural.
Singular nouns have zero morpheme (no prefixes / suffixes), while plural nouns use the additional хэ morpheme, which is attached to the main form of the word. For example: singular: унэ "home", тхылъ "book", plural: унэ-хэ-р "homes", тхылъ-хэ-р "books".
Unlike English verbs, Circassian verbs use -х- or -а- morphemes to form their plural versions. The second morpheme is attached to the verb in front of the verb's root, and the first is attached after it. For example: ар макӏо "he is going", ахэр макӏо-х "they are going"; ащ ыӏуагъ "he said", ахэмэ а-ӏуагъ "they said".
Circassian nouns usually have either definite or indefinite form. The idea behind this concept is close to the idea of definite/indefinite articles in English. The definite form of Circassian nouns have -р or -м (noun cases) formats at the end of the word. For example: кӏалэ "boy" – indefinite noun, i.e. an undefined boy—this form of the word is used in generalizations or when the boy is unknown to either the speaker or listener (a/an or zero article in English)— кӏалэр, кӏалэм "the boy" – these forms are used when the mentioned boy is well known to both the speaker and listener.[ citation needed ]
Adyghe has four different noun cases, each with corresponding suffixes: absolutive, ergative, instrumental, and adverbial.
Case | Suffix | example | |
---|---|---|---|
Cyrillic | IPA | ||
Absolutive | р | /r/ | кӏалэр [t͡ʃʼaːɮar] ('the boy') |
Ergative-Oblique | м | /m/ | кӏалэм [t͡ʃʼaːɮam] ('the boy's') |
Instrumental | кӏэ | /t͡ʃʼa/ | кӏалэкӏэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮat͡ʃʼa] ('using a boy') |
мкӏэ | /mt͡ʃʼa/ | кӏалэмкӏэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮamt͡ʃʼa] ('using the boy') | |
Adverbial | эу | /aw/ | кӏалэу [t͡ʃʼaɮaw] ('as a boy') |
The absolutive case of a definite noun is marked by the affix -р /-r/ both in the singular and plural forms (e.g. кӏалэр [t͡ʃʼaːɮar] 'the boy', кӏалэхэр [t͡ʃʼaːɮaxar] ('the boys'), шыр [ʃər] 'the horse'). The absolutive case usually expresses subject in conjunction with intransitive verbs or direct object in conjunction with transitive verbs: For example:
In the following example, Кӏалэр is in the absolutive case, it points to the subject (the boy), and the sentence is in the absolutive form with an intransitive verb (кӏуагъэ);
кӏалэр
кӏалэ-р
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar
the boy.ABS
еджапӏэм
еджапӏэ-м
jad͡ʒaːpʼam
the school.ERG
кӏуагъэ
кӏо-агъэ
kʷʼaːʁa]
(s)he went
"the boy went to the school"
In the following example, джанэр is in the absolutive case, it points to the direct object (the shirt which is being laundered), and the sentence is in the ergative form (after the form of its subject – Бзылъфыгъэм) with a transitive verb (егыкӏы).
бзылъфыгъэм
бзылъфыгъ-эм
[bzəɬfəʁam
the woman.ERG
джанэр
джанэ-р
d͡ʒaːnar
the shirt.ABS
егыкӏы
егыкӏы
jaɣət͡ʃʼə]
(s)he laundries it
"the woman laundries the shirt"
A noun in the ergative case is marked by the affix -м /-m/ (e.g. кӏалэм [t͡ʃʼaːɮam] 'the boy's', кӏалэхэм [t͡ʃʼaːɮaxam] 'the boys'', шым [ʃəm] 'the horse). This case has two roles: Ergative role and Oblique role.
лӏым
лӏы-м
[ɬʼəm
the man.ERG
машӏор
машӏо-р
maːʃʷʼar
the fire.ABS
егъэкӏуасэ
егъэкӏуасэ
jaʁakʷʼaːsa]
(s)he extinguishes it
"the man extinguishes the fire"
An example with an intransitive verb еджэ "reads" and indirect object тхылъым "book".
кӏалэр
кӏалэ-р
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar
the boy.ABS
тхылъым
тхылъ-ым
txəɬəm
the book.OBL
еджэ
еджэ
jad͡ʒa]
(s)he reads
"the boy reads the book"
Literally: "the boy is involved in reading the book"
An example with a transitive verb реты "gives" and indirect object пшъашъэм "girl".
кӏалэм
кӏалэ-м
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam
the boy.ERG
мыӏэрысэр
мыӏэрыс-р
məʔarəsər
the apple.ABS
пшъашъэм
пшъашъэ-м
pʂaːʂam
the girl.OBL
реты
реты
rajtə]
(s)he gives it to
"the boy gives the apple to the girl"
The Ergative-Oblique case can also be used as an adverbial modifier. For example: Студентхэм мафэм ӏоф ашӏагъ "The students have worked during the day" (мафэм – adverbial modifier of time); Кӏалэхэр мэзым кӏуагъэх "The boys went to the forest" (мэзым – adverbial modifier of place).
Indefinite nouns are marked by the suffix -кӏэ : тхылъ-кӏэ, "by/with a book", ӏэ-кӏэ "by/with a hand". Definite nouns express this case using the ergative suffix -м in conjunction with the affix -кӏэ: уатэ-м-кӏэ "by/with the hammer", тхылъы-м-кӏэ "by/with the book". The instrumental case expresses instruments (tools or means), directions or purposes of action.
In the following example, the instrumental case is used to indicate an instrument (tool):
ыцӏэр
ы-цIэ-эр
[ət͡sʼar
his name.ABS
къэлэмымкӏэ
къэлэм-ымкIэ
qalaməmt͡ʃʼa
pencil.INS
къытхыгъ
къы-тхы-ыгъ
qətxəʁ]
he wrote
"he wrote his name with the pencil"
In the following example, the instrumental case is used to indicate a purpose of action:
тыгъужъыр
тыгъужъы-р
[təʁʷəʐər
the wolf.ABS
бжыхьэм
бжыхьэ-м
bʒəħam
autumn.ERG
былымхэмкӏэ
былымхэ-мкӏэ
bəɮəmxamt͡ʃʼa
for the cattle.INS
дэи
дэи
dajə]
bad
"The wolf during autumn is bad for the cattle."
In the following example, the instrumental case is used to indicate a direction:
хымкӏэ
хы-мкӏэ
[xəmt͡ʃʼa
from the sea.INS
жьыбгъэр
жьыбгъэ-р
ʑəbʁar
the wind.ABS
къэкӏыщтыгъэ
къэкӏыщтыгъэ
qat͡ʃʼəɕtəʁa]
it was coming
"the wind was blowing from the sea"
Has the suffix -эу /aw/ (e.g. кӏалэу [t͡ʃʼaːɮaw] 'boy'), шэу [ʃaw] 'horse'). The adverbial case usually expresses a transition into something, or defines the subject/object of a verb. It points to the real (literal, not grammatical) subject in the sentence. For example:
лӏыр
лӏыр
[ɬʼər
man.ABS
профессорэу
профессор-эу
profesoraw
professor.ADV
хъугъэ
хъу-гъэ
χʷəʁa]
(s)he became
"The man became a professor."
лӏыжъэу
лӏыжъэ-у
[ɬʼəʐaw
old man.ADV
щысыгъэр
щысыгъэ-р
ɕəsəʁar
the one that sit
кӏожьыгъэ
кӏожьыгъэ
kʷʼaʑəʁa]
(s)he returned
"The old man who had sat there, left."
лӏыр
лӏы-р
[ɬʼər
man.ABS
тхьэматэу
тхьэматэ-у
tħamaːtaw
leader.ADV
дзэм
дзэ-м
d͡zam
army.OBL
къыхэкӏыжьыгъ
къыхэкӏыжьыгъ
qəxat͡ʃʼəʑəʁ]
(s)he returned
"The man has returned from the army as an officer."
Сomposition and suffixation are the most typical ways to form Circassian nouns. There are different ways of composing words, for example: мэзчэ́т (мэз "forest", чэт "chicken", pheasant), псычэ́т (псы "water", чэт "chicken", duck), мэкъумэ́щ "agriculture" (мэкъу "hay", мэщы́ "millet"), шхапӏэ "cafeteria" (шхэн "eat", пӏэ "place").
The following suffixes are used to form Circassian nouns:
Meaning | Suffix | Example |
---|---|---|
Manner | -кӏэ | зекӏуакӏэ "behavior", кӏуакӏэ "gait", кӏочӏакӏэ "strength", тхакӏэ "writing style". |
Time | -гъу | хьадэгъу "death time", къэщэгъу "age of marriage", лӏыжъыгъу "old age time", къежьэгъу "time of beginning". |
Fellow | -гъу | лъэпкъэгъу "kinsman", унэгъу "family", ныбджэгъу "friend". |
Place | -щ: | хьакӏэщ "sitting-room" (from хьакӏэ "guest"), чэмэ́щ "cowshed" (from чэмы́ "cow"), чэтэщ "hen-coop" (from чэты "chicken"). |
Location | -пӏэ: | еджапӏэ "school" (from еджэ́н "study, read"), уцупӏэ "station" (from уцун "to stop"). |
Agent | -кӏо: | еджакӏо "student" (from еджэ́н "study, read"), лэжьакӏо "worker" (from лэжьэн "to work"). |
Tool | -лъ: | щыгъу́лъ "saltcellar" (from щыгъу "salt"), дэгъа́лъ "vessel for oil" (from дагъэ́ "oil"). |
Tool | -пхъэ: | чылапхъ "seed", гъомылапхъ "foodstuffs". |
Horrible | -джэ: | кӏуадж "bad road" (from кӏон "to go"), теплъаджэ "ugly" (from теплъэ "appearance"). |
Possessive cases are one of the most important grammatical characteristics of nouns in the Circassian language. There are two (in some versions of the Circassian grammar there is third form, called "cognate", which is somewhere between the two mentioned below) main forms of possessive cases:
Inalienable nouns include body parts (such as leg, which is necessarily "someone's leg" even if it is severed from the body), kinship terms (such as mother), name, and part-whole relations (such as top). Singular Circassian inalienable nouns are expressed by the following prefixes:
Pronoun | Prefix | Example |
---|---|---|
1st person | с- or сы- | с-шъхьэ "my head", сы́-гу "my heart" |
2nd person | у-, п- | у-нэ́ "your eye", п-лъакъо́ "your leg", п-ӏэ "your hand"; |
3rd person | ы- | ы-шы "his brother", ы́-пхъу "his daughter", ы́-къу "his son". |
Plural nouns have these prefixes:
Pronoun | Prefix | Example |
---|---|---|
1st person | ты-, т- | ты-нэхэ́р "our eyes", т-шъхьэхэ́р "our heads", т-ӏэбжъанэхэр "our legs"; |
2nd person | шъу- | шъу-лъакъохэ́р "your legs", шъу-шъхьацыхэ́р "your hair"; |
3rd person | а- | а́-гу "their hearts", а-лъа́къу "their legs". |
Alienable possession is used when referring to property, objects, concepts, ideas and attributes. Singular Circassian nouns of the proprietary form are expressed by the following prefixes:
Pronoun | Prefix | Example |
---|---|---|
1st person | си- | си-тхы́лъ "my book"; |
2nd person | уи- | уи-тхы́лъ "your book"; |
3rd person | и- | и-тхы́лъ "his book". |
Plural nouns have these prefixes:
Pronoun | Prefix | Example |
---|---|---|
1st person | ти- | ти-у́н "our home". |
2nd person | шъуи- | шъуи-у́н "your home". |
3rd person | я- | я-у́н "their home". |
In the Circassian language pronouns belong to the following groups: personal, demonstrative, possessive, interrogative, adherent, indefinite.
Personal pronouns are only expressed in first and second person in singular and plural forms: сэ /sa/ "I", тэ /ta/ "we" о /wa/ "you" and шъо /ʃʷa/ "you" (plural).
In order to express third person, the special demonstrative pronouns ар "he", мор "that", мыр "this", ахэр, мыхэр "they, that" are used. For Circassian personal pronouns there is no contrast between the absolutive and ergative grammatical cases (like it is with Circassian nouns). These two grammatical cases merge into one common case, so personal pronouns have only three different cases: absolutive-ergative, instrumental and adverbial.
Grammatical cases of personal pronouns:
Case | First-person | Second-person | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cyrillic | IPA | Cyrillic | IPA | ||
Singular | Absolutive | сэ | sa | о | wa |
Ergative | сэ | sa | о | wa | |
Instrumental | сэркӏэ | sart͡ʃʼa | оркӏэ | wart͡ʃʼa | |
Adverbial | сэрэу | saraw | орэу | waraw | |
Plural | Absolutive | тэ | ta | шъо | ʃʷa |
Ergative | тэ | ta | шъо | ʃʷa | |
Instrumental | тэркӏэ | tart͡ʃʼa | шъоркӏэ | ʃʷart͡ʃʼa | |
Adverbial | тэрэу | taraw | шъорэу | ʃʷaraw |
In a sentence a personal pronoun usually plays role of subject or object:
Demonstrative pronouns are мы "this", мо "that", а "that". There is a contradistinction between "мы" and "мо" on how far the referred object is. The pronoun "а" is neutral on this matter.
Demonstrative pronouns switch four grammatical cases:
The plural form of demonstrative pronouns is expressed by the -хэ- formant:
Possessive pronouns express the idea that something belongs to someone. There are several possessive pronouns in the Circassian language:
These pronouns change their form in different grammatical cases in the same way. Let us show examples of how they are used in a sentence:
The following pronouns are interrogative pronouns of the Circassian language:
The interrogative pronoun хэт? "who?" is used to address the nouns that belong to the class of human being, and the pronoun сыд? "what?" is for the nouns that belong to the class of thing. For example:
Circassian adherent pronouns:
Examples:
There is only one pronoun in the Circassian language which belongs to the group of indefinite pronouns. This pronoun is зыгорэ́. It has several close meanings: "someone", "one", "something", "somebody" and so on. The indefinite pronoun has the same forms in different grammatical cases like nouns have:
Case | Singular form | Plural form | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Cyrillic | IPA | Cyrillic | IPA | |
Absolutive | зыгорэ | zəɡʷara | зыгорэхэр | zəɡʷaraxar |
Ergative | зыгорэм | zəɡʷaram | зыгорэхэмэ | zəɡʷaraxama |
Instrumental | зыгорэ(м)кӏэ | zəɡʷara(m)t͡ʃʼa | зыгорэхэ(м)кӏэ | zəɡʷaraxa(m)t͡ʃʼa |
Adverbial | зыгорэу | zəɡʷaraw | зыгорэхэу | zəɡʷaraxaw |
Here are examples of how these forms are used in a sentence:
In Adyghe, like all Northwest Caucasian languages, the verb is the most inflected part of speech. Verbs are typically head final and are conjugated for tense, person, number, etc. Some of Circassian verbs can be morphologically simple, some of them consist only of one morpheme, like: кӏо "go", штэ "take". However, generally, Circassian verbs are characterized as structurally and semantically difficult entities. Morphological structure of a Circassian verb includes affixes (prefixes, suffixes) which are specific to the language. Verbal affixes express meaning of subject, direct or indirect object, adverbial, singular or plural form, negative form, mood, direction, mutuality, compatibility and reflexivity, which, as a result, creates a complex verb, that consists of many morphemes and semantically expresses a sentence. For example: уакъыдэсэгъэгущыӏэжьы "I am forcing you to talk to them again" consists of the following morphemes: у-а-къы-дэ-сэ-гъэ-гущыӏэ-жьы, with the following meanings: "you (у) with them (а) from there (къы) together (дэ) I (сэ) am forcing (гъэ) to speak (гущыӏэн) again (жьы)".
Verbs in Adyghe can be transitive or intransitive.
In a sentence with a transitive verb, nouns in the absolutive case (marked as -р) play the role of direct object. In the sentences of this type the noun in the subject's position is in the ergative case (marked as -м):
In these sentences the verbs етхы "is writing", къыштагъ "took", къыубытыгъ "has caught" are transitive verbs, and the nouns письмэр "letter", уатэр "hammer", тхьакӏумкӏыхьэр "rabbit" are in the absolutive case (suffix -р) and express direct object in the sentences, while the nouns кӏалэм "boy", пхъашӏэм "carpenter", хьэм "dog" are subjects expressed in the ergative case.
In a sentence with an intransitive verb, there is no direct object, and the real subject is usually expressed by a noun in the absolutive case
In these sentences with intransitive verbs, nouns that the play role of subject are expressed in the absolutive case: чэмахъо-р "cowherd", пэсакӏо-р "guard", лӏы-р "man".
There are verbs in the Adyghe language that in different contexts and situations can be used both as transitive and intransitive. For example:
In the first sentence the verb мэкъутэ "is being broken" is used as an intransitive verb that creates an absolutive construction. In the second sentence the verb е-къутэ "is breaking" creates an ergative construction. Both of the verbs are formed from the verb къутэ-н "to break".
In the Adyghe language, intransitive verbs can have indirect objects in a sentence. The indirect objects are expressed by a noun in the oblique case (which is also marked as -м). For example:
In these sentences with intransitive verbs, nouns that play the role of indirect object are expressed in the oblique case: пшъашъэ-м "girl", чъыгы-м "tree", тхылъы-м "book".
Intransitive verbs can be turned into transitive with the causative prefix гъэ- (meaning "to force, to make"). For example:
The verbs in the first sentences мачъэ "is running", мэкуо "is screaming" are intransitive, and the verbs in the second sentences егъачъэ "forces ... to run", егъэкуо "makes ... scream" are already transitive.
The conjugation of the intransitive monovalent verb плъэн /pɬan/ "to look":
Subject | Object | |
---|---|---|
I | Сэплъэ {I look} | |
You | Оплъэ {You look} | |
He/She/It | Мэплъэ {He looks} | |
Y'all | Шъоплъэ {Y'all look} | |
They | Мэплъэх {We look} |
The conjugation of the intransitive bivalent verb еплъын /japɬən/ "to look at":
Subject | Object | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
At me | At you | At him | At us | At y'all | At them | At oneself | |||
I | Сыоплъы Сыкъыоплъы I look at you} | Сеплъы Сыкъеплъы {I look at him} | Сышъоплъы Сыкъышъоплъы {I look at y'all} | Саплъы Сыкъаплъы {I look at them} | Сызэплъыжьы Сыкъызэплъыжьы {I look at myself} | ||||
You | - Укъысэплъы {You look at me} | Уеплъы Укъеплъы {You look at him} | - Укъытэплъы {You look at us} | Уаплъы Укъаплъы {You look at them} | Узэплъыжьы Укъызэплъыжьы {You look at yourself} | ||||
He | - Къысэплъы {He looks at me} | - Къыоплъы {He looks at you} | Еплъы Къеплъы {He looks at him} | - Къытэплъы {He looks at us} | - Къышъоплъы {He looks at y'all} | Аплъы Къаплъы {He looks at them} | Зэплъыжьы Къызэплъыжьы {He looks at himself} | ||
We | Тыоплъы Тыкъыоплъы {We look at you} | Теплъы Тыкъеплъы {We look at him} | Тышъоплъы Тыкъышъоплъы {We look at y'all} | Таплъы Тыкъаплъы {We look at them} | Тызэплъыжьы Тыкъызэплъыжьы {We look at ourselves} | ||||
Y'all | - Шъукъысэплъы {Y'all look at me} | Шъуеплъы Шъукъеплъы {Y'all look at him} | - Шъукъытэплъы {Y'all look at us} | Шъуаплъы Шъукъаплъы {Y'all look at them} | Шъузэплъыжьы Шъукъызэплъыжьы {Y'all look at yourselves} | ||||
They | - Къысэплъых {They look at me} | - Къыоплъых {They look at you} | Еплъых Къеплъых {They look at him} | - Къытэплъых {They look at us} | - Къышъоплъых {They look at y'all} | Аплъых Къаплъых {They look at them} | Зэплъыжьых Къызэплъыжьых {They look at themselves} |
The conjugation of the transitive bivalent verb ылъэгъун /əɬaʁʷən/ "to see it":
Subject | Object | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
At me | At you | At him | At us | At y'all | At them | At oneself | |||
I | Осэлъэгъу Укъэсэлъэгъу {I see you} | Сэлъэгъу Къэсэлъэгъу {I see him} | Шъосэлъэгъу Шъукъэсэлъэгъу {I see y'all} | Сэлъэгъух Къэсэлъэгъух {I see them} | Зэсэлъэгъужьы Зкъэсэлъэгъужьы {I see myself} | ||||
You | Сэолъэгъу Скъэолъэгъу Сэбэлъэгъу Скъэбэлъэгъу {You see me} | Олъэгъу Къэолъэгъу Къэбэлъэгъу {You see him} | Тэолъэгъу Ткъэолъэгъу Тэбэлъэгъу Ткъэбэлъэгъу {You see us} | Олъэгъух Къэолъэгъух Къэбэлъэгъух {You see them} | Зэолъэгъужьы Зкъэолъэгъужьы Зэбэлъэгъужьы Зкъэбэлъэгъужьы {You see yourself} | ||||
He | Селъэгъу Скъелъэгъу {He sees me} | Уелъэгъу Укъелъэгъу {He sees you} | Елъэгъу Къелъэгъу {He sees him} | Телъэгъу Ткъелъэгъу {He sees us} | Шъуелъэгъу Шъукъелъэгъу {He sees y'all} | Елъэгъух Къелъэгъух {He sees them} | Зелъэгъужьы Зыкъелъэгъужьы {He sees himself} | ||
We | Отэлъэгъу Укъэтэлъэгъу {We see you} | Тэлъэгъу Къэтэлъэгъу {We see him} | Шъотэлъэгъу Шъукъэтэлъэгъу {We see y'all} | Тэлъэгъух Къэтэлъэгъух {We see them} | Зэтэлъэгъужьы Зкъэтэлъэгъужьы {We see ourselves} | ||||
Y'all | Сэшъолъэгъу Скъэолъэгъу {Y'all see me} | Шъолъэгъу Къэшъолъэгъу {Y'all see him} | Тэшъолъэгъу Ткъэшъолъэгъу {Y'allsee us} | Шъолъэгъух Къэшъолъэгъух Къэбэлъэгъух {Y'allsee them} | Зэшъолъэгъужьы Зкъэшъолъэгъужьы {Y'all see yourselves} | ||||
They | Салъэгъу Скъалъэгъу {They see me} | Уалъэгъу Укъалъэгъу {They see you} | Алъэгъу Къалъэгъу {They see him} | Талъэгъу Ткъалъэгъу {They see us} | Шъуалъэгъу Шъукъалъэгъу {They see y'all} | Алъэгъух Къалъэгъух {They see them} | Залъэгъужьы Зыкъалъэгъужьы {They see themselves} |
Adyghe verbs can be either dynamic or static.
Dynamic verbs express (process of) actions that are taking place (natural role of verbs in English):
Static verbs express states or results of actions:
Certain verbs in English with one meaning can have two forms in Adyghe, one static and the other dynamic. For instance, the verb тӏысын "to sit down" is a dynamic verb that expresses someone moving into a sitting position, in contrast to щысын "to be sitting" which expresses the static of a person sitting.
Adyghe verbs have different forms to express different persons (ex. "I", "You" and "They"). These forms are, mostly, created with specific prefixes. This is what it looks like in singular:
and in plural:
Adyghe verbs have several forms to express different tenses, here are some of them:
Tense | Suffix | Example | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
Present | ~∅ | макӏо /maːkʷʼa/ | (s)he is going; (s)he goes |
Preterite | ~агъэ /~aːʁa/ | кӏуагъэ /kʷʼaːʁa/ | (s)he went |
Discontinuous past | ~гъагъ /~ʁaːʁ/ | кӏогъагъ /kʷʼaʁaːʁ/ | (s)he went (but not there anymore) |
Pluperfect | ~гъагъ /~ʁaːʁ/ | кӏогъагъ /kʷʼaʁaːʁ/ | (s)he went a long time ago"; (s)he had gone" |
Categorical Future | ~н /~n/ | кӏон /kʷʼan/ | (s)he will go |
Factual Future | ~щт /~ɕt/ | кӏощт /kʷʼaɕt/ | (s)he will go, (s)he is about to go |
Past continuous | ~щтыгъ | кӏощтыгъ /kʷʼaɕtəʁ/ | (s)he used to go; (s)he was going |
Conditional perfect | ~щтыгъ | кӏощтыгъ /kʷʼaɕtəʁ/ | (s)he was going to go; (s)he would have gone |
Future perfect | ~гъэщт /~ʁaɕt/ | кӏуагъэщт /kʷʼaːʁaɕt/ | (s)he will have gone |
Recent past | ~гъакӏ /~ʁaːt͡ʃʼ/ | кӏогъакӏ /kʷʼaʁaːt͡ʃʼ/ | (s)he just (recently) went |
The following prefixes increase the valency by one, meaning, they introduce another argument (person) in the verb.
Case | Prefix | Meaning | Example |
---|---|---|---|
Causative | гъэ~ [ʁa~] | "to force, to make" | гъэ-плъэн [ʁapɬan] "to make him look at" |
Comitative | дэ~ [da~] | "with" | д-еплъын [dajpɬən] "to look with" |
Benefactive | фэ~ [fa~] | "for" | ф-еплъын [fajpɬən] "to look for" |
Malefactive | шӏо~ [ʃʷʼa~] | "against one's interest" | шӏу-еплъын [ʃʷʼajpɬən] "to look against his interest" |
Reflexive | зэ~ [za~] | "self" | зэ-плъын [zapɬən] "to look at oneself" |
Imperative mood of second person in singular has no additional affixes: штэ "take", кӏо "go", тхы "write"; in plural the affix -шъу is added in front of the verbs: шъу-къакӏу "you (plural) go", шъу-тхы "you (plural) write", шъу-штэ "you (plural) take".
Conditional mood is expressed with suffix -мэ: сы-кӏо-мэ "if I go", сы-чъэ-мэ "if I run", с-шӏэ-мэ "if I do".
Concessive mood is expressed with suffix -ми: сы-кӏо-ми "even if I go", сы-чъэ-ми "even if I run", с-шӏэ-ми "even if I do".
Optative mood is expressed with the complex suffix -гъо-т: у-кӏуа-гъо-т "would you go", п-тхы-гъа-гъо-т "would you write".
Interrogative form is expressed with the affix -а: мад-а? "is he sewing?", макӏу-а? "is he going".
Negative interrogative form is expressed with the affix -ба: ма-кӏо-ба "isn't he is going?", мэ-гыкӏэ-ба "isn't he washing?".
Present participles in the Circassian language are formed from the appropriate dynamic verbs with the suffix -рэ:
Participles can also be created from static verbs. In this case no additional morphological modifications are required. For example: щысыр "sitting", щылъыр "lying". In the past and future tenses participles have no special morphological attributes, in other words, their form is identical to the main form of the verb. The forms of participles in different grammatical cases are equal to the forms of the appropriate verbs. The same is also true for their time-tenses.
Masdar (a form of verb close to gerund) in Adyghe is formed by adding the suffix -н (-n):
ар
ар
[aːr
that.ABS
тхэн
тхэ-н
txan
writing (Masdar)
дах
дах
daːx]
beautiful
"That is a beautiful writing"
Masdar has grammatical cases:
университетэм
университет-эм
[ʊnɪvɪrsɪˈtetam
university.ERG
ущеджэныр
ущеджэ-н-ыр
ɕajd͡ʒanər
studying in (Masdar)
къины
къины
qəjnə]
hard
"Studying in the university is hard."
компьютерым
компьютер-ым
[kʰɔmpjʊtərəm
computer.ERG
джэгуныр
джэгу-н-ыр
d͡ʒagʷənər
playing (Masdar)
тхъагъо
тхъагъо
tχaːʁʷa]
fun
"Playing the computer is fun."
Masdar also can have different forms for different persons:
пчэдыжьым
пчэдыжь-ым
[pt͡ʃadəʑəm
morning.ERG
учъэныр
у-чъэ-н-ыр
wət͡ʂanər
you running (Masdar)
дэгъу
дэгъу
daʁʷə]
good
"[You] running is good in the morning."
In the Adyghe language negative form of a word is expressed with different morphemes (prefixes, suffixes). In participles, adverbial participles, masdars, imperative, interrogative and other forms of verbs their negative from is expressed with the prefix -мы, which, usually, goes before the root morpheme, that describes the main meaning:
In verbs the negative meaning can also be expressed with the suffix -эп/-п, which usually goes after the suffixes of time-tenses. For example:
From the morphological point of view adjectives in the Circassian language are not very different from nouns. In combinations with nouns they lose their grammatical independence. Adjectives form their plural form the same way nouns do, they also use the same affixes to form different grammatical cases (from Absolutive to Adverbial).
Adjectives can be either qualitative or relative.
Adjectives can be in singular or plural form: фыжьы "white" (singular) – фыжь-хэ-р "whites" (plural).
They switch grammatical cases similarly to nouns:
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Absolutive | фыжьыр | фыжьыхэр |
Ergative-Oblique | фыжьым | фыжьыхэм |
Instrumental | фыжьы(м)кӏэ | фыжьыхэ(м)кӏэ |
Adverbial | фыжьэу | фыжьыхэу |
A qualitative adjective as a compliment in a sentence goes after the word it describes: кӏалэ дэгъу "good boy", унэ лъагэ "high house"; a relative adjective goes before it: пхъэ уатэ "wooden hammer", гъучӏ пӏэкӏор "iron bed". In the second case adjectives do not change their form, only the appropriate nous do. For example: in plural – гъучӏ пӏэкӏорхэр "iron beds".
In different grammatical cases:
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Absolutive | гъучӏ пӏэкӏорыр | гъучӏ пӏэкӏорхэр |
Ergative-Oblique | гъучӏ пӏэкӏорым | гъучӏ пӏэкӏорхэм |
Instrumental | гъучӏ пӏэкӏоры(м)кӏэ | гъучӏ пӏэкӏорхэ(м)кӏэ |
Adverbial | гъучӏ пӏэкӏорэу | гъучӏ пӏэкӏорхэу |
Combining adjectives with nouns it is possible to produce a great lot of phrases: пшъэшъэ дахэ "beautiful girl", кӏалэ дэгъу "good boy", цӏыф кӏыхьэ "long man", гъогу занкӏэ "straight road", уц шхъуантӏэ "green grass" and so on. These phrases can be easily included into sentences. If a noun has a certain grammatical case, the adjective gets the suffix of the case instead of the noun, for example кӏэлэ кӏуачӏэ-р "the strong boy (abs.) and уатэ псынкӏэ-мкӏэ "using the light hammer (ins.).
Сэ
[sa
I
непэ
najpa
today
пшъэшъэ
pʂaʂa
a girl
дахэ
daːxa
beautiful
слъэгъугъэ
sɬaʁʷəʁa]
I saw
"I have seen a beautiful girl today."
Тэ
[ta
we
гъогу
ʁʷagʷ
road
занкӏэм
zaːnt͡ʃʼam
straight.ERG
тырыкӏуагъ
tərəkʷʼaːʁ]
we were walking
"We were walking on the straight road."
Circassian qualitative adjectives also have comparative and superlative forms. For example: нахь фыжь "whiter, more white" (comparative form) and анахь фыжь "whitest, most white",
The Comparative degree is formed by auxiliary word нахь:
Ар ощ нахь лъагэ – he is higher than you,
Нахь ины хъугъэ – He became bigger [More big became],
Нахь лIэблан охъун фай – You must be braver.
The superlative degrees is formed by auxiliary word анахь (more than all...):
Ар пшъашъэмэ анахь дахэ – She is the most beautiful among the girls,
Ар зэкӏэмэ анахь лъагэ – It is the highest,
Зэкӏэми шхын анахь дэгъумкӏэ ыгъэшхагъ – (S)he feeds him with the tastiest meal,
Ар заужмэ анахь лъэшы – He is the strongest.
The following suffixes are added to nouns:
Suffix | Meaning | Example |
---|---|---|
~кӏэ (~t͡ʃʼa) | new | унакӏэ (new house) |
~жъы (~ʐə) | old | унэжъы (old house) |
~шхо (~ʃxʷa) | large | унэшхо (large house) |
~цӏыкӏу (~t͡sʼəkʷʼ) | small | унэцӏыкӏу (small house) |
~жъый (~ʐəj) | small | унэжъый (small house) |
The following suffixes are added to adjectives:
Suffix | Meaning | Example |
---|---|---|
~ӏо (~ʔʷa) | slightly | дыджыӏо (slightly too bitter) |
~щэ (~ɕa) | too much | дыджыщэ (too much bitter) |
~дэд (~dad) | very | дэгъудэд (very good) |
~бз (~bz) | absolutely | дэгъуабз (absolutely good) |
~шъыпкъ (~ʂəpq) | truly; really | дэгъушъыпкъ (really good) |
~ашъу (~aːʃʷ) | kind of | дэгъуашъу (kind of good) |
~кӏай (~t͡ʃʼaːj) | quite; pretty | дэгъукӏай (quite good) |
~нчъэ (~nt͡ʂa) | lacking | акъылынчъэ (mindless) |
Мы
[mə
this
джанэр
d͡ʒaːnar
shirt
оркӏэ
wart͡ʃʼa
for you
иныӏо
jənəʔʷa]
slightly big
"This shirt is slightly big for you"
Мы
[mə
this
джанэр
d͡ʒaːnar
shirt
кӏалэм
t͡ʃʼaːɮam
boy.ERG
фэшӏыкӏэ
faʃʼət͡ʃʼa
for
иныщэ
jənəɕa]
too large
"This shirt is too large for the boy"
Мы
[mə
this
сурэтыр
səwratər
painting
дэхэдэд
daxadad]
very beautiful
"This painting is very beautiful"
To indicate a thought or an opinion of someone, the prefix шӏо~ (ʃʷʼa~) is added to the adjective. This can also be used on nouns but it is very uncommon. For example:
кӏалэхэмэ
кӏалэ-хэ-мэ
[t͡ʃaːlaxama
the boys.ERG
ашӏодахэп
я-шъо-дахэ-п
jaːʃʷadaːxap
it was not pretty for them
сиджанэ
си-джанэ
sid͡ʒaːna]
my shirt
"my shirt was not beautiful for the boys."
мы
мы
[mə
this
мыӏэрысэм
мыӏэрысэ-м
məʔarəsam
apple.ERG
иуасэ
и-уасэ
jəwaːsa
its cost
пшӏолъапӏа?
п-шӏо-лъапӏ-а?
pʃʷaɬaːpʼaː]
is it expensive for you?
"Is this apple expensive for you?"
The suffix ~гъэ (~ʁa) is appended to indicate a measure of a certain adjective. Usually it is used for measurable adjectives like length, height, weight, size, strength and speed but it can be used on any adjective such as good, tasty, beauty, etc. This suffix can be used to scale adjectives, for instance, the word ӏэшӏу-гъэ (from the adjective ӏэшӏу "tasty") can be used to express different levels/qualities of tastiness. This suffix turns the adjective to a noun.
пхъэм
[pχam
the wood.ERG
иӏужъугъэ
jəʔʷəʒʷəʁa
its width
65
65
65
сантиметр
saːntimetr]
centimeters
"The wood's width is 65 centimeters"
кӏалэм
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam
boy.ERG
кӏочӏагъэ
kʷʼat͡ʃʼaːʁa
strength
хэлъ
xaɬ]
it is laying in
"The boy has strength in him."
The suffix ~гъакӏэ (~ʁaːt͡ʃʼa) is appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being the adjective", in contract to the suffix ~гъэ which is used to measure and scale the adjective. Some examples:
лӏыжъым
лӏыжъы-м
[ɬʼəʐəm
old man.ERG
ишӏугъакӏэ
и-шӏу-гъакӏэ
jəʃʷʼəʁaːt͡ʃʼa
his goodness
пае,
пае
paja
due to
зэкӏэм
зэкӏэ-м
zat͡ʃʼam
everyone.ERG
яунэ
я-унэ
jaːwəna
their house
къырагъэблагъэ
къырагъэблагъэ
qəraːʁabɮaːʁa]
they welcome him
"Due to the old man's goodness, everyone welcomes him to their house."
сэ
сэ
[sa
I
мыӏэрысэм
мыӏэрыс-эм
məʔarəsəm
apple.ERG
иӏэшӏугъакӏэ
и-ӏэшӏу-гъакӏэ
jəʔaʃʷʼəʁaːt͡ʃʼa
its testiness
сыкъегъатхъэ
сы-къ-е-гъа-тхъэ
səqajʁaːtχa]
I enjoy it
"I enjoy the apple's testiness."
пшъашъэм
пшъашъэ-м
[pʂaːʂam
the girl.ERG
ӏэшӏэхэу
ӏэшӏэх-эу
ʔaʃʼaxaw
easily
идэхэгъакӏэкӏэ
и-дэхэ-гъакӏэ-кӏэ
jədaxaʁaːt͡ʃʼat͡ʃʼa
using her prettiness
сыкъигъэделагъ
сы-къ-и-гъэ-дел-агъ
səqəjʁadajɮaːʁ]
(s)he fooled me
"The girl fooled me easily by using her prettiness."
In the Adyghe language adverbs belong to these groups: adverbs of place, adverbs of time, adverbs of quality and adverbs of amount.
модэкӏэ
модэ-кӏэ
[modat͡ʃʼa
over there.INS
тучаныр
тучан-ыр
tut͡ʃaːnər
shop.ABS
ӏут
ӏут
ʔʷərt]
it is standing
"The shop is placed over there."
адэ
адэ
[aːda
there
кӏалэр
кӏалэ-р
t͡ʃʼaːɮar
boy.ABS
кӏуагъэ
кӏу-агъэ
kʷʼaːʁa]
(s)he went
"The boy went there."
тӏэкӏушӏэмэ
тӏэкӏушӏэмэ
[tʼakʷʼʃʼama
soon
тышхэнэу
ты-шхэ-нэу
təʃxanaw
we (to) eat
тыкӏощт
ты-кӏо-щт
təkʷʼaɕt]
we will go
"Soon we will go to eat."
непэ
непэ
[najpa
today
пасэу
пасэу
paːsaw
early
еджапӏэм
еджапӏэм
jad͡ʒaːpʼam
school.ERG
тынэсышъугъ
тынэсышъугъ
tənasəʃʷəʁ]
we could arrive
"Today we successfully arrived school early."
шхыныр
шхыны-р
[ʃxənər
food.ABS
сыдэу
сыдэу
sədaw
so
фабэ
фабэ
faːba]
hot
"The food is so hot."
кӏалэм
кӏалэ-м
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam
boy.ERG
ахъщэ
ахъщэ
aːχɕa
money
бэ
бэ
ba
a lot
иӏ
иӏ
jəʔ]
(s)he has
"The boy has a lot of money."
чэщым
чэщы-м
t͡ʃaɕəm
night.ERG
лӏыр
лӏы-р
ɬʼər
man.ABS
тӏэкӏурэ
тӏэкӏурэ
tʼakʷʼra
short period of time
макӏо
макӏо
maːkʷʼa]
(s)he went
"In the night, the man goes for a small period of time."
Adverbs of this group are formed from the appropriate qualitative adjectives using the suffix ~эу /~aw/. Adverbs in this group describe the manner in which the verb was done.
кӏалэр
кӏалэ-р
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar
boy.ABS
чыжьэу
чыжьэ-у
t͡ʃəʑaw
far.ADV
чъагъэ
чъ-агъэ
t͡ʂaːʁa]
(s)he ran
"The boy ran far."
кӏалэм
кӏалэ-м
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam
the boy.ERG
шхыныр
шхын-ыр
ʃxənər
food.ABS
дэгъоу
дэгъо-у
daʁʷaw
excellently
ышӏэгъ
ышӏэ-гъ
əʃʼaʁ]
(s)he done it
"The boy done the food excellently."
пшъашъэр
пшъашъэ-р
[pʂaːʂar
the girl.ABS
дахэу
дахэ-у
daːxaw
beautifully
матхэ
матхэ
maːtxa]
(s)he writes
"The girl writes beautifully."
Adverbs can be produced different ways and from different parts of speech. The most productive ways to form adverbs are:
suffixing (adding ~эу to adjectives):
concatenating:
rethinking or transfer of some forms of words of different parts of speech into adverbs:
In a sentence adverbs play role of adverbials:
Adyghe has the word нахь /naːħ/ "rather, actually" which can be used to introduce a clarification or a contradiction in a sentence, for instance, the speaker would use this word when clarifying his statement in contract to the listener's belief. Some examples:
кӏалэр
кӏалэ-р
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar
boy.ABS
кӏуагъэп,
кӏу-агъ-эп,
kʷʼaːʁap
(s)he went
чъагъэ
чъ-агъэ
t͡ʂaːʁa
(s)he ran
нахь
нахь
naːħ]
rather
"The boy didn't walk, rather he ran."
фылымым
фылым-ым
[fələməm
film.ERG
теплъыгъэ
т-еплъы-гъэ
tajpɬəʁa
we watched it
нахь
нахь
naːħ]
rather
"We actually watched the film."
In English the word "and" is used to connect parts of speech with others, while in Circassian, there are different ways to connect different parts of speech with others.
Case | Suffix | Example | |
---|---|---|---|
Cyrillic | IPA | ||
Indefinite nouns | рэ | /ra/ | кӏалэ-рэ пшъашъэ-рэ къэкӏуагъэх "a boy and a girl came." |
Definite nouns | мрэ | /mra/ | кӏалэ-мрэ пшъашъэ-мрэ кӏуагъэх "the boy and the girl came." |
Pronouns | рэ | /ra/ | сэ-рэ о-рэ тыкӏуагъ "You and I went." |
Indefinite adjectives | рэ | /ra/ | кӏэлэ кӏыхьэ-рэ пшъашъэ дахэ-рэ къэкӏуагъэх "a tall boy and a pretty girl came." |
Definite adjectives | мрэ | /mra/ | кӏэлэ кӏыхьэ-мрэ пшъашъэ дахэ-мрэ къэкӏуагъэх "a tall boy and a pretty girl came." |
Numbers | рэ | /ra/ | кӏэлэ тӏу-рэ пшъашъэ щы-рэ къэкӏуагъэх "two boys and three girls came." |
Universal nouns | и | /i/ | кӏал-и пшъашъ-и къэкӏуагъэх "boys and girls came." |
Adverbs | мкӏи | /mt͡ʃʼi/ | мафэ-мкӏи чэщы-мкӏи къэкӏуагъэх "they came in the day and in the night." |
The conjunctions ыкӏи /ət͡ʃəj/ "and" can also be used to connect different parts of speech.
Conjunctions in the Circassian language play the same role like in English, they are used to connect together, in different ways, words or parts of a difficult sentence. According to structure of Circassian conjunctions they can be separated into two groups: simple and complex.
Among simple Circassian conjunctions are:
Сэ
[sa
I
сыкӏуагъ
səkʷʼaːʁ
I went
къалэм,
qaːɮam
city.ERG
ау
aːw
but
къэзгъэзэжьыгъэп
qazʁazaʑəʁap]
I didn't return
"I went to the city, but I haven't returned."
Сэ
[sa
I
непенэу
najpajnaw
this whole day
сэлажьэ
saɮaːʑa
I am working
ыкӏи
ət͡ʃʼəj
and
сычъыягъэп
sət͡ʂaːʁap
I haven't slept
тыгъуасэ
təʁʷaːsa
yesterday
чэщым
t͡ʃaʃə]
in the night.ERG
"I have been working this while day and I haven't slept yesterday night."
унэм
[wənam
house.ERG
тигъэс,
təjʁas
let us stay inside
сыда пӏомэ
sədaː pʔʷʼama
because
непэ
najpa
today
къещхыщт
qajɕxəɕt]
it will rain
"Let us stay inside the house, because today it will rain."
армэ,
[aːrma
if that so
неущы
najwɕə
tomorrow
къычӏегъэдзагъэу
qət͡ʂʼajʁad͡zaːʁaw
starting from
седжэу
sajd͡ʒaw
studying.ADV
сыублэщт
səwbɮaɕt
I will start
экзамыным
akzaːmənəm
exam.ERG
фэшӏыкӏэ
faʃʼət͡ʃʼa]
for
"If that so, I will start studying for the exam starting from tomorrow."
In the Circassian language particles are different both by their semantics and structure. Semantically they fall into the following groups: affirmative, negative, interrogative, intensive, indicatory and stimulating.
For example:
– Непэ тадэжь къакӏоба. – Хъун. "- Come to us today. – OK";
– Къэсӏуагъэр къыбгурыӏуагъа? – Ары. "- Have you understood what I have said? – Yes";
Адэ, непэ тыдэкӏыни тыкъэшхэщт. "Certainly, we will go out today and eat."
For example: Хьау, хьау, зыми сэ сыфаеп "No, no, I don't want a thing";
For example: Сыдигъо шӏуа автобусыр къызыкӏощтыр? "When perhaps will the bus come?";
For example:
Адэ, Пщымаф, гущыӏэу птыгъэр пгъэцэкӏэжьын фай. "Well, Pshimaf, you must keep your word".
Кӏо, кӏалэр еджэн фаи къытдэкӏышъугъэп. "Well, because the boy needs to study he couldn't come out with us.
For example: Мары машинэу зигугъу къыпфэсшӏыгъагъэр "This is the car which I have told you about";
For example: Еу, псынкӏэу зегъахь! "Come on, get out of here quickly".
For example: Уатэр къэсфэхь, Ашъыу, отычэр къэсфэхь " Bring me the hammer, er, I mean, bring me the ax".
For example: Ашъыу!, зэ щыгъэт "Ugh!, shut up for a moment".
For example: Хъугъэ!, некӏо тыкӏожьыщт "That's enough, let's return".
For example: еоой, идж сыд цӏыфым ышӏэжьыщтэр? "Alas, what will the person do now?".
Adyghe has four demonstratives: а /ʔaː/, джэ /d͡ʒa/, мо /mo/ and мы /mə/.
а /ʔaː/
мо /maw/
мы /mə/
джэ /d͡ʒa/
тэ (ta)
The demonstratives can be used to express different things like:
In the Circassian language, as well as in other Ibero-Caucasian languages, role of prepositions belongs to postpositions. It is difficult to define the exact count of postpositions in the Circassian language, because even such major parts of speech as nouns (from the point of view of their functionality) sometimes can be included into the group, together with some verb prefixes. For example, in the sentence Тхылъыр столым телъ "The book is lying on the table" the noun has no preposition, but the meaning remains clear because in the verb те-лъ "is lying" the prefix те- expresses something's being on a surface, so this form of the verb literally means "on the surface is lying".
Nouns and adverbs sometimes play role of postpositions. For example, nous that describe different parts of human body (head, nose, side and so on) sometimes function as postpositions. For example: Шъузыр лӏым ыпэ итэу кӏощтыгъэ "The wife was going in front of the husband" (the preposition "in front of" in the Circassian sentence is expressed by the phrase ыпэ итэу "being in front of his nose").
Nouns and pronouns combine with a postposition in the ergative grammatical case only. For example, the postposition дэжь "near, beside" requires a word in the ergative case:
Postpositions can attach possessive prefixes to themselves. For example, in singular:
in plural:
The following words are used as postpositions in the Circassian language:
The suffix ~a /aː/ initials the interrogative particle that indicates a yes-or-no question. For example:
If question is posited to word having the negative suffix ~п (~p), it is converted to suffix ~ба (~baː)[ clarification needed ]. The suffix ~ба /baː/ initials the negative interrogative particle. For example:
If question is posited by auxiliary interrogative words:
хэт
[xat
who
къэкӏуагъэ?
qakʷʼaːʁa]
the person that came
"Who came?"
сыд
[səd
what
кӏалэм
t͡ʃʼaːɮam
the boy.ERG
ыцӏэ?
ət͡sʼa]
his name
"What is the boy's name?"
непэ
[najpa
today
тыдэ
təda
where
ущыӏэщт?
wɕəʔaɕt]
you will be there
"Today where will you be?"
Order of words in a Circassian sentence is, generally, free, but the situation where verb goes at the end is the most typical.
Structure of a full sentence is, usually, defined by its form of verb. In the Circassian language there are the following types of sentences:
This type of Circassian sentences is rarer than the first two. In the Circassian language there are compound sentences that can consist both of independent parts only, and of the main part in combination with dependent subparts.
Compound sentences with independent parts:
Compound sentences with dependent parts are structurally different. The most typical Circassian compound sentence with a dependent part is the sentence where its dependent part expresses some sort of circumstances explaining the main part:
When composed, the hundred word takes the -рэ (-ra) suffix, as well as the ten and the unit if any (e.g.:
шъэрэ зырэ (ʂara zəra) [101],
шъэрэ тIурэ (ʂara tʷʼəra) [102],
шъэрэ пшӀыкӀузырэ (pʃʼəkʷʼətʷʼəra) [111],
шъитӀурэ щэкӀырэ плIырэ (ʂitʷʼəra ɕat͡ʃəra pɬʼəra) [234]).
минитӀу (minitʷʼə) [2,000],
минищ (miniɕ) [3,000],
минищ шъэ (miniɕ ʂa) [3,100],
минищ шъитIу (miniɕ ʂitʷʼə) [3,200],
миниплӀ (minipɬʼ) [4,000],
миниплӀы шъэ (minipɬʼəra ʂa) [4,100],
минишъиплIтIу (miniʂipɬʼətʷʼ) [4,200],
минишъиплӀщ (miniʂipɬʼəɕ) [4,300],
минитфы шъэ (minitfə ʂa) [5,100],
минишъитфтIу (miniʂitfətʷʼ) [5,200]...
When there is a certain amount of the noun, the noun is followed by -и (-i) and the multiplier digit root.
for example:
Зы кӀалэ – One boy (zə t͡ʃaːla),
КӀалитӀу – two boys (t͡ʃaːlitʷʼ),
КӀалиплӏ – four boys (t͡ʃaːlipɬʼ),
КӀалишъэ – 100 boys (t͡ʃaːliʂa),
Зы мафэ – one day (zə maːfa),
МафитIу – two days (maːfitʷʼ),
Мафищы (мафищ) – three days (maːfiɕ).
ятIунэрэ – second (jaːtʷʼənara), ящынэрэ – third (jaːɕənara), яплIынэрэ – fourth (jaːpɬʼənara).
Япэрэ мафэ – First day (jaːpara maːfa),
ЯтIонэрэ мафэ – second day (jaːtʷʼənara maːfa),
ЯтIонэрэ цуакъо – second shoe (jaːpara t͡ʃʷaːqʷa),
Яхэнэрэ классым щегъэжьагъэу тутын сешъо~I have been smoking since the sixth class.
о плIэрэ къыосIогъах – I have told you four times already.
щы /ɕə/ "three" – щанэ /ɕaːna/ "third",
плӏы /pɬʼə/ "four" – плӏанэ /pɬʼaːna/ "fourth",
хы "six" – ханэ /xaːna/ "sixth" and so on.
In a sentence: Чӏыгоу къытатыгъэм изыщанэ картоф хэдгъэтӏысхьа́гъ "On one third of the allocated land we have planted potatoes", Хатэм изыщанэ помидор хэдгъэтIысхагъ- third part of vegetable garden we used for the tomatoes, Ахъщэ къыратыгъэм ыпӏланэ чыфэ ритыгъ – The quarter of the money he received, he lent.
зырыз /zərəz/ "by one",
тӏурытӏу /tʷʼərətʷʼ/ "by twos",
щырыщ /ɕərəɕ/ "by threes",
плӏырыплӏ /pɬʼərəplʼ/ "by fours",
тфырытф /tfərətf/ "by fives" and so on.
In a sentence: Еджакӏохэр экзаменым тӏурытӏоу чӏахьэщтыгъэх "Pupils entered the examination room by twos".
зыхыбл /zəxəbl/ зы-хы-бл "about six or seven",
зытӏущ /zətʷʼəɕ/ зы-тӏу-щ "about two or three".
In a sentence: Непэ садэжь нэбгырэ зытIущ къыIухьагъ "About two or three people have approached me today".
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In Adyghe, like all Northwest Caucasian languages, the verb is the most inflected part of speech. Verbs are typically head final and are conjugated for tense, person, number, etc. Some of Circassian verbs can be morphologically simple, some of them consist only of one morpheme, like: кӏо "go", штэ "take". However, generally, Circassian verbs are characterized as structurally and semantically difficult entities. Morphological structure of a Circassian verb includes affixes which are specific to the language. Verbal affixes express meaning of subject, direct or indirect object, adverbial, singular or plural form, negative form, mood, direction, mutuality, compatibility and reflexivity, which, as a result, creates a complex verb, that consists of many morphemes and semantically expresses a sentence. For example: уакъыдэсэгъэгущыӏэжьы "I am forcing you to talk to them again" consists of the following morphemes: у-а-къы-дэ-сэ-гъэ-гущыӏэ-жьы, with the following meanings: "you (у) with them (а) from there (къы) together (дэ) I (сэ) am forcing (гъэ) to speak (гущыӏэн) again (жьы)".
This article describes the properties of nouns in the Adyghe language.
In Kabardian, like all Northwest Caucasian languages, the verb is the most inflected part of speech. Verbs are typically head final and are conjugated for tense, person, number, etc. Some of Circassian verbs can be morphologically simple, some of them consist only of one morpheme, like: кӏуэ "go", щтэ "take". However, generally, Circassian verbs are characterized as structurally and semantically difficult entities. Morphological structure of a Circassian verb includes affixes which are specific to the language. Verbs' affixes express meaning of subject, direct or indirect object, adverbial, singular or plural form, negative form, mood, direction, mutuality, compatibility and reflexivity, which, as a result, creates a complex verb, that consists of many morphemes and semantically expresses a sentence. For example: уакъыдэсогъэпсэлъэжы "I am forcing you to talk to them again" consists of the following morphemes: у-а-къы-дэ-со-гъэ-псэлъэ-жы, with the following meanings: "you (у) with them (а) from there (къы) together (дэ) I (со) am forcing (гъэ) to speak (псэлъэн) again (жы)".
In the Circassian language, pronouns belong to the following groups: personal, demonstrative, possessive, interrogative, adherent and indefinite.