Adyghe language

Adyghe
West Circassian
Адыгабзэ Adygabze آدہݝابزە
Self-designation "Adyghe language" written in the Cyrillic, the ABX Latin and the now-defunct Perso-Arabic scripts.
Pronunciation	[aːdɘɣaːbzə́]
Native to	Adygea Krasnodar Krai
Ethnicity	Circassians Cherkesogai
Native speakers	610,000 (2010–2020) [1]
Language family	Northwest Caucasian Circassian Adyghe
Early forms	Proto-Northwest Caucasian Proto-Circassian
Dialects	Abzakh Bzhedug Shapsug Hakuchi Hatuqay Chemguy (standard dialect) Mamkhegh † Yegeruqwai † Natukhaj † Makhosh † Ademey † Zhaney †
Writing system	Cyrillic (official) Latin (obsolete) Arabic (obsolete) Greek (obsolete)
Official status
Official language in	Russia Adygea
Recognised minority language in	Jordan   Syria   Israel Kfar Kama Rehaniya   Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
Language codes
ISO 639-2	ady
ISO 639-3	ady
Glottolog	adyg1241
Distribution of the Adyghe language in Adygea (2002)
Northwest Caucasian languages in Turkey and the Caucasus
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Yinal speaking Adyghe

Adyghe, ^[a] also known as West Circassian, ^[b] is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken by the western subgroups of Circassians. ^{[3] [4] [5]} Native to Circassia in the Caucasus, it is one of the two official languages of Adygea, the other being Russian. ^[6] It is spoken mainly in Turkey and Russia, as well as in Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Israel, where Circassians settled after the Circassian genocide by the Russian Empire. ^[7] Adyghe literary language (Adyghe: Литературабз) is largely based on the Temirgoy dialect, ^[8] which was chosen for its simplicity, ^[6] although there was significant input from Shapsug and Bzhedug dialects. ^[9]

Adyghe is closely related to the Kabardian or East Circassian language; ^[4] some reject the distinction between the two languages in favour of both being dialects of a unitary Circassian language. ^{[4] [10]} Despite phonological differences, Circassian languages are reciprocally intelligible, ^[10] with speakers being able to communicate. ^{[6] [11]} While the self-designation for both Adyghe and Kabardian language is Adyghe, in linguistic and administrative terms, "Adyghe" refers specifically to the language of the western tribes of Circassians, while "Kabardian" refers to the language of the two eastern tribes (Kabardians and Besleney). ^[6] Ubykh, Abkhaz and Abaza are more distantly related to Adyghe. ^[4]

Classification and History

Main article: Proto-Circassian language

Adyghe belongs to the Northwest Caucasian language family. Glottochronological studies suggest that the common Proto-Northwest Caucasian language split into the Circassian, Abkhaz, and Ubykh branches roughly 5,000 years ago. ^[9] For most of its history, Adyghe was an oral language. The folklore, particularly the Nart sagas, served as a repository for the language. ^{[9] [12]}

Besides native vocabulary, the Adyghe language has accepted loanwords from Turkic, Arabic, Persian, and Russian languages. ^[6] The appearance of Turkic loanwords in the Adyghe language can be dated to the 14th century due to interactions with the Golden Horde and Crimean Khanate. ^[13] Words such as chapych (kopeck) are pre-revolutionary loans from Russian, while internationalisms like revolutsiye (revolution) entered later. As a rule, the phonetic composition of borrowed words is adapted to the phonological system of the Adyghe language. ^[6]

Following the Circassian Genocide and expulsion in 1864, the majority of Adyghe speakers were scattered across the Ottoman Empire. ^[11] The language spoken in the diaspora has diverged from the literary forms in the Caucasus. Diaspora communities often use Arabic or Turkish loanwords where the literary language uses Russian ones. ^{[6] [14]}

Dialects

The West Circassian (Adyghe) dialects family tree

Black Sea coast dialects

• Shapsug dialect (Шапсыгъабзэ)
  • North Shapsugs, Great Shapsugs, Kuban Shapsugs (Шапсыгъэ шху) dialect
    • Kfar Kama dialect (Кфар Камэм ишапсыгъэбзэ)
  • Temirgoy-Shapsugs, Pseuşko accent (Кӏэмгуе-шапсыгъ)
  • South Shapsugs, Small Shapsugs, Coastal Shapsugs, Black Sea Shapsugs (Шапсыгъэ-цӏыкӏу) dialect
  • Hakuchi dialect (Хьакӏуцубзэ, Къарацхаибзэ)
• Natukhai dialect (Нэтӏхъуаджэбзэ)
• Zhaney dialect

Kuban River dialects

• Bzhedug dialect (Бжъэдыгъубзэ): spoken by Circassians in the Republic of Adygea and the Biga district of the city of Çanakkale in Turkey
• Temirgoy (Adyghe : Кӏэмыгуябзэ, Кӏэмгуибзэ): literary standard of Adyghe. Also spoken by Circassians in the Republic of Adygea
• Abzakh dialect (Aбдзэхабзэ): spoken by Circassians in the village of Rehaniya in Israel and Circassians in Syria from the Golan Heights
• Mamkhegh dialect
• Yegeruqay dialect
• Hatuqay dialect
• Makhosh dialect

Phonology

Main article: Adyghe phonology

Adyghe exhibits between 50 and 60 consonants depending on the dialect. All dialects possess a contrast between plain and labialized glottal stops. A very unusual minimal contrast, and possibly unique to the Abzakh 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 and a labialized one in Tlingit). The Shapsug (Black Sea) dialect of Adyghe contains a very uncommon sound: a voiceless bidental fricative [ h̪͆ ], which corresponds to the voiceless velar fricative [ x ] found in other varieties of Adyghe. This sound is only known to be used in the Black Sea dialect.

		Labial		Bidental	Alveolar			Post- alveolar		Alveolo- palatal		Retroflex	Velar		Uvular		Pharyngeal	Glottal
		plain	lab.		plain	sib.	lab.	plain	lab.	plain	lab.		plain	lab.	plain	lab.		plain	lab.
Nasal		m			n
Plosive/ Affricate	ejective	pʼ	pʷʼ		tʼ	t͡sʼ	tʷʼ	t͡ʃʼ				t͡ʂʼ	kʼ	kʷʼ
	voiceless	p			t	t͡s	t͡sʷ	t͡ʃ		t͡ɕ 2	t͡ɕʷ	t͡ʂ	k	kʷ	q	qʷ		ʔ	ʔʷ
	voiced	b			d	d͡z	d͡zʷ	d͡ʒ		d͡ʑ 2	d͡ʑʷ	d͡ʐ	ɡ 1	ɡʷ
Fricative	ejective				ɬʼ			ʃʼ	ʃʷʼ	ɕʼ	ɕʷʼ
	voiceless	f		h̪͆ 2	ɬ	s		ʃ	ʃʷ	ɕ	ɕʷ	ʂ	x	xʷ	χ	χʷ	ħ
	voiced	v 1			ɮ	z		ʒ	ʒʷ	ʑ	ʑʷ	ʐ	ɣ		ʁ	ʁʷ
Approximant		w								j				w
Trill					r

1. These consonants exist only in borrowed words.
2. In the Black Sea coast Adyghe dialects (e.g. Shapsug dialect and Natukhai dialect) there exist a palatalized voiced velar stop [ ɡʲ ], a palatalized voiceless velar stop [ kʲ ] and a palatalized velar ejective [ kʲʼ ] that were merged with [ d͡ʒ ], [ t͡ʃ ] and [ t͡ʃʼ ] in most Adyghe dialects. ^{[15] [16] [17] [18]} For example the Shapsug words "гьанэ" [ɡʲaːna] "shirt", "кьэт" [kʲat] "chicken" and "кӏьапсэ" [kʲʼaːpsa] "rope" are pronounced in other dialects as "джанэ" [d͡ʒaːna], "чэт" [t͡ʃat] and кӏапсэ [t͡ʃʼaːpsa].

In contrast to its large inventory of consonants, Adyghe has only three phonemic vowels in a vertical vowel system. ^[19]

	Central
Mid	ə
Near-open	ɐ
Open	aː

Grammar

Main article: Adyghe grammar

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

Alphabet

Adyghe alphabet

А а [ aː ]	Б б [ b ]	В в [ v ]	Г г [ ɣ ]	Гу гу [ ɡʷ ]	Гъ гъ [ ʁ ]	Гъу гъу [ ʁʷ ]	Д д [ d ]
Дж дж [ d͡ʒ ]	Дз дз [ d͡z ]	Дзу дзу [ d͡ʐʷ ]	Е е [ja/aj]	Ё ё [jo]	Ж ж [ ʒ ]	Жъ жъ [ ʐ ]	Жъу жъу [ ʐʷ ]
Жь жь [ ʑ ]	З з [ z ]	И и [jə/əj]	Й й [ j ]	К к [ k ]	Ку ку [ kʷ ]	Къ къ [ q ]	Къу къу [ qʷ ]
Кӏ кӏ [ t͡ʃʼ ]	Кӏу кӏу [ kʷʼ ]	Л л [ ɮ ] or [ l ]	Лъ лъ [ ɬ ]	Лӏ лӏ [ ɬʼ ]	М м [ m ]	Н н [ n ]	О о [aw/wa]
П п [ p ]	Пӏ пӏ [ pʼ ]	Пӏу пӏу [ pʷʼ ]	Р р [ r ]	С с [ s ]	Т т [ t ]	Тӏ тӏ [ tʼ ]	Тӏу тӏу [ tʷʼ ]
У у [ w/əw ]	Ф ф [ f ]	Х х [ x ]	Ху ху [ xʷ ]	Хъ хъ [ χ ]	Хъу хъу [ χʷ ]	Хь хь [ ħ ]	Ц ц [ t͡s ]
Цу цу [ t͡ʂʷ ]	Цӏ цӏ [ t͡sʼ ]	Ч ч [ t͡ʃ ]	Чӏ чӏ [ t͡ʂʼ ]	Чъ чъ [ t͡ʂ ]	Ш ш [ ʃ ]	Шъ шъ [ ʂ ]	Шъу шъу [ ʂʷ ]
Шӏ шӏ [ ʃʼ ]	Шӏу шӏу [ ʂʷʼ ]	Щ щ [ ɕ ]	Ъ ъ [ ˠ ]	Ы ы [ ə ]	Ь ь [ ʲ ]	Э э [ a ]	Ю ю [ju]
Я я [jaː]	ӏ [ ʔ ]	ӏу [ ʔʷ ]

The Adyghe alphabet contains some inconsistencies between visual representation and pronunciation which can be a point of confusion for learners. For example, while the letter Кӏ appears to represent [ kʼ ], it is actually pronounced as [ t͡ʃʼ ] (Чӏ). Conversely, Чӏ is pronounced as the retroflex [ t͡ʂʼ ] (Чӏъ). Additionally, Цу is pronounced as [ t͡ʂʷ ] (Чъу). The letter Г represents the fricative [ ɣ ] rather than the stop [ ɡ ], whereas the labialized Гу corresponds to the stop [ ɡʷ ].

Adyghe Dialectal letters

Гь гь [ ɡʲ ]

Джь джь [ ɡʲ ]

Кь кь [ kʲ ]

Кӏь кӏь [ kʲʼ ]

Сӏ сӏ [ sʼ ]

ӏь [ ʔʲ ]

These letters are not part of the official alphabet, but they may appear in books that showcase the different dialects.

Orthography

History

Widespread literacy in Adyghe did not exist until the modern era. The official alphabet for Adyghe is the Cyrillic script, which has been used since 1936.

In the 13th–15th centuries, as a result of the influence of Byzantine Empire and the Genoese Republic, Adyghe used Greek and, to a lesser extent, Italian (Latin) scripts. In the 14th century, along with Islam, the Arabic script was adopted for Adyghe. It was referred to as Ajam, a writing system for the native language based on the Perso-Arabic script. Since Adyghe has many more consonants than Arabic, the Ajam system required adding special diacritical marks or inventing new letters to represent sounds. ^[6]

In 1853, the Adyghe educator Umar Bersey published the first "Primer of the Circassian Language" based on the Arabic script. ^{[6] [9]} The Arabic script was used until 1927, when as a part of the Soviet "Latinisation" campaign, a Latin-based alphabet was adopted. It was developed by the linguist N.F. Yakovlev and the Adyghe scholar Daud Ashkhamaf. In the late 1930s, the script was converted to Cyrillic to align with Russian. ^[8]

History of Circassian Alphabets and Writing Systems ^{[20] [8] [12] [21]}

Date	Author / Creator	Script Base	Description & Historical Context
17th Century	Evliya Çelebi	Arabic / Ottoman	Recorded Adyghe linguistic material in his travel notes.
c. 1820s (Early 19th Century)	Sheretluk Hadji-Notauk (Magomet Effendi)	Arabic	A Shapsug nobleman educated in the "Arab East", considered the founder of the Adyghe Enlightenment. He opened a school on the Bogundyr River and created one of the first Arabic-based Circassian grammars. However, he burned his manuscripts, "to preserve traditional oral culture against "civilizational" threats".
1830s	Sultan Khan-Giray	Cyrillic	Adapted the Cyrillic alphabet for his ethnographic work "Notes on Circassia" to record Circassian legends.
1840–1843	Shora Nogmov (Нэгъумэ Шорэ)	Cyrillic / Arabic	A Kabardian noble who initially developed a Cyrillic alphabet (1840) before switching to Arabic/Persian (1843).
1846	Leonty Lyulye	Cyrillic	Published a dictionary using a modified Russian alphabet. Criticized by Pyotr Uslar for failing to reflect phonetics.
1853	Umar Bersey	Arabic	Published the "Primer of the Circassian Language" in Tiflis on March 14, 1853. This date is celebrated as the "Day of the Adyghe Language and Writing."
1860s	Kazi Atazhukin & Pyotr Uslar	Cyrillic	Developed a Kabardian alphabet based on Cyrillic, believing the Russian script was politically and practically suitable for Caucasian languages.
1897	Tharxet Ahmet Cavit Pasha	Arabic	Created an alphabet later used in the newspaper Ghuaze (The Guide), published by the Circassian Union and Mutual Aid Society (1908–1923).
1902–1912	Various Diaspora Authors	Arabic / Latin	Various attempts in the Ottoman diaspora: 1902 Dr. Pçehatluk Mehmet Ali (Draft) 1905: Majid Fenziy (Cyrillic/Arabic) 1909: Neğuç Yusuf Suat & Tsağo Ahmet Nuri (*Adıge Alfabesi*) 1910: Huaj Kemal (Arabic) 1910s: Şemsettin Bey (Çerkez Hattı) 1910s: Yusuf İzzet Pasha (Mixed/Invented "Kuban" script) 1912: Dr. Pçehatluk Mehmet Ali (Latin, Adıge elifbe)
1918	Seferbiy Siyukhov (S. Siyukhov) / Ahmed Bekukh	Arabic	Siyukhov prepared an alphabet for the Adyghe (West) dialect, officially adopted for teaching and publishing. It remained in use until 1927.
1918–1929	Blanau Batok	Latin / Arabic	Published a Latin primer (Çerkes Alfab) in Constantinople (1919) and an Arabic primer (Elifba El-Şerkesiyye) in Damascus (1929).
1923	N. F. Yakovlev	Cyrillic	A Cyrillic project proposed by Yakovlev prior to the shift toward Latinization.
1927	N. F. Yakovlev & D. A. Ashkhamaf	Latin (Adyghe)	Officially adopted for the West Circassian (Adyghe) language by the Regional Department of Public Education. It established the Temirgoy dialect as the literary standard.
1936	T'ut'e Borikey	Cyrillic	Early transition to Cyrillic for Kabardian.
1937–1938	N. F. Yakovlev & D. A. Ashkhamaf	Cyrillic	Due to shifting Soviet nationality policies, scripts were converted to Cyrillic. The Adyghe alphabet followed the Kabardian one (1936) in 1938. It uses di- and trigraphs (e.g., 'къ', 'кI') and remains the basis for the modern script.
1952	K’ube Şaban	Latin	A Latin alphabet prepared in the diaspora.
1989	Official Standard	Cyrillic	Legislative consolidation of the alphabet (66 signs). Phonetic definitions established: Гъ: Velar voiced spirant Дж: Alveolar palatalized voiced affricate Ӏ: Laryngeal plosive ejective
2012	R.I. Dawur (Даур Р. И)	Tamga / Symbols	Prepared "Circassian Calligraphy" (*Черкесская Каллиграфия*), attempting to create a unique alphabet by converting ancient family symbols (Tamgas) into letters.
2012	Ali İhsan Tarı	Latin	Prepared by the founder of the Adyghe Language Association in Konya.
2018	Nezhdet Meshvez	Cyrillic (Modified)	An experimental textbook replacing most digraphs/trigraphs with diacritical marks to simplify learning.

In the diaspora, a new Latin alphabet based on the Turkish alphabet was designed to better facilitate Adyghe and Kabardian education in Turkey. ^[22]

Cyrillic	Arabic	Latin [23] [24] [25]	IPA	Pronunciation	Examples
А а	ا	A a	[ aː ]		ачъэ, ače, 'goat' апчъы, apčy, 'they count'
Б б	ب	B b	[ b ]		баджэ, badźe, 'fox' бэ, be, 'a lot'
В в [c]	ڤ	V v	[ v ]		жъвэ, z̄ve, 'oar', лавэ, lave, 'lava'
Г г	ݝ	G g	[ ɣ ]		гыны, gyny, 'powder' чъыгы, čygy, 'tree'
Гу гу	گو	Gw gw	[ ɡʷ ]		гу, gw, 'heart' гущыӏ, gwśyx̧, 'word'
Гъ гъ	غ	Ǧ ǧ	[ ʁ ]		гъатхэ, ǧatxe, 'spring' гъэмаф, ǧemaf, 'summer'
Гъу гъу	غو	Ǧw ǧw	[ ʁʷ ]		гъунэгъу, ǧwneǧw, 'neighbour' гъунджэ, ǧwndźe, 'mirror'
Д д	د	D d	[ d ]		дыджы, dydźy, 'bitter' дахэ, daxe, 'pretty'
Дж дж	ج	Dź dź	[ d͡ʒ ]		джан, dźan, 'shirt' лъэмыдж, łemydź, 'bridge'
Дз дз	ذ	Dz dz	[ d͡z ]		дзыо, dzyo, 'bag' дзын, dzyn, 'to throw'
Дзу дзу	ذو	Dzy dzy	[ d͡ʐʷ ]		хьандзу, handzw, 'rick' хьандзуачӏ, handzwaç̌, '[lower] rick'
Е е	ئە / ەي	É é, Je je [d]	[ ɜj ][ jɜ ]		ешэн, ješen, 'to catch' еплъын, jepłyn, 'to look at'
Ё ё [c]	–	Jo jo	[ jo ]		ёлк, jolk, 'Christmas tree'
Ж ж	ڒ	Ž ž	[ ʒ ]		жэ, že, 'mouth' жакӏэ, žaḉe, 'beard'
Жъ жъ	ظ	Z̄ z̄	[ ʐ ]		жъы, z̄y, 'old' жъажъэ, z̄az̄e, 'slow'
Жъу жъу	ظو	Z̄w z̄w	[ ʐʷ ]		жъун, z̄wn, 'to melt' жъуагъо, z̄waǧo, 'star'
Жь жь	ژ	Ź ź	[ ʑ ]		жьыбгъэ, źybǧe, 'wind' жьао, źao, 'shadow'
З з	ز	Z z	[ z ]		занкӏэ, zanḉe, 'straight' зандэ, zande, 'steep'
И и	ئي / ي	I i	[ ɘj ][ jɘ ]		ихьан, ihan, 'to enter' икӏыпӏ, iḉyṗ, 'exit'
Й й	ي	J j	[ j ]		йод, jod, 'iodine' бай, baj, 'rich'
К к [c]	ك	K k	[ k ]		кнопк, knopk, 'button' команд, komand, 'team; command'
Ку ку	کو	Kw kw	[ kʷ ]		кушъэ, kws̄e, 'cradle' ку, kw, 'cart'
Къ къ	ق	Q q	[ q ]		къалэ, qale, 'city' къэкӏон, qeḉon, 'to come'
Къу къу	قو	Qw qw	[ qʷ ]		къухьэ, qwhe, 'ship' къушъхьэ, qws̄he, 'mountain'
Кӏ кӏ	ڃ	Ķ ķ, Ḉ ḉ	[ kʼ ][ t͡ʃʼ ] [e]		кӏымаф, ḉymaf, 'winter' кӏыхьэ, ḉyhe, 'long' кӏэ, ķe, 'tail' шкӏэ, šķe, 'calf'
Кӏу кӏу	ࢰو	Ķw ķw	[ kʷʼ ]		кӏон, ķon, 'to walk' кӏуакӏэ, ķwaḉe, 'gait'
Л л	ل	L l	[ l ][ ɮ ]		лагъэ, laǧe, 'painted' лы, ly, 'meat'
Лъ лъ	ݪ	Ł ł	[ ɬ ]		лъэбэкъу, łebeqw, 'step' лъащэ, łaśe, 'lame'
Лӏ лӏ	ࢦ	Ļ ļ	[ ɬʼ ]		лӏы, ļy, 'man' лӏыгъэ, ļyǧe, 'bravery'
М м	م	M m	[ m ]		мазэ, maze, 'moon' мэлы, mely, 'sheep'
Н н	ن	N n	[ n ]		нэ, ne, 'eye' ны, ny, 'mother'
О о	ئۆ / ۆ	O o	[ ɜw ][ wɜ ]		мощ, moś, 'that' коны, kony, 'bin' о, o, 'you' осы, osy, 'snow' ощхы, ośxy, 'rain'
П п	پ	P p	[ p ]		пэ, pe, 'nose' сапэ, sape, 'dust'
Пӏ пӏ	ࢠ	Ṗ ṗ	[ pʼ ]		пӏэ, ṗe, 'bed' пӏэшъхьагъ, ṗes̄haǧ, 'pillow'
Пӏу пӏу	ࢠو	Ṗw ṗw	[ pʷʼ ]		пӏун, ṗwn, 'to rise; to adopt' пӏур, ṗwr, 'pupil; apprentice'
Р р	ر	R r	[ r ]		рикӏэн, riḉen, 'to pour' Adyghe : риӏонrix̧on 'to tell'
С с	س	S s	[ s ]		сэ, se, 'I, me' сэшхо, sešxo, 'sabre'
Т т	ت	T t	[ t ]		тэтэжъ, tetez̄, 'grandfather' тэ, te, 'we, us'
Тӏ тӏ	ط	Ţ ţ	[ tʼ ]		тӏы, ţy, 'ram' ятӏэ, jaţe, 'dirt'
Тӏу тӏу	طو	Ţw ţw	[ tʷʼ ]		тӏурыс, ţwrys, 'old' тӏурытӏу, ţwryţw, 'pair'
У у	و	U u, W w	[ ɘw ][ wɘ ]		ушхун, ušxwn, 'to straighten' убэн, uben, 'to tamp; to smoothen'
Ф ф	ف	F f	[ f ]		фыжьы, fyźy, 'white' фэен, fejen, 'to want'
Х х	ݗ	X x	[ x ]		хы, xy, 'sea; six' хасэ, xase, 'council'
Хъ хъ	خ	Ḩ ḩ	[ χ ]		хъыен, ḩyjen, 'to move' пхъэн, pḩan, 'to sow'
Хъу хъу	خو	Ḩw ḩw	[ χʷ ]		хъун, ḩwn, 'to happen' хъурай, ḩwraj, 'circle'
Хь хь	ح	H h	[ ħ ]		хьэ, he, 'dog' хьаку, hakw, 'oven'
Ц ц	ث	C c	[ t͡s ]		цагэ, cage, 'rib' цы, cy, 'body hair'
Цу цу	ثو	Cw cw	[ t͡ʂʷ ]		цуакъэ, cwaqe, 'shoe' цу, cw, 'ox'
Цӏ цӏ	ڗ	Ç ç	[ t͡sʼ ]		цӏынэ, çyne, 'wet' цӏыфы, çyfy, 'person'
Ч ч	چ	Ć ć	[ t͡ʃ ]		чэфы, ćefy, 'cheerful' чэты, ćety, 'chicken'
Чъ чъ		Č č	[ t͡ʂ ]		чъыгай, čygaj, 'oak' чъыӏэčyx̧e 'cold'
Чӏ чӏ		Ç̌ ç̌	[ t͡ʂʼ ]		чӏыпӏэ, ç̌yṗe, 'area' чӏыфэ, ç̌yfe, 'debt'
Ш ш		Š š	[ ʃ ]		шы, šy, 'brother' шыблэ, šyble, 'thunder'
Шъ шъ	ص	S̄ s̄	[ ʂ ]		шъэ, s̄e, 'hundred' шъабэ, s̄abe, 'soft'
Шъу шъу	صو	S̄w s̄w	[ ʂʷ ]		шъугъуалэ, s̄wǧwale, 'envious' шъукъакӏу, s̄wqaķw, 'to come'
Шӏ шӏ	ض	Ş̄ ş̄	[ ʃʼ ]		шӏын, ş̄yn, 'to do' шӏэныгъ, ş̄enyǧ, 'knowledge'
Шӏу шӏу	ضو	Ş̄w ş̄w	[ ʂʷʼ ]		шӏуцӏэ, ş̄wçe, 'black' шӏуфэс, ş̄wfes, 'greetings'
Щ щ	ش	Ś ś	[ ɕ ]		щагу, śagw, 'yard' щатэ, śate, 'sour cream'
(Ъ ъ)	–	–	–
Ы ы	ئہـ‍ / ‍ہ‍	Y y	[ ɘ ]		ыкӏи, yḉi, 'and also' зы, zy, 'one'
(Ь ь)	–	–	[ ◌ʲ  ]
Э э	ئە / ە	E e	[ ɜ ]		ӏэтажx̧etaž 'floor' нэнэжъ, nenez̄, 'grandmother'
Ю ю	یو	Ju ju	[ ju ]		Юсыф, Jusyf, 'Joseph' Юныс, Junys, 'Jonah'
Я я	یا	Ja ja	[ jaː ]		яй, jaj, 'theirs' ябгэ, jabge, 'evil'
Ӏ ӏ	ئ	X̧ x̧	[ ʔ ]		ӏэx̧e 'hand' кӏасэ, ḉase, 'like'
Ӏу ӏу	ؤ	X̧w x̧w	[ ʔʷ ]		ӏукӏэнx̧wḉen 'to meet' ӏусынx̧wsyn 'to be sitting near' ӏуданx̧wdan 'thread'

Orthography rules

• The letter ⟨ы⟩[ə] is not written after a ⟨у⟩[w], ⟨й⟩[j] or a labialised consonant. For example: унэ [wənɐ] "house" instead of уынэ.
• In case the letter ⟨у⟩ is the first letter of a word or when it is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as [wə]⟨уы⟩. For example: унэ instead of уынэ. When it is related to a consonant, it becomes a vowel and pronounced as [əw~u]⟨ыу⟩. For example: чэту [t͡ʃɐtəw] 'cat' instead of чэтыу.
• In case a labialised consonant is followed by a vowel ⟨э⟩[ɐ], instead of the letter ⟨у⟩ there is a ⟨о⟩. For example: гъогу [ʁʷɐɡʷ] 'road' instead of гъуэгу.
• In case a labialised consonant is followed by a vowel ⟨а⟩[aː] or ⟨и⟩[əj~i], the labialised consonant letter is written fully. For example: цуакъэ [t͡sʷaːqɐ] 'shoes'.
• In case the letter ⟨о⟩ is the first letter of a word or when it is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as [wɐ] ⟨уэ⟩. For example, о [wɐ] 'you' instead of уэ.
• In case the letter ⟨е⟩ is the first letter of a word or when it is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as [jɐ]⟨йэ⟩. For example: еӏо [jɐʔʷɐ] 'he says' instead of йэӏо. When it is related to a consonant, it becomes a vowel and pronounced as [ɐj~e]⟨эй⟩. For example: делэ [dɐjlɐ] 'fool' instead of дэйлэ.
• In case the letter ⟨и⟩ is the first letter of a word or when is not related to any other consonant, it is pronounced as [jə]⟨йы⟩. For example: илъэс [jəɬɐs] 'year' instead of йылъэс. When it is related to a consonant, it becomes a vowel and pronounced as [əj~i]⟨ый⟩. For example: сиӏ [səjʔ] 'I have' instead of сыйӏ.

Vowels

The vowels are written ⟨ы⟩[ə], ⟨э⟩[ɐ] and ⟨а⟩[aː]. Other letters represent diphthongs: ⟨я⟩ represents [jaː], ⟨и⟩[jə] or [əj], ⟨о⟩[wɐ] or [ɐw], ⟨у⟩ represent [wə] or [əw], and ⟨е⟩ represents [jɐ] or [ɐj].

Other writing systems

The language of Adyghe is officially written in the Cyrillic script, and is also unofficially written in the Latin script. Before 1927, Adyghe was written in a version of the Perso-Arabic script; after the Soviet Latinisation campaign, an older variant of the Latin alphabet had been in use in the Soviet Union until 1938, when all Soviet languages transitioned into the Cyrillic alphabet.

Prior to the mid-19th century, Adyghe had no writing system. Starting from 1853, the process of creating an orthography for Adyghe was started. In Tbilisi in 1853, a document titled "Primer of the Circassian Language" (Archive) was published, in which an Perso-Arabic-based orthography influenced by the Ottoman Turkish alphabet was developed. This document became the first ever publication in Adyghe. In this document, several new letters were introduced to represent the consonants that exist in Adyghe language. This proposed orthography, although with many shortcomings, received widespread approval and usage. And thus, Perso-Arabic script became the accepted orthography for Adyghe. ^[26]

Over the following decades, several authors attempted to further improve the Adyghe Arabic orthography. The most successful attempt was the alphabet created by Akhmetov Bekukh. In this version, letters were designated for vowel sounds, and the orthography was transformed from an "Impure abjads to a true alphabet. In 1918, on the initiative of the Kuban Revolutionary Committee, a primer was published in Yekaterinodar. This official endorsement resulted in a literary boom in Adyghe and the publication of various newspapers, textbooks and other literature, including the Adyghe Maq , the main Adyghe language newspaper established in 1923. ^[26]

During the abovementioned decades, parallel with this process, the Perso-Arabic orthography had also been standardized for the sister Circassian language of Kabardian. Although very similar in many aspects, there were minor variations, in which letters were included based on each respective phonology, and there were minor differences in presentation of a few consonants as well. ^{[26] [27]}

Adyghe Arabic alphabet

Below table shows the Adyghe Perso-Arabic alphabet as it was officially adopted between 1918 and 1927. ^{[26] [28]}

Forms				IPA	Adyghe Cyrillic equivalent	Adyghe Latin equivalent (1927–1938)	Unicode	Notes
Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial
ا	ـا	ـا	آ	[ aː ]	А а	ᴀ	U+0622 U+0627
ئ	ـئ	ـئـ	ئـ	[ ʔ ]	Ӏ ӏ	h	U+0626	This letter plays another role as well. It proceeds a vowel letter at the beginning of a word, with the exception of آ (equivalent to Cyrillic А а)
ؤ	ـؤ	-	-	[ ʔʷ ]	Ӏу ӏу	hv	U+0624
ە	ـە	-	ئە	[ a ]	Э э Е е1	e	U+06D5	The sound equivalent to Cyrillic letter "Е е" is represented by a digraph ئەیـ / ئەی / ـەی / ەی.
‍ہ‍	ـہ‍	ـہـ	ئہـ	[ ə ]	Ы ы	ə	U+06C1 and U+200D 1	The main character consists of U+06C1 (ـہ / ہ), and is always written in medial form. Thus, the use of Zero-width joiner (U+200D) may be necessary based on context. Below are sample scenarios: صہص د‍ہص صہ‍ د‍ہ‍
ب	ـب	ـبـ	بـ	[ b ]	Б б	ʙ	U+0628
ت	ـت	ـتـ	تـ	[ t ]	Т т	t	U+062A
ث	ـث	ـثـ	ثـ	[ t͡s ]	Ц ц	c	U+062B
پ	ـپ	ـپـ	پـ	[ p ]	П п	ᴘ	U+067E
ࢠ	ـࢠ	ـࢠـ	ࢠـ	[ pʼ ]	Пӏ пӏ		U+08A0	Equivalent to ٮ (U+066E) in Kabardian Arabic alphabet.
ن	ـن	ـنـ	نـ	[ n ]	Н н	n	U+0646
ح	ـح	ـحـ	حـ	[ ħ ]	Хь хь	ɦ	U+062D
ج	ـج	ـجـ	جـ	[ d͡ʒ ]	Дж дж	ǥ	U+062C
خ	ـخ	ـخـ	خـ	[ χ ]	Хъ хъ		U+062E
ݗ	ـݗ	ـݗـ	ݗـ	[ x ]	Х х	x	U+0757
ڃ	ـڃ	ـڃـ	ڃـ	[ kʼ ][ tʃʼ ]	Кӏ кӏ1	ⱪ	U+0683	When the following letter is a و (Equivalent to Cyrillic Кӏу кӏу), instead of the letter ڃ, the letter ࢰ is used.
چ	ـچ	ـچـ	چـ	[ t͡ʃ ]	Ч ч	ꝁ	U+0686
				[ t͡ʂ ]	Чъ чъ	đ	- 1	Letter does not exist in unicode yet. Can be created by typing the letter ح (U+062D) and the symbol combining caron below ◌̬ (U+032C), thus resulting in ح̬ـ / ـح̬ـ / ـح̬ / ح̬
				[ t͡ʃʼ ]	ЧI чI		- 1	Letter does not exist in unicode yet. Can be created by typing the letter ح (U+062D) and the diacritic inverted damma below ◌ࣣ (U+08E3), thus resulting in حࣣـ / ـحࣣـ / ـحࣣ / حࣣ
د	ـد	-	-	[ d ]	Д д	d	U+062F
ذ	ـذ	-	-	[ d͡z ]	Дз дз	ᴣ	U+0630
ر	ـر	-	-	[ r ]	Р р	r	U+0631
ز	ـز	-	-	[ z ]	З з	z	U+0632
ژ	ـژ	-	-	[ ʑ ]	Жь жь		U+0698
ڗ	ـڗ	-	-	[ t͡sʼ ]	Цӏ цӏ		U+0697
ڒ	ـڒ	-	-	[ ʒ ]	Ж ж		U+0692
س	ـس	ـسـ	سـ	[ s ]	С с	s	U+0633
				[ ʃ ]	Ш ш	ħ	- 1	Letter does not exist in unicode yet. Can be created by typing the letter س (U+0633) and the diacritic combining diaeresis ◌̈ (U+0308), thus resulting in س̈ـ / ـس̈ـ / ـس̈ / س̈
ش	ـش	ـشـ	شـ	[ ɕ ]	Щ щ	ʃ	U+0634
ص	ـص	ـصـ	صـ	[ ʂ ]	Шъ шъ	š	U+0635
ض	ـض	ـضـ	ضـ	[ ʃʼ ]	Шӏ шӏ		U+0636
ط	ـط	ـطـ	طـ	[ tʼ ]	Тӏ тӏ		U+0637
ظ	ـظ	ـظـ	ظـ	[ ʐ ]	Жъ жъ	ⱬ	U+0638
غ	ـغ	ـغـ	غـ	[ ʁ ]	Гъ гъ		U+063A
ݝ	ـݝ	ـݝـ	ݝـ	[ ɣ ]	Г г1		U+075D	When the following letter is a و (Equivalent to Cyrillic Гу гу), instead of the letter ݝ, the letter گ is used.
ف	ـف	ـفـ	فـ	[ f ]	Ф ф	f	U+0641
ق	ـق	ـقـ	قـ	[ q ]	Къ къ	q	U+0642
ڤ	ـڤ	ـڤـ	ڤـ	[ v ]	В в	w	U+06A4	Equivalent to ۋ (U+06CB) in Kabardian Arabic alphabet.
ک	ـک	ـکـ	کـ	[ k ]	К к	k	U+0643
گ	ـگ	ـگـ	گـ	[ g ] ([ gʷ ])1	Г г (Гу гу)	g	U+06AF	When the following letter is a و (Equivalent to Cyrillic Гу гу), the letter گ is used. In all other cases, the letter ݝ is used for this specific homophone.
ࢰ	ـࢰ	ـࢰـ	ࢰـ	[ kʼ ] ([ kʷʼ ])1	Кӏ кӏ (Кӏу кӏу)	ⱪ	U+08B0	When the following letter is a و (Equivalent to Cyrillic Кӏу кӏу), the letter ࢰ is used. In all other cases, the letter ڃ is used for this specific homophone.
ل	ـل	ـلـ	لـ	[ l ]/[ ɮ ]	Л л	l	U+0644
ݪ	ـݪ	ـݪـ	ݪـ	[ ɬ ]	Лъ лъ		U+076A
ࢦ	ـࢦ	ـࢦـ	ࢦـ	[ ɬʼ ]	Лӏ лӏ		U+08A6
م	ـم	ـمـ	مـ	[ m ]	М м	m	U+0645
و	ـو	-	ئو / و	[ ɘw ][ wɘ ]	У у	v	U+0648
ی	ـی	ـیـ	ئیـ / یـ	[ i ] / [ j ]	И и Й й	i / j	U+06CC
ۆ	ـۆ	-	ئۆ	[ ɜw ][ wɜ ]	О о	o	U+06C6

Adyghe Latin alphabet

The Adyghe orthography was officially switched to the Latin alphabet in 1927. The Adyghe Latin alphabet was compiled and finalized a year prior, in 1926. This alphabet was the sole official script in the Soviet Union. The Adyghe Latin alphabet consisted of 50 letters, many of them newly created, some even borrowed from Cyrillic. Another interesting feature of this iteration of the Adyghe Latin alphabet was that there was no distinction between lower case and upper case letters. Each letter only had one single case. ^[26]

Below table shows Adyghe Latin alphabet as it was officially adopted between 1927 and 1938. ^[26]

Letter	ᴀ	ʙ	c		d	ᴣ	e	ə	f
IPA	[ aː ]	[ b ]	[ t͡s ]	[ t͡sʼ ]	[ d ]	[ d͡z ]	[ e ]	[ ə ]	[ f ]
Letter	g	ǥ	ɦ	i	y	k	ꝁ	ʀ	ⱪ	l
IPA	[ ɡ ]	[ d͡ʒ ]	[ ħ ]	[ i ]	[ j ]	[ k ]	[ t͡ʃ ]	[ ʲ ]	[ kʼ ]	[ l ]
Letter			m	n	o	ᴘ		q	r	s
IPA	[ ɬ ]	[ ɬʼ ]	[ m ]	[ n ]	[ o ]	[ p ]	[ pʼ ]	[ q ]	[ r ]	[ s ]
Letter	š	ʖ	ʃ	ħ	t	ƀ	u	v	x
IPA	[ ʂ ]	[ ʃʼ ]	[ ɕ ]	[ ʃ ]	[ t ]	[ tʼ ]	[ u ]	[ w ]	[ x ]	[ χ ]
Letter	z	ⱬ			г	г̌	đ		h	w
IPA	[ z ]	[ ʐ ]	[ ʑ ]	[ ʒ ]	[ ʁ ]	[ ɣ ]	[ t͡ʂ ]	[ t͡ʃʼ ]	[ ʔ ]	[ v ]

Latin alphabet in Turkey

In 2012, the Circassian Language Association (Adyghe: Адыге Бзэ Хасэ, ABX; Turkish : Adıge Dil Derneği) in Turkey has issued a call for the Circassian people for the creation of a standard Latin script to be used by all Circassian people on the globe. ^[22] Their main motivation for the creation of this alphabet was that the majority of Circassian people live in Turkey and use the Latin alphabet in their daily life because they know Turkish. However, when trying to teach the language to the younger generation, teaching them a new alphabet takes time and makes the process more laborsome. ABX has created a Latin script based on the Turkish alphabet and chose the Abzakh dialect as their base because it is the dialect with the most speakers in Turkey. However, the alphabet employed by the Circassian Language Association has been criticized by others. Some suggested that they created the alphabet without a good understanding of the Circassian phonology and have not even considered former Latin alphabets used to write Circassian ^[29] and that the use of the Latin script would sever the ties with the homeland. ^[30] Despite the criticism, the CLA has obtained a €40,000 funding from the European Union for the recording of the Circassian language with a Latin script and the preparation of multi-media learning materials for the language, ^[31] and the materials created by ABX were accepted by the Ministry of National Education to be taught in Secondary Schools. ^[32] This decision was protested and legally objected by the Federation of Caucasian Associations (Turkish: Kafkas Dernekleri Federasyonu; KAFFED) who created the materials for Circassian and Abaza languages with the Cyrillic script; ^[33] however, the court ruled in favour of the Latin alphabet created by the CLA and continued the use of their alphabet in Circassian courses. ^[34] Some glyphs in the Temirgoy-based Cyrillic alphabet have no equivalent in the Abzakh-based Latin alphabet because of dialectal differences. The most notable of these differences is the lack of differentiation between post-alveolar, alveolo-palatal and retroflex sounds. Though there are some additional letters in the alphabet for Kabardian, the materials in the CLA website are primarily in Adyghe. ^[35]

Latin	Aa	Bb	Cc	Ćć (1)	Çç (2)	Dd	Ee	Éé (3)	Ff
Cyrillic	А а	Б б	Дж дж	ЧI чI	Ч ч	Д д	Э э	Е е	Ф ф
IPA	[ aː ]	[ b ]	[ d͡ʒ ]	[ t͡ʃʼ ]	[ t͡ʃ ]	[ d͡z ]	[ ɜ ]	[ e ]	[ f ]
Latin	Gg	Ǵǵ	Ğğ	Hh	Ḣḣ	Iı	İi (3)	Jj	Kk
Cyrillic	Г г	Г г	Гъ гъ	Хь хь	Хъ хъ	Ы ы	И и	Ж ж	Къ къ
IPA	[ ɡ ]	[ ɣ ]	[ ʁ ]	[ ħ ]	[ χ ]	[ ə ]	[ i ]	[ ʒ ]	[ q ]
Latin	Ḱḱ	Ll	Ĺĺ	Mm	Nn	Oo (4)	Öö (4)	Pp	Ṕṕ
Cyrillic	К к	Л л	Лъ лъ	М м	Н н	О о		П п	Пӏ пӏ
IPA	[ k ]	[ l ]	[ ɬ ]	[ m ]	[ n ]	[ o ]		[ p ]	[ pʼ ]
Latin	Qq (1)	Rr	Ss	Śś	Šš	Şş	Tt	Ṫṫ	Uu (4)
Cyrillic	Кӏ кӏ	Р р	С с	Ц ц	Цӏ цӏ	Ш ш	Т т	Тӏ тӏ	У у
IPA	[ kʼ ]	[ r ]	[ s ]	[ t͡s ]	[ t͡sʼ ]	[ ʃ ]	[ t ]	[ tʼ ]	[ u ]
Latin	Üü (4)	Ww	Xx	Yy	Zz	Źź	` (5)	Áá*
Cyrillic		У у	Х х	Й й	З з	Дз дз	Ӏ ӏ
IPA		[ w ]	[ x ]	[ j ]	[ z ]	[ ɣ ]	(varies)	[ aː ]

1) Ć is the equivalent of both Кӏ and Чӏ and shows the ejective potalveolar affricate. Qq, on the other hand, only corresponds to Кӏ and shows an ejective velar plosive.

2) Ç normally stands for Ч but when it is followed by Ü and Ö, it is equivalent to Цу in the Cyrillic script.

3) É and İ are not direct equivalents of Е and И. The Cyrillic letters denote the [jɜ] and [jə] sounds at the beginning of syllables and [e] and [i] sounds at the end. The Latin letters are only used for the sounds [e] and [i]. The diphthongs are written as "Ye" and "Yi", respectively.

4) Circassian languages do not have phonemic rounded vowels but the labialized consonants affect the vowels around them to create allophonic rounded vowels. ^[36] The letters O, Ö, U and Ü are used to show these allophonic rounded vowels. O/Ö and U/Ü works similar to the vowel use О and У in the Adyghe Cyrillic alphabet with O/Ö showing labialized consonant+[ɜ] combinations and U/Ü the labialized consonant+[ə] combinations. However, Ö and Ü are used when these combinations occur next to postalveolar sounds (Ş, J, Ç). The diphthongal uses of О and У, i.e. [wɜ] and [wə], are written as "We" and "Wı". Another use of Ö and Ü is writing Turkish loanwords containing these letters.

5) Wıçüpe (уцупэ; the place of stopping) is written with a ` (accent grave) or ' (apostrophe) and has a complicated use. It is equivalent to Ӏ (palochka) in its use an ejective marker but not as the glottal stop. The glottal stop is not written as a letter but is implied through the use of consecutive vowels like in "mıerıs" (мыӀэрыс; apple). As many ejective sounds have their own letters (Ć, Ṕ, Q, Š, Ṫ), only some ejective sounds are written with the wıçüpe (ş`, ĺ`). Another use of wıçüpe is to show that an U at the end of a word represents a labialized consonant and not a labialized consonant + [ə] combination. For example, джэгу in Cyrillic is written cegu` to make sure that it is pronounced [d͡ʒɜgʷ] as a single syllable but wıçüpe is removed when the word takes a suffix and the allophonic [u] is audible, as in cegum [d͡ʒɜgum].

• 
  Adyghe Arabic alphabet used before 1927
• 
  Adyghe Latin alphabet used from 1927 to 1938 (page 1)
• 
  Adyghe Latin alphabet used from 1927 to 1938 (page 2)
• 
  Comparison of Adyghe Latin and Adyghe Cyrillic alphabets
• 
  Adyghe Arabic alphabet letters
• 
  Adyghe Latin alphabet letters

Examples of literary Adyghe

Native vocabulary

Cyrillic	Latin [23] [24]	IPA	Translation
сэ	se	[sɐ]	I
пшъашъэ	ps̄as̄e	[p͡ʂaːʂɐ]	girl
тӏыс	ţys	[tʼəs]	to sit
тэдж	tedź	[tɐd͡ʒ]	to stand
Тэу ущыт?	Tew uśyt?	[tɐw‿wəʃət]	How are you?
Сышӏу.	Syş̄w.	[səʃʷʼ]	I'm fine.
шы	šy	[ʃə]	horse
щы	śy	[ɕə]	three
жъуагъо	z̄waǧo	[ʐʷaːʁʷɐ]	star
тыгъэ	tyǧe	[təʁɐ]	sun
мазэ	maze	[maːzɐ]	moon
цуакъэ	cwaqe	[t͡sʷaːqɐ]	shoe
шъукъеблагъ	s̄wqéblaǧ	[ʂʷəqɐjblaːʁ]	welcome
лъэхъуамбэ	łeḩwambe	[ɬɐχʷaːmbɐ]	toe
хьамлыу	hamlyw	[ħaːmləw]	worm
кӏэнкӏэ	ḉenḉe	[kʼɐŋkʼɐ]	egg
хьампӏырашъу	hamṗyras̄w	[ħaːmpʼəraːʂʷ]	butterfly
мэшӏоку	meş̄okw	[mɐʃʷʼɐkʷ]	train
пхъэтӏэкӏу	pḩeţeķw	[p͡χɐtʼɐkʷʼ]	chair
тхьалъыкӏо	thałyḉo	[t͡ħaːɬəkʷʼɐ]	prophet
къамзэгу	qamzegw	[qaːmzɐɡʷ]	ant
псычэт	psyćet	[p͡sət͡ʃɐt]	duck

Loanwords

Cyrillic	Latin	IPA	Translation	Etymology
республикэ	réspublike	[rʲespublʲikɐ]	republic	From Latin rēs pūblica ('public concern') via Russian республика.
компутер	komputér	[komputʲer]	computer	From Latin computāre ('to settle together') via Russian компьютер.
математикэ	matématike	[maːtʲemaːtʲikɐ]	mathematics	From Ancient Greek μάθημαmáthēma ('study, knowledge') via Russian математика.
спорт	sport	[sport]	sports	From English sport via Russian спорт.
быракъ	byraq	[bəraːq]	flag	Ultimately from Proto-Turkic *badrak ('spear; stick').
къартӏоф	qārţof	[qaːrtʷʼɐf]	potato	From German Kartoffel ('potato') via Russian картофель.
томат	tomat	[tomaːt]	tomato	From Spanish tomate, which in turn derives from Nahuan tomatl, via Russian томат.
орэндж	orendź	[wɐrɐnd͡ʒ]	orange	From Persian نارنگ nârang or نارنج nâranj.
нэмаз	nemaz	[nɐmaːz]	salah (Islamic praying)	From Persian نماز namâz.
къалэ	qale	[qaːlɐ]	city	Akkadian kalakku ('fort').
дунай	dunaj	[dəwnaːj]	earth	From Arabic دنيا dunyā ('world').

• There are thirteen labialised consonants; however, in some dialects, there are three additional ones: Кхъу[q͡χʷ], Ху[xʷ] and Чъу[t͡ɕʷ].

Adyghe outside Circassia

Adyghe is taught outside Circassia in Prince Hamza Ibn Al-Hussein Secondary School, a school for Jordanian Adyghes in Jordan's capital city of Amman. This school, established by the Jordanian Adyghes with support from 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 aims to preserve the Adyghe language and traditions among future generations. ^{[37] [ better source needed ]}

Adyghe is spoken by Circassians in Iraq and by Circassians in Israel, where it is taught in schools in their villages. It is also spoken by many Circassians in Syria, although the majority of Syrian Circassians speak Kabardian.^{[ citation needed ]}

Publications

There are many books written in or translated into Adyghe. An Adyghe translation of the Quran by Iskhak Mashbash is available. ^[38] The New Testament and many books of the Old Testament have been published in Adyghe by the Institute for Bible Translation in Moscow.

Vitality

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. ^[39]

Sample texts

Al-Fatiha الفَاتِحَةِ

Al-Fatiha in Adyghe	Transliteration [23] [24]	English translation	Arabic original
1. Алахьэу гукӏэгъушӏэу, гукӏэгъу зыхэлъым ыцӏэкӏэ! 2. Зэрэдунае и Тхьэу Алахьым щытхъур ыдэжь, 3. Гукӏэгъушӏэу, гукӏэгъу зыхэлъэу, 4. Пщынэжь мафэр зиӏэмырым! 5. Шъхьащэ тэ къыпфэтэшӏы, тыолъэӏу О ӏэпыӏэгъу укъытфэхъунэу! 6. Гъогу занкӏэм О тырыщ, 7. Шӏу О зыфэпшӏагъэхэм ягъогу нахь, губж лъэш зыфэпшӏыгъэхэр зытетхэр арэп, гъощагъэхэр зытетхэри арэп.	1. Alahew gwḉeǧwş̄ew, gwḉeǧw zyzełym yçeḉe! 2. Zeredwnaje i Thew Alahym śytḩwr ydeź, 3. Gwḉeǧwş̄ew, gwḉeǧw zyxełew, 4. Pśyneź mafer zix̧emyrym! 5. S̄haśe te qypfeteş̄y, tyołex̧w O x̧epyx̧eǧw uqytfeḩwnew! 6. Ǧogw zanḉem O tyryś, 7. Ş̄w O zyfepş̄aǧexem jaǧogw nah, gwbž łeš zyfepş̄aǧexer zytétxer arep, ǧośaǧexer zytétxeri arep.	1. In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful! 2. [All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds, 3. The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful, 4. Sovereign of the Day of Recompense! 5. It is You we worship and You we ask for help! 6. Guide us to the straight path, 7. The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have earned [Your] anger or of those who are astray.	١-بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ٢-الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ٣-الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ٤-مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ ٥-إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ٦-اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ ٧-صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ

John 1:1–5

John 1:1–5 in Adyghe	Transliteration [23] [24]	English translation
Ублапӏэм ыдэжь Гущыӏэр щыӏагъ. Ар Тхьэм ыдэжь щыӏагъ, а Гущыӏэри Тхьэу арыгъэ. Ублапӏэм щегъэжьагъэу а Гущыӏэр Тхьэм ыдэжь щыӏагъ. Тхьэм а Гущыӏэм зэкӏэри къыригъэгъэхъугъ. Тхьэм къыгъэхъугъэ пстэуми ащыщэу а Гущыӏэм къыримыгъгъэхъугъэ зи щыӏэп. Мыкӏодыжьын щыӏэныгъэ а Гущыӏэм хэлъыгъ, а щыӏэныгъэри цӏыфхэм нэфынэ афэхъугъ. Нэфынэр шӏункӏыгъэм щэнэфы, шӏункӏыгъэри нэфынэм текӏуагъэп.	Ublaṗem ydeź Gwśyx̧er śyx̧aǧ. Ar Them ydeź śyx̧aǧ, a Gwśyx̧eri Thew aryǧe. Ublaṗem śéǧeźaɡ̌ew a Gwśyx̧er Them ydeź śyx̧aǧ. Them a Gwśyx̧em zeḉeri qyriǧeǧeḩwǧ. Them qyǧeḩwǧe pstewmi aśyśew a Gwśyx̧em qyrimyǧǧeḩwǧe zi śyx̧ep. Myḉodyźyn śyx̧enyǧe a Gwśyx̧em xełyǧ, a śyx̧enyǧeri çyfxem nefyne afeḩwǧ. Nefyner ş̄wnḉyǧem śenefy, ş̄wnḉyǧeri nefynem téķwaǧep.	In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. This one was in the beginning With God. All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence. What has come into existence by means of him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light is shining in the darkness, but the darkness has not overpowered it.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

UDHR in Adyghe [40]	Transliteration [23] [24]	IPA	English translation
Цӏыф пстэури шъхьэфитэу, ялъытэныгъэрэ яфэшъуашэхэмрэкӏэ зэфэдэу къалъфы. Акъылрэ зэхэшӏыкӏ гъуазэрэ яӏэшъы, зыр зым зэкъош зэхашӏэ азфагу дэлъэу зэфыщытынхэ фае.	Çyf pstewri s̄hefitew, jałytenyǧere jafes̄wašexemreḉe zefedew qałfy. Aqylre zexeş̄yḉ ǧwazere jax̧es̄y, zyr zym zeqoš zexaş̄e azfagw dełew zefyśytynxe faje.	[t͡sʼəf pstawərəj ʂ͡ħafəjtawə jaːɬətanəʁara jaːfaʂʷaːʃaxamrat͡ʃʼa zafadawə qaːɬfə aqəɮra zaxaʃʼət͡ʃʼ ʁʷaːzara jaːʔaʃə zər zəm zaqʷaʃ azfaːgʷ daɬawə zafəɕətənxa faːja]	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.

See also

• Adyghe Maq , the main Adyghe-language newspaper
• Anthem of the Republic of Adygea

Notes

1. • /ˈædɪɡeɪ/ A-dig-ay or /ˌɑːdɪˈɡeɪ/ AH-dig-AY ^[2]
   • Adyghe: Адыгабзэ, pronounced [aːdɘɣaːbzə́]
2. • Adyghe: Кӏах Адыгабзэ, Кӏахыбзэ, lit. 'Western Circassian, Western language'
   • Kabardian: КӀах Адыгэбзэ, Кӏахыбзэ, lit.  'Western Circassian, Western language'
3. Only in loanwords.
4. Word-initially and postvocalically (except after u). ^{[23] [24]}
5. The grapheme «кӏ» is always pronounced [kʼ] before «о» [wɜ]. ^{[23] [24]} [kʼ] is considered an allophone of /t͡ʃʼ/. ^[24]

References

1. Adyghe at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. "Adyghe" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
3. Aydın, Şamil Emre (2015). Çerkes Diyalektleri: Çerkes Diyalektlerinin Karşılaştırmalı Analizi (in Turkish). Adana. ISBN   978-605-65691-1-1.
4. Colarusso, John (21 January 2014). The Northwest Caucasian Languages: A Phonological Survey. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-317-91816-5.
5. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "West Circassian". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
6. Абазов, Алексей Хасанович (2022). Адыги: адыгейцы, кабардинцы, черкесы, шапсуги (in Russian). Nauka. ISBN   978-5-02-040924-8.
7. Richmond, Walter (9 April 2013). The Circassian Genocide. Rutgers University Press. ISBN   978-0-8135-6069-4.
8. Биданок, Марзият Мугдиновна (2015). Адыгейский литературный язык (на материале диалектов адыгейского языка)Адыгейский литературный язык (на материале диалектов адыгейского языка) [The Adyghe Literary Language (Based on the Material of Adyghe Dialects)] (Monograph) (in Russian). Maykop: OOO "Elektronnye izdatelskie tekhnologii".
9. Jaimoukha, Amjad M. (2001). The Circassians: A Handbook. Palgrave. ISBN   978-0-312-23994-7.
10. Kāzemzāde, Hāmed (2018). The Circassian Question: The Formation of Linguistic and Cultural Identity in the Caucasus from the Mind-nineteenth Century to Modern Times (PhD Thesis thesis).
11. Кумахов, Мухадин Абубекирович (2006). Адыгская (черкесская) энциклопедия (in Russian). Фонд Им. Б.Х. Акбашева. ISBN   978-5-9900337-1-9.
12. Хан-Гирей, Султан (1836). Записки о Черкесии (in Russian).
13. Horak, William (2019). "Social Revolution in Circassia: The Interdependence of Religion and the World System". Ournal of Caucasian Studies (JOCAS). 4. eISSN   2149-9101.
14. Алексеевич, Мороз Георгий (2015). "Адыгские идиомы в Турции: от первых описаний до собственной письменности". Вестник РГГУ. Серия: Литературоведение. Языкознание. Культурология (8): 44–60. ISSN   2073-6355.
15. Палатализация (смягчение) и аффрикатизация согласных (in Russian)
16. Переднеязычные мягкие шипящие аффрикаты дж, ч, к1 (in Russian)
17. Консонантная система уляпского говора в сопоставлении с аналогами других диалектов адыгских языков (in Russian)
18. Studia Caucasologica I page 11 (in English)
19. Applebaum, Ayla; Gordon, Matthew (2013). "A Comparative Phonetic Study of the Circassian Languages". Berkeley Linguistics Society. University of California, Santa Barbara. Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
20. Aydın, Şamil Emre (2015). Çerkes Alfabeleri: Çerkeslerin Alfabe Girişimlerinin Kısa Tarihi ve Günümüz Çerkes Alfabeleri (in Turkish). Adana. ISBN   978-605-65691-0-4.
21. "Экспериментальный проект учебника с упрощенным адыгским алфавитом выпущен в Адыгее - СА онлайн - Советская Адыгея". СА онлайн - Советская Адыгея (in Russian). 14 June 2018. Archived from the original on 24 September 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
22. "ADIGE DİL DERNEĞİ'NDEN ÇAĞRI!". www.ozgurcerkes.com (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
23. "ADYGHE (ADYGHIAN)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
24. "Adõgee / Adyghian / Адыгабзэ Adygabze" (PDF). KNAB: Kohanimeandmebaas / Place Names Database. 9 June 2003.
25. "Languages of smaller Caucasian peoples" (PDF). arhiiv.eki. KNAB: Place Names Database. 9 June 2003.
26. M. I. Isaev (1979). Language construction in the USSR (Языковое строительство в СССР). Мoscow: "Nauka" «Наука». pp. 180–191, 352.
27. H. Sh. Urys (2000). "Adygebzem and tkhide" Адыгэбзэм и тхыдэ. История кабардинского языка (in Russian). Nalshyk: Elbrus. ISBN   978-5-7680-1439-1. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
28. Yevlampiev, Ilya; Pentzlin, Karl; Joomagueldinov, Nurlan (19 July 2011). Proposal to encode Arabic characters used for Adyghe and Chechen languages (PDF). pp. 4 and 10.
29. "Hapi Cevdet Yıldız | Anadili Eğitimi ve Alfabe Sorunu". Cherkessia.net (in Turkish). 18 June 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
30. "kafkasya kuzey kafkasya cerkes cerkez çerkes çerkez kafkasya kuzey kafkasya cerkes cerkez çerkes çerkez kafkasya kuzey kafkasya cerkes cerkez çerkes çerkez". www.circassiancenter.com. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
31. "Adıǵe Dili (Çerkes Dili) Latin alfabesine uyarlanıyor". Pusula Haber (in Turkish). 1 October 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
32. "T.C. Millî Eğitim Bakanlığı Talim Terbiye Kurulu Başkanlığı". mufredat.meb.gov.tr. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
33. "Kaffed'den Kiril eylemi". Ajans Kafkas (in Turkish). 16 April 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
34. "KAFFED'İN LATİN ALFABESİ İLE EĞİTİM KONUSUNDAKİ DAVASI RED EDİLDİ. – ÇERKES-FED" (in Turkish). August 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
35. DANEF. "DANEF". DANEF (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
36. Choi, John D. (June 1991). "An acoustic study of Kabardian vowels" . Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 21 (1): 4–12. doi:10.1017/S0025100300005958. ISSN   1475-3502.
37. Circassians bid to save ancient language. Al Jazeera. 14 May 2010. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
38. "Circassian Quran Website". Circassian Quran. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
39. "UNESCO Map of World's language in Danger" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
40. "OHCHR |". www.ohchr.org. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2020.

External links

• Grammar of the Circassian Language Archived 31 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine . Useful site to learn the Adyghe grammar.
• Louis Loewe (1854). A dictionary of the Circassian language, English-Circassian-Turkish. George Bell.
• Sample Adyghe document in Arabic Script, 1924, تەزغەو نەخوشتەر-گوبغویش: تەزغەو نەشتەر-گوبغواب / Тэзгъэу нэхъущтэр-губгъуищ: тэзгъэу нэщтэр-губгъуаб. Zubrilin, Aleksey Arsenevich. Moscow and Krasny Vostok, USSR.
• Adyghe alphabet, Omniglot.
• "Adyghe transliteration schemes" (PDF)..
• Adyghe sample, Language Museum.
• Learning Adyghe resource.
• Learn Circassian, International Centre for Circassian Studies (ICCS).
• Rferl North Caucasus Radio.
• Adyghe transliteration tool.
• Ancient Adyghe Abkhaz–Abaza Ubykh alphabet.
• How to count in Adyghe language.
• Adyghe language dictionary.
• Recordings of Adyghe language