Adyghe nouns

This article describes the properties of nouns in the Adyghe language.

Definiteness

Definiteness is marked in nouns by the noun suffixes ~р and ~м. Indefiniteness is unmarked, i.e. the absence of the markers ~р and ~м indicates indefiniteness, for example :

• Кӏалэм мыӏэрыс ешхы - "the boy is eating an apple".
• Кӏалэм мыӏэрысыр ешхы - "the boy is eating the apple".

Noun

Noun cases

Plurality is indicated by the suffix '-хэ' /-xa/

• кӏалэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮa] ('boy') becomes кӏалэхэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮaxa] ('boys').
• шы [ʃə] ('horse') becomes шыхэ [ʃəxa] ('horses').

Adyghe also declines nouns into four different 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')

Absolutive case

Has the suffix ~р /~r/ (e.g. кӏалэр [t͡ʃʼaːɮar] 'the boy', кӏалэхэр [t͡ʃʼaːɮaxar] ('the boys')). It acts as the subject of intransitive verbs and the direct object of transitive verbs. A noun in the absolutive case also indicates that its state is being changed by verb, i.e. they are either created, altered, moved or ended by the verb.

For example, in the sentence "The man is going", the state of the noun man is changing because he is moving (going), thus the noun man will be in the Absolutive case.

Another example is "The girl eats the apple", here the state of the noun apple changes because it is ceasing to exist (being eaten), the state of the noun girl does not change though because the verb "to eat" does not indicate how the girl eats (opening mouth, biting, etc.), thus the noun apple will be in the Absolutive case and not the noun girl.

This case has three main functions:

• Marking the subject of monovalent intransitive verbs

кӏалэр	еджапӏэм	кӏуагъэ
кӏалэ-р	еджапӏэ-м	кӏо-агъэ
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar	jad͡ʒaːpʼam	kʷʼaːʁa]
the boy (abs.)	the school (erg.)	(s)he went
"the boy went to the school"

• Marking the indirect object of bivalent intransitive verbs

кӏалэр	тхылъым	еджэ
кӏалэ-р	тхылъы-м	еджэ
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar	txəɬəm	jad͡ʒa]
the boy (abs.)	the book (erg.)	(s)he reads
"the boy is reading the book."

• Marking the direct object of transitive verbs

бзылъфыгъэм	джанэр	егъэкъабзэ
бзылъфыгъэ-м	джанэ-р	егъэкъабзэ
[bzəɬfəʁam	d͡ʒaːnar	jaʁaqaːbza]
the woman (erg.)	the shirt (abs.)	(s)he cleans
"the woman cleans the shirt"

Ergative-Oblique case

Has the suffix -м /-m/ (e.g. кӏалэм [t͡ʃʼaːɮam] 'the boy's', кӏалэхэм [t͡ʃʼaːɮaxam] 'the boys). It has two main roles: Ergative role and Oblique role.

The Ergative role marks the subject of transitive verbs. They cause the object to change by doing the verb. For example, in the sentence "The girl eats the apple", the noun girl will get the Ergative case because she is changing the object's state (apple) by eating it.

The Oblique role marks the indirect object of both transitive and intransitive verbs. For example, in the sentence "The boy is playing the guitar", the noun guitar will get the Oblique case because it is the object of the intransitive verb еон "to play". Unlike the absolute case, nouns in the Oblique case have no indication of state change, for instance, in the sentence "The boy hits the man", even though the noun man is the object of the sentence, we have no indication how the verb hit effects him (getting hurt by the hit? not feeling a thing?).

Two examples of this case with its two main functions:

• Marking the subject of transitive verbs (ergative role)

бзылъфыгъэм	джанэр	егъэкъабзэ
бзылъфыгъэ-м	джанэ-р	егъэкъабзэ
[bzəɬfəʁam	d͡ʒaːnar	jaʁaqaːbza]
the woman (erg.)	the shirt (abs.)	(s)he cleans
"the woman cleans the shirt"

• Marking the object of both intransitive and transitive verbs (oblique role)

кӏалэр	тхылъым	еджэ
кӏалэ-р	тхылъ-ым	еджэ
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar	txəɬəm	jad͡ʒa]
the boy (abs.)	the book (obl.)	(s)he reads
"the boy reads the book"

кӏалэм	мыӏэрысэр	пшъашъэм	реты
кӏалэ-м	мыӏэрысэ-р	пшъашъэ-м	реты
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam	məʔarəsər	pʂaːʂam	rajtə]
the boy (erg.)	the apple (abs.)	the girl (obl.)	(s)he gives it to
"the boy gives the apple to the girl"

The Oblique role is also used similarly to the dative case, by marking nouns that follow prepositions (see: preposition prefixes). For example, in the sentence Кӏалэр унэм ихьагъ "the boy went inside the house", the preposition is the prefix и- (inside) and the noun house is in the Oblique case.

кӏалэм	мыжъор	дэпкъым	тедзэ
кӏалэ-м	мыжъо-р	дэпкъы-м	те-дзэ
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam	məʒʷar	dapqəm	tajd͡za]
the boy (erg.)	the rock (abs.)	the wall (obl.)	(s)he throws it on
"the boy throws the rock on the wall"

еджакӏор	еджапӏэм	щеджэ
еджакӏо-р	еджапӏэ-м	ще-джэ
[jad͡ʒaːkʷʼar	jad͡ʒaːpʼam	ɕajd͡ʒa]
the boy (abs.)	school (obl.)	(s)he studies in
"the boy studies in school"

дзакӏор	заум	хэукӏыхьагъ
дзакӏо-р	зау-м	хэ-укӏыхьагъ
[d͡zaːkʷʼar	zaːwəm	xawt͡ʃʼəħaːʁ]
the soldier (abs.)	the war (obl.)	(s)he died in
"the soldier died in the war."

The Ergative-Oblique case can also be used to mark the noun that possesses a property or an attribute.

кӏалэм	иунэ	дахэ
кӏалэ-м	и-унэ	дахэ
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam	jəwna	daːxa]
the boy (erg.)	his house	beautiful
"the house of the boy is beautiful"

Instrumental–directional case

Has the suffix -мкӏэ /mt͡ʃʼa/ or -кӏэ /t͡ʃʼa/ (e.g. кӏалэмкӏэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮamt͡ʃʼa] 'using the boy', кӏалэкӏэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮat͡ʃʼa] 'using a boy', кӏалэхэмкӏэ [t͡ʃaːɮaxamt͡ʃʼa] 'using the boys', кӏалэхэкӏэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮaxat͡ʃʼa] 'using boys').

• Marking the instrument or tool of action:
  • къэлэм /qalam/ pencil → къэлэмкӏэ /qalamt͡ʃʼa/ using a pencil.
  • къэлэм /qalam/ pencil → къэлэмымкӏэ /qalaməmt͡ʃʼa/ using the pencil.
  • уатэ /waːta/ hammer → уатэкӏэ /waːtat͡ʃʼa/ using a hammer.
  • уатэ /waːta/ hammer → уатэмкӏэ /waːtamt͡ʃʼa/ using the hammer.

ыцӏэр	къэлэмымкӏэ	къытхыгъ
ы-цIэ-эр	къэлэм-ымкIэ	къы-тхы-эгъ
[ət͡sʼar	qalaməmt͡ʃʼa	qətxaʁ]
his name (abs.)	pencil (ins.)	he wrote
"he wrote his name with the pencil"

нэрыплъымкӏэ	елъэгъу
нэрыплъ-ымкӏэ	елъэгъу
[narəpɬəmt͡ʃʼa	jaɬaʁʷə]
binocular (ins.)	(s)he is seeing
"(s)he is seeing with (using) the binocular"

кӏалэр	адыгэбзэкӏэ	мэгущыӏэ
кӏалэ-р	адыгэбзэ-кӏэ	мэгущыӏэ
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar	aːdəɣabzat͡ʃʼa	maɡʷəɕəːʔa]
boy (arg.)	using Adyghe language (ins.)	(s)he is speaking
"The boy is speaking (using) Adyghe language."

• Marking the direction of action:
  • гъогу /ʁʷaɡʷ/ road → гъогумкӏэ /ʁʷaɡʷəmt͡ʃʼa/ from the road (direction).
  • унэ /wəna/ house → унэмкӏэ /wənamt͡ʃʼa/ from the house.
  • хы /xə/ sea → хымкӏэ /xəmt͡ʃʼa/ from the sea (direction).
  • Америкэ /aːmerika/ America → Америкэмкӏэ /aːmerikamt͡ʃʼa/ from America (direction).

хымкӏэ	жьыбгъэр	къэкӏы
хы-мкӏэ	жьыбгъэ-р	къэ-кӏы
[xəmt͡ʃʼa	ʑəbʁar	qat͡ʃʼə]
sea (ins.)	the wind (abs.)	come
"the wind comes from the sea."

унэмкӏэ	кӏалэхэр	макӏох
унэ-мкӏэ	кӏалэ-хэ-р	макӏо-х
[wənamt͡ʃa	t͡ʃʼaːɮaxar	maːkʷʼax]
house(ins.)	the boys (abs.)	they are going
"The boys are going toward the house's direction."

Adverbial case

Has the suffix -эу /aw/ (e.g. кӏалэу [t͡ʃʼaːɮaw] 'boy'), шэу [ʃaw] 'horse'). This case has a number of functions:

• Marking the profession or role of the subject (similar to the English word "as"):

лӏыр	кӏэлэегъаджэу	мэлажьэ
лӏыр	кӏэлэегъадж-эу	мэлажьэ
[ɬʼər	t͡ʃʼaɮajaʁaːd͡ʒaw	maɮaːʑa]
man (abs.)	as a teacher (adv.)	(s)he is working
"The man is working as a teacher."

укӏалэу	сыд	мыщ	епӏуалӏэрэр?
у-кӏалэ-у	сыд	мыщ	е-п-ӏуа-лӏэ-рэ-р?
[wət͡ʃʼaːɮaw	səd	məɕ	japʔʷaːɬʼarar]
as a boy (adv.)	what	this	the thing you say about this
"As a boy, what you think about this?"

лӏыр	тхьэматэу	дзэм	хэхьагъ
лӏы-р	тхьэматэ-у	дзэ-м	хэхьагъ
[ɬʼər	tħamaːtaw	d͡zam	xaħaːʁ]
man (abs.)	as a leader (adv.)	army (obl.)	(s)he entered
"The man joined the army as an officer."

• Marking a relative clause (works like the English words "that", "who", "whom" and "whose" in the sentences: "the boy who went", "the man that was eating", "the girl whom I saw" and "the woman whose shirt is beautiful"), for example:

макӏорэ "the one who goes" → кӏалэ-у макӏорэ "the boy who goes".

еплъырэ "the one who looks" → пшъашъэ-у еплъырэ "the girl who looks".

зеплъырэ "the one whom (s)he looks at" → пшъашъэ-у зеплъырэ "the girl whom (s)he looks at".

гитарэ еорэ "the one who plays guitar" → лӏэ-у гитарэ еорэ "the man who plays guitar".

лӏыр зеорэ "the thing the man plays" → лӏыр гитарэ-у зеорэ "the guitar the man plays".

лӏэу	мэзым	хэтым	кӏэрахъо	ыӏыгъ
лӏы-эу	мэзы-м	хэт-ым	кӏэрахъо	ыӏ-ыгъ
[ɬʼaw	mazəm	xatəm	t͡ʃʼaraːχʷa	əʔəʁ]
man (adv.)	forest (erg.)	the one that is standing in (erg.)	gun	(s)he has a
"The man that is in the forest has a gun."

дзакӏохэу	къэкӏуагъэхэмкӏэ	заур	тыхьыщт
дзакӏо-хэ-у	къэкӏуагъэхэ-мкӏэ	зау-р	тыхьыщт
[d͡zaːkʷaxaw	qakʷʼaːʁaxamt͡ʃʼa	zaːwər	təħəɕt]
soldiers (adv.)	with the ones that came (ins.)	the war (abs.)	we will take
"we will win the war with the soldiers that came."

лӏыжъэу	щысыгъэр	кӏожьыгъэ
лӏыжъэ-у	щысыгъэ-р	кӏожьыгъэ
[ɬʼəʐər	ɕəsəʁar	kʷʼaʑəʁa]
old man (adv.)	the one that sit	(s)he returned
"The old man who had sat there, left."

• Expresses the transition of the subject into something

лӏыр	профессорэу	хъугъэ
лӏыр	профессор-эу	хъу-гъэ
[ɬʼər	profesoraw	χʷəʁa]
man (abs.)	professor (adv.)	(s)he became
"The man became a professor."

унапэ	плъыжьэу	хъугъэ
у-напэ	плъыжьы-эу	хъу-гъэ
[wəjnaːpa	pɬəʑaw	χʷəʁa]
your face	red (adv.)	(s)he became
"Your face became red."

лӏыр	тхьэматэу	дзэм	къикӏыжъыгъ
лӏы-р	тхьэматэ-у	дзэ-м	къикӏыжъыгъ
[ɬʼər	tħamaːtaw	d͡zam	qəjt͡ʃʼəʑəʁ]
man (abs.)	leader (adv.)	army (obl.)	(s)he returned
"The man has returned from the army as an officer."

Pro-drop

Adyghe is a pro-drop language. The subject and the object pronouns are sometimes omitted when verb conjugations reflect number and person.

• Both subject and object are mentioned :

кӏалэм	пшъашъэр	елъэгъу
кӏалэ-м	пшъашъэ-р	елъэгъу
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam	pʂaːʂar	jaɬaʁʷə]
the boy (erg.)	the girl (abs.)	(s)he is seeing
"the boy is seeing the girl"

• If the direct object is dropped :

кӏалэм	елъэгъу
кӏалэ-м	елъэгъу
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam	jaɬaʁʷə]
the boy (erg.)	(s)he is seeing
"the boy is seeing him/her/it"

• If the subject is dropped :

пшъашъэр	елъэгъу
пшъашъэ-р	елъэгъу
[pʂaːʂar	jaɬaʁʷə]
the girl (abs.)	(s)he is seeing
"(s)he is seeing the girl"

• Both subject and object are dropped :

елъэгъу

елъэгъу

[jaɬaʁʷə]

(s)he is seeing

"(s)he is seeing him/her/it"

Noun and adjective

In Adyghe, if a noun is accompanied by an adjective, the adjective is placed after the noun and it takes the noun case suffix.

• Absolutive case

пшъэшъэ	дахэр	макӏо
[pʂaʂa	daːxar	maːkʷʼa]
girl	the pretty (abs.)	(s)he is going
"the pretty girl is going"

• Ergative case

кӏалэ	кӏыхьэм	ешхы	мыер
[t͡ʃʼaːɮa	t͡ʃʼəħam	jaʃxə	məjar]
boy	the long (erg.)	he is eating a/the	the apple (abs.)
"the long boy is eating the apple"

• Instrumental case

къэлэм	папцӏэмкӏэ	сэтхэ
[qalam	papt͡sʼamt͡ʃʼa	satxa]
pencil	sharp (ins.)	I am writing
"I am writing with (using) the sharp pencil"

• Adverbial case

пшъашъэр	пшъэшъэ дахэу	хъущт
[pʂaːʂar	pʂaʂadaːxaw	χʷəɕt]
the girl (abs.)	pretty girl (adv.)	(s)he will turn
"the girl will become a pretty girl"

Participle

Participles in Adyghe are formed by adding any of the noun cases to the verbs. It is possible to indicate the subject or the object of a verb as a noun.

For example, макӏо /maːkʷʼa/ "(s)he is going" to макӏорэр /maːkʷʼarar/ "the one that is going". The forms of nouns that were created from verbs in different grammatical cases are equal to the forms of the appropriate verbs. The same is also true for their time-tenses, for example :

макӏорэм	ылъэгъугъ	моу	щычъыягъэр
макӏо-рэ-м	ылъэгъу-гъ	моу	щы-чъые-агъ-эр
[maːkʷʼaram	əɬaʁʷəʁ	maw	ɕət͡ʂəjaːʁar]
the one that is going (erg.)	(s)he saw	here	the one that slept at that place (abs.)
"The one who is going saw the one that slept here."

Because Adyghe is an ergative–absolutive language, the transitivity of the verb is the main factor determining the choice of the subject case, meaning the subject or the object of a verb can take different cases depending whatever the verb is intransitive or transitive.

There are two ways to form a participle:

• Adding the suffix ~рэ to a verb.
• Adding the prefix з~ and the suffix ~рэ to a verb.

In intransitive verbs, the suffix ~рэ indicates an indefinite subject, while combination of the prefix з~ and the suffix ~рэ indicate an indefinite object:

• макӏорэ - "the one who is going"
• еплъырэ - "the one who is looking"
• дэгущыӏэрэ - "the one who is speaking with"
• зеплъырэ - "the one (s)he is looking at"
• здэгущыӏэрэ - "the one (s)he is speaking with"

In transitive verbs, the suffix ~рэ indicates an indefinite object, while combination of the prefix з~ and the suffix ~рэ indicate an indefinite subject:

• ылъэгъурэ - "the one (s)he is seeing"
• ышхырэ - "the thing (s)he is eating"
• ыдзырэ - "the thing (s)he throws"
• зылъэгъурэ - "the one who sees it"
• зышхырэ - "the one who eats it"
• зыдзырэ - "the one who throws it"

Thus to summarize, the following table shows when it indicates an indefinite subject and when it indicates an indefinite object:

Prefix	Suffix	Intransitive verbs	Transitive verbs
-	~рэ	Indefinite subject	Indefinite object
з~	~рэ	Indefinite object	Indefinite subject

Here are some more couple examples in both transitive and intransitive verbs:

Verb	Absolutive case noun			Ergative case noun
	Cyrillic	IPA	Meaning	Cyrillic	IPA	Meaning
макӏо	макӏорэ	maːkʷʼara	the one that is going	-	-	-
еплъы	еплъырэ	japɬəra	the one that is looking at	зеплъырэ	zajpɬəra	the thing (s)he is looking at
еджэ	еджэрэ	jad͡ʒara	the one that is reading it	зеджэрэ	zajd͡ʒara	the thing (s)he is reading
ешхы	ишхырэ	jəʃxəra	the thing (s)he is eating	зишхырэ	zəjʃxəra	the one that is eating it
елъэгъу	илъэгъурэ	jəɬaʁʷra	the thing (s)he is seeing	зилъэгъурэ	zəjɬaʁʷra	the one that is seeing it
реты	ритырэ	rəjtra	the thing (s)he is giving to him	зритырэ	zrəjtra	the one (s)he is giving it to

• Examples of sentences with intransitive verbs :

кӏалэм	еплъырэр	пшъашъэр
кӏалэ-м	еплъы-рэ-р	пшъашъ-эр
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam	japɬərar	pʂaːʂar]
the boy (erg.)	the one that is looking at him/her	the girl (abs.)
"the one that is looking at the boy is the girl."

кӏалэр	тхьылъэу	зеджэрэм	еплъ
кӏалэ-р	тхьылъ-эу	з-еджэ-рэ-м	еплъ
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar	txəɬaw	zajd͡ʒaram	japɬ]
boy (abs.)	book (adv.)	the thing (s)he is reading (erg.)	look
"look at the book the boy is reading."

• Examples of sentences with transitive verbs :

кӏалэм	ылъэгъурэр	пшъашъэр
кӏалэ-м	з-илъэгъу-рэ-р	пшъашъэ-р
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam	jəɬaʁʷərar	pʂaːʂar]
boy (erg.)	the one (s)he is seeing	the girl (abs.)
"the one the boy is seeing is the girl."

тары	цӏыфэу	уукӏыгъагъэр?
тары	цӏыфэ-у	у-укӏы-гъагъэ-р?
[taːrə	t͡sʼəfaw	wəwt͡ʃʼəʁaːʁar]
which	person (adv.)	the one you killed (abs.)
"which person have you killed?"

Possession

In Circassian, there are two ways to express possession:

• The prefix и /jə/ refers to the possessed object; for example: ащ икӏалэ "his/her boy".
• The prefix зи /zjə/ refers to the possessor of the object; for example: ар зикӏалэ "(s)he who owns the boy".

Object	И-		Зи-
	Circassian	Meaning	Circassian	Meaning
Boy	икӏалэ	his/her boy	зикӏалэ	the one the boy belongs to
Table	иӏанэ	his/her table	зиӏанэ	the owner of the table
Name	ыцӏэ	his/her name	зыцӏэ	the one whose named
Language	ибзэ	his/her language	зибзэ	the one whose language is

Examples with the prefix и~:

пшъашъэм	ичэтыу	фыжьы
[pʂaːʂam	jət͡ʃatəw	fəʑə]
the girl (erg.)	his/her cat	white
"The cat of the girl is white"

чылэм	итхьэматэ	сият
[t͡ʃəɮam	jətħamaːta	səjaːt]
village (erg.)	its leader	my father
"the major of the village is my father"

кӏалэм	ищэн	дахэ
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam	jəɕan	daːxa]
the boy (erg.)	his/her behavior	beautiful
"the boy's behavior is appropriate"

Examples with the prefix зи~:

хэт	зыцӏэр	Том
[xat	zət͡sʼar	tom]
who	the one who named	Tom (name)
"Who is the one named Tom?"

мыр	зимащинэм	къысиӏуагъ	шъунэмысынэу
[mər	zəjmaːɕinam	səjnaʔʷaːs	səjnaʔʷaːs]
this	the owner of the car	(s)he told me	don't touch it (said to plural)
"The owner of this car told me that you (plural) shouldn't touch it."

унэр	зиер	лӏы
[wənar	zəjjar	ɬʼə]
house (abs.)	the owner of	a man
"The owner of the house is a man."

Creating nouns from adjective

In Adyghe someone (person) or something (animal, plant, object) that have a specific adjective can be

presented with the adjective word with the additional noun case suffix (absolutive, ergative, etc.) For

example:

• дахэ /daːxa/ - pretty → дахэр /daːxar/ - the pretty person (absolutive case).
• ашӏу /aːʃʷʼə/ - tasty → ашӏухэр /aːʃʷʼəxar/ - the tasty ones (absolutive case).
• мэзахэ /mazaːxa/ - dark → мэзахэм /mazaːxam/ - in the dark (ergative case).
• чъыӏэ /t͡ʂəʔa/ - cold → чъыӏэм /t͡ʂəʔam/ - in the cold (ergative case).

кӏуачӏэхэр	тиунэ	къэгъакӏох
кӏуачӏэ-хэ-р	ти-унэ	къэ-гъа-кӏо-х
[kʷʼaːt͡ʃʼaxar	təjwna	qaʁaːkʷʼax]
the strong ones (abs.)	our house	make them come
"bring the strong ones to our house"

унэм	шъукъихьэжь	чъыӏэм	шъуигъэсмэджэщт
унэ-м	шъу-къ-ихьэ-жь	чъыӏэ-м	шъуи-гъэ-смэджэ-щт
[wənam	ʃʷəqiħaʑ	t͡ʂəʔam	ʃʷiʁasmad͡ʒat]
house (erg.)	get inside (to plural)	the cold (erg.)	it will make you (plural) sick
"get inside the house, the cold will make you sick (said to plural)"

сымаджэхэмэ	шъукъадж	япэу
сымаджэ-хэ-мэ	шъу-къадж	япэ-эу
[səmaːd͡ʒaxama	ʃʷəqaːd͡ʒ	jaːpaw]
the sick ones (egs.)	call them (said to plural)	firstly
"First call the sick ones. (said to plural)"

In Adyghe any adjective that is measurable or comparable can be turned into a noun by adding the

suffix -агъэ /-aːʁa/, for example:

• дахэ /daːxa/ - pretty → дахагъэ /daːxaːʁa/ - beauty.
• кӏуачӏэ /kʷʼaːt͡ʃʼa/ - strong → кӏуачӏагъэ /kʷʼaːt͡ʃʼaːʁa/ - strength.
• псао /psaːwa/ - whole, fine → псэуагъэ /psawaːʁa/ - health condition.
• делэ /dajla/ - fool → делагъэ /dajlaːʁa/ - foolishness.
• псынкӏэ /psənt͡ʃʼa/ - fast → псынкӏагъэ /psənt͡ʃʼaːʁa/ - speed.
• ӏазэ /ʔaːza/ - skilled → ӏэзагъэ /ʔazaːʁa/ - skill.

Сянэ	ипсэуагъэ	сыфэгуаӏэ
С-янэ	и-псэу-агъэ	сы-фэ-гуаӏэ
[sijaːna	jipsawaːʁa	səfaɡʷaːʔa]
my mother	his/her health condition	I worry for him/her
"The worry for my mother's health condition"

Derivation

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").