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Adyghe
West Circassian
Адыгабзэ
Native to	Adygea Krasnodar Krai
Ethnicity	Circassians, Cherkesogai
Native speakers	610,000 (2010–2020)
Language family	Northwest Caucasian Circassian Adyghe
Early forms	Proto-Northwest Caucasian Proto-Circassian
Dialects	Abdzakh Bzhedug Hatuqwai Mamkhegh Natukhaj (†) Shapsug Temirgoy (standard dialect) Yegeruqwai Hakuchi Zhaney† Makhosh (†) Ademey (†)
Writing system	Cyrillic Latin Arabic
Official status
Official language in	Russia  Adygea
Recognised minority language in	Jordan  Syria  Israel Kfar Kama Rehaniya  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, Russia (2002)
Adyghe is classified as vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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.

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v t e

Adyghe (/ˈædɪɡeɪ/ or /ˌɑːdɪˈɡeɪ/; also known as West Circassian) is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken by the western subgroups of Circassians. It is spoken mainly in Russia, as well as in Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Israel, where Circassians settled after the Circassian genocide (c. 1864–1870) by the Russian Empire. It is closely related to the Kabardian (East Circassian) language, though some reject the distinction between the two languages in favor of both being dialects of a unitary Circassian language.

The literary standard of Adyghe is based on its Temirgoy dialect. Adyghe and Russian are the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation.

In Russia, there are around 128,000 speakers of Adyghe, almost all of them native speakers. In total, some 300,000 speak it worldwide. The largest Adyghe-speaking community is in Turkey, spoken by the diaspora from the Russian–Circassian War (c. 1763–1864). In addition, the Adyghe language is spoken by the Cherkesogai in Krasnodar Krai.

Adyghe belongs to the family of Northwest Caucasian languages. Kabardian (also known as East Circassian) is a very close relative, treated by some as a dialect of Adyghe or of an overarching Circassian language. Ubykh, Abkhaz and Abaza are somewhat more distantly related to Adyghe.

Dialects

The 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

The 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
• Hatuqwai dialect
• Mequash dialect

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.

1. These consonants exist only in borrowed words.
2. Note: Adyghe has many consonants that appear across its dialects, and thus has a complex system of consonant allophony. More information on those can be found at Adyghe phonology.

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

Grammar

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

Orthography

The official alphabet for Adyghe is the Cyrillic script, which has been used since 1936. Before that, the Arabic script was used. A new Latin alphabet based on the Turkish alphabet is designed in Turkey with the motivation to make Adyghe and Kabardian education in Turkey easier.

Cyrillic	Arabic	Latin	IPA	Pronunciation	Examples
А а	ا	Ā ā	[aː]		ачъэ, āčă, 'goat'апчъы, āpčə, 'they count'
Б б	ب	B b	[b]		баджэ, bāǯʼă, 'fox'бэ, bă, 'a lot'
В в	ڤ	V v	[v]		жъвэ, ẑvă, 'oar', лавэ, lāvă, 'lava'
Г г	ݝ	Ɣ ɣ	[ɣ]		гыны, ɣənə, 'powder'чъыгы, čəɣə, 'tree'
Гу гу	گو	G˚ g˚	[ɡʷ]		гу, g˚, 'heart'гущыӏ, g˚šʼəʾ, 'word'
Гъ гъ	غ	Ġ ġ	[ʁ]		гъатхэ, ġātxă, 'spring'гъэмаф, ġămāf, 'summer'
Гъу гъу	غو	Ġ˚ ġ˚	[ʁʷ]		гъунэгъу, ġ˚năġ˚, 'neighbour'гъунджэ, ġ˚nǯʼă, 'mirror'
Д д	د	D d	[d]		дыджы, dəǯʼə, 'bitter'дахэ, dāxă, 'pretty'
Дж дж	ج	Ǯʼ ǯʼ	[d͡ʒ]		джан, ǯʼān, 'shirt'лъэмыдж, łăməǯʼ, 'bridge'
Дз дз	ذ	Ʒ ʒ	[d͡z]		дзыо, ʒəo, 'bag'дзын, ʒən, 'to throw'
Дзу дзу	ذو	Ʒ˚ ʒ˚	[d͡zʷ]		хьандзу, ḥānʒ˚, 'rick'хьандзуачӏ, ḥānʒ˚āč̣, 'lower rick'
Е е	ئە / ەي	E e	[ɜj] [jɜ]		ешэн, ešăn, 'to catch'еплъын, epłən, 'to look at'
Ё ё	–	Jo jo	[jo]		ёлк, jolk, 'Christmas tree'
Ж ж	ڒ	Ž ž	[ʒ]		жэ, žă, 'mouth'жакӏэ, žāč̣ʼă, 'beard'
Жъ жъ	ظ	Ẑ ẑ	[ʐ]		жъы, ẑə, 'old'жъажъэ, ẑāẑă, 'slow'
Жъу жъу	ظو	Ẑ˚ ẑ˚	[ʒʷ]		жъун, ẑ˚n, 'to melt'жъуагъо, ẑ˚āġo, 'star'
Жь жь	ژ	Žʼ žʼ	[ʑ]		жьыбгъэ, žʼəbġă, 'wind'жьао, žʼāo, 'shadow'
З з	ز	Z z	[z]		занкӏэ, zānč̣ʼă, 'straight'зандэ, zāndă, 'steep'
И и	ئي / ي	I i	[ɘj] [jɘ]		ихьан, iḥān, 'to enter'икӏыпӏ, ič̣ʼəṗ, 'exit'
Й й	ي	J j	[j]		йод, jod, 'iodine'бай, bāj, 'rich'
К к	ك	K k	[k]		кнопк, knopk, 'button'команд, komānd, 'team, command'
Ку ку	کو	K˚ k˚	[kʷ]		кушъэ, k˚ŝă, 'cradle'ку, k˚, 'cart'
Къ къ	ق	Q q	[q]		къалэ, qālă, 'city'къэкӏон, qăč̣ʼon, 'to come'
Къу къу	قو	Q˚ q˚	[qʷ]		къухьэ, q˚ḥă, 'ship'къушъхьэ, q˚ŝḥă, 'mountain'
Кӏ кӏ	ڃ	Č̣ʼ č̣ʼ	[kʼ] [tʃʼ]		кӏымаф, č̣ʼəmāf, 'winter'кӏыхьэ, č̣ʼəḥă, 'long'кӏэ, č̣ʼă, 'tail'шкӏэ, šč̣ʼă, 'calf'
Кӏу кӏу	ࢰو	Ḳ˚ ḳ˚	[kʷʼ]		кӏон, č̣ʼon, 'to walk'кӏуакӏэ, ḳ˚āč̣ʼă, 'walking manner'
Л л	ل	L l	[l]		лагъэ, lāġă, 'painted'лы, lə, 'meat'
Лъ лъ	ݪ	Ł ł	[ɬ]		лъэбэкъу, łăbăq˚, 'step'лъащэ, łāšʼă, 'lame'
Лӏ лӏ	ࢦ	Ḷ ḷ	[ɬʼ]		лӏы, ḷə, 'man'лӏыгъэ, ḷəġă, 'bravery'
М м	م	M m	[m]		мазэ, māză, 'moon'мэлы, mălə, 'sheep'
Н н	ن	N n	[n]		нэ, nă, 'eye'ны, nə, 'mother'
О о	ئۆ / ۆ	O o	[ɜw] [wɜ]		мощ, mošʼ, 'that'коны, konə, 'bin'о, o, 'you'осы, osə, 'snow'ощхы, ošʼxə, 'rain'
П п	پ	P p	[p]		пэ, pă, 'nose'сапэ, sāpă, 'dust'
Пӏ пӏ	ࢠ	Ṗ ṗ	[pʼ]		пӏэ, ṗă, 'bed'пӏэшъхьагъ, ṗăŝḥāġ, 'pillow'
Пӏу пӏу	ࢠو	Ṗ˚ ṗ˚	[pʷʼ]		пӏун, ṗ˚n, 'to rise; to adopt'пӏур, ṗ˚r, 'pupil; apprentice'
Р р	ر	R r	[r]		рикӏэн, rič̣ʼăn, 'to pour'риӏон, riʾon, 'to tell'
С с	س	S s	[s]		сэ, să, 'I, me'сэшхо, săšxo, 'sabre'
Т т	ت	T t	[t]		тэтэжъ, tătăẑ, 'grandfather'тэ, tă, 'we, us'
Тӏ тӏ	ط	Ṭ ṭ	[tʼ]		тӏы, ṭə, 'ram'ятӏэ, jāṭă, 'dirt'
Тӏу тӏу	طو	Ṭ˚ ṭ˚	[tʷʼ]		тӏурыс, ṭ˚rəs, 'old'тӏурытӏу, ṭ˚rəṭ˚, 'pair'
У у	و	U u / W w	[ɘw] [wɘ]		ушхун, ušx˚n, 'to straighten'убэн, ubăn, 'to tamp; to smoothen'
Ф ф	ف	F f	[f]		фыжьы, fəžʼə, 'white'фэен, făen, 'to want'
Х х	ݗ	X x	[x]		хы, xə, 'sea; six'хасэ, xāsă, 'council'
Хъ хъ	خ	Ꭓ ꭓ	[χ]		хъыен, ꭓəen, 'to move'пхъэн, pꭓăn, 'to sow'
Хъу хъу	خو	Ꭓ˚ ꭓ˚	[χʷ]		хъун, ꭓ˚n, 'to happen'хъурай, ꭓ˚rāj, 'circle'
Хь хь	ح	Ḥ ḥ	[ħ]		хьэ, ḥă, 'dog'хьаку, ḥāk˚, 'oven'
Ц ц	ث	C c	[t͡s]		цагэ, cāɣă, 'rib'цы, cə, 'body hair'
Цу цу	ثو	C˚ c˚	[t͡sʷ]		цуакъэ, c˚āqă, 'shoe'цу, c˚, 'ox'
Цӏ цӏ	ڗ	C̣ c̣	[t͡sʼ]		цӏынэ, c̣ənă, 'wet'цӏыфы, c̣əfə, 'person'
Ч ч	چ	Čʼ čʼ	[t͡ʃ]		чэфы, čʼăfə, 'cheerful'чэты, čʼătə, 'chicken'
Чъ чъ		Č č	[t͡ʂ]		чъыгай, čəɣāj, 'oak'чъыӏэ, čəʾă, 'cold'
Чӏ чӏ		Č̣ č̣	[t͡ʂʼ]		чӏыпӏэ, č̣əṗă, 'area'чӏыфэ, č̣əfă, 'debt'
Ш ш		Š š	[ʃ]		шы, šə, 'brother'шыблэ, šəblă, 'thunder'
Шъ шъ	ص	Ŝ ŝ	[ʂ]		шъэ, ŝă, 'hundred'шъабэ, ŝābă, 'soft'
Шъу шъу	صو	Ŝ˚ ŝ˚	[ʃʷ]		шъугъуалэ, ŝ˚ġ˚ālă, 'envious'шъукъакӏу, ŝ˚qāḳ˚, 'to come'
Шӏ шӏ	ض	Ṣ̂ ṣ̂			шӏын, ṣ̂ən, 'to do'шӏэныгъ, ṣ̂ănəġ, 'knowledge'
Шӏу шӏу	ضو	Ṣ̂˚ ṣ̂˚	[ʃʷʼ]		шӏуцӏэ, ṣ̂˚c̣ă, 'black'шӏуфэс, ṣ̂˚făs, 'greetings'
Щ щ	ش	Šʼ šʼ	[ɕ]		щагу, šʼāg˚, 'yard'щатэ, šʼātă, 'sour cream'
(Ъ ъ)	–	–	–
Ы ы	ئہـ‍ / ‍ہ‍	Ə ə	[ɘ]		ыкӏи, əč̣ʼi, 'and also'зы, zə, 'one'
(Ь ь)	–	–	[]
Э э	ئە / ە	Ă ă	[ɜ]		ӏэтаж, ʾătāž, 'floor'нэнэжъ, nănăẑ, 'grandmother'
Ю ю	یو	Ju ju	[ju]		Юсыф, Jusəf, 'Joseph'Юныс, Junəs, 'Jonah'
Я я	یا	Ja ja	[jaː]		яй, jāj, 'theirs'ябгэ, jābɣă, 'evil'
Ӏ ӏ	ئ	ʾ	[ʔ]		ӏэ, ʾă, 'hand'кӏасэ, č̣ʼāsă, 'like'
Ӏу ӏу	ؤ	ʾ˚	[ʔʷ]		ӏукӏэн, ʾ˚č̣ʼăn, 'to meet'ӏусын, ʾ˚sən, 'to be near sitting'ӏудан, ʾ˚dān, 'thread'

Orthography rules

• The letter ⟨ы⟩ is not written after a ⟨у⟩ , ⟨й⟩ or a labialised consonant. For example: унэ "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 ⟨уы⟩. For example: унэ instead of уынэ. When it is related to a consonant, it becomes a vowel and pronounced as ⟨ыу⟩. For example: чэту "cat" instead of чэтыу.
• In case a labialised consonant is followed by a vowel ⟨э⟩ , instead of the letter ⟨у⟩ there is a ⟨о⟩. For example: гъогу "road" instead of гъуэгу.
• In case a labialised consonant is followed by a vowel ⟨а⟩ or ⟨и⟩ , the labialised consonant letter is written fully. For example: цуакъэ "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 ⟨уэ⟩. For example, о "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 ⟨йэ⟩. For example: еӏо "he says" instead of йэӏо. When it is related to a consonant, it becomes a vowel and pronounced as ⟨эй⟩. For example: делэ "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 ⟨йы⟩. For example: илъэс "year" instead of йылъэс. When it is related to a consonant, it becomes a vowel and pronounced as ⟨ый⟩. For example: сиӏ "I have" instead of сыйӏ.

Vowels

The vowels are written ⟨ы⟩ , ⟨э⟩ and ⟨а⟩ . Other letters represent diphthongs: ⟨я⟩ represents , ⟨и⟩ or , ⟨о⟩ or , ⟨у⟩ represent or , and ⟨е⟩ represents or .

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 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 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, Arabic script became the accepted orthography for Adyghe.

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.

During the abovementioned decades, parallel with this process, the 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.

Adyghe Arabic alphabet

Below table shows the Adyghe Arabic alphabet as it was officially adopted between 1918 and 1927.

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 е	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	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	Error using {{IPA symbol}}: "p'" not found in list	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 кӏ	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	-	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		-	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	-	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 г		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])	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])	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.

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

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		u	v	x
IPA	[ʂ]	[ʃʼ]	[ɕ]	[ʃ]	[t]	[tʼ]	[u]	[w]	[x]	[χ]
Letter	z	ⱬ					đ		h	w
IPA	[z]	[ʐ]	[ʑ]	[ʒ]	[ʁ]	[ɣ]	[t͡ʂ]	[t͡ʃʼ]	[ʔ]	[v]

Latin Alphabet in Turkey (ABX Alphabet)

In 2012, the Circassian Language Association (Adyghe: Адыге Бзэ Хасэ or Adıǵe Bze Xase, abbreviated as ABX; Turkish: Adıge Dil Derneği; danef.com) 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. 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 and that the use of the Latin script would sever the ties with the homeland. 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, and the materials created by ABX were accepted by the Ministry of National Education to be taught in Secondary Schools. 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; however, the court ruled in favour of the Latin alphabet created by the CLA and continued the use of their alphabet in Circassian courses. 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.

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 and sounds at the beginning of syllables and and sounds at the end. The Latin letters are only used for the sounds and . 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. 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+ combinations and U/Ü the labialized consonant+ 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. and , 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 + combination. For example, джэгу in Cyrillic is written cegu` to make sure that it is pronounced as a single syllable but wıçüpe is removed when the word takes a suffix and the allophonic is audible, as in cegum .

• 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

Loanwords

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

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.

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.

Publications

There are many books written in or translated into Adyghe. An Adyghe translation of the Quran by Ishak Mashbash is available. 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.

Sample texts

Al-Fatiha (الفَاتِحَةِ)

John 1:1-5

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

See also

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

Explanatory notes

1. Adyghe: Адыгабзэ, romanized: Ādəɣābză, [aːdɘɣaːbzɜ]
2. ^ Only in loanwords.

References

1. Adyghe at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. "Adyghe in Russian Federation". UNESCO WAL. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
3. "Adyghe". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
4. Aydın, Şamil Emre (2015), Çerkes Diyalektleri Archived 27 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine ISBN 978-605-65691-1-1
5. 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.
6. ^ "ADIGE DİL DERNEĞİ'NDEN ÇAĞRI!". www.ozgurcerkes.com (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
7. "ADYGHE (ADYGHIAN)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
8. ^ M. I. Isaev (1979). Language construction in the USSR (Языковое строительство в СССР). Мoscow: "Nauka" «Наука». pp. 180–191, 352.
9. H. Sh. Urys (2000). "Adygebzem and tkhide" Адыгэбзэм и тхыдэ. Elburs. Nalshyk. ISBN 5-7860-1439. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2024. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
10. 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.
11. "Hapi Cevdet Yıldız | Anadili Eğitimi ve Alfabe Sorunu". Cherkessia.net (in Turkish). 18 June 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
12. "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.
13. "Adıǵe Dili (Çerkes Dili) Latin alfabesine uyarlanıyor". Pusula Haber (in Turkish). 1 October 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
14. "T.C. Millî Eğitim Bakanlığı Talim Terbiye Kurulu Başkanlığı". mufredat.meb.gov.tr. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
15. "Kaffed'den Kiril eylemi". Ajans Kafkas (in Turkish). 16 April 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
16. "KAFFED'İN LATİN ALFABESİ İLE EĞİTİM KONUSUNDAKİ DAVASI RED EDİLDİ. – ÇERKES-FED" (in Turkish). August 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
17. DANEF. "DANEF". DANEF (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
18. 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.
19. Circassians bid to save ancient language. Al Jazeera. 14 May 2010. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
20. "Circassian Quran Website". Circassian Quran. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
21. "UNESCO Map of World's language in Danger" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
22. "OHCHR |". www.ohchr.org. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2020.

External links

• Grammar of the Circassian Language. 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

v t e North Caucasian languages
The proposed North Caucasian language family comprises the Northeast and Northwest Caucasian language families.
Northwest (Pontic)	Abazgi Abaza Abkhaz Circassian Adyghe Abzakh Bzhedug Hakuchi Hatuqwai Natukhaj Shapsug Kabardian Besleney Hattic (proposed) Ubykh
Northeast (Caspian)	Avar–Andic Andic Andi Akhvakh Bagvalal–Tindi Botlix–Godoberi Chamalal Karata-Tukita [ru] Avar Dargic Chirag North-Central Mehweb Gapshima Muira [ru] Tsudaqar–Usisha–Butri North Dargwa [ru] Aqusha [ru] Literary Dargwa Murego–Gubden [uk] Kadar Mugi [ru] Upper Mulebki Urakhi Southern Ashti [ru]–Kubachi Sanzhi–Itsari Amuzgi–Shiri Sanakari–Chakhrizhi Southwestern Dargwa Sirhwa [lez; uk] Tanti Upper Vurqni Kaitag–Shari Kaitag Shari Tsezic Bezhta–Hunzib–Khwarshi Inkhoqwari Hinukh–Tsez Lezgic Archi Samur Eastern Aghul Lezgian Tabasaran Udi Caucasian Albanian Southern Budukh Kryts Western Rutul Tsakhur Nakh Bats Vainakh Chechen Aukh Ingush Other Khinalug Lak
Italics indicate extinct languages

v t e Languages of the Caucasus
Caucasian (areal)	South (Kartvelian) Karto-Zan Georgian Judaeo-Georgian Old Georgian Zan Laz Mingrelian Svan Northeast (Caspian) Avar–Andic Andic Andi Akhvakh Bagvalal–Tindi Botlikh–Godoberi Chamalal Karata Avar Dargin Chirag North-Central Mehweb Gapshima Muira [ru] Tsudaqar–Usisha–Butri Northern Dargwa [ru] Aqusha [ru] Literary Dargwa Murego–Gubden [uk] Kadar Mugi [ru] Upper Mulebki Urakhi Southern Ashti [ru]–Kubachi Sanzhi–Itsari Amuzgi–Shiri Sanakari–Chakhrizhi Southwestern Dargwa Sirhwa [lez; uk] Tanti Upper Vurqni Kaitag–Shari Kaitag Shari Lezgic Archi Samur Eastern Aghul Lezgin Tabasaran Southern Budukh Kryts Jek Western Rutul Tsakhur Udi Nakh Bats Vainakh Chechen Aukh Ingush Tsezic (Didoic) Bezhta–Hunzib–Khwarshi Hinukh–Tsez Others Khinalug Lak Northwest (Pontic) Abazgi Abaza Abkhaz Circassian Adyghe Kabardian Ubykh
Indo- European	Iranian Kurdish Kurmanji Ossetian Persian Talysh Kilit Tat Judeo-Tat Slavic Russian Ukrainian Others Armenian Eastern Western German Pontic Greek
Turkic	Kipchak Karachay-Balkar Kumyk Nogai Urum Oghuz Azerbaijani Turkish Turkmen
Others	Kalmyk Oirat Lomavren Northeastern Neo-Aramaic Assyrian Bohtan Shirvani Arabic
Italics indicate extinct languages Languages between parentheses are varieties of the language on their left. See also Languages of Armenia Languages of Azerbaijan Languages of Georgia Languages of Russia

• Languages of the Caucasus
• Adyghe language
• Northwest Caucasian languages
• Languages of Iraq
• Languages of Jordan
• Languages of Russia
• Languages of Syria
• Languages of Turkey
• Agglutinative languages
• Endangered Caucasian languages
• Adygea
• Krasnodar Krai
• Vertical vowel systems
• Languages written in Cyrillic script
• Circassian culture