Adyghe language

Standardization of Adyghe

Attempts to unify Adyghe and Kabardian

There were proposals to merge Adyghe and Kabardian to create a single Circassian literary language.^[20][7] Another proposal was to select one of the two to serve as the single literary language for all Circassians. A rejected proposal by Circassian scholars argued for recognizing Kabardian as the sole literary language for all Circassians, as it had the most speakers.^[22] There were attempts to create a single unified alphabet for Adyghe, Kabardian, Chechen and Karachay-Balkar; but efforts failed because the leaders of the movement were accused of being "bourgeois nationalists" and executed in 1937.^[22] One year earlier, Z.M. Naloev, who was involved in the creation of the Kabardian alphabet, was executed by firing squad for alleged treason; he was rehabilitated posthumously in 1957.^[23] The Bolsheviks supported the creation of separate alphabets and grammars for the "Kyakh" (Western; the modern Adyghe language) and Kabardian, despite ongoing debates on unifying them.^[22] Thus, Adyghe and Kabardian speakers could communicate easier orally as opposed to in writing due to different graphical representations and spelling rules.^[24] A more moderate proposal developed by the linguist M.A. Kumakhov aimed to unify the alphabets and orthography without forcing a complete merger of spoken Adyghe and Kabardian. This project proposed standardizing the representation of identical phonemes (using the same letter for the same sound where they currently differ, such as the Adyghe жъvs. Kabardian жь). The project was accepted by specialists at regional conferences in Nalchik and Maikop in 1998 and 1999. While the Parliament of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic approved the project, the Parliament of the Republic of Adygea did not proceed to discuss it.^[20] The "One Nation, One Republic, One Language" (Зы Лъэпкъ, Зы Республик, Зы Бзэ) movement among Circassians pushes for the unification of the three Circassian republics and recognition of Adyghe and Kabardian as not related languages, but as dialects of a single Circassian language, arguing that the division of Circassians into different "nations" (Adyghe vs. Kabardian vs. Cherkess) was a result of Soviet "ethnic engineering".^[25] The International Circassian Association (ICA) officially stated the goal of creating a "uniform Circassian language" in its 2015 congress resolution.^[17]

Black Sea coast dialects

• Shapsug dialect (Шапсыгъабзэ)
  • North Shapsugs, Great Shapsugs, Kuban Shapsugs (Шапсыгъэ шху) dialect
    • Kfar Kama dialect (Кфар Камэм ишапсыгъэбзэ)
  • Chemguy-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
• Chemguy (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

Modern alphabet

The Adyghe alphabet contains some inconsistencies between visual representation and pronunciation which can be a point of confusion for learners. It is tempting to read the Circassian alphabet letters phonologically, but this is not always accurate. For example:

• While the letter Кӏ appears to represent [kʼ], it is actually pronounced as [t͡ʃʼ] (Чӏ).
• Чӏ is pronounced as the retroflex [t͡ʂʼ] (Чӏъ).
• Цу is pronounced as [t͡ʂʷ] (Чъу).
• Шӏ is pronounced as [ʂʼ] (Шӏъ).
• Шӏу is pronounced as [ʂʷʼ] (Шӏъу).
• The letter Г represents the fricative [ɣ] rather than the stop [ɡ].
• The labialized Гу corresponds to the stop [ɡʷ].

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

Other alphabets

For most of its history, Adyghe was an oral language. The folklore, particularly the Nart sagas, served as a repository for the language.^[9][45] Widespread literacy in Adyghe did not exist until the modern era and literacy was limited to a few people. From the 6th–5th centuries BC until the first half of the 15th century, the Adyghe people used the Greek alphabet, initially introduced through ancient Greek colonies and later reinforced by the Byzantine Empire and the Christian church.^[46][47] Early forms of the Cyrillic alphabet were also used during this period due to Russian influence.^[47] During the 13th to 15th centuries, the development of relations with the Genoese Republic led to some use of the Italian (Latin) script.^[46] In the 14th century, along with Islam, the Arabic script was adopted for Adyghe.^[47] 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.^[46] Early attempts to write Adyghe in modern Cyrillic started as early as 1829 and were followed by similar attempts.^[48][49]

In 1853, the Adyghe educator Umar Bersey published the first "Primer of the Circassian Language" based on the Arabic script.^[46][50][51] 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.^[50] 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.^[50][52] 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.^[53][47]

In the diaspora, a new Latin alphabet based on the Turkish alphabet was designed to better facilitate Adyghe and Kabardian education in Turkey, named the ABX alphabet.^[54]

Turkey

Turkey hosts the largest Circassian population, but the language lacks any legal recognition. The Ottoman Empire allowed Circassian language schools, including schools teaching only in Adyghe; historically, the first Adyghe language education in the diaspora occurred in Istanbul; the "Circassian Benevolence School" (1910) and the "Circassian Girls Model School" (1919) provided instruction, followed by the Circassian Sample School (1920), a private school that used Circassian as its primary medium of instruction.^[55] However, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of the modern republic, these schools were banned by the Kemalists.^[55][56] Following the "Citizen, Speak Turkish!" campaign and the closure of Circassian schools, the language was confined to the home.^[55] In educational settings, speaking Adyghe was strictly banned. Students faced physical punishment and psychological alienation for speaking Adyghe, including during recess and outside of school grounds. To enforce this, teachers formed "discipline committees" made up of student informants. Publishing in the language also faced state pressure; cultural magazines had to remove Circassian lyrics from traditional songs and publish only the musical notes to avoid government retribution.^[55] Consequently, while the older generation retains fluency, proficiency among those under 50 is significantly diminished.^[57][56][5] In a study, Nusret Baş (Бажь Нусрэт), the then-president of the Federation of Circassian Associations, estimated that about 5% of Circassians in Turkey (including people of Circassian descent) speak their native language fluently.^[17]

Linguistically, the Adyghe spoken in Turkey exhibits distinct features as it was not subject to the standartisation policies in the Caucasus. It contains archaic vocabulary lost in the Caucasus, alongside Turkish loanwords.^[58][59] While the Chemguy dialect forms the basis of the literary language in the Republic of Adygea, the majority of the diaspora in Turkey speaks the Abzakh and Shapsug dialects (as well as Kabardian), alongside smaller numbers of Bzhedug and Hatuqay speakers.^[59] The Hatuqay dialect is spoken only in Turkey.^[60] In some cases, the physical mixing of different tribes led to dialectal convergence. Frequent intermarriages between dialect groups led to the use of a mixed Adyghe koine or the dominance of one dialect in multi-tribal areas. In some cases, the boundaries between dialects became blurred, resulting in a hybrid oral communication style, sometimes even including hybrids with Kabardian or Abaza.^[61][62][63] Due to assimilation, Adyghe speakers in Turkey sometimes use Turkish terms for numbers, days of the week, months, and colors.^[61]

Significant changes occurred following Turkey's European Union accession process in the early 2000s.^[64] The language policy was liberalized, which prompted revival efforts.^[17][55] In 2012, the Ministry of National Education introduced "Living Languages and Dialects" as an elective course for secondary schools, allowing Adyghe to be taught in public schools. Classes are only opened if a set minimum number of students apply, and bureaucratic hurdles regarding application windows often hinder access to these classes. Teachers are subject teachers with basic language skills rather than trained philologists, and they receive limited training in language pedagogy. Educational materials are imported from Adygea and are designed for native speakers, making them difficult to adapt for diaspora students who are learning Adyghe as a second language.^[64] During the COVID-19 pandemic, transnational online courses were organized in collaboration with institutions in Russia, allowing students in Turkey, Jordan, and Germany to be taught by teachers directly from the Caucasus.^[64] Düzce University has a Department of Caucasian Languages and Cultures, which offers "Circassian Language and Culture" programs, including the teaching of Adyghe in Cyrillic, as the surrounding region is inhabited largely by Shapsug and Abzakh Circassians.^[59][64] Boğaziçi University began offering elective Adyghe courses in 2013.^[64]

A significant debate persists in the Turkish diaspora regarding orthography of Adyghe. The Federation of Caucasian Associations (KAFFED) adopted the Cyrillic alphabet in 2004 to maintain continuity with the homeland, but other groups advocate for a Latin-based script to facilitate easier learning for Turkish speakers.^[17][59] This dispute intensified significantly when the Turkish Ministry of Education approved a Latin-based alphabet, called the ABX Latin Alphabet, for elective Circassian language courses in public schools, effectively creating a dual-alphabet system alongside the existing Cyrillic curriculum. KAFFED vehemently opposed this decision, arguing that it creates confusion and severs cultural ties with the autonomous republics in the Caucasus.^[65] Demonstrations were at Ministry of Education offices across the country with slogans including "Hands off my alphabet," "We want our mother tongue's alphabet" and "How does Arabic in Latin letters sound?".^[65]

The Ubykh people in Turkey, who originally possessed their own distinct language, largely integrated with the Adyghe during their exile and adopted the Adyghe language as their own. Ubykh language went extinct in 1992; today Ubykh people speak Adyghe or Turkish.^[66][67]

Adyghe State University is working to document Adyghe language and folklore in Turkey.^[68]

Israel

The Circassian community in Israel, concentrated in the Circassian towns of Kfar Kama and Rehaniya, is considered to have one of the highest levels of language maintenance in the diaspora.^[5][69] Adyghe serves as the language of daily communication in the home, school, and public spaces. In 1958-1959, Israeli Circassians made contact for the first time with Circassians in the Caucasus and requested literary material in Adyghe, which they received.^[9][70] In 1976, the Adyghe language was introduced into the official school curriculum. It is a compulsory subject from 6th grade onward, and utilizes textbooks based on the literary standard of the Republic of Adygea.^[5][70] Despite the dominance of the Shapsug dialect in speech, the written language taught in schools utilizes the Cyrillic alphabet and the Chemguy-based literary standard.^[5][69] Kfar Kama is inhabited by the Shapsug tribe, while Rihaniya is inhabited by the Abzakh tribe. The Israeli variety of Adyghe also contains unique neologisms.^[71]

Even in diaspora communities with highly preserved spoken fluency, such as the compact Circassian settlements in Israel, literacy is a significant challenge; one survey showed that while 81.7% of respondents had advanced speaking proficiency, only 12% reported writing proficiency.^[72]

Jordan

In Jordan, the Adyghe language has historically enjoyed a relatively privileged status, though it currently faces significant pressure, as Arabic has become the dominant language for the younger generation, and the Adyghe language is often restricted to symbolic functions or domestic use.^[9][11] Consequently, Adyghe in Jordan serves more as a folkloric marker of identity than a functional tool for daily communication.^[73] The Adyghe language in Jordan is currently classified as severely endangered due to a rapid disruption in intergenerational transmission. The decline of the language was triggered by migration, urbanization, and the dispersion of the Circassian population among the Arabic-speaking majority. For example, the expansion of Amman in the early 1900s transformed predominantly Circassian farming villages into diverse urban centres inhabited by Arabs, causing Circassians to become a minority in their original settlements. Today, Arabic has almost entirely ousted Circassian as the primary language of communication within the home. Surveys indicate that 21% of children use Circassian at home. Because schools historically used Arabic as the sole medium of instruction, Circassian parents began speaking Arabic at home to ensure their children would not struggle academically.^[73]

Adyghe is taught in Prince Hamza Ibn Al-Hussein Secondary School, a school for Jordanian Circassians in Jordan's capital city of Amman. This school, established by Circassians with support from 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.^[5][11][74] The diaspora in Jordan has produced dictionaries and linguistic works, such as a Circassian-Arabic dictionary published in 1988.^[70] The Circassian Charity Association of Jordan also sponsors a school between Naur and Wadi Al-Seer that teaches the language.^[75] Historically, various dialects were spoken by immigrants, including Shapsug, Bzhedug, (and Kabardian), but over time these dialects have merged.^[75]

Syria

Historically, the Golan Heights served as a centre for Circassian language preservation prior to the 1967 war. In the 1920s and 1930s, the "Circassian Society of Education and Union" in Quneitra published the newspaper Mardj in Circassian (using the Latin script), Arabic, and French, and established a school that taught the language alongside general subjects. In the late 20th century, the Circassian Charity Association in Damascus operated informal language circles to teach the Cyrillic script and preserve oral traditions. However, the language has declined due to the lack of state-supported education and the dominance of Arabic in all public spheres.^[5] After the Syrian defeat in the war, the Circassian population largely fled the Golan Heights region, which was occupied by the Israeli Army.^[9] Many of Syria's ethnic Circassians have left the country and have repatriated to Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, as well as to partially recognised Republic of Abkhazia.^[76][77]

United States

The Circassian American community is multilingual, speaking languages including English, Circassian (Adyghe, Kabardian), and Arabic. However, the community is currently experiencing a significant language shift away from their ethnic Adyghe language and toward English. English is the dominant language used in almost all public and social domains, utilized universally in the workplace and overwhelmingly with neighbors, non-Circassian friends, and even among Circassian peers. The Adyghe language remains preserved primarily within the home, specifically in intergenerational communication. Circassian is predominantly spoken by the elder members of the community and is the primary language used when younger generations address their grandparents, representing over 52% of these interactions.^[78] A study found that a large majority of the New Jersey Circassian community (81.5%) agrees that learning the Circassian language is essential for maintaining their ethnic identity.^[79] However, some Circassian Americans have abandoned Adyghe fluency as redundant, focusing instead on Adyghe Khabze, traditional dances and folklore.^[78] The Circassian Benevolent Association (CBA) hosts a Sunday school where volunteers teach the Circassian language.^[78][79]

In recent years, growing political pressure and the criminalization of civil society initiatives in Russia have forced many scholars and language activists to relocate, shifting the epicenter of Circassian language activism and cultural preservation to countries abroad, including the United States.^[80]

Caucasus vs Diaspora Adyghe

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.^[5][81]

The linguistic divergence between the Adyghe language spoken in the historical homeland and the language spoken by the diaspora, particularly in Turkey and the Middle East, is the result of over a century and a half of isolated development. This isolation, combined with the mixing of various dialects and the strong influence of local languages like Turkish and Arabic, led to significant phonetic, lexical, and semantic differences.^[82][83]

Some native Adyghe words acquired entirely new meanings in the diaspora. The word гу, which historically means "wagon" or "cart" in the literary language, has evolved to mean "automobile" or "car" among diaspora speakers. Similarly, the word ин (big) is used in the diaspora to refer to an "elder," replacing the literary term нэхъыжь.

Due to intense influence of the Russian language, Russian loanwords in standart Adyghe are left exactly as is and not adapted to the language in terms of spelling or pronouncation. However, in the diaspora, the pronouncations are adapted to fit the Adyghe language:

In addition to native terms, there are Turkish loanwords that do not exist in literary Adyghe, which are occasionally used alongside native equivalents:

In diaspora variants of the Adyghe language, internationalisms have been borrowed via Turkish or other languages, thus differ slightly from literary Adyghe which borrowed them from Russian:

Turkish linguistic influence led to the creation of calques (literal translations) for modern concepts. In some extreme cases, diaspora speakers even attach Turkish grammatical suffixes, such as the past tense -miş or the subjunctive -dı, directly to Adyghe roots, though native speakers often recognize these constructions as "non-Adyghe".

While the spoken and folkloric language of the diaspora evolved independently, this isolation has begun to diminish. With the advent of the internet and social media, the younger and middle generations in the diaspora are increasingly interacting with the Cyrillic-based literary language of the homeland. This exposure is initiating a slow but inevitable "literaturization" of the diaspora's language, gradually aligning their written and official communication with the literary standard.

When conversing in Turkish, diaspora Circassians frequently embed native Adyghe terms to refer to specific traditional and unique cultural conventions, or use them as in-group slang.^[84]

^{[82][83][68][84]}

Native vocabulary

Example loanwords

Al-Fatiha الفَاتِحَةِ

John 1:1–5

Universal Declaration of Human Rights