Circassian Language

International Centre for Circassian Studies (ICCS)

The Circassian Language

Адыгэбзэ

This section is concerned with research on the Circassian language, as opposed to learning the language.

A Brief Account of

The Circassian Language

Amjad Jaimoukha

Circassian is one of the three divisions of the Northwest group of Caucasian languages, the other two being Abkhaz-Abaza and the now extinct Ubykh (Pakhy). Though genetically related, the three languages are mutually unintelligible, the lexical differences between them being quite substantial. Some linguistic research suggests that more than 5,000 years ago all Northwest Caucasians spoke proto-West Caucasian, much the same way as Semites conversed in proto-Semitic. However, because of geographical separation, the original language differentiated into three distinct entities: proto-Circassian, proto-Abkhaz, and proto-Ubykh... Read more in the attached pdf and Microsoft Word files.

Circassian Grammar

Kabardian grammar in brief

Matasović, R., A Short Grammar of Kabardian, translated from Croatian by Tena Gnjatović, Zagreb, 2008 (sixth print). Online. Available HTTP: <http://mudrac.ffzg.hr/~rmatasov/KabardianGrammar.pdf> (accessed 18 May 2009).

Kabardian Verbal Affixes: Prefixes, Infixes, and Suffixes

(Amjad Jaimoukha)