The Besleney ( Circassian: Bеслъэней, ''Bestləney'', ; russian: Бесленеевцы ) (also known as Beslenei or Baslaney) are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of the twelve stars on the green-and-gold Circassian flag. By character, culture and language, the Besleney are closest to Kabardians. The noble families of the Besleney were Kanoko and Shaloho, ancestors of Kabardian Prince Beslan, (the son of legendary

Prince Inal A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

), who established his own tribe of the same name.

Population

The majority of the Besleney live in the valley of Bolshaya and Malaya Laba Rivers and on the bank of Urup in the Russian Republics of Karachay-Cherkessia,

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and ...

and

Adygea The Republic of Adygea (; russian: Республика Адыгея, Respublika Adygeya, p=ɐdɨˈɡʲejə; ady, Адыгэ Республик, ''Adıgə Respublik''), also known as the Adyghe Republic, is a republics of Russia, republic of Ru ...

. They also extend to the valleys of Chetem, Fars, Psefir, Kuban (Western Circassia).

Language

The Besleney people speak the Besleney sub-dialect ( ady, Бэслъыныйбзэ) of the

Kabardian Adyghe dialect Kabardian (; ; ), also known as , is a Northwest Caucasian language closely related to the Adyghe (West Circassian) language. Circassian nationalists reject the distinction between the two languages and refer to them both as " Circassian". ...

(East Circassian). However, because the Besleney tribe lived at the center of Circassia, the Besleney dialect also shares a large number of features with dialects of the

West Adyghe dialect Adyghe ( or ; ady, Адыгабзэ, Adygabzə, ), also known as West Circassian ( ady, link=no, кӏахыбзэ, khaxybzə), is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken by the western subgroups of Circassians. It is spoken mainly in Russia, a ...

. Like the Adyghe Shapsug sub-dialect, there exist a palatalized voiced velar plosive , a palatalized voiceless velar plosive and a palatalized velar ejective , which were merged to , and in other Circassian dialects. The Besleney dialect also has an

alveolar lateral ejective affricate The alveolar lateral ejective affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is (or ), and in Americanist phonetic notation it is (lambda b ...

, which corresponds to an

alveolar lateral ejective fricative The alveolar lateral ejective fricative is a type of consonantal sound, reported in the Northwest Caucasian languages and in Modern South Arabian languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . Fe ...

in most other varieties of Circassian.UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive - Recording Details for Kabardian Baslanei dialect
In the first word list calle

the words "man" and "quarter" are pronounced as and compare to Standard Kabardian and The Besleney dialect has a

voiceless glottal fricative The voiceless glottal fricative, sometimes called voiceless glottal transition, and sometimes called the aspirate, is a type of sound used in some spoken languages that patterns like a fricative or approximant consonant '' phonologically'', bu ...

that corresponds to in other Circassian dialects.Консонантная система уляпского говора в сопоставлении с аналогами других диалектов адыгских языков

References

External links

UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive - Recording Details for Kabardian Beslenei dialect
{{authority control Circassians Circassian tribes Ethnic groups in Russia Muslim communities of Russia Kabardino-Balkaria Karachay-Cherkessia Adygea

Population

Language

See also

References

External links