Abzakh Dialect

The Abzakh dialect (; ) is one of the Adyghe language dialects. The Abzakh dialect is spoken by the Abzakh which are one of the largest Circassian population in the diaspora outside Republic of Adygea alongside Shapsugs.

Phonology

Historically, Proto-Circassian had 6 distinct consonants:
*
*
*
*
*
*
Then, in the Abzakh and Kabardian dialects, the affricate postalveolar consonants became fricative:
* →
* → /
* →
* → /
* →
For example:
*The Proto-Circassian word кӏэкӏьын "to come out from under" became щӏэкӏьын in Kabardian and ӏекӏьын in Abzakh.
*The Proto-Circassian word кӏэгъуэжьын "to regret" became щӏэгъуэжын in Kabardian & ӏегъуэжьын Abzakh.
*The Proto-Circassian word пакӏэ "mustache" became пащӏэ in both Kabardian & Abzakh.
*The Proto-Circassian word кӏалэ "boy; young man" became щӏалэ in Kabardian and ӏелэ in Abzakh.
*The Proto-Circassian word кӏымахуэ "summer" became щӏымахуэ in Kabardian and щӏымафэ in Abzakh.
*The Proto-Circassian word кӏэ "new" became щӏэ in both Kabardian & Abzakh.
But words like кӏьапсэ "rope", кӏьакуэ "short" & кӏьэ "tail" were still pronounced with .

Later on, in the majority of Circassian dialects (both Adyghe and Kabardian dialects), the velar consonants гь , кь and кӏь became palato-alveolar consonants дж , ч and кӏ respectively. Now words like кӏапсэ "rope", кӏакуэ "short" & кӏэ "tail" were pronounced with .

For example, in the following table, you can see how the words "new" & "tail" are distinct in all dialects except Bzhedug & Chemgui.

Affricate to fricative

The un aspirated postalveolar sibilant affricate consonants ч and чъ in most Adyghe dialects (e.g. Temirgoy) became щ and шъ in the Abzakh dialect.

In the Abzakh dialects there exists a palatalized glottal stop �ʲ and an alveolo-palatal ejective fricative �ʼ which respectively correspond to кӏ ʃʼand чӏ ͡ʂʼin other Adyghe dialects.Переднеязычные твердые шипящие аффрикаты дж, чъ, ч1

Unique words

Grammar differences

Instrumental case

In the Khakurinokhabl sub-dialect of Abzakh, the instrumental case has the suffix -мӏе (-mʔʲa) or -ӏе (-ʔʲa) unlike other dialects that has the suffix -мкӏэ (-mt͡ʃa) or -кӏэ (-t͡ʃa).

* Khakurinokhabl : ӏялэр Адыгэбзэӏе мэгущаӏэ ↔ Standard: Кӏалэр Адыгэбзэкӏэ мэгущаӏэ – "The boy speaks (using) Adyghe language".
* Khakurinokhabl : Къэлэмымӏе сэтхэ ↔ Standard: Къэлэмымкӏэ сэтхэ – "I write (using) with the pencil".

Backward Prefix

In the Standard Adyghe, The prefix зэкӏэ- means backward. In the Abzakh dialect, it is зэӏе-.

* Abzakh : ӏялэр зэӏекӏо ↔ Standard: Кӏалэр зэкӏэкӏо – "The boy walks backward".
* Abzakh : ӏялэр зэӏеплъэ ↔ Standard: Кӏалэр зэкӏаплъэ – "The boy looks backward".

Under Prefix

In the Standard Adyghe, The prefix чӏэ- means under (toward under). In the Abzakh dialect, it is ӏе-.

* Abzakh : Шъыгым ӏес ӏялэр ↔ Standard: Чъыгым чӏэс кӏалэр – "The boy sits under the tree".
* Abzakh : ӏанэм ыщӏэгъ ӏеплъ ↔ Standard: ӏанэм ычӏэгъ чӏаплъ – "Look under the table".
* Abzakh : Лӏыр тучаным ӏехьэ ↔ Standard: Лӏыр тучаным чӏахьэ – "The man enters the shop".

Sample text

See also

* Hakuchi Adyghe dialect
* Kfar Kama Adyghe dialect
* Bzhedug Adyghe Dialect
* Shapsug Adyghe dialect
* Baslaney dialect

References

{{North Caucasian languages

Adyghe language