Proto-Circassian (or Proto-Adyghe–Kabardian) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Adyghean and Kabardian languages.

Phonology

Consonants

The consonant system is reconstructed with a four-way

phonation The term phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, ''phonation'' is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the defi ...

contrast in stops and

affricates An affricate is a consonant that begins as a stop and releases as a fricative, generally with the same place of articulation (most often coronal). It is often difficult to decide if a stop and fricative form a single phoneme or a consonant pai ...

, and a two-way contrast in

fricatives A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in t ...

Aspirated consonants to plain

In the Proto-Circassian there was a series of aspirated consonants that survived in the Shapsug and Bzhedugh dialect while they became plain consonants in the other dialects. * → * → * → * → * → * → * → * → * → * →

Plain voiceless consonants to voiced

In the Proto-Circassian there was a series of tense consonants that became voiced in the eastern dialects. * → * → * → * → * → / * → * → / * → /

Velar consonants to palato-alveolar

In the Proto-Circassian language there exist a palatalized

voiced velar stop The voiced velar plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. Some languages have the voiced pre-velar plosive, which is articulated slightly more front compared with the place of articulation of the prototypic ...

, a palatalized aspirated

voiceless velar stop The voiceless velar plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in almost all spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is k. The sound is a very ...

, a palatalized

and a palatalized

velar ejective The velar ejective is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . Features Features of the velar ejective: Occurrence See also * List of ...

. The consonants гь , кь and кӏь survive in the Shapsug dialect, in the Besleney dialect and in the Kabardian Uzunyayla dialect. In other Circassian dialects they were merged with the

palato-alveolar Postalveolar (post-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the ''back'' of the alveolar ridge. Articulation is farther back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but n ...

consonants дж , ч and кӏ respectively.Studia Caucasologica I page 11
* → * → * → / / * →

Affricate to fricative

Historically, Proto-Circassian had 6 distinct consonants: * * * * * * Then, in the Abzakh and Kabardian dialects, the affricate

postalveolar consonant Postalveolar (post-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the ''back'' of the alveolar ridge. Articulation is farther back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but n ...

s 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

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. The way the affricate

s became fricative in the Abzakh and the Kabardian dialects: * → * → / * → * → / * →

Introduction of labiodental fricatives

Proto-Circassian had no labiodental fricatives:

voiceless labiodental fricative The voiceless labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in a number of spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . Some scholars also posit the voiceless labiodental approx ...

and

voiced labiodental fricative The voiced labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is v. The sound is similar to v ...

Western Circassian received the labiodental fricatives from one source while Eastern Circassian received from another. In Western: * → In Eastern: * → * → * → * → * →

Western

Proto-Circassian had a labialized

voiceless velar fricative The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It was part of the consonant inventory of Old English and can still be found in some dialects of English, most notably in Scottish English, e.g. in ''lo ...

ʷwhich survived in the eastern dialects while it became a

in the western dialects. * →

Eastern

Proto-Circassian had a series of labialized

s (t͡ɕʷ, ʑʷ, ɕʷ and ɕʷʼ). These consonants survived in the western dialects while they became labiodental consonants in the eastern dialects. * → * → * → * → * →

Grammar

Numbers

Schleicher's fable

Schleicher's fable in Proto-Circassian:

χʷǝ č́ʷara-gjǝ χʷǝ ja laśʷam mә q́ˤ:an č́ʷara pǝʎ́an; mǝ χwanǝta k:ʷǝm q:irǝ, mǝ čʷǝχʷa čʷam, mǝ ć̣ǝm pasa mǝš́ʷrǝ. χʷǝ č́ʷara q̇́ˤan: "źǝʁʷǝ sā ǵʷǝ, q:ać̣am ć̣arǝ č́ʷara ḳ́ʷarǝ." č́ʷara q̇́ˤan: "q:́ˤʷa χʷǝ! źǝʁʷǝ š́a ǵʷǝ ć̣arǝ, q:ać̣a, ł́a, č́ʷara laśʷam ʎ́ʷa ḳ́ač̣ʷǝm čǝ-wǝ, χʷiara-gjǝ laśʷam mә q́ˤ:a." nǝ q:́aˤʷasa χʷǝ rǝq:ʷada q:ˤʷan.

References

*STAROSTIN, Sergei A.; NIKOLAYEV, Sergei L. (1994). A North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary
Preface
*Common West Caucasian: The Reconstruction of its Phonological System and Parts of its Lexicon and Morphology. Leiden, The Netherlands : Research School CNWS, 1996; xxvi, 452 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. {{ISBN, 9073782732 Circassian Northwest Caucasian languages