Adyghe grammar

Adyghe is a polysynthetic language^{[citation needed]} with an ergative verb-final clause structure and rich verb morphology.

Ergative–absolutive[edit]

Adyghe is an ergative-absolutive language, unlike nominative-accusative languages, such as English, where the single argument of an intransitive verb ("She" in the sentence "She walks.") behaves grammatically like the agent of a transitive verb ("She" in the sentence "She finds it."), in ergative-absolutive language, the subject of an intransitive verb behaves like the object of a transitive verb, and differently from the agent of a transitive verb. For example, the word кӏалэ "boy" in the intransitive sentence кӏалэр малӏэ "the boy dies" behaves grammatically different from the word кӏалэ "boy" in the transitive sentence кӏалэм ар еукӏы "the boy kills it".

Nouns in Adyghe can have the following roles in a sentence:

Ergative case: Marked as -м /-m/, it serves to mark the one that causes change by doing the verb.
Absolutive case: Marked as -р /-r/, it serves to mark the one that is changed by the verb's, i.e. it is being created, altered, moved or ended by the verb.
Oblique case: Also marked as -м /-m/, it serves to mark the dative and applicative case roles. It acts as the indirect object in the sentence and its state is not changed by the verb, i.e. we have no indication of what happens to it or how it behaves after the verb.

In intransitive verbs the subject is in the absolutive case thus it indicates that the subject is changing ( created, altered, moved or ended).

In this example the boy is changing by moving:

Кӏалэр

Кӏалэ-р

[t͡ʃʼaːɮar

boy.ABS

макӏо

maːkʷʼa]

(s)he is going

"The boy is going."

In this example the man is changing by moving. The verb еон /jawan/ "to hit" describes the movement of hitting and not the impact itself, so we have no indication of what happens to the object (the wall in this case).

Лӏыр

Лӏы-р

[ɬʼər

man.ABS

дэпкъым

дэпкъы-м

dapqəm

wall.OBL

ео

jawa]

(s)he is hitting

"The man is hitting the wall." lit. "the man is hitting at the wall."

In transitive verbs the subject is in the ergative case thus it indicates that the subject causes change to the object which gets the absolutive case.

In this example the wall changes by being destroyed (it was altered). The verb къутэн /qʷətan/ "to destroy" does not indicate how the subject (boy) destroyed the wall thus we have no indication of the boy changing, making him the one that caused the change (and not the one that changes).

Кӏалэм

Кӏалэ-м

[t͡ʃʼaːɮam

boy.ERG

дэпкъыр

дэпкъы-р

dapqər

wall.ABS

ыкъутагъ

əqʷətaːʁ]

(s)he destroyed

"The boy destroyed the wall."

In this example the rock changes by moving (motion in air), the man causes the change and the wall acts as the indirect object of the preposition.

Лӏым

[ɬʼəm

man.ERG

мыжъор

məʒʷar

rock.ABS

дэпкъым

dapqəm

wall.OBL

тедзэ

tajd͡za]

(s)he is throwing at

"The man is throwing the rock at the wall."

It is important to distinguish between the intransitive and transitive verb, because the subject and object noun cases as well as the sentences' verb conjunctions (the prefixes that indicate person) depend on it. A fault in this can change the meaning of the sentence drastically, switching the roles of the subject and object. For instance, look at the following two sentences:

кӏалэм

кӏалэ-м

[t͡ʃʼaːɮam

boy.ERG

пшъашъэр

пшъашъэ-р

pʂaːʂar

girl.ABS

елъэгъу

jaɬaʁʷə]

(s)he is seeing

"The boy is seeing the girl."

кӏалэм

кӏалэ-м

[t͡ʃʼaːɮam

boy.OBL

пшъашъэр

пшъашъэ-р

pʂaːʂar

girl.ABS

еплъы

japɬə]

(s)he is looking at

"The girl is looking at the boy."

Even though the noun cases of the word boy кӏалэ are the same (In the Ergative-Oblique case marked as -м), they behave grammatically different because the verb еплъын "to look" is considered an intransitive verb in contrast to the verb елъэгъун "to see" which is transitive.

Noun[edit]

Singular and plural[edit]

A Circassian noun can be in one of the following two states: singular or plural.

Singular nouns have zero morpheme (no prefixes / suffixes), while plural nouns use the additional хэ morpheme, which is attached to the main form of the word. For example: singular: унэ "home", тхылъ "book", plural: унэ-хэ-р "homes", тхылъ-хэ-р "books".

Unlike English verbs, Circassian verbs use -х- or -а- morphemes to form their plural versions. The second morpheme is attached to the verb in front of the verb's root, and the first is attached after it. For example: ар макӏо "he is going", ахэр макӏо-х "they are going"; ащ ыӏуагъ "he said", ахэмэ а-ӏуагъ "they said".

Definite and indefinite forms[edit]

Circassian nouns usually have either definite or indefinite form. The idea behind this concept is close to the idea of definite/indefinite articles in English. The definite form of Circassian nouns have -р or -м (noun cases) formats at the end of the word. For example: кӏалэ "boy" – indefinite noun, i.e. an undefined boy—this form of the word is used in generalizations or when the boy is unknown to either the speaker or listener (a/an or zero article in English)— кӏалэр, кӏалэм "the boy" – these forms are used when the mentioned boy is well known to both the speaker and listener.^{[citation needed]}

Cases[edit]

Adyghe has four different noun cases, each with corresponding suffixes: absolutive, ergative, instrumental, and adverbial.

Case	Suffix		example
Case	Cyrillic	IPA	example
Absolutive	р	/r/	кӏалэр [t͡ʃʼaːɮar] ('the boy')
Ergative-Oblique	м	/m/	кӏалэм [t͡ʃʼaːɮam] ('the boy's')
Instrumental	(м)кӏэ	/(m)t͡ʃʼa/	кӏалэмкӏэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮamt͡ʃʼa] ('using the boy')
Adverbial	эу	/aw/	кӏалэу [t͡ʃʼaɮaw] ('as a boy')

Absolutive case[edit]

The absolutive case of a definite noun is marked by the affix -р /-r/ both in the singular and plural forms (e.g. кӏалэр [t͡ʃʼaːɮar] 'the boy', кӏалэхэр [t͡ʃʼaːɮaxar] ('the boys'), шыр [ʃər] 'the horse'). The absolutive case usually expresses subject in conjunction with intransitive verbs or direct object in conjunction with transitive verbs: For example:

In the following example, Кӏалэр is in the absolutive case, it points to the subject (the boy), and the sentence is in the absolutive form with an intransitive verb (кӏуагъэ);

кӏалэр

кӏалэ-р

[t͡ʃʼaːɮar

the boy.ABS

еджапӏэм

еджапӏэ-м

jad͡ʒaːpʼam

the school.ERG

кӏуагъэ

кӏо-агъэ

kʷʼaːʁa]

(s)he went

"the boy went to the school"

In the following example, джанэр is in the absolutive case, it points to the direct object (the shirt which is being laundered), and the sentence is in the ergative form (after the form of its subject – Бзылъфыгъэм) with a transitive verb (егыкӏы).

бзылъфыгъэм

бзылъфыгъ-эм

[bzəɬfəʁam

the woman.ERG

джанэр

джанэ-р

d͡ʒaːnar

the shirt.ABS

егыкӏы

jaɣət͡ʃʼə]

(s)he laundries it

"the woman laundries the shirt"

Ergative-Oblique case[edit]

A noun in the ergative case is marked by the affix -м /-m/ (e.g. кӏалэм [t͡ʃʼaːɮam] 'the boy's', кӏалэхэм [t͡ʃʼaːɮaxam] 'the boys'', шым [ʃəm] 'the horse). This case has two roles: Ergative role and Oblique role.

The Ergative role functions as subject in conjunction with transitive verbs.

лӏым

лӏы-м

[ɬʼəm

the man.ERG

машӏор

машӏо-р

maːʃʷʼar

the fire.ABS

егъэкӏуасэ

jaʁakʷʼaːsa]

(s)he extinguishes it

"the man extinguishes the fire"

The Oblique role functions as indirect object with both transitive and intransitive verbs.

An example with an intransitive verb еджэ "reads" and indirect object тхылъым "book".

кӏалэр

кӏалэ-р

[t͡ʃʼaːɮar

the boy.ABS

тхылъым

тхылъ-ым

txəɬəm

the book.OBL

еджэ

jad͡ʒa]

(s)he reads

"the boy reads the book"
Litrary: "the boy is involved in reading the book"

An example with an transitive verb реты "gives" and indirect object пшъашъэм "girl".

кӏалэм

кӏалэ-м

[t͡ʃʼaːɮam

the boy.ERG

мыӏэрысэр

мыӏэрыс-р

məʔarəsər

the apple.ABS

пшъашъэм

пшъашъэ-м

pʂaːʂam

the girl.OBL

реты

rajtə]

(s)he gives it to

"the boy gives the apple to the girl"

The Ergative-Oblique case can also be used as an adverbial modifier. For example: Студентхэм мафэм ӏоф ашӏагъ "The students have worked during the day" (мафэм – adverbial modifier of time); Кӏалэхэр мэзым кӏуагъэх "The boys went to the forest" (мэзым – adverbial modifier of place).

Instrumental case[edit]

Indefinite nouns are marked by the suffix -кӏэ : тхылъ-кӏэ, "by/with a book", ӏэ-кӏэ "by/with a hand". Definite nouns express this case using the ergative suffix -м in conjunction with the affix -кӏэ: уатэ-м-кӏэ "by/with the hammer", тхылъы-м-кӏэ "by/with the book". The instrumental case expresses instruments (tools or means), directions or purposes of action.

In the following example, the instrumental case is used to indicate an instrument (tool):

ыцӏэр

ы-цIэ-эр

[ət͡sʼar

his name.ABS

къэлэмымкӏэ

къэлэм-ымкIэ

qalaməmt͡ʃʼa

pencil.INS

къытхыгъ

къы-тхы-ыгъ

qətxəʁ]

he wrote

"he wrote his name with the pencil"

In the following example, the instrumental case is used to indicate a purpose of action:

тыгъужъыр

тыгъужъы-р

[təʁʷəʐər

the wolf.ABS

бжыхьэм

бжыхьэ-м

bʒəħam

autumn.ERG

былымхэмкӏэ

былымхэ-мкӏэ

bəɮəmxamt͡ʃʼa

for the cattle.INS

дэи

dajə]

bad

"The wolf during autumn is bad for the cattle."

In the following example, the instrumental case is used to indicate a direction:

хымкӏэ

хы-мкӏэ

[xəmt͡ʃʼa

from the sea.INS

жьыбгъэр

жьыбгъэ-р

ʑəbʁar

the wind.ABS

къэкӏыщтыгъэ

qat͡ʃʼəɕtəʁa]

it was coming

"the wind was blowing from the sea"

Adverbial case[edit]

Has the suffix -эу /aw/ (e.g. кӏалэу [t͡ʃʼaːɮaw] 'boy'), шэу [ʃaw] 'horse'). The adverbial case usually expresses a transition into something, or defines the subject/object of a verb. It points to the real (literal, not grammatical) subject in the sentence. For example:

лӏыр

[ɬʼər

man.ABS

профессорэу

профессор-эу

profesoraw

professor.ADV

хъугъэ

хъу-гъэ

χʷəʁa]

(s)he became

"The man became a professor."

лӏыжъэу

лӏыжъэ-у

[ɬʼəʐaw

old man.ADV

щысыгъэр

щысыгъэ-р

ɕəsəʁar

the one that sit

кӏожьыгъэ

kʷʼaʑəʁa]

(s)he returned

"The old man who had sat there, left."

лӏыр

лӏы-р

[ɬʼər

man.ABS

тхьэматэу

тхьэматэ-у

tħamaːtaw

leader.ADV

дзэм

дзэ-м

d͡zam

army.OBL

къыхэкӏыжьыгъ

qəxat͡ʃʼəʑəʁ]

(s)he returned

"The man has returned from the army as an officer."

Derivation[edit]

Сomposition and suffixation are the most typical ways to form Circassian nouns. There are different ways of composing words, for example: мэзчэ́т (мэз "forest", чэт "chicken", pheasant), псычэ́т (псы "water", чэт "chicken", duck), мэкъумэ́щ "agriculture" (мэкъу "hay", мэщы́ "millet"), шхапӏэ "cafeteria" (шхэн "eat", пӏэ "place").

The following suffixes are used to form Circassian nouns:

Meaning	Suffix	Example
Manner	-кӏэ	зекӏуакӏэ "behavior", кӏуакӏэ "gait", кӏочӏакӏэ "strength".
Time	-гъу	хьэдэгъу "death time", къэщэгъу "age of marriage", лӏыжъыгъу "old age time"
Fellow	-гъу	лъэпкъэгъу "kinsman", унэгъу "family", ныбджэгъу "friend".
Place	-щ:	хьакӏэщ "sitting-room" (from хьакӏэ "guest"), чэмэ́щ "cowshed" (from чэмы́ "cow").
Location	-пӏэ:	еджапӏэ "school" (from еджэ́н "study, read"), уцупӏэ "station" (from уцун "to stop").
Agent	-кӏо:	еджакӏо "student" (from еджэ́н "study, read"), лэжьакӏо "worker" (from лэжьэн "to work").
Tool	-лъ:	щыгъу́лъ "saltcellar" (from щыгъу "salt"), дэгъа́лъ "vessel for oil" (from дагъэ́ "oil").
Horrible	-джэ:	кӏуадж "bad road" (from кӏон "to go"), теплъаджэ "ugly" (from теплъэ "appearance").

Possessive[edit]

Possessive cases are one of the most important grammatical characteristics of nouns in the Circassian language. There are two (in some versions of the Circassian grammar there is third form, called "cognate", which is somewhere between the two mentioned below) main forms of possessive cases:

organic
proprietary

Inalienable possession[edit]

Inalienable nouns include body parts (such as leg, which is necessarily "someone's leg" even if it is severed from the body), kinship terms (such as mother), name, and part-whole relations (such as top). Singular Circassian inalienable nouns are expressed by the following prefixes:

Singular
Pronoun	Prefix	Example
1st person	с- or сы-	с-шъхьэ "my head", сы́-гу "my heart"
2nd person	у-, п-	у-нэ́ "your eye", п-лъакъо́ "your leg", п-ӏэ "your hand";
3rd person	ы-	ы-шы "his brother", ы́-пхъу "his daughter", ы́-къу "his son".

Plural nouns have these prefixes:

Plural
Pronoun	Prefix	Example
1st person	ты-, т-	ты-нэхэ́р "our eyes", т-шъхьэхэ́р "our heads", т-ӏэбжъанэхэр "our legs";
2nd person	шъу-	шъу-лъакъохэ́р "your legs", шъу-шъхьацыхэ́р "your hair";
3rd person	а-	а́-гу "their heats", а-лъа́къу "their legs".

Alienable possession[edit]

Alienable possession is used when referring to property, objects, concepts, ideas and attributes. Singular Circassian nouns of the proprietary form are expressed by the following prefixes:

Singular
Pronoun	Prefix	Example
1st person	си-	си-тхы́лъ "my book";
2nd person	уи-	уи-тхы́лъ "your book";
3rd person	и-	и-тхы́лъ "his book".

Plural nouns have these prefixes:

Plural
Pronoun	Prefix	Example
1st person	ти-	ти-у́н "our home".
2nd person	шъуи-	шъуи-у́н "your home".
3rd person	я-	я-у́н "their home".

Pronouns[edit]

In the Circassian language pronouns belong to the following groups: personal, demonstrative, possessive, interrogative, adherent, indefinite.

Personal pronouns are only expressed in first and second person in singular and plural forms: сэ /sa/ "I", тэ /ta/ "we" о /wa/ "you" and шъо /ʃʷa/ "you" (plural).

In order to express third person, the special demonstrative pronouns ар "he", мор "that", мыр "this", ахэр, мыхэр "they, that" are used. For Circassian personal pronouns there is no contrast between the absolutive and ergative grammatical cases (like it is with Circassian nouns). These two grammatical cases merge into one common case, so personal pronouns have only three different cases: absolutive-ergative, instrumental and adverbial.

Grammatical cases of personal pronouns:

	Case	First-person		Second-person
	Case	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA
Singular	Absolutive	сэ	sa	о	wa
	Ergative	сэ	sa	о	wa
	Instrumental	сэркӏэ	sart͡ʃʼa	оркӏэ	wart͡ʃʼa
	Adverbial	сэрэу	saraw	орэу	waraw
Plural	Absolutive	тэ	ta	шъо	ʃʷa
	Ergative	тэ	ta	шъо	ʃʷa
	Instrumental	тэркӏэ	tart͡ʃʼa	шъоркӏэ	ʃʷart͡ʃʼa
	Adverbial	тэрэу	taraw	шъорэу	ʃʷaraw

In a sentence a personal pronoun usually plays role of subject or object:

Сэ седжэ "I read (study)";

О уеджэ тхылъым "You are reading the book";

Тэ тэкӏо еджапӏэм "We are going to school";

Шъо ӏоф шъошӏэ "You (plural) are working";

Сэркӏэ мы ӏофы́р къины "This job is hard for me".

Demonstrative pronouns are мы "this", мо "that", а "that". There is a contradistinction between "мы" and "мо" on how far the referred object is. The pronoun "а" is neutral on this matter.

Мы унэм нахьи мо унакӏэу къашӏырэр нахь дах "This house, which is being built, is more beautiful than that one";

А тхылъэ́у пщэфыгъэм сегъэплъыба "Show me the book you have bought, please".

Demonstrative pronouns switch four grammatical cases:

Absolutive мыр, мор, ар;

Ergative мыщ, мощ, ащ;

Instrumental мыщкӏэ, мощкӏэ, ащкӏэ;

Adverbial мырэу, морэу, арэу.

The plural form of demonstrative pronouns is expressed by the -хэ- formant:

Absolutive мыхэр,

Ergative мыхэм,

Instrumental мыхэмкӏэ,

Adverbial мыхэу.

Possessive pronouns express the idea that something belongs to someone. There are several possessive pronouns in the Circassian language:

сэсый "my/mine",

оуий "your/yours",

ий "his",

тэтый "our/ours",

шъошъуй "your/yours" (plural),

яй "their/theirs".

These pronouns change their form in different grammatical cases in the same way. Let us show examples of how they are used in a sentence:

Мы унэр сэсый "This house is mine";

Мы чъыгхэр тэтыех "These trees are ours".

The following pronouns are interrogative pronouns of the Circassian language:

хэт (хэта)? "who?",

сыд (сыда)? "what?",

тхьапш? "how much (many)?",

тары? "which?",

сыдигъу? "when?",

тыдэ? "where?",

сыд фэд? "what kind of?".

The interrogative pronoun хэт? "who?" is used to address the nouns that belong to the class of human being, and the pronoun сыд? "what?" is for the nouns that belong to the class of thing. For example:

Хэт зыӏуагъэр? "Who has said (that)?",

Хэт унэм къихьагъэр? "Who has entered the house?",

Сыд плъэгъугъа? -Хьэ слъэгъугъэ. "What have you seen? – I've seen a dog".

Сыд къэпхьыгъэр? – "What have you brought?", Пхъэ къэсхьыгъэр – "I have brought firewood".

Circassian adherent pronouns:

ежь "self",

зэкӏэ "all",

шъхьадж "every",

ышъхьэкӏэ "self personally",

хэти, хэтрэ́ "everyone", "each",

сыди, сыдрэ́ "everything", "each", "any" and some others.

Examples:

Хэти зышъхьамысыжьэу ӏоф ышӏэн фае "Everyone must work without pitying himself";

Сыдрэ ӏофри дэгъу, угу къыбдеӏэу бгъэцакӏэмэ "Any job is good if done with full heart".

There is only one pronoun in the Circassian language which belongs to the group of indefinite pronouns. This pronoun is зыгорэ́. It has several close meanings: "someone", "one", "something", "somebody" and so on. The indefinite pronoun has the same forms in different grammatical cases like nouns have:

Case	Singular form		Plural form
Case	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA
Absolutive	зыгорэ	zəɡʷara	зыгорэхэр	zəɡʷaraxar
Ergative	зыгорэм	zəɡʷaram	зыгорэхэмэ	zəɡʷaraxama
Instrumental	зыгорэ(м)кӏэ	zəɡʷara(m)t͡ʃʼa	зыгорэхэ(м)кӏэ	zəɡʷaraxa(m)t͡ʃʼa
Adverbial	зыгорэу	zəɡʷaraw	зыгорэхэу	zəɡʷaraxaw

Here are examples of how these forms are used in a sentence:

Зыгорэ пчъэм къытеуагъ "Someone has knocked the door";

А тхылъ гъэшӏэгъоным зыгорэ къытегущыӏэгъагъ "Somebody has spoken about this interesting book".

Verbs[edit]

In Adyghe, like all Northwest Caucasian languages, the verb is the most inflected part of speech. Verbs are typically head final and are conjugated for tense, person, number, etc. Some of Circassian verbs can be morphologically simple, some of them consist only of one morpheme, like: кӏо "go", штэ "take". However, generally, Circassian verbs are characterized as structurally and semantically difficult entities. Morphological structure of a Circassian verb includes affixes (prefixes, suffixes) which are specific to the language. Verbal affixes express meaning of subject, direct or indirect object, adverbial, singular or plural form, negative form, mood, direction, mutuality, compatibility and reflexivity, which, as a result, creates a complex verb, that consists of many morphemes and semantically expresses a sentence. For example: уакъыдэсэгъэгущыӏэжьы "I am forcing you to talk to them again" consists of the following morphemes: у-а-къы-дэ-сэ-гъэ-гущыӏэ-жьы, with the following meanings: "you (у) with them (а) from there (къы) together (дэ) I (сэ) am forcing (гъэ) to speak (гущыӏэн) again (жьы)".

Transitivity[edit]

Verbs in Adyghe can be transitive or intransitive.

In a sentence with a transitive verb, nouns in the absolutive case (marked as -р) play the role of direct object. In the sentences of this type the noun in the subject's position is in the ergative case (marked as -м):

Кӏалэм письмэр етхы "The boy is writing the letter";

Пхъашӏэм уатэр къыштагъ "The carpenter took the hammer";

Хьэм тхьакӏумкӏыхьэр къыубытыгъ "The dog has caught the rabbit".

In these sentences the verbs етхы "is writing", къыштагъ "took", къыубытыгъ "has caught" are transitive verbs, and the nouns письмэр "letter", уатэр "hammer", тхьакӏумкӏыхьэр "rabbit" are in the absolutive case (suffix -р) and express direct object in the sentences, while the nouns кӏалэм "boy", пхъашӏэм "carpenter", хьэм "dog" are subjects expressed in the ergative case.

In a sentence with an intransitive verb, there is no direct object, and the real subject is usually expressed by a noun in the absolutive case

Чэмахъор щыт "The cowherd is standing (there)";

Пэсакӏор макӏо "The security guard is going";

Лӏыр мэчъые "The man is sleeping".

In these sentences with intransitive verbs, nouns that the play role of subject are expressed in the absolutive case: чэмахъо-р "cowherd", пэсакӏо-р "guard", лӏы-р "man".

There are verbs in the Adyghe language that in different contexts and situations can be used both as transitive and intransitive. For example:

Апчыр мэкъутэ "The glass is being broken",

Кӏалэм апчыр екъутэ "The boy is breaking the glass".

In the first sentence the verb мэкъутэ "is being broken" is used as an intransitive verb that creates an absolutive construction. In the second sentence the verb е-къутэ "is breaking" creates an ergative construction. Both of the verbs are formed from the verb къутэ-н "to break".

In the Adyghe language, intransitive verbs can have indirect objects in a sentence. The indirect objects are expressed by a noun in the oblique case (which is also marked as -м). For example:

Кӏалэр пшъашъэм ебэу "The boy kisses the girl",

Лӏыр чъыгым чӏэлъ "The man lays under the tree".

Кӏалэр тхылъым еджэ "The boy reads the book".

In these sentences with intransitive verbs, nouns that play the role of indirect object are expressed in the oblique case: пшъашъэ-м "girl", чъыгы-м "tree", тхылъы-м "book".

Intransitive verbs can be turned into transitive with the causative prefix гъэ- (meaning "to force, to make"). For example:

Ар мачъэ "He is running", but Ащ ар е-гъа-чъэ "He forces him to run",

Ар мэкуо "He is screaming", but Ащ ар е-гъэ-куо "He makes him scream".

The verbs in the first sentences мачъэ "is running", мэкуо "is screaming" are intransitive, and the verbs in the second sentences егъачъэ "forces ... to run", егъэкуо "makes ... scream" are already transitive.

Dynamic and static verbs[edit]

Adyghe verbs can be either dynamic or static.

Dynamic verbs express (process of) actions that are taking place (natural role of verbs in English):

Сэ сэчъэ "I am running";

Сэ сэцӏэнлъэ "I am crawling",

Сэ сэлъэгъу "I am seeing",

Сэ сэӏо "I am saying".

Static verbs express states or results of actions:

Сэ сыщыт "I am standing",

Сэ сыщылъ "I am lying.",

Сэ сыпхъашӏ "I am a carpenter",

Сэ сытракторист "I am a tractor-driver".

Certain verbs in English with one meaning can have two forms in Adyghe, one static and the other dynamic. For instance, the verb тӏысын "to sit down" is a dynamic verb that expresses someone moving into a sitting position, in contrast to щысын "to be sitting" which expresses the static of a person sitting.

Ныор пхъэнтӏэкӏум ис "The old-woman is sitting on the chair",

Ныор пхъэнтӏэкӏум мэтӏысы "The old-woman is sitting down on the chair".

Person[edit]

Adyghe verbs have different forms to express different persons (ex. "I", "You" and "They"). These forms are, mostly, created with specific prefixes. This is what it looks like in singular:

сэ-тхэ "I write",

о-тхэ "You write",

ма-тхэ "writes";

and in plural:

тэ-тхэ "We write",

шъо-тхэ "You write",

ма-тхэ-х "They write".

Tenses[edit]

Adyghe verbs have several forms to express different tenses, here are some of them:

Tense	Suffix	Example	Meaning
Present	~∅	макӏо /maːkʷʼa/	(s)he is going; (s)he goes
Preterite	~агъэ /~aːʁa/	кӏуагъэ /kʷʼaːʁa/	(s)he went
Discontinuous past	~гъагъ /~ʁaːʁ/	кӏогъагъ /kʷʼaʁaːʁ/	(s)he went (but not there anymore)
Pluperfect	~гъагъ /~ʁaːʁ/	кӏогъагъ /kʷʼaʁaːʁ/	(s)he went a long time ago"; (s)he had gone"
Categorical Future	~н /~n/	кӏон /kʷʼan/	(s)he will go
Factual Future	~щт /~ɕt/	кӏощт /kʷʼaɕt/	(s)he will go, (s)he is about to go
Past continuous	~щтыгъ	кӏощтыгъ /kʷʼaɕtəʁ/	(s)he used to go; (s)he was going
Conditional perfect	~щтыгъ	кӏощтыгъ /kʷʼaɕtəʁ/	(s)he was going to go; (s)he would have gone
Future perfect	~гъэщт /~ʁaɕt/	кӏуагъэщт /kʷʼaːʁaɕt/	(s)he will have gone
Recent past	~гъакӏ /~ʁaːt͡ʃʼ/	кӏогъакӏ /kʷʼaʁaːt͡ʃʼ/	(s)he just (recently) went
Present Perfect	~гъах /~ʁaːχ/	кӏогъах /kʷʼaʁaːx/	(s)he already went

Valency increasing[edit]

The following prefixes increase the valency by one, meaning, they introduce another argument (person) in the verb.

Case	Prefix	Meaning	Example
Causative	гъэ~ [ʁa~]	"to force, to make"	гъэ-плъэн [ʁapɬan] "to make him look at"
Comitative	дэ~ [da~]	"with"	д-еплъын [dajpɬən] "to look with"
Benefactive	фэ~ [fa~]	"for"	ф-еплъын [fajpɬən] "to look for"
Malefactive	шӏо~ [ʃʷʼa~]	"against one's interest"	шӏу-еплъын [ʃʷʼajpɬən] "to look against his interest"
Reflexive	зэ~ [za~]	"self"	зэ-плъын [zapɬən] "to look at oneself"

Moods[edit]

Imperative mood of second person in singular has no additional affixes: штэ "take", кӏо "go", тхы "write"; in plural the affix -шъу is added in front of the verbs: шъу-къакӏу "you (plural) go", шъу-тхы "you (plural) write", шъу-штэ "you (plural) take".

Conditional mood is expressed with suffix -мэ: сы-кӏо-мэ "if I go", сы-чъэ-мэ "if I run", с-шӏэ-мэ "if I do".

Concessive mood is expressed with suffix -ми: сы-кӏо-ми "even if I go", сы-чъэ-ми "even if I run", с-шӏэ-ми "even if I do".

Optative mood is expressed with the complex suffix -гъо-т: у-кӏуа-гъо-т "would you go", п-тхы-гъа-гъо-т "would you write".

Interrogative form is expressed with the affix -а: мад-а? "is he sewing?", макӏу-а? "is he going".

Negative interrogative form is expressed with the affix -ба: ма-кӏо-ба "isn't he is going?", мэ-гыкӏэ-ба "isn't he washing?".

Participle[edit]

Present participles in the Circassian language are formed from the appropriate dynamic verbs with the suffix -рэ:

кӏо-рэ-р "one that's walking",

чъэ-рэ-р "one that's running".

Participles can also be created from static verbs. In this case no additional morphological modifications are required. For example: щысыр "sitting", щылъыр "lying". In the past and future tenses participles have no special morphological attributes, in other words, their form is identical to the main form of the verb. The forms of participles in different grammatical cases are equal to the forms of the appropriate verbs. The same is also true for their time-tenses.

Masdar[edit]

Masdar (a form of verb close to gerund) in Adyghe is formed by adding the suffix -н (-n):

тхы-н "a write (writing)",

чъэ-н "a run (running)",

штэ-н "a take (taking)",

гущыӏэ-н "a talk (talking)",

дзы-н "a throw (throwing)".

ар

[aːr

that.ABS

тхэн

тхэ-н

txan

writing (Masdar)

дах

daːx]

beautiful

"That is a beautiful writing"

Masdar has grammatical cases:

Absolutive чъэны-р,

Ergative чъэны-м,

Instrumental чъэны-м-кӏэ,

Adverbial чъэн-эу

университетэм

университет-эм

[ʊnɪvɪrsɪˈtetam

university.ERG

ущеджэныр

ущеджэ-н-ыр

ɕajd͡ʒanər

studying in (Masdar)

къины

qəjnə]

hard

"Studying in the university is hard."

компьютерым

компьютер-ым

[kʰɔmpjʊtərəm

computer.ERG

джэгуныр

джэгу-н-ыр

d͡ʒagʷənər

playing (Masdar)

тхъагъо

tχaːʁʷa]

fun

"Playing the computer is fun."

Masdar also can have different forms for different persons:

сы-чъэн "I will run",

у-чъэн "you will run",

чъэн "he will run".

пчэдыжьым

пчэдыжь-ым

[pt͡ʃadəʑəm

morning.ERG

учъэныр

у-чъэ-н-ыр

wət͡ʂanər

you running (Masdar)

дэгъу

daʁʷə]

good

"[You] running is good in the morning."

Negative form[edit]

In the Adyghe language negative form of a word is expressed with different morphemes (prefixes, suffixes). In participles, adverbial participles, masdars, imperative, interrogative and other forms of verbs their negative from is expressed with the prefix -мы, which, usually, goes before the root morpheme, that describes the main meaning:

у-мы-тх "you don't write",

у-мы-ӏуат "you don't disclose",

сы-къы-пфэ-мы-щэмэ "if you can't bring me",

у-къа-мы-гъа-кӏомэ "if you aren't forced to come".

In verbs the negative meaning can also be expressed with the suffix -эп/-п, which usually goes after the suffixes of time-tenses. For example:

сы-тэджырэ-п "I am not getting up",

сы-тэ-джыгъэ-п "I have not got up",

сы-тэджыщтэ-п "I will not get up".

Morphology[edit]

Adjectives[edit]

From the morphological point of view adjectives in the Circassian language are not very different from nouns. In combinations with nouns they lose their grammatical independence. Adjectives form their plural form the same way nouns do, they also use the same affixes to form different grammatical cases (from Absolutive to Adverbial).

Adjectives can be either qualitative or relative.

Adjectives can be in singular or plural form: фыжьы "white" (singular) – фыжь-хэ-р "whites" (plural).

They switch grammatical cases similarly to nouns:

Case	Singular	Plural
Absolutive	фыжьыр	фыжьыхэр
Ergative-Oblique	фыжьым	фыжьыхэм
Instrumental	фыжьы(м)кӏэ	фыжьыхэ(м)кӏэ
Adverbial	фыжьэу	фыжьыхэу

A qualitative adjective as a compliment in a sentence goes after the word it describes: кӏалэ дэгъу "good boy", унэ лъагэ "high house"; a relative adjective goes before it: пхъэ уатэ "wooden hammer", гъучӏ пӏэкӏор "iron bed". In the second case adjectives do not change their form, only the appropriate nous do. For example: in plural – гъучӏ пӏэкӏорхэр "iron beds".

In different grammatical cases:

Case	Singular	Plural
Absolutive	гъучӏ пӏэкӏорыр	гъучӏ пӏэкӏорхэр
Ergative-Oblique	гъучӏ пӏэкӏорым	гъучӏ пӏэкӏорхэм
Instrumental	гъучӏ пӏэкӏоры(м)кӏэ	гъучӏ пӏэкӏорхэ(м)кӏэ
Adverbial	гъучӏ пӏэкӏорэу	гъучӏ пӏэкӏорхэу

Combining adjectives with nouns it is possible to produce a great lot of phrases: пшъэшъэ дахэ "beautiful girl", кӏалэ дэгъу "good boy", цӏыф кӏыхьэ "long man", гъогу занкӏэ "straight road", уц шхъуантӏэ "green grass" and so on. These phrases can be easily included into sentences. If a noun has a certain grammatical case, the adjective gets the suffix of the case instead of the noun, for example кӏэлэ кӏуачӏэ-р "the strong boy (abs.) and уатэ псынкӏэ-мкӏэ "using the light hammer (ins.).

Сэ

[sa

I

непэ

najpa

today

пшъэшъэ

pʂaʂa

a girl

дахэ

daːxa

beautiful

слъэгъугъэ

sɬaʁʷəʁa]

I saw

"I have seen a beautiful girl today."

Тэ

[ta

we

гъогу

ʁʷagʷ

road

занкӏэм

zaːnt͡ʃʼam

straight.ERG

тырыкӏуагъ

tərəkʷʼaːʁ]

we were walking

"We were walking on the straight road."

Circassian qualitative adjectives also have comparative and superlative forms. For example: нахь фыжь "whiter, more white" (comparative form) and анахь фыжь "whitest, most white",

The Comparative degree is formed by auxiliary word нахь:

Ар ощ нахь лъагэ – he is higher than you,
Нахь ины хъугъэ – He became bigger [More big became],
Нахь лIэблан охъун фай – You must be braver.

The superlative degrees is formed by auxiliary word анахь (more than all...):

Ар пшъашъэмэ анахь дахэ – She is the most beautiful among the girls,
Ар зэкӏэмэ анахь лъагэ – It is the highest,
Зэкӏэми шхын анахь дэгъумкӏэ ыгъэшхагъ – (S)he feeds him with the tastiest meal,
Ар заужмэ анахь лъэшы – He is the strongest.

Affixes[edit]

The following suffixes are added to nouns:

Suffix	Meaning	Example
~кӏэ (~t͡ʃʼa)	new	унакӏэ (new house)
~жъы (~ʐə)	old	унэжъы (old house)
~шхо (~ʃxʷa)	large	унэшхо (large house)
~цӏыкӏу (~t͡sʼəkʷʼ)	small	унэцӏыкӏу (small house)
~жъый (~ʐəj)	small	унэжъый (small house)

The following suffixes are added to adjectives:

Suffix	Meaning	Example
~ӏо (~ʔʷa)	slightly	дыджыӏо (slightly too bitter)
~щэ (~ɕa)	too much	дыджыщэ (too much bitter)
~дэд (~dad)	very	дэгъудэд (very good)
~бз (~bz)	absolutely	дэгъуабз (absolutely good)
~шъыпкъ (~ʂəpq)	truly; really	дэгъушъыпкъ (really good)
~ашъу (~aːʃʷ)	kind of	дэгъуашъу (kind of good)
~кӏай (~t͡ʃʼaːj)	quite; pretty	дэгъукӏай (quite good)
~нчъэ (~nt͡ʂa)	lacking	акъылынчъэ (mindless)

Мы

[mə

this

джанэр

d͡ʒaːnar

shirt

оркӏэ

wart͡ʃʼa

for you

иныӏо

jənəʔʷa]

slightly big

"This shirt is slightly big for you"

Мы

[mə

this

джанэр

d͡ʒaːnar

shirt

кӏалэм

t͡ʃʼaːɮam

boy.ERG

фэшӏыкӏэ

faʃʼət͡ʃʼa

for

иныщэ

jənəɕa]

too large

"This shirt is too large for the boy"

Мы

[mə

this

сурэтыр

səwratər

painting

дэхэдэд

daxadad]

very beautiful

"This painting is very beautiful"

Opinion[edit]

To indicate a thought or an opinion of someone, the prefix шӏо~ (ʃʷʼa~) is added to the adjective. This can also be used on nouns but it is very uncommon. For example:

дахэ "pretty" → шӏодах "it's pretty for him.
дэхагъ "as pretty" → шӏодэхагъ "it was pretty for him.
ӏэшӏу "tasty" → шӏоӏэшӀу "it is tasty for him.
плъыжьы "red" → шӏоплъыжьы "it is red for him.

кӏалэхэмэ

кӏалэ-хэ-мэ

[t͡ʃaːlaxama

the boys.ERG

ашӏодахэп

я-шъо-дахэ-п

jaːʃʷadaːxap

it was not pretty for them

сиджанэ

си-джанэ

sid͡ʒaːna]

my shirt

"my shirt was not beautiful for the boys."

мы

[mə

this

мыӏэрысэм

мыӏэрысэ-м

məʔarəsam

apple.ERG

иуасэ

и-уасэ

jəwaːsa

its cost

пшӏолъапӏа?

п-шӏо-лъапӏ-а?

pʃʷaɬaːpʼaː]

is it expensive for you?

"Is this apple expensive for you?"

Scaliness of an adjective[edit]

The suffix ~гъэ (~ʁa) is appended to indicate a measure of a certain adjective. Usually it is used for measurable adjectives like length, height, weight, size, strength and speed but it can be used on any adjective such as good, tasty, beauty, etc. This suffix can be used to scale adjectives, for instance, the word ӏэшӏу-гъэ (from the adjective ӏэшӏу "tasty") can be used to express different levels/qualities of tastiness. This suffix turns the adjective to a noun.

кӏыхьэ /t͡ʃʼaħə/ – long → кӏыхьагъэ /t͡ʃʼaħaːʁa/ – length.
ӏэтыгъэ /ʔatəʁa/ – high → ӏэтыгъагъэ /ʔatəʁaːʁa/ – height.
псынкӏэ /psənt͡ʃʼa/ – fast → псынкӏагъэ /psənt͡ʃʼaːʁa/ – speed.
фабэ /faːba/ – hot → фэбагъэ /fabaːʁa/ – heat.
кӏуачӏэ /kʷʼaːt͡ʃʼa/ – strong → кӏочӏагъэ /kʷʼat͡ʃʼaːʁa/ – strength.
ӏужъу /ʔʷəʒʷə/ – wide → ӏужъугъэ /ʔʷəʒʷəʁa/ – width.
дахэ /daːxa/ – beautiful → дэхагъэ /daxaːʁa/ – beauty.
ӏэшӏу /ʔaʃʷʼə/ – tasty → ӏэшӏугъэ /ʔaʃʷʼəʁa/ – level of tastiness.
дэгъу /daʁʷə/ – good → дэгъугъэ /daʁʷəʁa/ – level of goodness.

пхъэм

[pχam

the wood.ERG

иӏужъугъэ

jəʔʷəʒʷəʁa

its width

65

сантиметр

saːntimetr]

centimeters

"The wood's width is 65 centimeters"

кӏалэм

[t͡ʃʼaːɮam

boy.ERG

кӏочӏагъэ

kʷʼat͡ʃʼaːʁa

strength

хэлъ

xaɬ]

it is laying in

"The boy has strength in him."

State of the adjective[edit]

The suffix ~гъакӏэ (~ʁaːt͡ʃʼa) is appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being the adjective", in contract to the suffix ~гъэ which is used to measure and scale the adjective. Some examples:

кӏыхьэ /t͡ʃʼaħə/ – long → кӏыхьэгъакӏэ /t͡ʃʼaħəʁaːt͡ʃʼa/ – lengthiness; longness.
псынкӏэ /psənt͡ʃʼa/ – fast → псынкӏэгъакӏэ /psənt͡ʃʼaʁaːt͡ʃʼa/ – speediness.
кӏуачӏэ /kʷʼaːt͡ʃʼa/ – strong → кӏочӏэгъакӏэ /kʷʼat͡ʃʼaʁaːt͡ʃʼa/ – strongness.
дахэ /daːxa/ – pretty → дэхэгъакӏэ /daxaʁaːt͡ʃʼa/ – prettiness.
дэгъу /daʁʷə/ – good → дэгъугъакӏэ /daʁʷəʁaːt͡ʃʼa/ – goodness.

лӏыжъым

лӏыжъы-м

[ɬʼəʐəm

old man.ERG

ишӏугъакӏэ

и-шӏу-гъакӏэ

jəʃʷʼəʁaːt͡ʃʼa

his goodness

пае,

пае

paja

due to

зэкӏэм

зэкӏэ-м

zat͡ʃʼam

everyone.ERG

яунэ

я-унэ

jaːwəna

their house

къырагъэблагъэ

qəraːʁabɮaːʁa]

they welcome him

"Due to the old man's goodness, everyone welcomes him to their house."

сэ

[sa

I

мыӏэрысэм

мыӏэрыс-эм

məʔarəsəm

apple.ERG

иӏэшӏугъакӏэ

и-ӏэшӏу-гъакӏэ

jəʔaʃʷʼəʁaːt͡ʃʼa

its testiness

сыкъегъатхъэ

сы-къ-е-гъа-тхъэ

səqajʁaːtχa]

I enjoy it

"I enjoy the apple's testiness."

пшъашъэм

пшъашъэ-м

[pʂaːʂam

the girl.ERG

ӏэшӏэхэу

ӏэшӏэх-эу

ʔaʃʼaxaw

easily

идэхэгъакӏэкӏэ

и-дэхэ-гъакӏэ-кӏэ

jədaxaʁaːt͡ʃʼat͡ʃʼa

using her prettiness

сыкъигъэделагъ

сы-къ-и-гъэ-дел-агъ

səqəjʁadajɮaːʁ]

(s)he fooled me

"The girl fooled me easily by using her prettiness."

Adverbs[edit]

In the Adyghe language adverbs belong to these groups: adverbs of place, adverbs of time, adverbs of quality and adverbs of amount.

Adverbs of place[edit]

адэ – "there" (invisible).
модэ – "there" (visible).
мыдэ – "here".

модэкӏэ

модэ-кӏэ

[modat͡ʃʼa

over there.INS

тучаныр

тучан-ыр

tut͡ʃaːnər

shop.ABS

ӏут

ʔʷərt]

it is standing

"The shop is placed over there."

адэ

[aːda

there

кӏалэр

кӏалэ-р

t͡ʃʼaːɮar

boy.ABS

кӏуагъэ

кӏу-агъэ

kʷʼaːʁa]

(s)he went

"The boy went there."

Adverbs of time[edit]

непэ – "today".
непенэу – "all day long".
тыгъуасэ – "yesterday".
тыгъуасэнахьыпэ – "day before yesterday".
неущы – "tomorrow".
неущмыкӏэ – "the day after tomorrow".
гъэрекӏо – "last year".
мыгъэ – "this year".
къакӏорэгъэ – "next year".
джы – "now".
джырэкӏэ – "for now".
джыкӏэ – "so far".
жыри – "again"
джыри – "still"
джыдэдэм – "right now".
джынэс – "until now".
пчэдыжьым – "at morning".
щэджагъом – "at noon".
щэджэгъоужым – "at afternoon".
пчыхьэм – "at evening".
чэщым – "in the night".
зэманым – "in the past".
тӏэкӏушӏэмэ (тӏэкӏу машӏэмэ) – "soon".
бэшӏэмэ (бэ машӏэмэ) – "later".
тӏэкӏушӏагъэу – "recently".
бэшӏагъэу – "long time ago".
пэтырэу – "while".
етӏанэ (етӏуанэ) – "afterwards"
пасэу – "early"
кӏасэу – "lately"
ренэу – "always"

тӏэкӏушӏэмэ

[tʼakʷʼʃʼama

soon

тышхэнэу

ты-шхэ-нэу

təʃxanaw

we (to) eat

тыкӏощт

ты-кӏо-щт

təkʷʼaɕt]

we will go

"Soon we will go to eat."

непэ

[najpa

today

пасэу

paːsaw

early

еджапӏэм

jad͡ʒaːpʼam

school.ERG

тынэсышъугъ

tənasəʃʷəʁ]

we could arrive

"Today we successfully arrived school early."

Adverbs of amount[edit]

макӏэ – "few".
тӏэкӏу – "a bit".
тӏэкӏурэ – "few times, for a short period of time".
бэ "a lot".
бэрэ "a lot of times, for a long period of time".
ӏаджэ "many".
хъои "plenty".
апӏэ "load of".
заулэ "several".
сыдэу "so".

шхыныр

шхыны-р

[ʃxənər

food.ABS

сыдэу

sədaw

so

фабэ

faːba]

hot

"The food is so hot."

кӏалэм

кӏалэ-м

[t͡ʃʼaːɮam

boy.ERG

ахъщэ

aːχɕa

money

бэ

ba

a lot

иӏ

jəʔ]

(s)he has

"The boy has a lot of money."

чэщым

чэщы-м

t͡ʃaɕəm

night.ERG

лӏыр

лӏы-р

ɬʼər

man.ABS

тӏэкӏурэ

tʼakʷʼra

short period of time

макӏо

maːkʷʼa]

(s)he went

"In the night, the man goes for a small period of time."

Adverbs of quality[edit]

Adverbs of this group are formed from the appropriate qualitative adjectives using the suffix ~эу /~aw/. Adverbs in this group describe the manner in which the verb was done.

къабзэ "clean" → къабзэу "cleanly"
чыжьэ "far" → чыжьэу "far",
псынкӏэ "quick" → псынкӏэу "quickly",
дахэ "beautiful" → дахэу "beautifully",
благъэ "near" → благъэу "nearly".
лъэш "powerful" → лъэшэу "powerfully".
шъабэ "soft" → шъабэу "softly"
пытэ "firm" → пытэу "firmly"

кӏалэр

кӏалэ-р

[t͡ʃʼaːɮar

boy.ABS

чыжьэу

чыжьэ-у

t͡ʃəʑaw

far.ADV

чъагъэ

чъ-агъэ

t͡ʂaːʁa]

(s)he ran

"The boy ran far."

кӏалэм

кӏалэ-м

[t͡ʃʼaːɮam

the boy.ERG

шхыныр

шхын-ыр

ʃxənər

food.ABS

дэгъоу

дэгъо-у

daʁʷaw

excellently

ышӏэгъ

ышӏэ-гъ

əʃʼaʁ]

(s)he done it

"The boy done the food excellently."

пшъашъэр

пшъашъэ-р

[pʂaːʂar

the girl.ABS

дахэу

дахэ-у

daːxaw

beautifully

матхэ

maːtxa]

(s)he writes

"The girl writes beautifully."

Formation of adverbs[edit]

Adverbs can be produced different ways and from different parts of speech. The most productive ways to form adverbs are:

suffixing (adding ~эу to adjectives):

дахэ́-у "beautifully" (from дахэ́ "beautiful"),

шъабэ́-у "softly" (from шъабэ́ "soft"),

пытэ́-у "firmly" (from пытэ́ "firm");

concatenating:

неущпчэдыжьы́ "tomorrow morning" (неущы́ "tomorrow" + пчэдыжьы́ "morning"),

щэджэгъоужы́м "after dinner" (щэджа́гъу "dinner time" + уж "after");

rethinking or transfer of some forms of words of different parts of speech into adverbs:

пчыхьэ́м "nights" (пчыхьэ́м "evening", ergative case),

лӏыгъэкӏэ "forcibly" (лӏыгъэкӏэ "by courage", instrumental case).

In a sentence adverbs play role of adverbials:

Сэ дэгъоу сэ́джэ "I study well";

Лэжьакӏохэр пчэдыжьым жьэ́у къэтэджых "Workers get up early at morning" and so on.

Contradiction[edit]

Adyghe has the word нахь /naːħ/ "rather, actually" which can be used to introduce a clarification or a contradiction in a sentence, for instance, the speaker would use this word when clarifying his statement in contract to the listener's belief. Some examples:

кӏуагъэ "(s)he went" → кӏуагъэ нахь "rather (s)he went".
къины "hard" → къины нахь "rather it is hard".
кӏалэ "boy" → кӏалэ нахь "rather it is a boy".

кӏалэр

кӏалэ-р

[t͡ʃʼaːɮar

boy.ABS

кӏуагъэп,

кӏу-агъ-эп,

kʷʼaːʁap

(s)he went

чъагъэ

чъ-агъэ

t͡ʂaːʁa

(s)he ran

нахь

naːħ]

rather

"The boy didn't walk, rather he ran."

фылымым

фылым-ым

[fələməm

film.ERG

теплъыгъэ

т-еплъы-гъэ

tajpɬəʁa

we watched it

нахь

naːħ]

rather

"We actually watched the film."

Unions[edit]

In English the word "and" is used to connect parts of speech with others, while in Circassian, there are different ways to connect different parts of speech with others.

Case	Suffix		Example
Case	Cyrillic	IPA	Example
Indefinite nouns	рэ	/ra/	кӏалэ-рэ пшъашъэ-рэ къэкӏуагъэх "a boy and a girl came."
Definite nouns	мрэ	/mra/	кӏалэ-мрэ пшъашъэ-мрэ кӏуагъэх "the boy and the girl came."
Pronouns	рэ	/ra/	сэ-рэ о-рэ тыкӏуагъ "You and I went."
Indefinite adjectives	рэ	/ra/	кӏэлэ кӏыхьэ-рэ пшъашъэ дахэ-рэ къэкӏуагъэх "a tall boy and a pretty girl came."
Definite adjectives	мрэ	/mra/	кӏэлэ кӏыхьэ-мрэ пшъашъэ дахэ-мрэ къэкӏуагъэх "a tall boy and a pretty girl came."
Numbers	рэ	/ra/	кӏэлэ тӏу-рэ пшъашъэ щы-рэ къэкӏуагъэх "two boys and three girls came."
Universal nouns	и	/i/	кӏал-и пшъашъ-и къэкӏуагъэх "boys and girls came."
Adverbs	мкӏи	/mt͡ʃʼi/	мафэ-мкӏи чэщы-мкӏи къэкӏуагъэх "they came in the day and in the night."

The conjunctions ыкӏи /ət͡ʃəj/ "and" can also be used to connect different parts of speech.

Verbs: Кӏалэр еджэ ыкӏи матхэ "The boy reads and writes".

Adjectives: Кӏалэр дахэ ыкӏи кӏыхьэ "The boy is handsome and tall".

Conjunctions[edit]

Conjunctions in the Circassian language play the same role like in English, they are used to connect together, in different ways, words or parts of a difficult sentence. According to structure of Circassian conjunctions they can be separated into two groups: simple and complex.

Simple conjunctions[edit]

Among simple Circassian conjunctions are:

ыкӏи – "and".
е – "or".
ау – "but".

Сэ

[sa

I

сыкӏуагъ

səkʷʼaːʁ

I went

къалэм,

qaːɮam

city.ERG

ау

aːw

but

къэзгъэзэжьыгъэп

qazʁazaʑəʁap]

I didn't return

"I went to the city, but I haven't returned."

Сэ

[sa

I

непенэу

najpajnaw

this whole day

сэлажьэ

saɮaːʑa

I am working

ыкӏи

ət͡ʃʼəj

and

сычъыягъэп

sət͡ʂaːʁap

I haven't slept

тыгъуасэ

təʁʷaːsa

yesterday

чэщым

t͡ʃaʃə]

in the night.ERG

"I have been working this while day and I haven't slept yesterday night."

Complex conjunctions[edit]

ау щытми – "however".
ары шъхьай – "but".
ащ шъхьакӏэ – "however".
ары пакӏопышъ – "not only", "but".
арти – "so".
армэ (ащтэумэ) – "if so".
арми (ащтэуми) – "even if so".
армырмэ – "if not, else, otherwise".
армырми – "even if not, either way".
нахь мышӏэми – "despite".
зэ-зэ – "here-and-there".
е-е – "either-or".
сыда пӏомэ – "because".
ащ къыхэкӏыкӏэ – "due to".
сыдигъокӏи – "in any case".
сыдми – "either way".

унэм

[wənam

house.ERG

тигъэс,

təjʁas

let us stay inside

сыда пӏомэ

sədaː pʔʷʼama

because

непэ

najpa

today

къещхыщт

qajɕxəɕt]

it will rain

"Let us stay inside the house, because today it will rain."

армэ,

[aːrma

if that so

неущы

najwɕə

tomorrow

къычӏегъэдзагъэу

qət͡ʂʼajʁad͡zaːʁaw

starting from

седжэу

sajd͡ʒaw

studying.ADV

сыублэщт

səwbɮaɕt

I will start

экзамыным

akzaːmənəm

exam.ERG

фэшӏыкӏэ

faʃʼət͡ʃʼa]

for

"If that so, I will start studying for the exam starting from tomorrow."

Particles[edit]

In the Circassian language particles are different both by their semantics and structure. Semantically they fall into the following groups: affirmative, negative, interrogative, intensive, indicatory and stimulating.

Affirmative[edit]

ары "yes".
хъун, хъущт "fine, OK".
адэ "of course (expresses confidence)".

For example:

– Непэ тадэжь къакӏоба. – Хъун. "- Come to us today. – OK";
– Къэсӏуагъэр къыбгурыӏуагъа? – Ары. "- Have you understood what I have said? – Yes";
Адэ, непэ тыдэкӏыни тыкъэшхэщт. "Certainly, we will go out today and eat."

Negative[edit]

хьау "no".

For example: Хьау, хьау, зыми сэ сыфаеп "No, no, I don't want a thing";

Interrogative[edit]

шӏуа "perhaps".

For example: Сыдигъо шӏуа автобусыр къызыкӏощтыр? "When perhaps will the bus come?";

Intensive[edit]

адэ "well".
кӏо "well".

For example:

Адэ, Пщымаф, гущыӏэу птыгъэр пгъэцэкӏэжьын фай. "Well, Pshimaf, you must keep your word".
Кӏо, кӏалэр еджэн фаи къытдэкӏышъугъэп. "Well, because the boy needs to study he couldn't come out with us.

Indicatory[edit]

мары "this is it",
моры "that is it".

For example: Мары машинэу зигугъу къыпфэсшӏыгъагъэр "This is the car which I have told you about";

Stimulating[edit]

еу "come on".

For example: Еу, псынкӏэу зегъахь! "Come on, get out of here quickly".

Others[edit]

ашъыу "er", "uh", "I mean" (said when one has made a mistake in speech, before one corrects it)

For example: Уатэр къэсфэхь, Ашъыу, отычэр къэсфэхь " Bring me the hammer, er, I mean, bring me the ax".

ашъыу "argh", "ugh" (an expression of bad mood or vexation or dissatisfaction)

For example: Ашъыу!, зэ щыгъэт "Ugh!, shut up for a moment".

хъугъэ "that's enough" (an expression of giving up)

For example: Хъугъэ!, некӏо тыкӏожьыщт "That's enough, let's return".

еоой "alas"

For example: еоой, идж сыд цӏыфым ышӏэжьыщтэр? "Alas, what will the person do now?".

Demonstratives[edit]

Adyghe has four demonstratives: а /ʔaː/, джэ /d͡ʒa/, мо /mo/ and мы /mə/.

а /ʔaː/

that
а ӏанэ — yon table

а пшъашъэ — yon girl

а кӏалэм еӏо — yon boy is saying

The determiner 'а' /ʔaː/ refer to a referent that is far away and invisible to both the speaker and the listener(s). It is similar to the English language determiner that, but with the condition that the referent has to be invisible or far away.

мо /maw/

that
мо ӏанэ — that table

мо пшъашъэ — that girl

мо кӀалэм еӀо — that boy is saying

The determiner 'мо' refer to a referent that is visible and in a known distance from both the speaker and the listener(s) (both the speaker and the listener(s) can see the referent). It is similar to the English language determiner that, but with the condition that the referent has to be visible.

мы /mə/

this
мы ӏанэ — this table

мы пшъашъэ — this girl

мы кӀалэм еӀо — this boy is saying

мы мэгъэ — this year

The determiner 'мы' refer to a referent that is close to both the speaker and the listener(s). It is exactly like the English language determiner this.

джэ /d͡ʒa/

that
джэ ӏанэ — that table

джэ пшъашъэ — that girl

джэ кӏалэм еӏо — that boy is saying

The intensive determiner 'джэ' refer to a referent which is usually invisible. This determiner is used when the referent in the conversation is clear to both the speaker and the listener(s). Someone would use this determiner in order to emphasizes that both he and the listener(s) have the same referent in mind.

тэ (ta)

which
тэ ӏанэ? — which table?

тэ пшъашъэ? — which girl?

тэ кӀалэм еӀо? — which boy is saying?

Conjugation[edit]

The demonstratives can be used to express different things like:

Location: адэ "yonder", модэ "there", мыдэ "here" and тэдэ "where?".

Area: ау "yonder", моу "there", мыу "here", джэу "there" and тэу "where?".

Similarity: ащфэд "like that", мощфэд "like", мыщфэд "like this" and тэщфэд "like what?".

Action: ащтэу "like that", мощтэу "like", мыщтэу "like this", джэщтэу "like that" and тэщтэу "how?".

Time: ащыгъум "at that moment", мыщыгъум "at this moment" and тэщыгъум "at what time?".

Indicatory: ары "yon (one)", моры "that ( one)", мары "this (one)", джэры "that one" and тэры "which one?".

Postpositions[edit]

In the Circassian language, as well as in other Ibero-Caucasian languages, role of prepositions belongs to postpositions. It is difficult to define the exact count of postpositions in the Circassian language, because even such major parts of speech as nouns (from the point of view of their functionality) sometimes can be included into the group, together with some verb prefixes. For example, in the sentence Тхылъыр столым телъ "The book is lying on the table" the noun has no preposition, but the meaning remains clear because in the verb те-лъ "is lying" the prefix те- expresses something's being on a surface, so this form of the verb literally means "on the surface is lying".

Nouns and adverbs sometimes play role of postpositions. For example, nous that describe different parts of human body (head, nose, side and so on) sometimes function as postpositions. For example: Шъузыр лӏым ыпэ итэу кӏощтыгъэ "The wife was going in front of the husband" (the preposition "in front of" in the Circassian sentence is expressed by the phrase ыпэ итэу "being in front of his nose").

Nouns and pronouns combine with a postposition in the ergative grammatical case only. For example, the postposition дэжь "near, beside" requires a word in the ergative case:

чъыгы-м дэжь "near the tree";
ныбджэгъу-м пае "for the friend".

Postpositions can attach possessive prefixes to themselves. For example, in singular:

сэ с-а-дэжь "near me",
о у-а-дэжь "near you",
ащ ы-дэжь "near him";

in plural:

тэ т-а-дэжь "near us",
шъо шъу-а-дэжь "near you",
ахэмэ а-дэжь "near them".

The following words are used as postpositions in the Circassian language:

дэжь "near".
пае "for".
пашъхьэ "in front of, before".
чӏэгъ "under".
шъхьагъ "above".
фэдэу "like, similar".
азыфагу "between".
гузэгу "middle".
бгъу "side".
гупэ "face".
кӏыб "back".
къогъу "corner".
кӏыӏу "surface".
кӏоцӏы "inside".
пэ "nose".
пшъэ "neck".
ужы "trace".
нэуж "track".
чӏыпӏэ "place".

Interrogatives[edit]

The suffix ~a /aː/ initials the interrogative particle that indicates a yes-or-no question. For example:

макӏо "(s)he is going" → макӏуа? "is (s)he going?"
кӏалэ "boy" → кӏала? "is it a boy?"
дахэ "beautiful" → даха? "is (s)he beautiful?"

Кӏала ӏаным тесыр? – Is it a boy that sits on the table?

Кӏалэр ӏаным теса? – Is the boy sits on the table?

Кӏалэр ӏана зытесыр? – Is it a table the boy is sits on?

If question is posited to word having the negative suffix ~п (~p), it is converted to suffix ~ба (~baː)^{[clarification needed]}. The suffix ~ба /baː/ initials the negative interrogative particle. For example:

макӏо "(s)he is going" → макӏо-ба? "isn't (s)he is going?"
кӏалэ "boy" → кӏалэ-ба? "isn't it is a boy?"
дахэ "beautiful" → дахэ-ба? "isn't (s)he is beautiful?"

Кӏалэба ӏаным тесыр? – Isn't it a boy that sits on the table?

Кӏалэр ӏаным тесыба? – Isn't the boy sits on the table?

Кӏалэр ӏанэба зытесыр? – Isn't it a table the boy is sits on?

If question is posited by auxiliary interrogative words:

хэт (хэта) "who".
сыд (шъыд) "what/which".
сыда (шъыда) "why".
тыдэ "where".
тхьэпш "how much".
сыд фэдиз "how much".
тэщтэу (сыдэущтэу) "how".
тары "which".
сыдигъу (шъыдгъо) "when".
сыдкӏэ (шъыдкӏэ) "with what".
сыд фэд? "what kind of?".

хэт

[xat

who

къэкӏуагъэ?

qakʷʼaːʁa]

the person that came

"Who came?"

сыд

[səd

what

кӏалэм

t͡ʃʼaːɮam

the boy.ERG

ыцӏэ?

ət͡sʼa]

his name

"What is the boy's name?"

непэ

[najpa

today

тыдэ

təda

where

ущыӏэщт?

wɕəʔaɕt]

you will be there

"Today where will you be?"

Syntax[edit]

Order of words in a Circassian sentence is, generally, free, but the situation where verb goes at the end is the most typical.

Трактористыр пасэу къэтэджыгъ "The tractor-driver got up early".

Structure of a full sentence is, usually, defined by its form of verb. In the Circassian language there are the following types of sentences:

Nominative sentence, where subject is in the absolutive grammatical case, verb is intransitive, and there is no direct object:
Гъатхэ́р къэсыгъ, чъыгхэр къызэӏуихыхэу ригъэжъагъ "Spring has come, the trees have started to bloom";
Ergative sentence, where subject is in ergative case, direct object is in absolutive case, and the verb is transitive:
Агрономым губгъохэ́р къыплъахьыгъэх "The agronomist has reviewed the fields";
Sentence, where subject is in zero form. In this type of sentences both transitive and intransitive verbs can be used:
Нанэ тхъу къыситыгъ "Mother gave me some butter";

Кӏэлэ тэрэз ащ фэдэу псэурэ́п "A good guy does not behave like that".

This type of Circassian sentences is rarer than the first two. In the Circassian language there are compound sentences that can consist both of independent parts only, and of the main part in combination with dependent subparts.

Compound sentences with independent parts:

Нэф къэшъыгъ, ау цӏыфхэр джыри урамхэм къатехьагъэхэ́п "The morning has already come, but the people have not appeared on the streets yet";

Зэкӏэ́ къалэ́м къикӏыжьыгъэх, ау ежь Ибрахьимэ ӏофхэр иӏэу къэуцугъ "Everybody has returned from the city, but Ibrahim has stayed because of his affairs."

Compound sentences with dependent parts are structurally different. The most typical Circassian compound sentence with a dependent part is the sentence where its dependent part expresses some sort of circumstances explaining the main part:

Мэзэ́ псау́м ащ ӏоф ышӏагъэ́п, сыда пӏомэ дэсыгъэпы́шъ ары́ "He has not worked for the whole month, because he has been away".

Numbers[edit]

Numbers from zero to ten are specific words

0 зиӀ [ziʔ]

1 зы [zə]

2 тӀу [tʷʼə]

3 щы [ɕə]

4 плӀы [pɬʼə]

5 тфы [tfə]

6 хы [xə]

7 блы [blə] or [bɮə]

8 и [jə]

9 бгъу [bʁʷə]

10 пшӀы [pʃʼə]

Numbers from eleven to nineteen are built with the word for ten, followed by кIу ([kʷʼə]) and the unit digit:

11 пшӀыкӀуз [pʃʼəkʷʼəz]

12 пшӀыкӀутIу [pʃʼəkʷʼətʷʼ]

13 пшӀыкӀущ [pʃʼəkʷʼəɕ]

14 пшӀыкӀуплI [pʃʼəkʷʼəpɬʼ]

15 пшӀыкӀутф [pʃʼəkʷʼətf]

16 пшӀыкӀух [pʃʼəkʷʼəx]

17 пшӀыкӀубл [pʃʼəkʷʼəbl]

18 пшӀыкӀуй [pʃʼəkʷʼəj]

19 пшӀыкӀубгъу [pʃʼəkʷʼəbʁʷ]

The tens follow a vigesimal system from forty up, with the exception of fifty:

20 тӀокӀы [tʷʼat͡ʃə] (20)

21 тӀокӀырэ зырэ [tʷʼat͡ʃəra zəra] (20 and 1)

22 тӀокӀырэ тIурэ [tʷʼat͡ʃəra tʷʼəra] (20 and 2)

23 тӀокӀырэ щырэ [tʷʼat͡ʃəra ɕəra] (20 and 3)

...

30 щэкӀы [ɕat͡ʃə] (30)

31 щэкӀырэ зырэ [ɕat͡ʃə zəra] (30 and 1)

32 щэкӀырэ тIурэ [ɕat͡ʃə tʷʼəra] (30 and 2)

...

40 тӀокӀитIу [tʷʼat͡ʃitʷʼ] (20 × 2)

41 тӀокӀитIурэ зырэ [tʷʼat͡ʃitʷʼəra zəra] (20 × 2 and 1)

42 тӀокӀитIурэ тIурэ [tʷʼat͡ʃitʷʼəra tʷʼəra] (20 × 2 and 2)

...

50 шъэныкъо [ʂanəqʷa] (half-hundred)

51 шъэныкъорэ зырэ [ʂanəqʷara zəra] (half-hundred and 1)

52 шъэныкъорэ тIурэ [ʂanəqʷara tʷʼəra] (half-hundred and 2)

...

60 тӀокӀищ [tʷʼat͡ʃiɕ] (20 × 3)

61 тӀокӀищырэ зырэ [tʷʼat͡ʃiɕəra zəra] (20 × 3 and 1)

62 тӀокӀищырэ тIурэ [tʷʼat͡ʃiɕəra tʷʼəra] (20 × 3 and 2)

...

70 тӀокӀищырэ пшIырэ [tʷʼat͡ʃiɕra pʃʼəra] (20 × 3 and 10)

71 тӀокӀищырэ пшIыкIузырэ [tʷʼat͡ʃiɕra pʃʼəkʷʼəzəra] (20 × 3 and 11)

72 тӀокӀищырэ пшӀыкӀутIурэ [tʷʼat͡ʃiɕra pʃʼəkʷʼətʷʼəra] (20 × 3 and 12)

...

80 тӀокӀиплӀ [tʷʼat͡ʃipɬʼ] (20 × 4)

81 тӀокӀиплӀырэ зырэ [tʷʼat͡ʃipɬʼəra zəra] (20 × 4 and 1)

82 тӀокӀиплӀырэ тIурэ [tʷʼat͡ʃipɬʼəra tʷʼəra] (20 × 4 and 2)

...

90 тӀокӀиплӀырэ пшIырэ [tʷʼat͡ʃipɬʼəra pʃʼəra] (20 × 4 and 10)

91 тӀокӀиплӀырэ пшIыкIузырэ [tʷʼat͡ʃipɬʼəra pʃʼəkʷʼəzəra] (20 × 4 and 11)

91 тӀокӀиплӀырэ пшӀыкӀутIурэ [tʷʼat͡ʃipɬʼəra pʃʼəkʷʼətʷʼəra] (20 × 4 and 12)

One hundred is шъэ (ʂa). The hundreds are formed by the hundred word root (шъ (ʂ)) followed by -и- (-i-) and the multiplier digit root.

100 шъэ (ʂa)

101 шъэрэ зырэ (ʂara zəra) (100 and 1)

110 шъэрэ пшӏырэ (ʂara pʃʼəra) (100 and 10)

200 шъитӀу (ʂitʷʼ) (100 × 2)

201 шъитӀурэ зырэ (ʂitʷʼəra zəra) (200 × 2 and 1)

300 шъищ (ʂiɕ) (100 × 3)

400 шъиплӀ (ʂipɬʼ) (100 × 4)

500 шъитф (ʂitf) (100 × 5)

600 шъих (ʂix) (100 × 6)

700 шъибл (ʂibl) (100 × 7)

800 шъий (ʂij) (100 × 8)

900 шъибгъу (ʂibʁʷ) (100 × 9)

One thousand is мин (min). The thousands are formed by the thousand word root (мин (məjn)) followed by -и- (-i-) and the multiplier digit root.

1000 мин (min)

1001 минрэ зырэ (minra zəra) (1000 and 1)

1010 минрэ пшӏырэ (minra pʃʼəra) (1000 and 10)

1100 минрэ шъэрэ (minra ʂara) (1000 and 100)

2000 минитӀу (minitʷʼ) (1000 × 2)

3000 минищ (miniɕ) (1000 × 3)

4000 миниплӀ (minipɬʼ) (1000 × 4)

5000 минитф (minitf) (1000 × 5)

6000 миних (minix) (1000 × 6)

7000 минибл (minibl) (1000 × 7)

8000 миний (minij) (1000 × 8)

9000 минибгъу (minibʁʷ) (1000 × 9)

10000 минипшӏ (minipʃʼ) (1000 × 10)

11000 минипшӀыкӀуз (minipʃʼəkʷʼəz) (1000 × 11)

12000 минипшӀыкӀутIу (minipʃʼəkʷʼətʷʼ) (1000 × 12)

20000 минитӀокӀы (minitʷʼat͡ʃə) (1000 × 20)

100000 минишъэ (miniʂa) (1000 × 100)

200000 минишъитӀу (miniʂitʷʼ) (1000 × 200)

When composed, the hundred word takes the -рэ (-ra) suffix, as well as the ten and the unit if any (e.g.:

шъэрэ зырэ (ʂara zəra) [101],
шъэрэ тIурэ (ʂara tʷʼəra) [102],
шъэрэ пшӀыкӀузырэ (pʃʼəkʷʼətʷʼəra) [111],
шъитӀурэ щэкӀырэ плIырэ (ʂitʷʼəra ɕat͡ʃəra pɬʼəra) [234]).

One thousand is мин (min). The other thousands are formed by concatenating the thousand word with -и- (-i-) and the multiplier digit root:

минитӀу (minitʷʼə) [2,000],
минищ (miniɕ) [3,000],
минищ шъэ (miniɕ ʂa) [3,100],
минищ шъитIу (miniɕ ʂitʷʼə) [3,200],
миниплӀ (minipɬʼ) [4,000],
миниплӀы шъэ (minipɬʼəra ʂa) [4,100],
минишъиплIтIу (miniʂipɬʼətʷʼ) [4,200],
минишъиплӀщ (miniʂipɬʼəɕ) [4,300],
минитфы шъэ (minitfə ʂa) [5,100],
минишъитфтIу (miniʂitfətʷʼ) [5,200]...

When there is a certain amount of the noun, the noun is followed by -и (-i) and the multiplier digit root.

for example:

Зы кӀалэ – One boy (zə t͡ʃaːla),
КӀалитӀу – two boys (t͡ʃaːlitʷʼ),
КӀалиплӏ – four boys (t͡ʃaːlipɬʼ),
КӀалишъэ – 100 boys (t͡ʃaːliʂa),
Зы мафэ – one day (zə maːfa),
МафитIу – two days (maːfitʷʼ),
Мафищы (мафищ) – three days (maːfiɕ).

Ordinal numbers[edit]

Except апэрэ/япэрэ – first (aːpara/jaːpara) are formed by prefix я- (jaː-) and suffix – нэрэ (- nara). For example:

ятIунэрэ – second (jaːtʷʼənara), ящынэрэ – third (jaːɕənara), яплIынэрэ – fourth (jaːpɬʼənara).

first – япэрэ [jːpara]

second – ятӀунэрэ [jaːtʷʼənara]

third – ящынэрэ [jaːɕənara]

fourth – яплӀынэрэ [jaːpɬʼənara]

firth – ятфынэрэ [jaːtfənara]

sixth – яхынэрэ [jaːxənara]

seventh – яблынэрэ [jaːblənara]

eighth – яинэрэ [jaːjənara]

ninth – ябгъунэрэ [jaːbʁʷənara]

tenth – япшӀынэрэ [jaːpʃʼənara]

eleventh – япшӀыкӏузынэрэ [jaːpʃʼəkʷʼəzənara]

twelfth – япшӀыкӏутӏунэрэ [jaːpʃʼəkʷʼətʷʼənara]

twenty th – ятӏокӏынэрэ [jaːtʷʼat͡ʃənara]

hundredth – яшъэнэрэ [jaːʂanara]

Япэрэ мафэ – First day (jaːpara maːfa),
ЯтIонэрэ мафэ – second day (jaːtʷʼənara maːfa),
ЯтIонэрэ цуакъо – second shoe (jaːpara t͡ʃʷaːqʷa),
Яхэнэрэ классым щегъэжьагъэу тутын сешъо~I have been smoking since the sixth class.

Discrete numbers[edit]

Are formed by changing the last vowel ~ы (~ə) of number to ~эрэ (~ara):

о плIэрэ къыосIогъах – I have told you four times already.

Number can also define measure of a share: Numbers "one" and "two" are formed by words псау (psaw) (whole, whole), ренэ (rena) (whole, whole about length of time), ныкъо (nəqʷa) (the half).

Fractional numbers[edit]

Fractional numerals are formed from cardinal numerals with the help of the -(а)нэ /aːna/ morpheme:

щы /ɕə/ "three" – щанэ /ɕaːna/ "third",
плӏы /pɬʼə/ "four" – плӏанэ /pɬʼaːna/ "fourth",
хы "six" – ханэ /xaːna/ "sixth" and so on.

In a sentence: Чӏыгоу къытатыгъэм изыщанэ картоф хэдгъэтӏысхьа́гъ "On one third of the allocated land we have planted potatoes", Хатэм изыщанэ помидор хэдгъэтIысхагъ- third part of vegetable garden we used for the tomatoes, Ахъщэ къыратыгъэм ыпӏланэ чыфэ ритыгъ – The quarter of the money he received, he lent.

half (1÷2) – ныкъо [nəqʷa]

one third (1÷3) – щанэ [ɕaːna]

two thirds (2÷3) – щанитӏу [ɕaːnitʷʼ] (1÷3 × 2)

one fourth (1÷4) – плӀанэ [pɬʼaːna]

two fourths (2÷4) – плӀанитӏу [pɬʼaːnitʷʼ] (1÷4 × 2)

three fourths (3÷4) – плӀанищ [pɬʼaːniɕ] (1÷4 × 3)

one fifth (1÷5) – тфанэ [tfaːna]

one sixth (1÷6) – ханэ [xaːna]

one seventh (1÷7) – бланэ [blaːna]

one eighth (1÷8) – янэ [jaːna]

one ninth (1÷9) – бгъуанэ [bʁʷaːna]

one tenth (1÷10) – пшӀанэ [pʃʼaːna]

one eleventh (1÷11) – пшӀыкӏузанэ [pʃʼəkʷʼəzaːna]

one twelfth (1÷12) – пшӀыкӏутӏуанэ [pʃʼəkʷʼətʷʼaːna]

one twentieth (1÷20) – тӏокӏанэ [tʷʼat͡ʃaːna]

one hundredth (1÷100) – шъанэ [ʂaːna]

Separative numbers[edit]

Separative numerals are formed by repetition of the appropriate cardinal numeral with the help of the morpheme -ры /-rə/:

зырыз /zərəz/ "by one",
тӏурытӏу /tʷʼərətʷʼ/ "by twos",
щырыщ /ɕərəɕ/ "by threes",
плӏырыплӏ /pɬʼərəplʼ/ "by fours",
тфырытф /tfərətf/ "by fives" and so on.

In a sentence: Еджакӏохэр экзаменым тӏурытӏоу чӏахьэщтыгъэх "Pupils entered the examination room by twos".

Approximate numbers[edit]

Approximate numerals are formed as a combination of three cardinal numerals where the main constructive numeral is, usually, the numeral зы "one". for example

зыхыбл /zəxəbl/ зы-хы-бл "about six or seven",
зытӏущ /zətʷʼəɕ/ зы-тӏу-щ "about two or three".

In a sentence: Непэ садэжь нэбгырэ зытIущ къыIухьагъ "About two or three people have approached me today".

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

Аркадьев, П. М.; Ландер, Ю. А.; Летучий, А. Б.; Сумбатова, Н. Р.; Тестелец, Я. Г. Введение. Основные сведения об адыгейском языке в кн.: "Аспекты полисинтетизма: очерки по грамматике адыгейского языка" под ред.: П. М. Аркадьев, А. Б. Летучий, Н. Р. Сумбатова, Я. Г. Тестелец. Москва: РГГУ, 2009 (Arkadiev, P. M.; Lander, Yu. A.; Letuchiy, A. B.; Sumbatova, N. R.; Testelets, Ya. G.
Introduction. Basic information about Adyghe language in "Aspects of polysyntheticity: studies on Adyghe grammar" edited by: P. M. Arkadiev, A. B. Letuchiy, N. R. Sumbatova, Ya. G. Testelets. Moscow, RGGU, 2009) (in Russian) ISBN 978-5-7281-1075-0
Ranko Matasović, A Short Grammar of East Circassian (Kabardian): [1].
Caucasus Studies 1 CIRCASSIAN Clause Structure Mukhadin Kumakhov & Karina Vamling

External links[edit]

Adyghe grammar – Introduction Useful site to learn Adyghe grammar
Adyghe grammar – Detailed (in Russian)
Adyghe grammar – Circassian language lessons online Another site to learn the Adyghe grammar