Eastern Circassian grammar (Kabardian: Къэбэрдеибзэ адыгабзэ), as described in this article, is the grammar of standard East Circassian also known as Kabardian, as spoken and written by the Kabardian and Besleney communities primarily in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and Karachay-Cherkessian Republic in Russia.
Eastern Circassian is ergative–absolutive, predominatly marks head final and its normal word order is SOV (Subject-Object-Verb). Its nouns are remarkably simple, only marking for 2 numbers and case (which is frequently optional). Its verbal morphology however is the most complex part of the language, being inflected with suffixes and prefixes, making it very agglutinative and polysynthetic. A verb can be marked for several persons (polypersonality), number, tense, mood, causative and with a large array of preverbs. Notions such as "can", "must", and "if", usually expressed as separate words in most European languages, are typically expressed with verbal suffixes in Eastern Circassian.
Kabardian 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 щӏалэ "boy" in the intransitive sentence щӏалэр малӏэ "the boy dies" behaves grammatically different from the word щӏалэ "boy" in the transitive sentence щӏалэм ар еукӏы "the boy kills it".
Nouns in Kabardian can have the following roles in a sentence:
In intransitive verbs the subject is in the absolutive case thus it indicates that the subject is changing (created, altered, moved or ended).
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.
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:
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.
A Circassian noun can be in one of the following two states: singular or plural
Singular number is marked by a null morpheme, while plural nouns use the -хэ suffix, which is attached to the main form of the word. A noun in its plural form must be in its definite form, meaning it must include case markers such as -р or -м.
For example: singular:
Names and vocative uses of a noun are exempt of this rule.
However, the plural marking on the noun is optional in most cases. It is however frequently encoded in other parts of the sentence which are mandatory, for example the verb or possessive marking.
As a side note, the suffix -хэ is also present in verbs to denote that the absolutive participant is plural. However similarly, it is only optional. For example:
Collective nouns, such as жылэ village, къуажэ village, хьэблэ district, унагуэ family, are noteworthy, in regards to the usage of the plural. All of them, can also refer to the members of that group and if they do the noun acts as a plurale tantum which can't have.
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: щӏалэ "boy" – indefinite noun (has none of the definite formats) – it can be used in generalizations or when the boy is unknown to either the "speaker" or "listener" (a/an or zero article in English); щӏалэр, щӏалэм "the boy" – it is used when the mentioned boy is well known to both the "speaker" and "listener".
Kabardian also declines nouns into four different cases, each with corresponding suffixes: absolutive, ergative, instrumental, and adverbial. The absolutive and ergative cases are considered primary cases, while instrumental and adverbial periphery cases, which means they have less of a core functionality and are frequently built on primary cases
| Case | Suffix | example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyrillic | IPA | |||
| Absolutive | р | pronounced as //r// | щӏалэр pronounced as /[ɕʼaːlar]/ ('the boy') | |
| Ergative-Oblique | м | pronounced as //m// | щӏалэм pronounced as /[ɕʼaːlam]/ ('the boy's') | |
| Instrumental | (м)кӏэ | pronounced as //(m)t͡ʃʼa// | щӏалэмкӏэ pronounced as /[ɕʼaːɮamt͡ʃʼa]/ ('using the boy') | |
| Adverbial | ыу | pronounced as //əw// | щӏалу pronounced as /[ɕʼaɮəw]/ ('boy') | |
Has the suffix -р pronounced as //r// (e.g. щӏалэр pronounced as /[ɕʼaːɮar]/ 'the boy', щӏалэхэр pronounced as /[ɕʼaːɮaxar]/ ('the boys'), шыр pronounced as /[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, Щӏалэр is in the absolutive case, it points to the subject (the boy), and the sentence is in the absolutive form with an intransitive verb (кӏуащ);
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).
Has the suffix -м pronounced as //-m// (e.g. щӏалэм pronounced as /[ɕʼaːɮam]/ 'the boy's', щӏалэхэм pronounced as /[ɕʼaːɮaxam]/ 'the boys'', щым pronounced as /[ʃəm]/ 'the horse's). This case has two roles: Ergative role and Oblique role.
An example with an intransitive verb йоджэ "reads" and indirect object тхылъым "book".
An example with an transitive verb ирет "gives" and indirect object пщащэм "girl".
The Ergative-Oblique case can also be used as an adverbial modifier. For example:
The Ergative-Oblique case is used in possessive constructions. For example:
Indefinite nouns are marked by the affix -кӏэ : тхылъ-кӏэ, "by/with book", ӏэ-кӏэ "by/with hand". definite nouns express this case using the ergative affix -м in conjunction with the affix -кӏэ: уадэ-м-кӏэ "by/with the hammer", тхылъ-м-кӏэ "by/with the book".
The Instrumental case can also mark the direction of action:
Has the suffix -уэ pronounced as //wa//, or -у pronounced as //əw// (e.g. щӏалу pronounced as /[ɕʼaːɮəw]/ 'boy'). The adverbial case usually expresses a transition into something, or definition (clarification, which often works like the English words -which, -who, -that...) of a name. It points to the real (literal, not grammatical) subject in the sentence. For example:
Kabardian is a pro-drop language. The subject and the object pronouns are sometimes omitted when verb conjugations reflect number and person.
In Kabardian, if a noun is accompanied by an adjective, the adjective is always placed right after the noun and also gets the grammatical role suffixes instead of the noun.
In Kabardian someone (person) or something (animal, plant, object) that does a specific verb (or something happened to him/it) can be represented with the verb word with the additional suffix -э (a) (for present tense -рэ (-ra)). For example:
In Kabardian someone (person) or something (animal, plant, object) that have a specific adjective can be presented with the adjective word with the additional noun case suffix (absolutive, ergative, etc.) For example:
Possessive cases are one of the most important grammatical characteristics of nouns in the Circassian language. Singular Circassian nouns of the proprietary form are expressed by the following prefixes:
| Pronoun | Prefix | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First person | си- | си-тхы́лъ "my book"; | |
| Second person | уи- | уи-тхы́лъ "your book"; | |
| Third person | и- | и-тхы́лъ "his book". |
Plural nouns have these prefixes:
| Pronoun | Prefix | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First person | ди- | д-у́н "our home". | |
| Second person | фи- | фи-у́н "your home". | |
| Third person | я- | я-у́н "their home". |
Kabardian has three demonstratives: а /ʔaː/, мо /mo/ and мы /mə/.
а /ʔaː/
Adyghe; Adygei: '''а''' ӏанэ — that table
Adyghe; Adygei: '''а''' пщащэ — that girl
Adyghe; Adygei: '''а''' щӏалэм жыӏэ — that boy is saying
мо /maw/
Adyghe; Adygei: '''мо''' ӏанэ — that table
Adyghe; Adygei: '''мо''' пщащэ — that girl
Adyghe; Adygei: '''мо''' щӏалэм жыӏэ — that boy is saying
мы /mə/
Adyghe; Adygei: '''мы''' ӏанэ — this table
Adyghe; Adygei: '''мы''' пщащэ — this girl
Adyghe; Adygei: '''мы''' щӏалэм жыӏэ — this boy is saying
The demonstratives can be used to express different things like:
Location: адэ "there", модэ "there", мыдэ "here".
Similarity: апхуэд "like that", мопхуэд "like", мыпхуэд "like this".
In Kabardian, only the first and second person, singular and plural, pronouns have dedicated words. Effectively speaking in terms of usage, а is the third person pronoun, however that is a demonstrative (for more details see here).
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. Third person pronouns are expressed as demonstrative pronouns.
| Plurality | Person | Prefix | meaning | example | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyrillic | IPA | ||||
| Singular | 1st person | си- | pronounced as //səj-// | "my" | сиунэ /səjwəna/ – my house; ситхылъ /səjtxəɬ/ – my book |
| 2nd person | уи- | pronounced as //wəj-// | "your" | уиунэ /wəjwəna/ – your house; уитхылъ /wəjtxəɬ/ – your book | |
| 3rd person | и- | pronounced as //jə-// | "his" | иунэ /jəwəna/ – his house; итхылъ /jətxəɬ/ – his book | |
| Plural | 1st person | ди- | pronounced as //dəj-// | "our" | диунэ /dəjwəna/ – our house; дитхылъ /dəjtxəɬ/ – our book |
| 2nd person | фи- | pronounced as //fəj-// | "your" | фиунэ /fəjwəna/ – your house; фитхылъ /fəjtxəɬ/ – your book | |
| 3rd person | я- | pronounced as //jaː-// | "their" | яунэ /jaːwəna/ – their house; ятхылъ /jaːtxəɬ/ – their book | |
In Kabardian whole one – зыгоруэ, Serves for indication of all notions corresponding to English words "someone", "something", "someone", "something", "sometime", "somewhere", etc. Зыгуэрэ changes either as noun – in number and in cases:
See main article: article and Kabardian verbs. In Kabardian, 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: кӏуэ "go", щтэ "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. Verbs' 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: укъазогъэпсэлъэж "I am forcing you to talk to them again" consists of the following morphemes: у-къы-я-с-о-гъэ-псэлъэ-ж, with the following meanings: "you (у) from there (къы) to them (я) I (с) am (о) forcing (гъэ) speak (псэлъэ) again (ж)".
Verbs in Kabardian can be transitive (лъэIэс) or intransitive (лъэмыIэс). The main difference is that a base intransitive verb governs only over 1 argument, the subject in the absolutive/nominative case (-р), while a base transitive verb governs over 2 arguments, the subject in the ergative case (-м) and the direct object in the absolutive/nominative case (-р).
Below the intransitive verb плъэн "to look" and transitive verb лъагъун "to see Y" are used to demonstrate that. With лIы "man" and жыг "tree".
One major difference between the two is that transitive verbs mark a third person subject while intransitives don't mark it. The simply reason is that the absolutive third person is a null-morpheme (∅-), while the ergative has dedicated morphemes for singular and plural (и- jə- and я- jaː-).
Below are a few further example sentences with intransitive verbs:
Below are a few further example sentences with transitive verbs:
There are also ambitransitive verbs (can be used as intransitive and transitive without (almost) any morphological change). Most of these are agentive, with only some being patientive. For example:
Through valency increasing operations, both intransitive and transitive verbs can get one or more indirect objects. One frequent way is to use preverbs, for example the generic preverb е- "to/at". Thus intransitive verbs can also govern over 2 arguments only that the cases are switched (since the subject is in the absolutive and the indirect object in the ergative (oblique). For example:
Intransitive verbs can be turned into transitive with the causative affix -гъэ- (meaning "to force, to make"). For example:
The verbs in the first sentences мажэ "is running", матхэ "is writing" are intransitive, and the verbs in the second sentences егъажэ "forces ... to run", егъатхэ "makes ... to write" are already transitive.
The differentiation of person markers depends upon the parameters of person, number, and case. Interestingly, the first and second person markers bear a close resemblance to their respective pronouns.
Presented below are the foundational markers which are subject to change contingent upon their surrounding environment.
| Absolutive | Ergative | Oblique | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1S | сы- | с- | с- | |
| 2S | у(ы)- | у-/б- | у-/б- | |
| 3S | ∅- | и- | ∅- | |
| 1P | ды- | д- | д- | |
| 2P | фы- | ф- | ф- | |
| 3P | ∅- (-хэ) | я- | я- |
A cursory glance reveals that the markers undergo minimal transformations across the cases. The principal modification between absolutive and ergative markers is the -ы suffixed to the absolutive markers, and the inclusion of markers for the third person in the ergative case.
The second person singular marker warrants special attention. The true base form of the ergative is /w/, however because of the writing system, this doesn't get distinguished from the absolutive marker /wə/, as both are written with the letter <у>. In addition, in most places /w/ gets hardened, so that it might appear that б or п are the base forms.
Depending on the environment, the person markers change their phonological appearance.
The person marker gets the voicedness of the following consonant, i.e. voiceless, voiced or ejective, however, orthographically ejectivity is simply treated as voiceless.
Between vowels, the person markers get voiced.
In front of consonants, the second person singular ergative у- marker gets hardened to a labial plosive. Before vowels and intervocalically there is more variation. E.g.:
The о- prefix is a morpheme which can't be neatly categorized, as it spans over various categories be it tense, mood, dynamicity and polarization. It is only used in positive, dynamic, indicative, present tense verbs.
Originally, this morpheme was probably *уэ-, however transformed into о- in most phonological contexts.
Most notably it transformed into мэ- word initially.
It and the ergative third person singular person marker и- combine into е-.
While the ergative third person plural person marker я- eats it.
It and the preverb е- combine into йо-.
Kabardian verbs can be either dynamic or static.
Dynamic verbs express (process of) actions that are taking place (natural role of verbs in English):
Сэ сожэ: "I am running";
Сэ сокӏуэ: "I am going",
Сэ солъэгъу: "I am seeing it",
Сэ жызоӏэ: "I am saying it".
Static verbs express states or results of actions:
Сэ сыщытщ: "I am standing",
Сэ сыщылъщ: "I am lying.",
Сэ сыпхъащӏщ: "I am a carpenter",
Сэ сытрактористщ: "I am a tractor-driver".
| Tense | Suffix | Example | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | ~(р) /~(r)/ | макӏуэ /maːkʷʼa/ | (s)he is going; (s)he goes | |
| Preterite | ~ащ /~aːɕ/ | кӏуащ /kʷʼaːɕ/ | (s)he went | |
| Pluperfect | ~гъащ /~ʁaːɕ/ | кӏуэгъащ /kʷʼaʁaːɕ/ | (s)he went a long time ago" | |
| Categorical Future | ~нщ /~nɕ/ | кӏуэнщ /kʷʼanɕ/ | (s)he will go | |
| Factual Future | ~нущ /~nəwɕ/ | кӏуэнущ /kʷʼanəwɕ/ | (s)he will go, (s)he is about to go | |
| Imperfect | ~(р)т /~(r)t/ | кӏуэ(р)т /kʷʼa(r)t/ | (s)he was going | |
| Anterior Perfect (Perfect II) | ~ат /~aːt/ | кӏуат /kʷʼaːt/ | (then) (s)he went | |
| Anterior Pluperfect | ~гъат /~ʁaːt/ | кӏуэгъат /kʷʼaʁaːt/ | (then) (s)he went a long time ago" | |
| Future II Categorical | ~нт /~nt/ | кӏуэнт /kʷʼant/ | (s)he was about to go / (s)he would go | |
| Future II Factual | ~нут /~nəwt/ | кӏуэнут /kʷʼanəwt/ | (s)he was about to go / (s)he would go |
Verb valency is the number of arguments controlled by a verbal predicate. It is very close to the concept of transitivity, in the sense that base intransitive verbs are monovalent, while base transitive verbs are bivalent.
Most operations in Kabardian are valency increasing operations, in frequency as well as in amount of morphemes. Those operations usually affect the transitivity, or rather any operations which affects the transitivity (almost) always affects the valency.
Among the valency increasing operations is the causative prefix and the various preverbs. E.g.:
Among the valency decreasing operations is the reflexive person marker. E.g.:
| 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 | хуэ~ [xʷa~] | "for" | ху-еплъын [xʷajpɬən] "to look for" | |
| Malefactive | фӏ~ [fʼa~] | "against one's interest" | фӏ-еплъын [fʼajpɬən] "to look against his interest" | |
| Reflexive | зэ~ [za~] | "self" | зэ-плъын [zapɬən] "to look at oneself" |
The imperative mood denotes a command.
As its subject, the imperative mood can only have the second person as its subject. It is formed by stripping away all tense suffixes from the verb, with the specialty that the positive second-person singular form doesn't mark the subject. The negative is marked by мы-.
| infinitive | meaning | positive singular | negative singular | positive plural | negative plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| кIуэн | to go | кIуэ | умыкIуэ | фыкIуэ | фымыкIуэ | |
| тхын | to write Y | тхы | умытх | фтхы | фымытх | |
| къэщтэн | to take Y | къэщтэ | къыумыщтэ | къэфщтэ | къэвмыщтэ |
Conditional mood is expressed with suffix -мэ: сы-кIуэ-мэ "if I go", сы-жэ-мэ "if I run", с-щIэ-мэ "if I do".
Concessive mood is expressed with suffix -ми: сы-кIуэ-ми "even if I go", сы-жэ-ми "even if I run", с-щIэ-ми "even if I do".
Affirmative form is expressed with the affix -къэ: кӏуэ-къэ "isn't he is going?", гыщӏэ-къэ "isn't he washing?".
Kabardian has a rich participle morphology.
Usually, all arguments of a verb can the pivot of participles. In addition, there are participles which may denote place, time, reason, manner, etc, which are independent from the arguments.
Other than not being able to change the grammatical category of mood, participle can mark for everything else what normal verbs can.
The absolutive participle denotes the absolutive argument of a verb. If that verb is intransitive, it refers to the subject, if it is transitive it refers to the direct object. Absolutive participles are marked by a null morpheme.
Intransitive verbs:
Intransitive verbs with preverbs:
Transitive verbs:
Transitive verbs with preverb:
The ergative participle denotes the ergative argument of a verb. This participle is only present in transitive verbs and refers to the subject. It is marked by зы-.
Transitive verbs:
Transitive verbs with preverb:
The oblique participle denotes the oblique argument of a verb. This participle is present in every verb which has an oblique argument, usually only possible by having a preverb. It is marked by зы-. One can argue that it is simply the ergative participle, but simply applied on a preverb, however it may be useful to differentiate them, because oblique participles don't denote the subject of a verb (the ergative participle can only denote the subject) in addition they exist for transitive and intransitive verbs (the ergative participle only exists for transitive verbs).
Intransitive verbs with preverbs:
Transitive verbs with preverb:
Sentence Examples:
This participle denotes time as well as location, depending on the context. It is marked by щы-.
Sentence examples:
The locative participle denotes the place. It is marked by здэ-.
The manner participle denotes the manner. It is marked by зэры-.
The reason participle denotes the reason. It is marked by щIэ-.
Masdar (a form of verb close to gerund) in the Kabardian language is expressed with the suffix -н:
тхы-н "a write (writing)",
жэ-н "a run (running)",
щтэ-н "a take (taking)",
псэлъэ-н "a talk (talking)",
дзы-н "a throw (throwing)".
Masdar has grammatical cases:
Absolutive жэны-р,
Ergative жэны-м,
Instrumental жэны-м-кӏэ,
Adverbial жэн-у
and different forms for different person:
сы-жэн "I will run",
у-жэн "you will run",
жэн "he will run".
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-кӏу "you don't go",
сы-къы-пхуэ-мы-щэмэ "if you can't bring me",
у-къа-мы-гъа-к1уэмэ "if you aren't forced to come".
In verbs the negative meaning can also be expressed with the suffix -къым, which usually goes after the suffixes of time-tenses. For example:
сы-тэджыр-къым "I am not getting up",
сы-тэ-джа-къым "I have not got up",
сы-тэджыну-къым "I will not get up".
In Kabardian, the positional prefixes are expressing being in different positions and places and can also express the direction of the verb. Here is the positional conjugation of some dynamic verbs, showing how the prefix changes the indicated direction of the verb:
| Position | Prefix | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Looking | Throwing | |||
| Body position/Pose | щы~ [ɕə~] | щеплъэ [ɕajpɬa] "(s)he is looking at that place" | щедзы [ɕajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing at that place" | |
| On | те~ [taj~] | теплъэ [tajpɬa] "(s)he is looking on" | тедзэ [tajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing at" | |
| Under | щӏэ~ [ɕʼa~] | щӏаплъэ [ɕʼaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking under" | щӏедзэ [ɕʼajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing under" | |
| Through | хэ~ [xa~] | хаплъэ [xaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking through" | хедзэ [xajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing through" | |
| Within some area | дэ~ [da~] | даплъэ [daːpɬa] "(s)he is looking at some area" | дедзэ [dajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing at some area" | |
| Inside an object | даплъэ [daːpɬa] "(s)he is looking inside an object" | дедзэ [dajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing inside an object" | ||
| Around | ӏу~ [ʔʷə~] | ӏуаплъэ [ʔʷaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking around" | ӏуедзэ [ʔʷajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing around" | |
| Inside | и~ [jə~] | еплъэ [japɬa] "(s)he is looking inside" | редзэ [rajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing inside" | |
| Hanged/Attached | пы~ [pə~] | пэплъэ [papɬa] "(s)he is searching by looking" | педзэ [pajd͡za] "(s)he is hanging by throwing" | |
| Behind | къуэ~ [qʷa~] | къуаплъэ [qʷaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking behind" | къуедзэ [qʷajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing behind" | |
| Aside | го~ [ɡʷa~] | гуаплъэ [ɡʷaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking aside" | гуедзэ [ɡʷajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing aside" | |
| Against | пэӏу~ [paʔʷə~] | пэӏуаплъэ [paʔʷaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking against" | пэӏуедзэ [paʔʷajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing against" | |
| Backwards | зэщӏ~ [zaɕʼ~] | зэщӏаплъэ [zaɕʼaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking backwards" | зэщӏедзэ [zaɕʼajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing backwards" | |
| Inside within | кӏуэцӏы~ [kʷʼat͡sʼə~] | кӏуэцӏаплъэ [kʷʼat͡sʼaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking within inside" | кӏуэцӏедзэ [kʷʼat͡sʼajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing within inside" | |
| Toward | кӏэлъы~ [kʲʼaɬə~] | кӏэлъэплъэ [ɬapɬa] "(s)he is looking toward" | кӏэлъедзы [ɬajd͡zə] "(s)he is throwing toward" | |
| Past | блэ~ [bɮa~] | блэплъы [bɮapɬə] "(s)he is looking past" | бледзэ [bɮajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing past" | |
| Over | щхьэпыры~ [ɕħapərə~] | щхьэпырыплъы [ɕħapərəpɬə] "(s)he is looking over" | щхьэпыредзэ [ɕħapərajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing over" | |
| Directly | жьэхэ~ [ʑaxa~] | жьэхаплъэ [ʑaxaːpɬa] "(s)he is glaring at one's face" | жьэхедзэ [ʑaxajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing at one's face" | |
| Mouth | жьэдэ~ [ʑada~] | жьэдаплъэ [ʑadaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking at a mouth" | жьэдедзэ [ʑadajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing at a mouth" | |
Here is the positional conjugation of some verbs, showing how the root changes indicate position:
| stands | sits | lies | ||
| Body position/Pose | щыт (ɕət) | щыс (ɕəs) | щылъ (ɕəɬ) | |
| On | тет (tajt) | тес (tajs) | телъ (tajɬ) | |
| Under | щIэт (ɕ’at) | щIэс (ɕ’as) | щIэлъ (ɕ’aɬ) | |
| Among | хэт (xat) | хэс (xas) | хэлъ (xaɬ) | |
| Within some area | дэт (dat) | дэс (das) | дэлъ (daɬ) | |
| Behind | ӏут (ʔʷət) | ӏyc (ʔʷəs) | ӏулъ (ʔʷəɬ) | |
| Inside | ит (jət) | иc (jəs) | илъ (jəɬ) | |
| Hanged or attached | пыт (pət) | пыc (pəs) | пылъ (pəɬ) | |
| Corner or behind | къуэт (qʷat) | къуэc (qʷas) | къуэлъ (qʷaɬ) | |
| Side | гуэт (gʷat) | гуэc (gʷas) | гуэлъ (gʷaɬ) | |
| In front of | пэӏут (paʔʷət) | пэӏуc (paʔʷəs) | пэӏулъ (paʔʷəɬ) | |
| Inside within | кӏуэцӏыт (kʷʼat͡sʼət) | кӏуэцӏыс (kʷʼat͡sʼəs) | кӏуэцӏылъ (kʷʼat͡sʼəɬ) | |
| Slope | кӏэрыт (kʲʼarət) | кӏэрыс (kʲʼarəs) | кӏэрылъ (kʲʼarəɬ) | |
| Over | щхьэпырыт (ɕħapərət) | щхьэпырыс (ɕħapərəs) | щхьэпырылъ (ɕħapərəɬ) | |
| Directly | жьэхэт (ʑaxat) | жьэхэс (ʑaxas) | жьэхэлъ (ʑaxaɬ) | |
| Toward the mouth | жьэдэт (ʑadat) | жьэдэс (ʑadas) | жьэдэлъ (ʑadaɬ) |
Examples:
щыт – [someone or something] stands (as a pose);
Iут – [someone or something] stands (behind);
щIэт – [someone or something] stands (under)
тет – [someone or something] stands (above)
дэт – [someone or something] stands (between), etc.
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: хужы "white" (singular) – хужы-хэ-р "whites" (plural).
They switch grammatical cases similarly to nouns:
| Case | Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Absolutive | хужыр | хужыхэр | |
| Ergative-Oblique | хужым | хужыхэм | |
| Instrumental | хужы(м)кӏэ | хужыхэ(м)кӏэ | |
| Adverbial | хужу | хужыху |
A qualitative adjective as a compliment in a sentence goes after the word it describes: к1алэ дэгъу "good boy", унэ лъагэ "high house"; a relative adjective goes before it: пхъэ уадэ "wooden hammer", гъущӏ пӏэкӏор "iron bed". In the second case adjectives do not change their form, only the appropriate nous do. For example: in plural – пхъэ унэ "wooden house".
In different grammatical cases:
| Case | Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Absolutive | пхъэ унэр | пхъэ унэхэр | |
| Ergative-Oblique | пхъэ унэм | пхъэ унэхэм | |
| Instrumental | пхъэ унэ(м)кӏэ | пхъэ унэхэ(м)кӏэ | |
| Adverbial | пхъэ уну | пхъэ унэху |
Combining adjectives with nouns it is possible to produce a great lot of phrases: пщэщэ дахэ "beautiful girl", щӏалэ дэгъу "good boy", цӏыху кӏыхьэ "long man", гъуэгу занщӏэ "straight road", удз 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 щӏэлэ лъэщы-р "the strong boy (abs.) and уадэ псынщӏэ-мкӏэ "using the light hammer (ins.).
Circassian qualitative adjectives also have comparative and superlative forms. For example: нэхъ хужы "whiter, more white" (comparative form) and янэхъ хужы "whitest, most white",
The Comparative degree is formed by auxiliary word нэхъ:
Ар абы нэхъ лъагэ – he is higher than you,
Нэхъ ины хъущ – He became bigger [More big became],
Нэхъ лӏыгъэ къызхэбгъэлъын хуей – You must be braver.
The superlative degrees is formed by auxiliary word анахь (more than all...):
Ар пщащэмэ янэхъ дахэ – She is the most beautiful among the girls,
Ар псоми янэхъ лъагэ – It is the highest,
Псэри шхын янэхъ дэгъумкӏэ игъэшхащ – (S)he feeds him with the tastiest meal,
Ар псоми янэхъ лъэщ – He is the strongest.
The following suffixes are added to nouns:
| Suffix | Meaning | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ~щӏэ (~ɕʼa) | new | унащӏэ (new house) | |
| ~жьы (~ʑə) | old | унэжьы (old house) | |
| ~шхуэ (~ʃxʷa) | large | унэшхуэ (large house) | |
| ~цӏыкӏу (~t͡sʼəkʷʼ) | small | унэцӏыкӏу (small house) |
The following suffixes are added to adjectives:
| Suffix | Meaning | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ~ӏуэ (~ʔʷa) | slightly | стырыӏуэ (slightly spicy) | |
| ~щэ (~ɕa) | too much | дыджыщэ (too much bitter) | |
| ~дэд (~dad) | very | дэгъудэд (very good) | |
| ~кӏей (~t͡ʃʼej) | pretty | дэгъукӏей (pretty good) | |
| ~ншэ (~nʃa) | lacking | акъылыншэ (mindless) |
To indicate a thought or an opinion of someone, the prefix фӏэ~ (fʼa~) is added to the adjective. This can also be used on nouns but it is very uncommon. For example:
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 ӏэфӏы-гъэ (from the adjective ӏэфӏы "tasty") can be used to express different levels/qualities of tastiness. This suffix turns the adjective to a noun.
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:
In the Kabardian language adverbs belong to these groups: adverbs of place, adverbs of time, adverbs of quality and adverbs of amount.
Adverbs of this group are formed from the appropriate qualitative adjectives using the suffix ~у /~w/. Adverbs in this group describe the manner in which the verb was done.
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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyrillic | IPA | |||
| Indefinite nouns | рэ | pronounced as //ra// | щӏалэ-рэ пщащэ-рэ къэкӏуахэщ "a boy and a girl came." | |
| Definite nouns | мрэ | pronounced as //mra// | щӏалэ-мрэ пщащэ-мрэ къэкӏуахэщ "the boy and the girl came." | |
| Pronouns | рэ | pronounced as //ra// | сэ-рэ о-рэ дыкӏуащ "You and I went." | |
| Indefinite adjectives | ри | pronounced as //ri// | щӏэлэ кӏыхьэ-ри пщащэ дахэ-ри къэкӏуахэщ "a tall boy and a pretty girl came." | |
| Definite adjectives | мри | pronounced as //mri// | щӏэлэ кӏыхьэ-мри пщащэ дахэ-мри къэкӏуахэщ "a tall boy and a pretty girl came." | |
| Numbers | рэ | pronounced as //ra// | щӏэлэ тӏу-рэ пщащэ щы-рэ къэкӏуахэщ "two boys and three girls came." | |
| Universal nouns | и | pronounced as //i// | щӏал-и пщащ-и къэкӏуахэщ "boys and girls came." | |
| Adverbs | мкӏи | pronounced as //mt͡ʃʼi// | махуэ-мкӏи жэщы-мкӏи къэкӏуахэщ "they came in the day and in the night." | |
Verbs: Щӏалэр йоджэ ыкӏи матхэ "The boy reads and writes".
Adjectives: Щӏалэр дахэ ыкӏи кӏыхьэ "The boy is handsome and tall".
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.
Among simple Circassian conjunctions are:
In the Circassian language participles are different both by their semantics and structure. Semantically they fall into the following groups: affirmative, negative, interrogative, intensive, indicatory and stimulating.
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: Фызыр лӏым ипэ иту кӏуащ "The wife went in front of the husband" (the preposition "in front of" in the Circassian sentence is expressed by the phrase ипэ иту "being in front of his nose").
Nouns and pronouns combine with a postposition in the ergative grammatical case only. For example, the postposition деж "near, beside" requires a word in the ergative case:
Postpositions can attach possessive prefixes to themselves. For example, in singular:
in plural:
The following words are used as postpositions in the Circassian language:
This strategy is very similar to the English one, which gives words like pickpocket, cutthroat, scarecrow.
A suffix denoting a tree.
This is an unproductive suffix, which creates new verbs from other verbs.
1 зы
2 тӀу
3 щы
4 плӀы
5 тху
6 хы
7 блы
8 и
9 бгъу
10 пщӏы
11 пщӏыкӀуз pronounced as /[pɕʼəkʷʼəz]/
12 пщӏыкӀутIу pronounced as /[pɕʼəkʷʼətʷʼ]/
13 пщӏыкӀущ pronounced as /[pɕʼəkʷʼəɕ]/
14 пщӏыкӀуплI pronounced as /[pɕʼəkʷʼəpɬʼ]/
15 пщӏыкӀутху pronounced as /[pɕʼəkʷʼətxʷ]/
16 пщӏыкӀух pronounced as /[pɕʼəkʷʼəx]/
17 пщӏыкӀубл pronounced as /[pɕʼəkʷʼəbɮ]/
18 пщӏыкӀуй pronounced as /[pɕʼəkʷʼəj]/
19 пщӏыкӀубгъу pronounced as /[pɕʼəkʷʼəbʁʷ]/}
20 тӀощӏ pronounced as /[tʷʼaɕʼə]/ (20)
21 тӀощӏэ зырэ pronounced as /[tʷʼaɕʼəra zəra]/ (20 and 1)
22 тӀощӏэ тIурэ pronounced as /[tʷʼaɕʼəra tʷʼəra]/ (20 and 2)
23 тӀощӏэ щырэ pronounced as /[tʷʼaɕʼəra ɕəra]/ (20 and 3)
...
30 щэщӏ pronounced as /[ɕaɕʼ]/ (30)
31 щэщӏрэ зырэ pronounced as /[ɕaɕʼra zəra]/ (30 and 1)
32 щэщӏрэ тIурэ pronounced as /[ɕaɕʼra tʷʼəra]/ (30 and 2)
...
40 плIыщI pronounced as /[pɬʼəɕʼ]/ (20 × 2)
50 тхущI,pronounced as /[txʷəɕʼ]/ (half-hundred)
60 хыщI,pronounced as /[xəɕʼ]/ (20 × 3)
70 блыщI pronounced as /[bɮəɕʼ]/ (20 × 3 and 10)
80 ищI pronounced as /[jəɕʼ]/ (20 × 4)
90 бгъущI pronounced as /[bʁʷəɕʼ]/ (20 × 4 and 10)
(-i-) and the multiplier digit root.
100 щэ (ɕa)
101 щэрэ зырэ (ɕara zəra) (100 and 1)
110 щэрэ пщӏырэ (ɕara pʃʼəra) (100 and 10)
200 щитӀу (ɕitʷʼ) (100 × 2)
201 щитӀурэ зырэ (ɕitʷʼəra zəra) (200 × 2 and 1)
300 щищ (ɕiɕ) (100 × 3)
400 щиплӀ (ɕipɬʼ) (100 × 4)
500 щитху (ɕitxʷ) (100 × 5)
600 щих (ɕix) (100 × 6)
700 щибл (ɕibɮ) (100 × 7)
800 щий (ɕij) (100 × 8)
900 щибгъу (ɕibʁʷ) (100 × 9)
followed by -и- (-i-) and the multiplier digit root.
1000 мин (min)
1001 минрэ зырэ (minra zəra) (1000 and 1)
1010 минрэ пщӏырэ (minra pʃʼəra) (1000 and 10)
1100 минрэ щэрэ (minra ɕara) (1000 and 100)
2000 минитӀу (minitʷʼ) (1000 × 2)
3000 минищ (miniɕ) (1000 × 3)
4000 миниплӀ (minipɬʼ) (1000 × 4)
5000 минитху (minitxʷ) (1000 × 5)
6000 миних (minix) (1000 × 6)
7000 минибл (minibɮ) (1000 × 7)
8000 миний (minij) (1000 × 8)
9000 минибгъу (minibʁʷ) (1000 × 9)
10000 минипщӏ (minipʃʼ) (1000 × 10)
11000 минипщӀыкӀуз (minipʃʼəkʷʼəz) (1000 × 11)
12000 минипщӀыкӀутIу (minipʃʼəkʷʼətʷʼ) (1000 × 12)
20000 минитӀощӏ (minitʷʼaɕʼə) (1000 × 20)
100000 минищэ (miniɕa) (1000 × 100)
200000 минищитӀу (miniɕitʷʼ) (1000 × 200)
When composed, the hundred word takes the -рэ (-ra) suffix, as well as the ten and the unit if any (e.g.: щэрэ зырэ (ɕara zəra) [101], щэрэ тIурэ (ɕara tʷʼəra) [102], щэрэ пщӀыкӀузырэ (pʃʼəkʷʼətʷʼəra) [111], щитӀурэ щэщӀырэ плIырэ (ɕitʷʼəra ɕat͡ʃəra pɬʼəra) [234]).
example: ятIунэрэ – second (jaːtʷʼənara), ящынэрэ – third (jaːɕənara), яплIынэрэ – fourth (jaːpɬʼənara).
first – Япэ pronounced as /[jaːpa]/
second – ЕтIуанэ pronounced as /[jatʼaːna]/
third – Ещанэ pronounced as /[jaɕaːna]/
firth – Еянэ pronounced as /[jajaːna]/
tenth – ЕпщIанэ pronounced as /[japɕʼaːna]/
eleventh – ЕпщыкIузанэ pronounced as /[japɕʼəkʷʼəzaːna]/
sixteenth. – ЕпщыкIуханэ pronounced as /[japɕʼəkʷʼəxaːna]/
Зырыз – in ones, one by one
ТIурытI – in twos, two by two
Щырыщ – in threes, three by three
ПлIырыплI – in fours, four by four
Тхурытху – in fives, five by five
Хырых – in sixes, six by six
Блырыбл – in sevens, seven by seven
Ири – in eights, eight by eight
Бгъурыбгъу – in nines, nine by nine
ПщIырыпщI – in tens, ten by ten
half (1÷2) – Ныкъуэ pronounced as /[nəqʷa]/
one third (1÷3) – щанэ pronounced as /[ɕaːna]/
two thirds (2÷3) – щанитӏу pronounced as /[ɕaːnitʷʼ]/ (1÷3 × 2)
one fourth (1÷4) – плӀанэ pronounced as /[pɬʼaːna]/
two fourths (2÷4) – плӀанитӏу pronounced as /[pɬʼaːnitʷʼ]/ (1÷4 × 2)
three fourths (3÷4) – плӀанищ pronounced as /[pɬʼaːniɕ]/ (1÷4 × 3)
one fifth (1÷5) – тфанэ pronounced as /[tfaːna]/
one sixth (1÷6) – ханэ pronounced as /[xaːna]/
one seventh (1÷7) – бланэ pronounced as /[blaːna]/
one eighth (1÷8) – янэ pronounced as /[jaːna]/
one ninth (1÷9) – бгъуанэ pronounced as /[bʁʷaːna]/
one tenth (1÷10) – пщӀанэ pronounced as /[pʃʼaːna]/
one eleventh (1÷11) – пщӀыкӏузанэ pronounced as /[pʃʼəkʷʼəzaːna]/
one twelfth (1÷12) – пщӀыкӏутӏуанэ pronounced as /[pʃʼəkʷʼətʷʼaːna]/
one twentieth (1÷20) – тӏощӏанэ pronounced as /[tʷʼaɕʼaːna]/
one hundredth (1÷100) – щанэ pronounced as /[ɕaːna]/