| Proto-Circassian | |
| Also Known As: | Proto-Adyghe–Kabardian |
| Familycolor: | Caucasian |
| Ancestor: | Proto-Northwest Caucasian |
| Target: | Circassian languages |
Proto-Circassian (or Proto-Adyghe–Kabardian) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Adyghean and Kabardian languages.
The consonant system is reconstructed with a four-way phonation contrast in stops and affricates, and a two-way contrast in fricatives.
| Proto Circassian | Western Circassian | Eastern Circassian | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proto Western | Shapsug | Bzhedug | Chemgui | Abzakh | Proto Eastern | Besleney | Kabardian | ||
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In the Proto-Circassian there was a series of aspirated consonants that survived in the Shapsug and Bzhedugh dialect while they became plain consonants in the other dialects.
| Word | Proto Circassian | Shapsug Bzhedug | Abzakh Chemgui | Kabardian | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| noise | pʰa | pʰa | pa | pa | |
| sharp | pʰaːɣa | pʰaːɣa | paːɣa | paːɣa | |
| pillow | ʂħaːntʰa | ʂħaːtʰa | ʂħaːnta | ɕħaːnta | |
| wool | t͡sʰə | t͡sʰə | t͡sə | t͡sə | |
| brother | t͡ʃʰə | ʃʰə | ʃə | qʷaʃ | |
| lame | ɬaːʃʰa | ɬaːʃʰa | ɬaːʃa | ɬaːʃa | |
| thigh | kʰʷa | kʰʷa | kʷa | kʷa | |
| grave | qʰa | qʰa | qa | q͡χa | |
| pig | qʷʰa | qʷʰa | qʷa | q͡χʷa |
In the Proto-Circassian there was a series of tense consonants that became voiced in the eastern dialects.
| Word | Proto Circassian | Bzhedug Chemgui | Baslaney | Kabardian | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| we | ta | ta | da | da | |
| leader | tħamaːta | tħamaːta | tħamaːda | tħamaːda | |
| fish | pt͡saʐəja | pt͡saʐəja | bd͡zaʐej | bd͡zaʑej | |
| glass | aːpkʲ | aːpt͡ʃ | ʔaːbɡʲ | ʔaːbd͡ʒ | |
| chicken | kʲat | t͡ʃatə | ɡʲad | d͡ʒad | |
| night | t͡ʃaɕ | t͡ʃaɕə | d͡ʒaɕ | ʒaɕ | |
| village | t͡ʃəɮa | t͡ʃəɮa | d͡ʒəɮa | ʒəɮa | |
| cow | t͡ʃam | t͡ʃamə | d͡ʒam | ʒam | |
| tree | t͡ʂəɣ | t͡ʂəɣə | d͡ʐəɣ | ʒəɣ | |
| mouse | t͡səʁʷa | t͡səʁʷa | d͡zəʁʷa | d͡zəʁʷa | |
| short | kʲʼaːkʷa | t͡ʃʼaːkʷa | kʲʼaːɡʷa | t͡ʃʼaːɡʷa | |
| wheat | kʷat͡s | kʷat͡sə | ɡʷad͡z | ɡʷad͡z |
In the Proto-Circassian language there exist a palatalized voiced velar stop pronounced as /[ɡʲ]/, a palatalized aspirated voiceless velar stop pronounced as /[kʰʲ]/, a palatalized voiceless velar stop pronounced as /[kʲ]/ and a palatalized velar ejective pronounced as /[kʲʼ]/ . The consonants гь pronounced as /link/, кь pronounced as /link/ and кӏь pronounced as /link/ survive in the Shapsug dialect, in the Besleney dialect and in the Kabardian Uzunyayla dialect.[1] In other Circassian dialects they were merged with the palato-alveolar consonants дж pronounced as /link/, ч pronounced as /link/ and кӏ pronounced as /link/ respectively.[2] [3] [4]
| Word | Proto Circassian | Shapsug | Bzhedug Chemgui Abzakh | Baslaney | Kabardian | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| to cough | pskʲʰan | pskʲʰan | pst͡ʃan | pskʲan | pst͡ʃan | |
| game | ɡʲaɡʷ | ɡʲaɡʷ | d͡ʒaɡʷ | ɡʲaɡʷ | d͡ʒaɡʷ | |
| shirt | ɡʲaːna | ɡʲaːna | d͡ʒːna | ɡʲaːna | d͡ʒːna | |
| glass | aːpkʲ | aːpkʲ | aːpt͡ʃ | ʔaːbɡʲ | ʔaːbd͡ʒ | |
| chicken | kʲat | kʲat | t͡ʃatə | ɡʲad | d͡ʒad | |
| short | kʲʼaːkʷa | kʲʼaːkʷa | t͡ʃʼaːkʷa | kʲʼaːɡʷa | t͡ʃʼaːɡʷa | |
| rope | kʲʼaːpsa | kʲʼaːpsa | t͡ʃʼaːpsa | kʲʼaːpsa | t͡ʃʼaːpsa |
In the Abzakh and the Kabardian dialects, the affricate postalveolar consonants became fricative.
| Word | Proto Circassian | Bzhedug Chemgui | Abzakh | Baslaney | Kabardian | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| fox | baːd͡ʒa | baːd͡ʒa | baːʒa | baːd͡ʒa | baːʒa | |
| village | qʷaːd͡ʒa | qʷaːd͡ʒa | qʷaːʒa | qʷaːd͡ʒa | qʷaːʒa | |
| village | t͡ʃəɮa | t͡ʃəɮa | ʃəɮa | d͡ʒəɮa | ʒəɮa | |
| night | t͡ʃaɕ | t͡ʃaɕə | ʃaɕə | d͡ʒaɕ | ʒaɕ | |
| cow | t͡ʃam | t͡ʃamə | ʃamə | d͡ʒam | ʒam | |
| new | t͡ʃʼa | t͡ʃʼa | ʃʼa | t͡ʃʼa | ɕʼa | |
| winter | t͡ʃʼəmaːxʷa | t͡ʃʼəmaːfa | ʃʼəmaːfa | t͡ʃʼəmaːxʷa | ɕʼəmaːxʷa | |
| young-man | t͡ʃʼaːɮa | t͡ʃʼaːɮa | ʔʲaːɮa | t͡ʃʼaːɮa | ɕʼaːɮa | |
| to sleep | t͡ʂəjan | t͡ʂəjan | ʂəjan | d͡ʐajən | ʒajən | |
| tree | t͡ʂəɣ | t͡ʂəɣə | ʂəɣə | d͡ʐəɣ | ʒəɣ | |
| to run | t͡ʂan | t͡ʂan | tʂan | d͡ʐan | ʒan | |
| area | t͡ʂʼəpʼa | t͡ʂʼəpʼa | ʃʼəpʼa | t͡ʂʼəpʼa | ɕʼəpʼa | |
| iron | ʁʷət͡ʂʼə | ʁʷət͡ʂʼə | ʃʼəpʼa | ʁʷət͡ʂʼə | ɕʼəpʼa |
Proto-Circassian had a labialized voiceless velar fricative [xʷ] which survived in the eastern dialects while it became a voiceless labiodental fricative [f] in the western dialects.
| Word | Proto Circassian | Western | Eastern | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| human | t͡sʼəxʷ | t͡sʼəf | t͡sʼəxʷ | |
| white | xʷəʑ | fəʑə | xʷəʑ | |
| hot | xʷaːba | faːba | xʷaːba | |
| day | maːxʷa | maːfa | maːxʷa |
Proto-Circassian had a series of labialized postalveolar consonants (t͡ɕʷ, ʑʷ, ɕʷ and ɕʷʼ). These consonants survived in the western dialects while they became labiodental consonants in the eastern dialects.
| Word | Proto Circassian | Western | Eastern | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ox | t͡ɕʷə | t͡ɕʷə | və | |
| shoe | t͡ɕʷaːqa | t͡ɕʷaːqa | vaːqa | |
| star | ʑʷaːʁʷa | ʑʷaːʁʷa | vaːʁʷa | |
| stone | məʑʷa | məʑʷa | məva | |
| narrow | zaʑʷə | zaʑʷə | zavə | |
| you (pl.) | ɕʷa | ɕʷa | fa | |
| honey | ɕʷaw | ɕʷaw | faw | |
| wife | ɕʷəz | ɕʷəz | fəz | |
| black | ɕʷʼət͡sʼa | ɕʷʼət͡sʼa | fʼət͡sʼa | |
| fire | машӏо | машӏо | мафӏэ | |
| dirty | ɕʷʼajə | ɕʷʼajə | fʼaj |
| English | Proto-Circassian | Ubykh | Western Circassian | Kabardian | Baslaney | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | Cyrillic | IPA | Cyrillic | IPA | Cyrillic | IPA | Cyrillic | IPA | Cyrillic | ||
| One | zə | зы | za | зэ | zə | зы | zə | зы | zə | зы | |
| Two | tʷʼə | тӏу | tʼqʷʼa | ткъӏуа | tʷʼə | тӏу | tʷʼə | тӏу | tʼəw | тӏу | |
| Three | ɕə | щы | ʂa | шъа | ɕə | щы | ɕə | щы | ɕə | щы | |
| Four | pt͡ɬʼə | птлӏы | pʼɬʼə | плӏы | pɬʼə | плӏы | pɬʼə | плӏы | pt͡ɬʼə | птлӏы | |
| Five | txʷə | тху | ɕxə | щхы | tfə | тфы | txʷə | тху | txʷə | тху | |
| Six | xə | хы | fə | фы | xə | хы | xə | хы | xə | хы | |
| Seven | bɮə | блы | blə | бльы | bɮə | блы | bɮə | блы | bɮə | блы | |
| Eight | jə | и | ʁʷa | гъуа | jə | и | jə | и | jə | и | |
| Nine | bʁʷə | бгъу | bʁʲə | бгъьу | bʁʷə | бгъу | bʁʷə | бгъу | bʁʷə | бгъу | |
| Ten | pʃʼə | пшӏы | ʑʷə | жъуы | pʃʼə | пшӏы | pɕʼə | пщӏы | pʃʼə | пшӏы | |
Schleicher's fable in Proto-Circassian:
χʷǝ č́ʷara-gjǝχʷǝ ja laśʷam mә q́ˤ:an
č́ʷara pǝʎ́an;
mǝ χwanǝta k:ʷǝm q:irǝ,
mǝ čʷǝχʷa čʷam,
mǝ ć̣ǝm pasa mǝš́ʷrǝ.
χʷǝ č́ʷara q̇́ˤan:
"źǝʁʷǝ sā ǵʷǝ,
q:ać̣am ć̣arǝ č́ʷara ḳ́ʷarǝ."
č́ʷara q̇́ˤan: "q:́ˤʷa χʷǝ!
źǝʁʷǝ š́a ǵʷǝ ć̣arǝ,
q:ać̣a, ł́a, č́ʷara laśʷam
ʎ́ʷa ḳ́ač̣ʷǝm čǝ-wǝ,
χʷiara-gjǝ laśʷam mә q́ˤ:a."
nǝ q:́aˤʷasa χʷǝ rǝq:ʷada q:ˤʷan.