Circassian (; ), also known as Cherkess ( ), is a subdivision of the Northwest Caucasian language family, spoken by the Circassian people. There are two main variants of the Circassian language, defined by their literary standards, Adyghe (; also known as West Circassian) and Kabardian (; also known as East Circassian). The languages are highly mutually intelligible with one another, but differ to a degree where they would be considered clear-cut dialects. The earliest extant written records of the Circassian language are in the Arabic script, recorded by the Turkish traveller Evliya ÃÂelebi in the 17th century, although the Greek and Georgian alphabets were adapted for them in ancient and medieval times.
There is consensus among the linguistic community about the fact that Adyghe and Kabardian are typologically distinct languages. However, the local terms for these languages refer to them as dialects. The Circassian people call themselves (; English: Adyghe) in their native language. In the southwestern part of European Russia, there is also a Federal Subject called Adygea (, ), enclaved within Krasnodar Krai, which is named after the Circassian endonym. In the Russian language, the Circassian subdivision is treated as a group of languages and called (, meaning the Adyghe languages), whereas the Adyghe language is called (, meaning the language of those in [the Republic of] Adygea). The terms Circassian and Cherkess are sometimes used in several languages as synonyms for the Northwest Caucasian languages in general or the Adyghe language in particular.
Adyghe language (also known as West Circassian, ; , ) â The language of the west Circassian tribes: Shapsug, Abzakh, Natukhai, Bzhedug, Temirgoy. The Alphabet is based on the Temirgoy dialect. The Circassian alphabet was created in 1918 by the Kabardian linguist Naguma Shora.
Kabardian language (also known as East Circassian, ; , ) â The language of the east Circassian tribes : Kabarday and Baslaney. The Alphabet is based on the Kabardian dialect.
Sound changes between Adyghe (Temirgoy) and Kabardian:
The following example shows an ergativeâÂÂabsolutive case marking system while using the same verb "break" in both intransitive and transitive forms:
Here, "table" has the absolutive case mark -à/-r/ while "man" has the ergative case mark -ü /-m/. The verb "break" is in the intransitive form "üÃÂúÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ" and the transitive form "õúÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ". The example above specifically shows SOV order, but Circassian allows any order.
Circassian languages contain "many loan-words from Arabic, Turkish, Persian (particularly in the area of religion) and Russian".