Shapsug dialect

The Shapsug dialect (; ) is a dialect of Adyghe. The Shapsug dialect is spoken by the Shapsugs, which are one of the largest Circassian population in the diaspora outside Republic of Adygea, alongside Abzakhs. The Shapsug dialect is very similar to the Natukhai dialect and together, they make the Black Sea coast dialects of Adyghe. The Shapsug dialect consists of three main sub dialects: Great Shapsug (North Shapsug), Small Shapsug (South Shapsug) and Hakuchi. The Shapsug dialect is best known as the dialect with palatalized velar stops.

Subdialects

• The Black Sea coast dialects
• Natukhai dialect ()
• Shapsug dialect ()
• North Shapsugs, Great Shapsugs, Kuban Shapsugs dialect (Шапсыгъэ шху).
• Kfar Kama dialect (Кфар Камэм ишапсыгъэбзэ): Shapsug dialect spoken by the villagers of Kfar Kama in Israel.
• South Shapsugs, Small Shapsugs, Coastal Shapsugs Black Sea Shapsugs (Шапсыгъэ-цӏыкӏу) dialect.
• Hakuchi dialect (ХьакӀуцубзэ, Къарацхаибзэ)

Phonology

Note on Orthography: This article employs Cyrillic characters alongside IPA to assist readers familiar with the Circassian alphabet. However, standard Adyghe orthography contains inconsistencies; notably, the digraph кӏ represents the sound [t͡ʃʼ] despite visually suggesting a velar ejective [kʼ]. To ensure phonetic precision, this article utilizes the following distinctions: чӏ for [t͡ʃʼ], чӏъ for [ʈʂʼ], and кӏь for [kʲʼ].

Palatalized velar stops

In the Shapsug and Natukhai dialects there is a palatalized voiced velar stop , a palatalized voiceless velar stop and a palatalized velar ejective that were merged with дж , ч and кӏ in most Adyghe dialects. The Shapsug dialect also has ч , дж and кӏ in words like чэмы "cow", джэмышх "spoon" and кӏалэ "boy".

• Shapsug гь became дж in other dialects:

• Shapsug кь became ч in other dialects:

• Shapsug кӏь became кӏ in other dialects:

Retroflex affricates

The retroflex affricate consonants чъ and чӏ (that exist in Chemguy and Bzhedug dialects) merged with the palato-alveolar affricate consonants ч and кӏ in the Shapsug and Natukhai dialects.

• Chemguy чъ became ч in Shapsug :

• Chemguy чӏ became кӏ in Shapsug :

Dropped consonants

In the Great Shapsug dialect (Like Bzhedug dialect) in some cases the consonants н , м and р are dropped and are not pronounced.

• The consonant м is dropped before bilabial stops б , п , пӏ :

• The consonant н is dropped before postalveolar affricates дж , ч , кӏ and before alveolar stops д , т , тӏ :

Notes:

In other Adyghe dialects (ex. Abzakh), it is хьантIрэпIий or хьантIэрэпIий which is much similar to the Shapsug word.

• The consonant р is dropped before a voiceless alveolar stop т :

Notes:

In other Adyghe dialects (ex. Abzakh), it is хьантӏыркъуакъу which is much similar to the Shapsug and Kabardian word. In the Shapsug variant, the consonant р is dropped.

Aspirated consonants

In the Shapsug dialect (Like the Bzhedug dialect) there exist a series of aspirated consonants (/pʰ/ /tʰ/ /ʃʰ/ /t͡sʰ/ /t͡ʃʰ/ /t͡ʂʰ/ /t͡ɕʷʰ/ /kʲʰ/ /kʷʰ/ /qʰ/ /qʷʰ/) that became plain consonants in other dialects:

• Shapsug пʰ ↔ п in other dialects :

• Shapsug тʰ ↔ т in other dialects :

• Shapsug цʰ ↔ ц in other dialects :

• Shapsug шʰ ↔ щ in other Adyghe dialects :

• Shapsug кь ↔ ч in other dialects (чʰ in Bzhedug) :

• Shapsug кʰу ↔ ку in other dialects :

• Shapsug къʰ ↔ къ in other Adyghe dialects :

• Shapsug къуʰ ↔ къу in other Adyghe dialects :

• Shapsug чъʰу ↔ чу (spelled цу) in Temirgoy:

Others

In some Shapsug and Natukhai dialects there exist an alveolar ejective fricative that correspond to in other dialects such as Abzakh, Bzhedug, Temirgoy, and Kabardian.

• Shapsug сӏ ↔ цӏ in other dialects:

The labialized retroflex consonants шъу and жъу in the Temirgoy dialect are alveolo-palatal щу and жьу in the Black Sea coast dialects of Adyghe (Shapsug dialect and Natukhai dialect).

• Shapsug щу ↔ шъу in Standard:

• Shapsug жьу ↔ жъу in Standard:

The Shapsug and Natukhai dialects has many different variants. The following differences apply to some of them.

• Shapsug с ↔ ц in Standard:

• Shapsug шъухъу [ʃʷχʷ] ↔ шхъу [ʃχʷ] in Standard:

• Shapsug р ↔ н in Standard:

• Shapsug ф ↔ м in Standard:

• Shapsug ц ↔ с in Standard:

Affrication of Fricatives

In the Shapsug dialect, a specific hardening process occurs where palato-alveolar fricatives become affricates when preceded by specific sibilants.

The consonants , , and are affricated to , and respectively, when they follow the consonants or .

• + / → +
• + → +
• + → +

Grammar differences

Instrumental case

In the instrumental case the noun has the suffix -мгьэ (-mɡʲa) or -гьэ (-gʲa) unlike other dialects that has the suffix -мкӏэ (-mt͡ʃa) or -кӏэ (-t͡ʃa).

• Shapsug: Кӏалэр Адыгэбзэгьэ мэгущаӏэ ↔ Standard: Кӏалэр Адыгэбзэкӏэ мэгущаӏэ - "The boy speaks (using) Adyghe language".
• Shapsug: Къэлэмымгьэ сэтхэ ↔ Standard: Къэлэмымкӏэ сэтхэ - "I write (using) with the pencil".

Desirement mood

In the Shapsug dialect, the suffix ~рагъу /raːʁʷ/ is added to verbs to indicate the desirement to do that verb. For example:

• Туканым сыкӏорагъу - "I want to go to the shop".
• Есыпӏэм рэкӏорэгъуагъ - "(S)he wanted to go to the pool".
• Къэкӏорэгъот кӏалэр - "The boy would want to come".
• Тутын уешъорагъуа? - "Do you want to smoke cigarette?".
• Нэущы уздэгущаӏэрагъу - "I want to speak with you tomorrow".
• Сышхэрагъу игь - "I want to eat now".

Upward prefix

In Standard Adyghe, to express that the verb's direction is upward, the prefix дэ- /da-/ and the suffix -е /-ja/ is added to the verb. In Shapsug dialect, the prefix чӏэ- /t͡ʃʼa-/ is added instead.

Demonstratives

Shapsug has six demonstratives: а /ʔaː/, гьэ /ɡʲa/, у /wə/, дыу /dəwə/, дымы /dəmə/ and мы /mə/.

а /ʔaː/

2. : — that table
3. : — that girl
4. : — that boy is saying

• The determiner /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 , but with the condition that the referent has to be invisible or far away.

у /wə/ (мо /mo/ in other dialects)

2. : — that table
3. : — that girl
4. : — that boy is saying

• The determiner 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 , but with the condition that the referent has to be visible.

мы /mə/

2. : — this table
3. : — this girl
4. : — this boy is saying
5. : — this year

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

дыу /dəwə/ (дымо /dəmo/ in other dialects)

1. (over there)
2. : — that table over there
3. : — that girl over there
4. : — that boy over there is saying
5. : — Do you see that person over there?

• The determiner refer to a referent that is visible. This determiner is used when the speaker wants to emphasizes that the object is in his sight, so that the listener(s) will expect the referent to be the thing (s)he looks at. It is usually used to introduce a new referent, for example it can be used to refer to a stranger on the street or to refer to a certain object on the field that is visible. This determiner might be used while pointing one's finger at the people or objects in question.

дымы /dəmə/

1. (over here)
2. : — this table over here
3. : — this girl over here
4. : — this boy over here is saying
5. : — Do you see this person over here?

• The determiner refer to a referent that is visible. This determiner is similar to the determiner дымо. This is used instead of дымо when the referent is very near. Like the determiner дымо, it might be used while pointing one's finger at the referent in question. Even without pointing fingers the listener(s) will expect the referent to be the thing the speaker looks at. It can be used to point on objects in a room for example.

гьэ /gʲa/ (гьэ джэ /d͡ʒa/ in other dialects)

2. : — that table
3. : — that girl
4. : — that boy is saying

• The determiner 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.

У vs. Мо

Sample

Future tense

In the Great Shapsug sub dialect (like Bzhedug) the future tense suffix is ~эт (~at) and in some cases ~ыт (~ət) unlike the Small Shapsug sub dialect that has (like Chemirguy) the Suffix ~щт (~ɕt)).

Interrogative words

The word "what" in Standard Adyghe is сыд while in Shapsug it is шъыд and from it derives different terms.

Shapsug has two words for "what":

• шъыд (Refers to an inanimate object, typically tangible).
• лӏэу (Refers to an inanimate object, typically intangible).

The word "лӏэу" was lost in other Adyghe dialects. In Shapsug, from it derives different terms :

Shapsugs also have different interrogative words from the word тэ "which":

Location

Big suffix (~фо)

• The standard Adyghe's suffix -шхо /-ʃxÊ·a/ which means big or mighty is -фo /-fË a/ in the Shapsug dialect :

Positional prefix directly (джэхэ~)

• The standard Adyghe's positional prefix -жэхэ /-ʒaxa/ which designates action directed at something or someone forcefully is -джэхэ /-d͡ʒaxa/ in the Shapsug dialect :

Positional prefix merging (го~)

• In the Shapsug and Natukhai dialects, the verbal prefix го~ /É¡Ê·a-/ designates process of joining or merging with an object on a body. This positional conjugation does not exist in other Circassian dialects. for example :

Vocabulary

Shapsugh alphabet

The alphabet used as the language of writing and literature in Shapsug national raion and Kfar Kama between 1924 and 1945 is as follows:

Sample text

See also

• Hakuchi Adyghe dialect
• Kfar Kama Adyghe dialect
• Bzhedug Adyghe dialect
• Abzakh Adyghe dialect
• Baslaney dialect

External links

• Shapsug dialect unique words

References

Sources