Kabardian grammar

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 (-xa) 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:

• унэ (wəna): home → унэхэр (wənaxar) homes
• тхылъ (txəɬ): book → тхылъхэр (txəɬxar) books

Names and vocative uses of a noun are exempt of this rule.

• къардэнхэ лъэпкъышхуэщ (qaːrdanxa ɬapqəʃxʷaɕ): The Kardan(ov)s are a large family/tribe
• фымыпIащIэ, цIыкIухэ! (fəməpʼaːɕʼa tsəkʷʼxa): Don't hurry, children!
• ныбжьэгъухэ, зэIущIэм зыкъыкIэрывмыгъэху! (nəbʑaʁʷxa zaʔʷəɕʼam zəqətʃʼarəvməʁaxʷ): Comrades, don't be late for the meeting!

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.

• сабийм жеIэ (saːbəjm ʒajʔa): the child speaks vs сабийм жаIэ (saːbəjm ʒaːʔa): the children speak
• сабийм и хьэл (saːbəjm jə ħaɮ): the child's character vs сабийм я хьэл (saːbəjm jaː ħaɮ): the children's character

As a side note, the suffix -хэ (-xa) is also present in verbs to denote that the absolutive participant is plural. However similarly, it is only optional. For example:

• ар макӏуэ he is going → ахэр макӏуэхэ: they are going

Collective nouns, such as жылэ (ʒəɮa) village, къуажэ (qʷaːʒa) village, хьэблэ (ħabɮa) district, унагуэ (wənaːʁʷa) 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.

• жылэм я Iэр яIэтмэ, сэри си Iэр сIэтынщ (ʒəɮam jaː ʔar jaːʔatma, sarəj səj ʔar sʔatənɕ): if the villagers vote, I will also vote (lit. if the villagers raise their hands, I will raise my hand too)
• ар мы жылэм щопсэу (аːr mə ʒəɮam ɕawpsawə): he lives in this village

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

Has the suffix -р /r/ (e.g. щӏалэр [ɕʼaːɮar] 'the boy', щӏалэхэр [ɕʼaːɮaxar] ('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, 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 /-m/ (e.g. щӏалэм [ɕʼaːɮam] 'the boy's', щӏалэхэм [ɕʼaːɮaxam] 'the boys'', щым [ʃəm] 'the horse's). This case has two roles: Ergative role and Oblique role.

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

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

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:

• Студентхэм махуэм ӏуэху ящӏащ (stəwdajntxam maːxʷam ʔʷaxʷ jaːɕʼaɕ): "The students have worked during the day" (махуэм – adverbial modifier of time).
• Щӏалэхэр мэзым кӏуахэщ (ɕʼaːɮaxar mazəm kʷʼaːxaɕ): "The boys went to the forest" (мэзым – adverbial modifier of place).

The Ergative-Oblique case is used in possessive constructions. For example:

• лIым и унэ (ɬʼəm jə wəna): the man's house, house of the man

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:

• • гъуэгу /ʁʷaɡʷ/ road → гъуэгумкӏэ /ʁʷaɡʷəmt͡ʃʼa/ from the road (direction).
  • унэ /wəna/ house → унэмкӏэ /wənamt͡ʃʼa/ from the house.
  • хы /xə/ sea → хымкӏэ /xəmt͡ʃʼa/ from the sea (direction).

Has the suffix -уэ /wa/, or -у /əw/ (e.g. щӏалу [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.

• Both subject and object are mentioned :

• If the direct object is not mentioned :

• If the subject is not mentioned :

• If both subject and object are not mentioned :

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.

• Absolutive case

• Ergative case

• Instrumental case

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:

• макӏуэ /maːkʷ'a/ – he is going → кӏуэр /kʷʼar/ – (one), who is going
• машхэхэ /maːʃxaxa/ – they are eating → шхэхэр /ʃxaxar/ – (ones), who are eating.
• лэжьащ /ɮaʑaːɕ/ – he worked → лэжьар /ɮaʑaːr/ – (one), who worked.
• лӏэнущ /ɬʼanəwɕ/ – he will die → лӏэнур /ɬʼanəwr/ – (one), who will die.

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:

• дахэ /daːxa/ – pretty → дахэр /daːxar/ – the pretty person (absolutive case).
• ӏэфӏ /ʔafʼə/ – tasty → ӏэфӏэр /ʔafʼar / – the tasty ones (absolutive case).
• щӏыӏэ /ɕʼəʔa/ – cold → щӏыӏэм /ɕʼəʔam/ – in the cold (ergative case).

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.

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:

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".

• лIыр плъэнщ: the man will look
• лIым жыгыр илъэгъунщ: the man will see the 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:

• Жэмахъуэр щыт "The shepherd is standing (there)";
• Пэсакӏуэр макӏуэ "The security guard is going";
• Лӏыр мэжей "The man is sleeping".

Below are a few further example sentences with transitive verbs:

• Щӏалэм письмор етх "The boy is writing the letter";
• Пхъащӏэм уадэр къищтащ "The carpenter took out the hammer";
• Хьэм тхьакIумкӏыхьыр къиубыдащ "The dog has caught the hares".

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:

• тракторыр мавэ: "the tractor plows"
• тракторым щӀыр евэ: "the tractor plows the land"
• абджыр мэкъутэ "The glass is broken",
• щӏалэм абджыр екъутэ "The boy is breaking the glass".

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:

• Щӏалэр пщащэм еплъащ "The boy will look at the girl",
• щIалэм мыIэрысэр пщащэм иритащ "the boy gave the apple to the girl"
• Лӏыр жыгым щӏэлъ "The man lays under the tree".
• Щӏалэр тхылъым йоджэ "The boy reads the book".

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

• Ар мажэ "He is running", but Абы ар е-гъа-жэ "He forces him to run",
• Ар матхэ "He is writing", but Абы ар е-гъа-тхэ "He makes him to write".

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.

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 voiceness of the following consonant, i.e. voiceless, voiced or ejective, however, orthographically ejectivity is simply treated as voiceless.

• птхащ "you wrote it" form ∅-у-тхы-ащ
• тщIыну "we'll do it" from ∅-д-щIы-ну
• здзащ "I threw it" from ∅-с-дзы-ащ

Between vowels, the person markers get voiced.

• узолъэгъу "I see you" from у-с-о-лъэгъу
• къызоплъ "X looks at me" from ∅-къы-с+е-о-плъ

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.:

• ибот "you give it to him" from ∅-∅+е-у-о-ты
• епт-а-щ "you gave it to him" from ∅-∅+е-у-ты-а-щ
• бухащ "you started it" from ∅-у-ух-а-щ
• къыуитащ "he gave it to you" from ∅-у+е-и-ты-а-щ
• къоплъ "he looks at you" from ∅-къы-у+е-плъы
• уухащ "you started it" from ∅-у-ух-а-щ

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.

• сошх "I'm eating it" from ∅-с-о-шхы but сшхащ "I ate it" from ∅-с-шхы-а-щ

Most notably it transformed into мэ- word initially.

• мэлажьэ "he works" from ∅-о-лэжьэ but солажьэ "I eat" from сы-о-лэжьэ
• машхэ "he eats" from ∅-о-шхэ but сошхэ "I eat" from сы-о-шхэ

It and the ergative third person singular person marker и- combine into е-.

• ешх "he eats it" from ∅-и-о-шхы

While the ergative third person plural person marker я- eats it.

• яшх "they eat it" from ∅-я-о-шхы

It and the preverb е- combine into йо-.

• йоплъ "he looks at it" from ∅-∅+е-о-плъы

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".

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.:

• ар мажэ: he runs -> абы ар егъажэ: he makes him run
• ар матхэ: he writes -> абы ар егъатхэ: he makes him write

Among the valency decreasing operations is the reflexive person marker. E.g.:

• абы уэ уехуапэ: he clothes you -> абы зехуапэ: he dresses (lit. he clothes himself)
• хъыджэбзым хьэкъущыкъур итхьэщIащ: the girl washee the dishes -> хъыджэбзым зитхьэщIащ: the girl washee herself

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-.

Conditional mood is expressed with suffix -мэ: сы-к1уэ-мэ "if I go", сы-жэ-мэ "if I run", с-щ1э-мэ "if I do".

Concessive mood is expressed with suffix -ми: сы-к1уэ-ми "even if I go", сы-жэ-ми "even if I run", с-щ1э-ми "even if I do".

Affirmative form is expressed with the affix -къэ: ма-кӏуэ-къэ "isn't he is going?", мэ-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:

• кIуэр (kʷʼar): one, who goes (cf. кIуэн (kʷʼan): to go)
• жэр (ʒar): one, who runs (cf. жэн (ʒan): to run)

Intransitive verbs with preverbs:

• ежьэр (jaʑar): one, who waits for Y (cf. ежьэн jaʑan): to wait for Y)
• еплъыр (japɬər): one, who looks at Y (cf. еплъын (japɬən): to look at Y)

Transitive verbs:

• илъэгъур (jəɬaːʁʷər): one, whom X sees (cf. лъагъун (ɬaːʁʷən): to see Y)
• ишэр (jəʃar): one, whom X leads (cf. шэн (ʃan): to lead Y)

Transitive verbs with preverb:

• зэхихыр (zaxəjxər): one, whom X hears (cf. зэхэхын (zaxaxən): to hear Y)
• жыпIар (ʒəpʔaːr): that, what you said (cf. жыIэн (ʒəʔan): to say Y)
• иритыр (jərəjtər): that, what X gives to Z (cf. етын (jatən): to give Y to Z)

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:

• зылъагъу (zəɬaːʁʷər): one, who sees Y (cf. лъагъун (ɬaːʁʷən): to see Y)
• зышэр (zəʃar): one, who leads Y (cf. шэн (ʃan): to lead Y)

Transitive verbs with preverb:

• жызыIар (ʒəzəʔaːr): one, who said Y (cf. жыIэн (ʒəʔan): to say Y)
• зэхэзыхыр (zaxazəxər): one, who hears Y (cf. зэхэхын (zaxaxən): to hear Y)
• езытыр (jazətər): one, who gives Y to Z (cf. етын (jatən): to give Y to Z)

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:

• зэжьэр (zaʑar): one, whom X waits for (cf. ежьэн jaʑan): to wait for Y)
• зэплъыр (zapɬər): one, who X looks at (cf. еплъын (japɬən): to look at Y)
• сызытесыр (səzətajsər): that, what I sit on (cf. тесын (tajsən): to sit on Y)

Transitive verbs with preverb:

• зыритыр (zərəjtər): one, to whom X gives Y (cf. етын (jatən): to give Y to Z)

Sentence Examples:

• дыгъуасэ хъыджэбз сызыхуэзар дахэщ (dəʁʷaːsa χədʒabz səzəxʷazaːr daːxaɕ): the girl, whom I met yesterday is pretty

This participle denotes time as well as location, depending on the context. It is marked by щы-.

• щылажьэр (ɕəɮaːʑar): when, X works

Sentence examples:

• Ар щылажьэр унэрщ (aːr ɕəɮaːʑar wənarɕ): he works at home (lit. where he works is home)
• Ар щылажьэр сощIэ (aːr ɕəɮaːʑar sawɕʼa): I know where/when he works
• Уэ укъыщыкIуэжам щыгъуэ сэ унэм сыщыIакъым (wa wəqəɕəkʷʼaːm ɕəʁʷa sa wənam səɕəʔaːqəm): I wasn't home when you arrived
• Си шыпхъур къыщалъхуам щыгъуэ сэ илъэсибл сыхъуат (səj ʃəpχʷər qəɕaːɬхʷaːm ɕəʁʷa sa jəɬasəjbɮ səχʷaːt): When my sister was born, I was already seven years old.
• сыщилъэгъум, ар жащ (səɕəjɬaʁʷəm, ar ʒaːɕ): When he saw me, he ran away

The locative participle denotes the place. It is marked by здэ-.

• здэлажьэр (zdaɮaːʑar): where, X works

The manner participle denotes the manner. It is marked by зэры-.

• зэрылажьэр (zarəɮaːʑar): how, X works

The reason participle denotes the reason. It is marked by щIэ-.

• щIэлажьэр (ɕʼaɮaːʑar): reason, why X works

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:

Here is the positional conjugation of some verbs, showing how the root changes indicate position:

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.

The following suffixes are added to nouns:

The following suffixes are added to adjectives:

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:

• дахэ "pretty" → фӏэдах "it's pretty for him.
• дэхагъ "as pretty" → фӏэдэхащ "it was pretty for him.
• ӏэфӏ "tasty" → фӏэӏэфӏ "it is tasty for him.
• плъыжьы "red" → фӏэплъыжь "it is red for him.

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.

• кӏыхьэ /t͡ʃʼaħə/ – long → кӏыхьэгъэ /t͡ʃʼaħəʁa/ – length.
• ӏэтыгъэ /ʔatəʁa/ – high → ӏэтыгъагъэ /ʔatəʁaːʁa/ – height.
• псынщӏэ /psənɕʼa/ – fast → псынщӏагъэ /psənɕʼaːʁa/ – speed.
• хуабэ /xʷaːba/ – hot → хуабагъэ /xʷabaːʁa/ – heat.
• ӏувы /ʔʷəvə/ – wide → ӏувыгъэ /ʔʷəvəʁa/ – width.
• дахэ /daːxa/ – beautiful → дэхагъэ /daxaːʁa/ – beauty.
• ӏэфӏы /ʔafʼə/ – tasty → ӏэфӏыгъэ /ʔafʼəʁa/ – level of tastiness.
• дэгъу /daʁʷə/ – good → дэгъугъэ /daʁʷəʁa/ – level of goodness.

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.
• псынщӏэ /psənɕʼa/ – fast → псынщӏэгъакӏэ /psənɕʼaʁaːt͡ʃʼa/ – speediness.
• кӏуащӏэ /kʷʼaːɕʼa/ – strong → кӏуэщӏэгъакӏэ /kʷʼaɕʼaʁaːt͡ʃʼa/ – strongness.
• лъэщ /ɬaɕ/ – strong → лъэщыгъакӏэ /ɬaɕəʁaːt͡ʃʼa/ – strongness.
• дахэ /daːxa/ – pretty → дэхэгъакӏэ /daxaʁaːt͡ʃʼa/ – prettiness.

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

• нобэ – "today".
• дыгъуасэ – "yesterday".
• пщэдей – "tomorrow".
• мыгъэ – "this year".
• иджы – "now".
• иджыри – "still"
• иджыпсту – "right now".
• пщэдджыжьым – "at morning".
• шэджагъуэм – "at noon".
• жэщым – "in the night".
• зэманым – "in the past".
• етӏанэ – "afterwards"

• мащӏэ – "few".
• тӏэкӏу – "a bit".
• тӏэкӏурэ – "few times, for a short period of time".
• куэд "a lot".
• куэдрэ "a lot of times, for a long period of time".
• ӏаджэ "many".

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.

• къабзэ "clean" → къабзу "cleanly"
• жыжьэ "far" → жыжьу "far",
• псынщӏэ "quick" → псынщӏэу "quickly",
• дахэ "beautiful" → даху "beautifully",
• благъэ "near" → благъу "nearly".
• лъэщ "powerful" → лъэщу "powerfully".
• щабэ "soft" → щабу "softly"
• быдэ "firm" → быду "firmly"

Among simple Circassian conjunctions are:

• ыкӏи – "and".
• е – "or".
• ауэ – "but".

• арщхьэк1э – "because".
• aт1э – "in spite of".
• хьэмэ – "or".
• сыту – "as".
• щхьэк1э – "though".
• сыт щхьэк1э – "because (of) / why".
• папщ1э – "for".
• папщ1эк1э – "as".
• щыгъуэ – "when".
• зэ-зэ – "first…then".
• е-е – "either-or".
• къудейуэ – "as soon as".
• ару – "just".
• пэтми – "although".
• щытмэ – "if".
• ипкъ итк1э – "therefore".
• къыхэк1к1э – "because / that’s why".

• адэ-анэ: parents (cf. адэ: father, анэ: mother)
• джэдкъаз: domesticated bird (cf. джэд: chicken, къэз: goose)
• мэкъумэш: harvest (cf. мэкъу: hay, анэ: millet)
• мастэIуданэ: sewing kit (cf. мастэ: ??, Iуданэ: needle)
• джанэгъуэншэдж: set of clothes (cf. джанэ: shirt, гъуэншэдж: pants)

This strategy is very similar to the English one, which gives words like pickpocket, cutthroat, scarecrow.

• пхъащIэ (pχaːɕʼa): carpenter (cf. пхъэ: wood, щIэн: to do Y)
• пщэдэлъ (pɕadaɬ): scarf (cf. пщэ: wood, дэлъын: to lie at Y)
• псышэ (psəʃa): water carrier (cf. псы: water, шэн: to lead Y)

A suffix denoting a tree.

• дей (daj): walnut/hazelnut tree (cf. дэ: nut)
• абрикосей (aːprəjkawsaj): apricot tree (cf. абрикос: apricot)
• балией (baːɮəjaj): cherry tree (cf. балий: cherry)

• зэадэзэкъуэ (zaaːdazaqʷa): father and son
• зэанэзэпхъу (zaaːnazapχʷ): mother and daughter
• зэдэлъхузэшыпхъу (zadaɬxʷzaʃəpχʷ): brother and sister
• зэлӀзэфыз (zaɬʼzafəz): husband and wife
• зэныбжьэгъу (zanəbʑaʁʷ): friends

This is an unproductive suffix, which creates new verbs from other verbs.

• лъэтэн (ɬatan): to fly (cf. лъэн: to jump)
• кIуэтэн (kʷʼatan): to move (cf. кIуэн: to go)
• къутэн (qʷətan): to break Y (cf. къун: to beat Y up)

• 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 – Япэ [jaːpa]

second – ЕтIуанэ [jatʼaːna]

third – Ещанэ [jaɕaːna]

firth – Еянэ [jajaːna]

tenth – ЕпщIанэ [japɕʼaːna]

eleventh – ЕпщыкIузанэ [japɕʼəkʷʼəzaːna]

sixteenth. – ЕпщыкIуханэ [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 [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) – пщӀанэ [pʃʼaːna]

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

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

one twentieth (1÷20) – тӏощӏанэ [tʷʼaɕʼaːna]

one hundredth (1÷100) – щанэ [ɕaːna]

• 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
• Kabardian Verbal Affixes: Collected, arranged and edited by Amjad Jaimoukha : .
• Ranko Matasović, A short grammar of east Circassian (Kabardian) : .