Adyghe language
Adyghe (/ˈædɪɡeɪ/ or /ˌɑːdɪˈɡeɪ/; also known as West Circassian) is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken by the western subgroups of Circassians. It is spoken mainly in Russia, as well as in Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Israel, where Circassians settled after the Circassian genocide (c. 1864–1870) by the Russian Empire. It is closely related to the Kabardian (East Circassian) language, though some reject the distinction between the two languages in favor of both being dialects of a unitary Circassian language.
| Adyghe | |
|---|---|
| West Circassian | |
| Адыгабзэ | |
| Native to | Adygea Krasnodar Krai |
| Ethnicity | Circassians, Cherkesogai |
Native speakers | 610,000 (2010–2020) |
Northwest Caucasian
| |
Early forms | Proto-Northwest Caucasian
|
| Dialects | |
Writing system | Cyrillic Latin Arabic |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Russia |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | ady |
| ISO 639-3 | ady |
| Glottolog | adyg1241 |
Distribution of the Adyghe language in Adygea, Russia (2002) | |
Adyghe is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
| Part of a series on the |
| Circassians Адыгэхэр |
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List of notable Circassians Circassian genocide |
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| Circassian tribes |
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Religion in Circassia |
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The literary standard of Adyghe is based on its Temirgoy dialect. Adyghe and Russian are the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation.
In Russia, there are around 128,000 speakers of Adyghe, almost all of them native speakers. In total, some 300,000 speak it worldwide. The largest Adyghe-speaking community is in Turkey, spoken by the diaspora from the Russian–Circassian War (c. 1763–1864). In addition, the Adyghe language is spoken by the Cherkesogai in Krasnodar Krai.
Adyghe belongs to the family of Northwest Caucasian languages. Kabardian (also known as East Circassian) is a very close relative, treated by some as a dialect of Adyghe or of an overarching Circassian language. Ubykh, Abkhaz and Abaza are somewhat more distantly related to Adyghe.