Brief Information
Nowadays most of the Abaza language speakers live in the Abaza region villages, the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. In the second half of the 19th century, as a result of the Caucasian War, many Abaza were forced to emigrate to Turkey and eventually partially assimilated among the local population.
According to the Russian Census 2010, 43, 341 Abaza people live in Russia 37, 831 of whom speak the Abaza language. According to J. Leclair’s data, 12, 000 Abaza speakers lived in Turkey as at 2014. The literary Abaza language is based on the T'ap'anta dialect, the most isolated of all dialects belonging to the Abkhaz-Abaza branch of the Abkhazo-Adyghean language family. The local variety of the Krasny Vostok village stands out among the variants of the Tapanta dialect, this local variety differs from the standard Tapanta dialect in a number of phonetic features. The Ashkherewa dialect is another dialect of the Abaza language, this one is close to the Abkhaz dialect continuum than to the Tapanta dialect.
Autoethnonym: абаза бызшва.
Traditional occupation: pastoralism.
Religion: Islam.
Genealogy
The closest related language is Abkhaz. Together with the Abkhaz language, Abaza makes up the Abkhaz-Abaza branch of the Abkhazo-Adyghean (Northwest Caucasian) languages.
Distribution
In Russia Abaza native speakers mainly live in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic: in Inzhich-Chukun, Psyzh, Kubina, Kara-Pago and Elburgan auls of of the Abaza district, in the Krasny Vostok aul of the Malokarachayevsky district, ect. Most of the Ashkherewa dialect speakers live in Staro-Kuvinsk, Novo-Kuvinsk and Apsua auls of the Adyge-Khabl region, the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. According to V.A. Chirikba, in Turkey there are 35 villages where the native speakers of the Tapanta dialect live and there are 30 villages where the native speakers of the Ashkherewa dialect speakers live. On the organization “Алашара” [Alashara] website there are materials about Akpinar and Osmaniye villages of Abaza. Small diasporas of the Abaza language speakers are in Syria, Jordan and other countries.
Name of the settlement | Population size | Dialect |
| Inzhich-Chukun | 2,592 | Tapanta |
| Kubina | 3,101 | Tapanta |
| Psyzh | 8,182 | Tapanta |
| Kara-Pago | 699 | Tapanta |
| Elburgan | 2,495 | Tapanta |
Dialects and their distribution
Language contacts and multilingualism
In addition to the Russian language, which is spoken by almost all Abaza, the Kabardino-Circassian language is also widespread. For instance, in Inzhich-Chukun, which is in close contact with the Kabardino-Circassian villages, almost all residents understand the Kabardino-Circassian language and many people speak it fluently. A similar situation can be found in Psyzh. In some settlements, for example, in the Koydan aul, where the Karachays live, the Abaza language speakers also know the Karachay-Balkar language.
Language functioning
- Legal status
- Writing system
- Language standardization
- Domains of language usage
The Abaza language is one of the five state languages of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic.
In 1932, the Abaza writing system was created based on the Latin alphabet. Then in 1938 it was transferred to Cyrillic system. The modern Abaza alphabet contains 72 letters: а, б, в, г, гв, гъ, гъв, гъь, гь, гӀ, гӀв, д, дж, джв, джь, дз, е, ё, ж, жв, жь, з, и, й, к, кв, къ, къв, къь, кь, кӀ, кӀв, кӀь, л, ль, м, н, о, п, пӀ, р, с, т, тл, тш, тӀ, у, ф, х, хв, хъ, хъв, хь, хӀ, хӀв, ц, цӀ, ч, чв, чӀ, чӀв, ш, шв, шӀ, щ, ъ, ы, ь, э, ю, я, I. However, letters that are used only in Russian borrowings (for example, ё, ю, я) and letters that do not correspond to any sound (for example, I) are often excluded from the alphabet.
The language standardization is based on the local variety of the Tapanta dialect used in the largest Abaza auls: Inzhich-Chukun, Psyzh, Kubina, Elburgan. Speakers of different dialects and local varieties communicate with each other in their own variants of the language without switching to lingua franca, although, for example, native speakers of the Tapanta dialect admit that they understand the Ashkherewa dialect “with some effort”.
Family / everyday communication
Family / everyday communication
In Abaza families adults communicate with each other in the Abaza language, however, they can switch to Russian while texting with each other in messengers as a convenient Abaza keyboard does not exist. Children in Abaza families prefer to communicate with adults in Russian. Preschool children sometimes speak a mixed language among themselves (as adult speakers describe, “two words in Russian, three words in native language”).
If a Circassian bride comes to an Abaza family, she usually does not know the Abaza language, but gradually learns it. Children in such families learn the Kabardino-Circassian language along with Russian and Abaza. If an Abaza woman gets married in a Circassian aul, then she already knows the Kabardino-Circassian language and does not speak Abaza in the new family. Children in such families do not speak the Abaza language. In a situation of everyday communication, if one of the interlocutors is a Circassian, Abaza person can switch to the Kabardino-Circassian language. The Abaza people who do not speak Kabardino-Circassian fluently communicate with Circassians in Russian.
Education
Education
Language of study
The Abaza language is used as a teaching tool in preschool and school education for classes in the Abaza language (as well as in Abaza literature at school). Russian is usually used for the rest of the subjects.
For inctance, in Inzhich-Chukun kindergarten teachers communicate with children in Russian but during classes in the Abaza language they switch to Abaza. However, in Psyzh kindergartens teachers speak with children in the Abaza language both in the Abaza language classes and during the day. In colleges and vocational schools instruction is provided in Russian, the only exception is classes in the Abaza language in pedagogical colleges and in vocational schools on the specialty “Teacher of the Abaza language and literature”.
Subject of study
Preschool
In kindergartens classes are held in the Abaza language, in the Inzhich-Chukunskaya school for preschool children there is a circle on the Abaza language “Qaraba-khababa” (“Oduvanchik” [Dandelion]).
Primary education (1-4 grades)
In the first grade children attend lessons in their native language where the Abaza ABC book (“ХIарыфба”) is studied. From the second grade lessons in native literature are added to lessons in the native language.
Note: A Psyzh school recruits a whole group of children from Circassian families, for whom the Kabardino-Circassian language is taught in their native language lessons.
Basic education (5-9)
In grades 5-9, lessons in the native language and literature continue.
Secondary education (10-11)
There are no native language textbooks for grades 10-11, so native language lessons are no longer held.
Secondary specialized and higher education
The Abaza language is used to a small extent: in the Abaza language classes in pedagogical colleges and in pedagogical schools on the specialty “Teacher of the Abaza language and literature”.
Non-systemic
The organization “Алашара”, which supports the Abaza-Abaza culture, conducts courses of the Abaza language in Cherkessk for different age groups.
Textbooks & Manuals
There is no educational and methodological literature on the Abaza language for preschool children. There are textbooks on such subjects as Native language and Native literature for grades 1-9.
Mass media
Mass media
Press
The newspaper "Абазашта" is published in the Abaza language. The newspaper is published twice a week; residents of Abaza auls receive it by subscription.
Radio and TV
The state television and radio company "Karachay-Cherkessia" allocates small slots for news and thematic programs in the Abaza language in the network of regional radio and television.
Culture
Culture
Every summer the Abaza games ("games of the Abaza people") are held with the organization "Алашара" and the World Abaza Congress support. The Abaza games is a sport competition in which teams from the Abaza villages, Stavropol Krai, Moscow, Abkhazia, Turkey and other places participate. Each subsequent Abaza games are held where the team that won the previous Abaza games came from.
Among the musical groups performing in the Abaza language the "Абазги" ensemble is well known.
The most famous professional Abaza theater is the “Инжич” folk theater, a laureate of competitions and festivals of amateur art groups. There is also a children's theater in Psyzh, where middle and high school students stage performances in the Abaza language.
There are practically no documentaries and feature films in the Abaza language but re-sounding cartoons is a common practice. Sounding of cartoons in the languages of Karachay-Cherkessia is carried out by the “Эльбрусоид” company. For instance, on their website you can find “Prostokvashino” in the Abaza language.
In the Elburgan aul there is a museum of Abaza culture founded several years ago by Muhamed Tukov. The exposition of the museum presents items of traditional Abaza life.
Science
Science
Every year in one of the Abaza villages a scientific and practical conference “Tabulovskiye chteniya" [Tabulov readings] is held. The plenary meetings of the conference are held in Russian but the reports presented in the sections on the Abaza language and literature are read in the Abaza language. Also the scientific and practical conference “Klychevskiye chteniya" [Klychev Readings] is regularly held in Karachayevsk but it is entirely held in Russian. Collections of materials in Russian are published based on the results of both conferences.
Folklore
Folklore
Recent publications of Abaza folklore in the Abaza language include the books “Абаза турыхква” (Rostov-on-Don, 2016) and “Абаза фольклори абаза литератури руысла” (compiled by Batal Kassey, Cherkessk- Karachayevsk, 2020).
Literature
Literature
There is fiction in the Abaza language. Works by B. Kh.Tkhaitsukhov, P.K.Tsekov, J.K. Laguchev, K.L. Mkhtse and others are taught at the lessons of Abaza literature at school.
Religion
Religion
Abaza still honor some traditions related to the wedding and growing up of a child. A bride meets the groom's family and a groom meets the bride's family according special rules. When the child takes his first step certain objects are placed in front of him and people see which object he will take. If the child took a spoon, then he will be a cook, if he took money, he will be a banker, etc.
In dry weather adults and children perform the ritual of making rain which is quite common among the Adyghe peoples. They dress up a scarecrow (Ханцыгуащэ) and walk with it through the streets, collecting food or money from the aul inhabitants and turn to God with a request to send them rain. When people reach the river they pour water on the scarecrow and finally throw it into the river. After that they sit in a circle and eat what the aul residents just gave them.
An important place in the Abaza culture is occupied by the veneration of the elders. For instance, if an older person enters the room, the Abaza must stand up and / or nod.
The Abaza people practice Islam and young people honor Muslim customs and traditions more strictly than the older generation.
Several biblical texts in the Abaza language are available on the website of the Institute for Bible Translation: “Gospel Parables”, “Ruth”, “Esther” and “Jonah”. In 2013, a translation into the Abaza language of the Gospel of Luke was published in Cherkessk (translator not specified).
Legislation
Legislation
The language of official office work in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic is Russian.
Administrative activities
Administrative activities
In this area the Russian language is used. Plates with streets and settlements names of are in Russian. But, for example, above the entrance to the Inzhich-Chukunskaya school is written "Welcome!" both in Russian and in Abaza (“швгIайгва”).
Legal proceedings
Legal proceedings
Court sessions are conducted in Russian, if one of the participants in the process does not understand Russian, an interpreter helps.
Industry
Industry
The Abaza language is not used in industrial production. In this area, the Russian language is used.
Trade and service
Trade and service
Price tags in stores are written in Russian.
Transport
Transport
There are no large transport hubs on the territory of the Abaza region.
Internet
Internet
The websites of the administrative structures of the Abaza region use the Russian language. On the websites of the organizations "Алашар" and "World Abaza Congress" all materials are presented in the Abaza language, as well as in Abkhaz, Russian, English, etc.
Dynamics of language usage
The middle and older generation is fluent in the Abaza language. Children and teenagers often do not speak the Abaza language perfectly, so they switch to Russian.
Even 20-30 years ago, as native speakers say, the Abaza language was the main language of family communication but at school children were forced to speak Russian (including among themselves). As a result, children from Abaza families learned Russian approximately by the 9th grade. Now because of cartoons and other audio and video materials in Russian children begin to speak Russian even before kindergarten.
After emigration to Turkey (1871-1884), according to A.N. Genko, there were about 10 thousand Abaza in the North Caucasus. V. A. Chirikba in an article about the Abaza language from the encyclopedia “Yazyki Rossii i sosednikh gosudarstv" [Languages of Russia and neighboring states], published in 1997, gives the following data: 33,613 Abaza lived in Russia (according to the census 1989), and about 15 thousand Abaza lived in Turkey. Thus, over the past decades the number of the Abaza ethnic group in Russia has increased and in Turkey it has decreased.
According to A.N. Genko's data, based on the census 1926, the number of Abaza living in the North Caucasus and retaining their native language was 20-25 thousand people. V.A. Chirikba writes that, according to the census 1989, 93.4% of the Abaza considered the Abaza language as their native language (that is, approximately 31 thousand people). According to the census 2010, this figure is 87.3% (approximately 38 thousand people).
In general, the transmission of the Abaza language to children remains, but many children prefer to speak Russian even if they know the Abaza language. According to the teachers of the Inzhich-Chukunskaya school, 5-10 years ago, children began to speak the Abaza language much worse.
In some families, parents are seriously concerned that children are no longer using the Abaza language. In others parents speak Russian with their children on purpose, as they are afraid that otherwise they will not have time to master the Russian language perfectly.
Language structure
Phonetics
The Abaza language has 2 vowels and 63 consonant phonemes.
Phonetics
In the Abaza language, there are only two vowel phonemes: a <a> and ə <s> (hereinafter, the spelling version of the phoneme is given in triangular brackets). Other vowels used in the Abaza writing indicate combinations a and ə с j and w: aj <е>, aw <о>, wə/əw <у>, jə/əj <и>.
The set of consonant phonemes is shown in the table below. The phonemes that are found only in borrowings given in brackets.
The place of stress in a word form is determined by the lexically given accent characteristics of its constituent morphemes.
Morphology
Morphological type of language: polysynthetic.
Morphology
The Abaza language is polysynthetic, so the predicate consistently expresses information about its arguments and other characteristics of the situation. Parts of speech differ slightly, in particular, from any name you can form a static verb and put it in a predicative position.
The names do not have (nuclear) case marking, but have indicators of certainty, number, passive voice. In the prefix part of the verb word form, information about all verbal arguments is encoded and local preverbs are also located there. Derivative suffixes, aspect and time indicators are placed after the root. The last place is taken by indicators of syntactic status like interrogation, mood, converbs, etc.
The numeral system is mixed: partly decimal, partly vigesimal.
Syntax
Basic word order: SOV. An ergative strategy for coding arguments.
Syntax
Basic word order is SOV, but other orderings are allowed. The left branch of noun phrase.
Ergativiy is expressed in the separate indexing of the absolutive and ergative arguments on the verb.
Relativization plays an essential role in syntax. In addition to relative clauses relative forms are used in the formation of сентенциальные актанты and adjuncts, focal and interrogative constructions.
Vocabulary
The main source of borrowings is the Kabardino-Circassian language. There are also borrowings from Arabic, Russian and Turkic languages.
Vocabulary
In the Abaza language, there are quite a few borrowings from the Kabardino-Circassian language. There are also borrowings from Arabic and Turkic languages. Chronologically, the most recent borrowings are from the Russian language.
The names of the Abaza auls, used until 1925-1929, mostly come from the names of the Abaza clans that ruled there. Compare the Loovsko-Zelenchuksky aul (modern Inzhich-Chukun), founded by the knyaz Loovs, and the Dudarukovsky aul (modern Psyzh), founded by the knyaz Dudarokovs. Some of the modern names come from ethnonyms, compare Abazakt (Abaza ‘Abazinskoye selo’ [Abaza village]), and hydronyms, compare Kubina (Abaza Къвбина ‘Kuban’), Inzhich-Chukun (Abaza Йынджыгь-ЧкIвын ‘Malyy Zelenchuk’).
As personal names, both the actual Abaza proper names and numerous borrowed names from Turkish, Arabic, Kabardino-Circassian and other languages are used.
Исследование языка
The first fragmentary descriptions of some Abaza language aspects belong to the scientists of the 18th - 19 th centuries I. A. Guldenstedt and J. von Klaproth.
The systematic study of the Abaza language began in Soviet times by scientists A. N. Genko, K. Bode, G. P. Serdyuchenko, K. Lomtatidze, N. T. Tabulova, W. S. Allen, and others. The most complete grammatical descriptions of the Abaza language created at this time include the grammar of A. N. Genko (written in the 1930s, published in 1955) and the grammar of N. T. Tabulova (published in 1976).
Language experts
Petr Mikhailovich Arkadiev
(The Institute for Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences / The Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow)Specialist in grammar and typology. One of the leaders of the HSE and RSUH expeditions to study the Abaza language in 2017-2019.
Yury Alexandrovich Lander
(HSE University, Moscow)Specialist in grammar and typology. One of the leaders of the HSE and RSUH expeditions to study the Abaza language in 2017-2019.
Brian O'Herin
(SIL International)Author of the monograph “Case and agreement in Abaza” and several articles on the grammar of the Abaza language.
Sergey Umarovich Pazov
(Karachay-Circassian State University, Karachaevsk)Author of school and university textbooks on the Abaza language, a specialist in Abaza phraseology.
Pyotr Konstantinovich Chekalov
(Stavropol Regional Scientific Library named after M. Yu. Lermontov, Stavropol)Researcher of Abaza literature.
Vyacheslav Andreevich Chirikba
(The Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow / Abkhazian State University, Abkhazia)Author of numerous works on the Abkhazian-Adyghe languages, including a grammar of the Abkhazian language and a number of articles on phonology, dialectology, anthroponymy and other aspects of the Abaza language.
Research centres
Кафедра черкесской и абазинской филологии Карачаево-Черкесского государственного университета имени У.Д. Алиева
Department of Circassian and Abaza Philology of the U. D. Aliyev Karachay-Cherkess State Universit
Core references
Grammatical descriptions: grammars, sketches
Genko A. N. Abazinskiy yazyk [Abaza language]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo AN SSSR, 1965.
Klychev R. N., Tabulova N. T. Kratkiy grammaticheskiy ocherk abazinskogo yazyka [A short grammatical sketch of the Abaza language] (Prilozheniye k Abazinsko-russkomu slovaryu. Moscow, 1967).
Lomtatidze K.V. Tapantskiy dialekt abkhazskogo yazyka (s tekstami) [Tapanta dialect of the Abkhaz language (with texts)]. Tbilisi: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the Georgian SSR, 1944.
Lomtatidze K.V. Ashkharskiy dialekt i yego mesto sredi drugikh abkhazsko-abazinskikh dialektov [Ashkherewa dialect and its place among other Abkhaz-Abaza dialects]. Tbilisi: Izdatel'stvo akademii nauk gruzinskoy SSR, 1954.
Lomtatidze K.V. Abazinskiy yazyk (kratkoye obozreniye) [Abaza language (short review)]. Tbilisi: Universali, 2006.
Serdyuchenko G.P. Yazyk abazin [The language of the Abaza]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo akademii nauk SSSR, 1955.
Tabulova N. T. Grammatika abazinskogo yazyka [Grammar of the Abaza language]. Cherkessk: Karachayevo-Cherkesskoye otdeleniye Stavropol'skogo knizhnogo izdatel'stva, 1976.
Arkadiev P. M. Abaza. Yu. Koryakov, Yu. Lander, T. Maisak (eds.). The Caucasian Languages. An International Handbook. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. To appear.
Lomtatidze K., Klychev R., Hewitt B. G. Abaza. The indigenous languages of the Caucasus. Vol. 2. Hewitt B. G. (ed.). Delmar (NY): Caravan, 1989, 91–154.
Dictionaries
Abazinsko-russkiy slovar'. Pod redaktsiyey V. B. Tugova [Abaza-Russian dictionary. Ed. V. B. Tugova]. Moscow: Sovetskaya entsiklopediya, 1967.
Russko-abazinskiy slovar'. Pod redaktsiyey KH. D. Zhirova, N. B. Ekba [Russian-Abaza dictionary. Edited by Kh.D. Zhirov, N. B. Ekba]. Moscow: Gosudarstvennoye izdatel'stvo inostrannykh i natsional'nykh slovarey, 1956.
Tabulova N.T. Dialektologicheskiy slovar' abazinskogo yazyka [Dialectological dictionary of the Abaza language]. Cherkessk: Karachayevo-Cherkesskoye otdeleniye Stavropol'skogo knizhnogo izdatel'stva, 1999.
Selected papers on grammatical issues
Gagiev I.I. Sintaksis prostogo predlozheniya v abazinskom yazyke [Syntax of a simple sentence in the Abaza language]. Dis. … dokt. filol. nauk. Moscow: Institut yazykoznaniya RAN, 2000.
Klychev R.N. Slovar' sochetayemosti lokal'nykh preverbov s suffiksoidami i glagol'nymi kornyami v abazinskom yazyke [Dictionary of compatibility of local preverbs with suffixoids and verbal roots in the Abaza language]. Cherkessk: Karachayevo-Cherkesskoye knizhnoye izdatel'stvo, 1995.
Chkadua L.P. Sistema vremen i osnovnykh modal'nykh obrazovaniy v abkhazsko-abazinskikh dialektakh [The system of times and basic modal formations in the Abkhaz-Abaza dialects]. Tbilisi: Metsniyereba, 1970.
Allen W. S. Structure and system in the Abaza verbal complex. Transactions of the Philological Society, 1956, 1: 127–176.
O'Herin B. Case and Agreement in Abaza. Arlington: SIL International & Univ. of Texas Press, 2002.
Publications of texts
Abaza turykhkva. Rostov-on-Don, 2016.
Abaza fol'klori abaza literaturi ruysla (sost. Batal K"asey) [Abaza folklore abaza rusl literature (compiled by Batal Kassey)]. Cherkessk - Karachaevsk, 2020.
Работы по социолингвистике
Kharatokova M.G. Sotsiolingvisticheskiye osnovy zaimstvovaniya v abazinskom yazyke [Sociolinguistic foundations of borrowing in the Abaza language]. Dis. … kand filol. nauk. Nal'chik: Kabardino-Balkarskiy gosudarstvennyy universitet im. KH. M. Berbekova, 2014.
Работы по этнологии
Abaziny. Istoriko-etnograficheskiy ocherk [Abaza. Historical and ethnographic sketch]. Cherkessk: Karachayevo-Cherkesskoye otdeleniye Stavropol'skogo knizhnogo izdatel'stva, 1989.
Resources
Corpora and text collections
The corpus consists of texts published on the website of the international magazine "Strana Abaza" [Abaza Country] in 2015-2016. The volume of the corpus is 32796 words of Abaza word forms and 40110 words of Russian word forms (2328 pairs of parallel sentences).
Other electronic resources
Search in several Abaza-Russian and Russian-Abaza dictionaries at once, a collection of literature about the Abaza and the Abaza language.
Administrative and public support
Administrative support
The Department of Education and Culture of the administration of the Abaza Municipal District deals with the teaching of the Abaza language and literature in general education organizations.
Public support: Organizations
The organization has been operating since 2011 and is engaged in the preservation and development of the Abaza and Abkhazian languages, as well as the culture and traditions of the Abkhazian-Abaza people.
Founded in 1992 with the aim of creating a common cultural foundation of the Abkhaz-Abaza people.
Association "Апсадгьыл" ("Apsadgyl") was created in 2016 and united 8 Abaza public organizations.
Data for this page kindly provided by
Anastasia Borisovna Panova (HSE University, Moscow)
Sources:
Interviews with native speakers of the Abaza language (formed the basis of the section " Language functioning"); websites of mass media, state and public organizations; works on the Abaza language specified in the item " Core references", as well as works from the list below.
Chirikba V.A. Abazinskiy yazyk. YAzyki Rossiyskoy Federatsii i Sosednikh Gosudarstv. Entsiklopediya. V trekh tomakh [Abaza language. Languages of the Russian Federation and Neighboring States. Encyclopedia. In three volumes]. Vol. 1.A-I. Moscow: Nauka, 1998, p. 1-8.
Chirikba V.A. Rasseleniye abkhazov i abazin v Turtsii. Dzhigetskiy sbornik. Vyp. 1. Voprosy etno-kul'turnoy istorii Zapadnoy Abkhazii ili Dzhigetii [Resettlement of Abkhaz and Abaza in Turkey. Dzhigetsky collection. Issue 1. Questions of the ethno-cultural history of Western Abkhazia or Jighetia]. Moscow: 2012, p. 22-96.
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