| Also Known As: Beslenei,Upper Circassian,East Circassian,Kabardino-cherkes,Kabardo-cherkes,Kabardian
Description:
The Kabardian language is closely related to the Adyghe language (see Adyghe people), both members of the Northwest Caucasian language family. It is spoken mainly in the Russian republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia (the native territories) and in Turkey and the Middle East (the extensive post-war diaspora). It has 47 or 48 consonant phonemes of which 22 or 23 are fricatives, depending upon whether one counts [h] as phonemic, but this is contrasted with just two phonemic vowels. It is one of very few languages to possess a clear phonemic distinction between ejective affricates and ejective fricatives.
The Kabardian language has two major dialects, Kabardian and Besleney. Some linguists argue that Kabardian is only a dialect of an overarching Adyghe or Circassian language that consists of all of the dialects of Adyghe and Kabardian together, and the Kabardians themselves most often refer to their language using the Kabardian term Adighabze ("Adyghe language"). Several linguists, including Georges Dumézil, have used the terms eastern Circassian (Kabardian) and western Circassian (Adyghe) in order to avoid this confusion, but both "Circassian" and "Kabardian" may..... full article at Wikipedia |
