Kabardian grammar

Eastern Circassian grammar (Kabardian: Къэбэрдеибзэ адыгабзэ) is the grammar of standard East Circassian also known as Kabardian, as spoken and written by the Kabardian and Besleney communities primarily in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and Karachay-Cherkessian Republic in Russia.

Eastern Circassian is ergative–absolutive, predominantly marks head final and its normal word order is SOV (Subject-Object-Verb). Its nouns are remarkably simple, only marking for 2 numbers and case (which is frequently optional). Its verbal morphology however is the most complex part of the language, being inflected with suffixes and prefixes, making it very agglutinative and polysynthetic. A verb can be marked for several persons (polypersonality), number, tense, mood, causative and with a large array of preverbs. Notions such as "can", "must", and "if", usually expressed as separate words in most European languages, are typically expressed with verbal suffixes in Eastern Circassian.

Kabardian is an ergative–absolutive language. Unlike nominative–accusative languages, such as English, where the single argument of an intransitive verb ("She" in the sentence "She walks.") behaves grammatically like the agent of a transitive verb ("She" in the sentence "She finds it."), in ergative–absolutive language the subject of an intransitive verb behaves like the object of a transitive verb, and differently from the agent of a transitive verb.

The following examples demonstrate an ergative–absolutive case marking system:

Ergative language
Sentence:	ӏанэр мэкъутэ.			Лӏым ӏанэр екъутэ.
Word:	ӏанэ-р	мэкъутэ		Лӏым	ӏанэр	екъутэ
Gloss:	The table-ABS	breaks		The man-ERG	the table-ABS	breaks
Function:	S	VERBintrans		A	O	VERBtrans
Translation:	"The table breaks."			"The man breaks the table."

Here, "table" has the absolutive case mark -р /-r/ while "man" has the ergative case mark -м /-m/. We also have the verb "break" in intransitive form "мэкъутэ" and transitive form "екъутэ". In the example above, we specifically used SOV order, but Circassian allows any order.

Nouns in Kabardian can have the following roles in a sentence:

• Ergative case: Marked as -м /-m/, it serves to mark the one that causes change by doing the verb.
• Absolutive case: Marked as -р /-r/, it serves to mark the one that is changed by the verb's, i.e. it is being created, altered, moved or ended by the verb.
• Oblique case: Also marked as -м /-m/, it serves to mark the dative and applicative case roles. It acts as the indirect object in the sentence and its state is not changed by the verb, i.e. we have no indication of what happens to it or how it behaves after the verb.

In intransitive verbs the subject is in the absolutive case thus it indicates that the subject is changing (created, altered, moved or ended).

• In this example the boy is changing by moving:

• In this example the man is changing by moving. The verb еуэн /jawan/ "to hit" describes the movement of hitting and not the impact itself, so we have no indication of what happens to the object (the wall in this case).

In transitive verbs the subject is in the ergative case thus it indicates that the subject causes change to the object which gets the absolutive case.

• In this example the wall changes by being destroyed (it was altered). The verb къутэн /qʷətan/ "to destroy" does not indicate how the subject (boy) destroyed the wall thus we have no indication of the boy changing, making him the one that causes the change (and not the one that changes).

• In this example the rock changes by moving (motion in air), the man causes the change and the wall acts as the indirect object of the preposition.

It is important to distinguish between the intransitive and transitive verb, because the subject and object noun cases as well as the sentences' verb conjunctions (the prefixes that indicate person) depend on it. A fault in this can change the meaning of the sentence drastically, switching the roles of the subject and object. For instance, look at the following two sentences:

Even though the noun cases of the word boy кӏалэ are the same (In the Ergative-Oblique case marked as -м), they behave grammatically different because the verb еплъын "to look" is considered an intransitive verb in contrast to the verb елъэгъун "to see" which is transitive.

Kabardian has three demonstratives: а /ʔaː/, мо /mo/ and мы /mə/.

а /ʔaː/

1. that

   а ӏанэ — that table

   а пщащэ — that girl

   а щӏалэм жыӏэ — that boy is saying

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

мо /maw/

1. that

   мо ӏанэ — that table

   мо пщащэ — that girl

   мо щӏалэм жыӏэ — that boy is saying

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

мы /mə/

1. this

   мы ӏанэ — this table

   мы пщащэ — this girl

   мы щӏалэм жыӏэ — this boy is saying

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

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).

Case	1st-person		2nd-person
	singular	plural	singular	plural
Absolutive	сэ sa сэ sa	дэ da дэ da	уэ wa уэ wa	фэ fa фэ fa
Ergative	сэ sa сэ sa	дэ da дэ da	уэ wa уэ wa	фэ fa фэ fa
Instrumental	сэркӏэ sart͡ʃʼa сэркӏэ sart͡ʃʼa	дэркӏэ dart͡ʃʼa дэркӏэ dart͡ʃʼa	уэркӏэ wart͡ʃʼa уэркӏэ wart͡ʃʼa	фэркӏэ fart͡ʃʼa фэркӏэ fart͡ʃʼa
Adverbial	сэру sarəw сэру sarəw	дэру darəw дэру darəw	уэру warəw уэру warəw	фэру farəw фэру farəw

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.

	Case	Demonstratives
		а	мо	мы
Singular	Absolutive	ар aːr ар aːr	мор mor мор mor	мыр mər мыр mər
	Ergative	абы aːbə абы aːbə	мобы mobə мобы mobə	мыбы məbə мыбы məbə
	Instrumental	абыкӏэ aːbət͡ʃʼa абыкӏэ aːbət͡ʃʼa	мобыкӏэ mobət͡ʃʼa мобыкӏэ mobət͡ʃʼa	мыбыкӏэ məbət͡ʃʼa мыбыкӏэ məbət͡ʃʼa
	Adverbial	арэу aːraw арэу aːraw	морэу moraw морэу moraw	мырэу məraw мырэу məraw
Plural	Absolutive	ахэр aːxar ахэр aːxar	мохэр moxar мохэр moxar	мыхэр məxar мыхэр məxar
	Ergative	абыхэм aːbəxam абыхэм aːbəxam	мобыхэм mobəxam мобыхэм mobəxam	мыбыхэм məbəxam мыбыхэм məbəxam
	Instrumental	абыхэмкӏэ aːbəxamt͡ʃʼa абыхэмкӏэ aːbəxamt͡ʃʼa	мобыхэмкӏэ mobəxamt͡ʃʼa мобыхэмкӏэ mobəxamt͡ʃʼa	мыбыхэмкӏэ məbəxamt͡ʃʼa мыбыхэмкӏэ məbəxamt͡ʃʼa
	Adverbial	ахэрэу aːxaraw ахэрэу aːxaraw	мохэрэу moxaraw мохэрэу moxaraw	мыхэрэу məxaraw мыхэрэу məxaraw

Plurality	Person	Prefix		meaning	example
		Cyrillic	IPA
Singular	1st person	си-	/səj-/	"my"	сиунэ /səjwəna/ – my house; ситхылъ /səjtxəɬ/ – my book
	2nd person	уи-	/wəj-/	"your"	уиунэ /wəjwəna/ – your house; уитхылъ /wəjtxəɬ/ – your book
	3rd person	и-	/jə-/	"his"	иунэ /jəwəna/ – his house; итхылъ /jətxəɬ/ – his book
Plural	1st person	ди-	/dəj-/	"our"	диунэ /dəjwəna/ – our house; дитхылъ /dəjtxəɬ/ – our book
	2nd person	фи-	/fəj-/	"your"	фиунэ /fəjwəna/ – your house; фитхылъ /fəjtxəɬ/ – your book
	3rd person	я-	/jaː-/	"their"	яунэ /jaːwəna/ – their house; ятхылъ /jaːtxəɬ/ – their book

Case	1st-person		2nd-person		3rd-person
	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
Absolutive	сэсий sasəj сэсий sasəj	дэдий dadəj дэдий dadəj	уэуий wawəj уэуий wawəj	фэфий fafəj фэфий fafəj	ий jəj ий jəj	яй jaːj яй jaːj
Ergative	сэсый sasəj сэсый sasəj	дэдий dadəj дэдий dadəj	уэуий wawəj уэуий wawəj	фэфий fafəj фэфий fafəj	ий jəj ий jəj	яй jaːj яй jaːj
Instrumental	сэсиемкӏэ sasəjamt͡ʃʼa сэсиемкӏэ sasəjamt͡ʃʼa	дэдиемкӏэ tatəjamt͡ʃʼa дэдиемкӏэ tatəjamt͡ʃʼa	уэуиемкӏэ wawəjamt͡ʃʼa уэуиемкӏэ wawəjamt͡ʃʼa	фэфиемкӏэ ʃʷaʃʷəjamt͡ʃʼa фэфиемкӏэ ʃʷaʃʷəjamt͡ʃʼa	иемкӏэ jəjamt͡ʃʼa иемкӏэ jəjamt͡ʃʼa	яемкӏэ jaːjamt͡ʃʼa яемкӏэ jaːjamt͡ʃʼa
Adverbial	сэсийу sasəjaw сэсийу sasəjaw	дэдийу dadəjaw дэдийу dadəjaw	уэуийу wawəjaw уэуийу wawəjaw	фэфийу fafəjaw фэфийу fafəjaw	иеу jəjaw иеу jəjaw	яеу jaːjaw яеу jaːjaw

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:

Case	Singular form	Plural form
Absolutive	зыгуэрэ zəɡʷara зыгуэрэ zəɡʷara	зыгуэрэхэр zəɡʷaraxar зыгуэрэхэр zəɡʷaraxar
Ergative	зыгуэрэм zəɡʷaram зыгуэрэм zəɡʷaram	зыгорэхэмэ zəɡʷaraxama зыгорэхэмэ zəɡʷaraxama
Instrumental	зыгуэрэ(м)кӏэ zəɡʷara(m)t͡ʃʼa зыгуэрэ(м)кӏэ zəɡʷara(m)t͡ʃʼa	зыгуэрэхэ(м)кӏэ zəɡʷaraxa(m)t͡ʃʼa зыгуэрэхэ(м)кӏэ zəɡʷaraxa(m)t͡ʃʼa
Adverbial	зыгуэрэу zəɡʷaraw зыгуэрэу zəɡʷaraw	зыгуэрэхэу zəɡʷaraxaw зыгуэрэхэу zəɡʷaraxaw

From a morphological perspective, adjectives in the Kabardian language share many characteristics with nouns. A key feature of Circassian grammar is phrase-final affixation: when an adjective modifies a noun, the noun itself usually remains in its bare stem form. The grammatical markers for number (plurality) and case (role in the sentence) attach to the end of the entire noun phrase—which usually means they attach to the adjective.

Adjectives are categorized into two main types:

• Qualitative adjectives: Describe qualities (e.g., "good", "white", "tall"). These usually follow the noun.
• Relative (Material) adjectives: Describe material or relation (e.g., "wood", "iron"). These usually precede the noun and do not change form.

Unlike in languages like Spanish or Russian where both the noun and adjective agree (change form), in Kabardian, only the last word in the phrase takes the suffix.

Example 1: Qualitative Adjective (Follows Noun) Here, the noun is пщащэ (girl) and the adjective is дахэ (beautiful).

Number	Phrase	Breakdown	Gloss	Translation
Singular	Пщащэ дахэр	пщащэ дахэ-р	girl beautiful-ABS	"The beautiful girl"
Plural	Пщащэ дахэхэр	пщащэ дахэ-хэ-р	girl beautiful-PL-ABS	"The beautiful girls"

Example 2: Suffixal Adjective (Augmentative) Some adjectives function as suffixes themselves, like ~шхуэ (large/big). The case and number markers still attach to the very end.

Number	Phrase	Breakdown	Gloss	Translation
Singular	Унэшхуэр	унэ-шхуэ-р	house-large-ABS	"The large house"
Plural	Унэшхуэхэр	унэ-шхуэ-хэ-р	house-large-PL-ABS	"The large houses"

When an adjective is used substantively (as a noun, e.g., "the white one"), it takes the standard noun case markers directly.

Example: Хужьы ("White")

Case	Singular	Plural
Absolutive	хужьыр	хужьыхэр
Oblique / Ergative	хужьым	хужьыхэм
Instrumental	хужьы(м)кӏэ	хужьыхэ(м)кӏэ
Adverbial	хужьу	хужьыху

Type	Phrase	Breakdown	Gloss	Translation
Qualitative (Follows Noun)	Щӏалэ дэгъур	щӏалэ дэгъу-р	boy good-ABS	"The good boy"
	Унэ лъагэм	унэ лъагэ-м	house high-ERG	"The high house (Erg/Obl)"
Relative (Precedes Noun)	Гъущӏ пӏэкӏорыр	гъущӏ пӏэкӏор-ыр	iron bed-ABS	"The iron bed"
	Пхъэ уадэмкӏэ	пхъэ уадэ-мкӏэ	wood hammer-INS	"Using the wooden hammer"

Usage in Sentences

Sentence	Gloss	Function	Translation
Сэ нобэ пщащэ дахэ слъэгъуащ.	I today girl beautiful saw	A O VERB	"I saw a beautiful girl today."
Дэ гъуэгу занщӏэм дырыкӏуащ.	We road straight-OBL walked-on	S IO VERB	"We were walking on the straight road."
Щӏалэ лъэщыр макӏуэ.	Boy strong-ABS goes	S VERB	"The strong boy is going."

Adjectives have comparative and superlative forms used to express degrees of quality.

Comparative Degree Formed using the auxiliary word нэхъ (more).

Sentence	Gloss	Translation
Ар абы нэхъ лъагэщ.	He that-one-than more high	"He is higher than that one."
Нэхъ ины хъуащ.	More big became	"He became bigger."
Нэхъ лӀыгъэ къызхэбгъэлъын хуейщ.	More bravery show must	"You must be braver."

Superlative Degree Formed using the auxiliary word анахь or янэхъ (most/more than all).

Sentence	Gloss	Translation
Ар пщащэмэ янэхъ дахэщ.	She girls-among most beautiful	"She is the most beautiful among the girls."
Ар псоми янэхъ лъагэщ.	It all-among most high	"It is the highest."
Ар псоми янэхъ лъэщщ.	He everyone-among most strong	"He is the strongest."

Various suffixes can be added to nouns and adjectives to modify their meaning (diminutives, augmentatives, intensifiers).

Suffixes for Nouns

Suffix	Meaning	Example
~щӏэ (~ɕʼa)	new	унащӏэ (new house)
~жьы (~ʑə)	old	унэжьы (old house)
~шхуэ (~ʃxʷa)	large/big	унэшхуэ (large house)
~цӏыкӏу (~t͡sʼəkʷʼ)	small	унэцӏыкӏу (small house)

Suffixes for Adjectives

Suffix	Meaning	Example
~ӏуэ (~ʔʷa)	slightly	стырыӏуэ (slightly spicy)
~щэ (~ɕa)	too much/excessively	дыджыщэ (too bitter)
~дэд (~dad)	very	дэгъудэд (very good)
~кӏей (~t͡ʃʼej)	pretty/quite	дэгъукӏей (pretty good)
~ншэ (~nʃa)	lacking/less	акъылыншэ (mindless)

Examples

Sentence	Breakdown	Translation
Мы джанэр уэркӏэ иныӏуэ.	big-slightly	"This shirt is slightly big for you."
Мы сурэтыр дэхэдэд.	beautiful-very	"This painting is very beautiful."

To indicate that a quality is perceived by someone (an opinion or feeling), the prefix фӏэ~ (fʼa~) is added to the adjective. This transforms the adjective into a verbal construction meaning "X is [ADJ] to Y".

• дахэ "pretty" → фӏэдах "it is pretty to him/her"
• ӏэфӏ "tasty" → фӏэӏэфӏ "it is tasty to him/her"
• плъыжь "red" → фӏэплъыжь "it looks red to him/her"

Sentence	Gloss	Translation
Щӏалэхэмэ яфӏэдахэкъым си джанэ.	Boys.ERG 3PL-OPINION-pretty-NEG my-shirt	"My shirt was not beautiful to the boys."

The suffix ~гъэ (~ʁa) is appended to adjectives to turn them into abstract nouns representing the measure or quality itself (e.g., "length" from "long").

• кӏыхь (long) → кӏыхьагъэ (length)
• псынщӏэ (fast) → псынщӏагъэ (speed)
• хуабэ (hot) → хуабагъэ (heat)
• лъэщ (strong) → лъэщыгъэ (strength)
• ӏув (wide/thick) → ӏувыгъэ (width/thickness)
• дахэ (beautiful) → дэхагъэ (beauty)
• ӏэфӏ (tasty) → ӏэфӏыгъэ (tastiness)

Sentence	Gloss	Translation
Пхъэм и ӏувыгъэр 65 сантиметр.	Wood-OBL its-width 65 cm	"The wood's width is 65 centimeters."
Щӏалэм лъэщыгъэ хэлъ.	Boy-OBL strength lies-in	"The boy has strength in him."

The suffix ~гъакӏэ (~ʁaːt͡ʃʼa) forms nouns meaning "the state/essence of being X", which is distinct from the measurable scale marked by ~гъэ.

• кӏыхь (long) → кӏыхьэгъакӏэ (lengthiness)
• лъэщ (strong) → лъэщыгъакӏэ (strongness)
• дахэ (pretty) → дэхэгъакӏэ (prettiness)

Sentence	Gloss	Translation
Сэ мыӏэрысэм и ӏэфӏыгъакӏэм сыкъегъатхъэ.	... apple-OBL its-tastiness-state ...	"I enjoy the apple's tastiness."

Tense	Suffix	Example	Meaning
Present	~(р) /~(r)/	макӏуэ /maːkʷʼa/	(s)he is going; (s)he goes
Preterite	~ащ /~aːɕ/	кӏуащ /kʷʼaːɕ/	(s)he went
Pluperfect	~гъащ /~ʁaːɕ/	кӏуэгъащ /kʷʼaʁaːɕ/	(s)he went a long time ago"
Categorical Future	~нщ /~nɕ/	кӏуэнщ /kʷʼanɕ/	(s)he will go
Factual Future	~нущ /~nəwɕ/	кӏуэнущ /kʷʼanəwɕ/	(s)he will go, (s)he is about to go
Imperfect	~(р)т /~(r)t/	кӏуэ(р)т /kʷʼa(r)t/	(s)he was going
Anterior Perfect (Perfect II)	~ат /~aːt/	кӏуат /kʷʼaːt/	(then) (s)he went
Anterior Pluperfect	~гъат /~ʁaːt/	кӏуэгъат /kʷʼaʁaːt/	(then) (s)he went a long time ago"
Future II Categorical	~нт /~nt/	кӏуэнт /kʷʼant/	(s)he was about to go / (s)he would go
Future II Factual	~нут /~nəwt/	кӏуэнут /kʷʼanəwt/	(s)he was about to go / (s)he would go

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

Case	Prefix	Meaning	Example
Causative	гъэ~ [ʁa~]	"to force, to make"	гъэ-плъэн [ʁapɬan] "to make him look at"
Comitative	дэ~ [da~]	"with"	д-еплъын [dajpɬən] "to look with"
Benefactive	хуэ~ [xʷa~]	"for"	ху-еплъын [xʷajpɬən] "to look for"
Malefactive	фӏ~ [fʼa~]	"against one's interest"	фӏ-еплъын [fʼajpɬən] "to look against his interest"
Reflexive	зэ~ [za~]	"self"	зэ-плъын [zapɬən] "to look at oneself"

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-.

infinitive	meaning	positive singular	negative singular	positive plural	negative plural
кIуэн	to go	кIуэ	умыкIуэ	фыкIуэ	фымыкIуэ
тхын	to write Y	тхы	умытх	фтхы	фымытх
къэщтэн	to take Y	къэщтэ	къыумыщтэ	къэфщтэ	къэвмыщтэ

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

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

Affirmative form is expressed with the affix -къэ: кӏуэ-къэ "isn't he is going?", гыщӏэ-къэ "isn't he washing?".

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:

Position	Prefix	Example
		Looking	Throwing
Body position/Pose	щы~ [ɕə~]	щеплъэ [ɕajpɬa] "(s)he is looking at that place"	щедзы [ɕajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing at that place"
On	те~ [taj~]	теплъэ [tajpɬa] "(s)he is looking on"	тедзэ [tajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing at"
Under	щӏэ~ [ɕʼa~]	щӏаплъэ [ɕʼaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking under"	щӏедзэ [ɕʼajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing under"
Through	хэ~ [xa~]	хаплъэ [xaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking through"	хедзэ [xajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing through"
Within some area	дэ~ [da~]	даплъэ [daːpɬa] "(s)he is looking at some area"	дедзэ [dajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing at some area"
Inside an object		даплъэ [daːpɬa] "(s)he is looking inside an object"	дедзэ [dajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing inside an object"
Around	ӏу~ [ʔʷə~]	ӏуаплъэ [ʔʷaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking around"	ӏуедзэ [ʔʷajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing around"
Inside	и~ [jə~]	еплъэ [japɬa] "(s)he is looking inside"	редзэ [rajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing inside"
Hanged/Attached	пы~ [pə~]	пэплъэ [papɬa] "(s)he is searching by looking"	педзэ [pajd͡za] "(s)he is hanging by throwing"
Behind	къуэ~ [qʷa~]	къуаплъэ [qʷaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking behind"	къуедзэ [qʷajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing behind"
Aside	го~ [ɡʷa~]	гуаплъэ [ɡʷaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking aside"	гуедзэ [ɡʷajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing aside"
Against	пэӏу~ [paʔʷə~]	пэӏуаплъэ [paʔʷaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking against"	пэӏуедзэ [paʔʷajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing against"
Backwards	зэщӏ~ [zaɕʼ~]	зэщӏаплъэ [zaɕʼaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking backwards"	зэщӏедзэ [zaɕʼajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing backwards"
Inside within	кӏуэцӏы~ [kʷʼat͡sʼə~]	кӏуэцӏаплъэ [kʷʼat͡sʼaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking within inside"	кӏуэцӏедзэ [kʷʼat͡sʼajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing within inside"
Toward	кӏэлъы~ [kʲʼaɬə~]	кӏэлъэплъэ [ɬapɬa] "(s)he is looking toward"	кӏэлъедзы [ɬajd͡zə] "(s)he is throwing toward"
Past	блэ~ [bɮa~]	блэплъы [bɮapɬə] "(s)he is looking past"	бледзэ [bɮajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing past"
Over	щхьэпыры~ [ɕħapərə~]	щхьэпырыплъы [ɕħapərəpɬə] "(s)he is looking over"	щхьэпыредзэ [ɕħapərajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing over"
Directly	жьэхэ~ [ʑaxa~]	жьэхаплъэ [ʑaxaːpɬa] "(s)he is glaring at one's face"	жьэхедзэ [ʑaxajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing at one's face"
Mouth	жьэдэ~ [ʑada~]	жьэдаплъэ [ʑadaːpɬa] "(s)he is looking at a mouth"	жьэдедзэ [ʑadajd͡za] "(s)he is throwing at a mouth"

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

	stands	sits	lies
Body position/Pose	щыт (ɕət)	щыс (ɕəs)	щылъ (ɕəɬ)
On	тет (tajt)	тес (tajs)	телъ (tajɬ)
Under	щIэт (ɕ’at)	щIэс (ɕ’as)	щIэлъ (ɕ’aɬ)
Among	хэт (xat)	хэс (xas)	хэлъ (xaɬ)
Within some area	дэт (dat)	дэс (das)	дэлъ (daɬ)
Behind	ӏут (ʔʷət)	ӏyc (ʔʷəs)	ӏулъ (ʔʷəɬ)
Inside	ит (jət)	иc (jəs)	илъ (jəɬ)
Hanged or attached	пыт (pət)	пыc (pəs)	пылъ (pəɬ)
Corner or behind	къуэт (qʷat)	къуэc (qʷas)	къуэлъ (qʷaɬ)
Side	гуэт (gʷat)	гуэc (gʷas)	гуэлъ (gʷaɬ)
In front of	пэӏут (paʔʷət)	пэӏуc (paʔʷəs)	пэӏулъ (paʔʷəɬ)
Inside within	кӏуэцӏыт (kʷʼat͡sʼət)	кӏуэцӏыс (kʷʼat͡sʼəs)	кӏуэцӏылъ (kʷʼat͡sʼəɬ)
Slope	кӏэрыт (kʲʼarət)	кӏэрыс (kʲʼarəs)	кӏэрылъ (kʲʼarəɬ)
Over	щхьэпырыт (ɕħapərət)	щхьэпырыс (ɕħapərəs)	щхьэпырылъ (ɕħapərəɬ)
Directly	жьэхэт (ʑaxat)	жьэхэс (ʑaxas)	жьэхэлъ (ʑaxaɬ)
Toward the mouth	жьэдэт (ʑadat)	жьэдэс (ʑadas)	жьэдэлъ (ʑadaɬ)

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.

In the Kabardian language adverbs belong to these groups: adverbs of place, adverbs of time, adverbs of quality and adverbs of amount.

• 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"

In English, the word "and" is used to connect various parts of speech. In Kabardian, there are different ways (suffixes) to connect words depending on their part of speech and definiteness.

Category	Suffix	Example
Indefinite nouns	-рэ /ra/	Щӏалэ-рэ пщащэ-рэ къэкӏуахэщ. "A boy and a girl came."
Definite nouns	-мрэ /mra/	Щӏалэ-мрэ пщащэ-мрэ къэкӏуахэщ. "The boy and the girl came."
Pronouns	-рэ /ra/	Сэ-рэ уэ-рэ дыкӏуащ. "You and I went."
Indefinite adjectives	-ри /ri/	Щӏалэ кӏыхьэ-ри пщащэ дахэ-ри къэкӏуахэщ. "A tall boy and a pretty girl came."
Definite adjectives	-мри /mri/	Щӏалэ кӏыхьэ-мри пщащэ дахэ-мри къэкӏуахэщ. "The tall boy and the pretty girl came."
Numbers	-рэ /ra/	Щӏалэ тӏу-рэ пщащэ щы-рэ къэкӏуахэщ. "Two boys and three girls came."
Universal nouns	-и /i/	Щӏал-и пщащ-и къэкӏуахэщ. "Boys and girls came."
Adverbs	-мкӏи /mt͡ʃʼi/	Махуэ-мкӏи жэщы-мкӏи къэкӏуахэщ. "They came in the day and in the night."

The independent conjunction ыкӏи /ət͡ʃəj/ ("and") can also be used to connect different parts of speech.

• Verbs: Щӏалэр йоджэ ыкӏи матхэ. ("The boy reads and writes.")
• Adjectives: Щӏалэр дахэ ыкӏи кӏыхьэ. ("The boy is handsome and tall.")

Conjunctions in the Circassian language play the same role like in English, they are used to connect together, in different ways, words or parts of a difficult sentence. According to structure of Circassian conjunctions they can be separated into two groups: simple and complex.

Among simple Circassian conjunctions are:

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

• арщхьэкӀэ – "because".
• aтӀэ – "in spite of".
• хьэмэ – "or".
• сыту – "as".
• щхьэкӀэ – "though".
• сыт щхьэкӀэ – "because (of) / why".
• папщӀэ – "for".
• папщӀэкӀэ – "as".
• щыгъуэ – "when".
• зэ-зэ – "first…then".
• е-е – "either-or".
• къудейуэ – "as soon as".
• ару – "just".
• пэтми – "although".
• щытмэ – "if".
• ипкъ иткӀэ – "therefore".
• къыхэкӀкӀэ – "because / that’s why".

In the Circassian language participles are different both by their semantics and structure. Semantically they fall into the following groups: affirmative, negative, interrogative, intensive, indicatory and stimulating.

• дыдэ – "quite, very".
• уеблэмэ – "even".
• пIэрэ – "whether, really".
• мис – "here".
• мес – "there (near by)".
• кхъы1э – "please".
• нэхъ – "more".
• нэхърэ – "more than".
• хьэуэ – "no".
• нтIэ – "yes".
• акъудей (аркъудей) – "quite not".
• къудей – "just now".

In the Circassian language, as well as in other Ibero-Caucasian languages, role of prepositions belongs to postpositions. It is difficult to define the exact count of postpositions in the Circassian language, because even such major parts of speech as nouns (from the point of view of their functionality) sometimes can be included into the group, together with some verb prefixes. For example, in the sentence Тхылъыр столым телъ "The book is lying on the table" the noun has no preposition, but the meaning remains clear because in the verb те-лъ "is lying" the prefix те- expresses something's being on a surface, so this form of the verb literally means "on the surface is lying".

Nouns and adverbs sometimes play role of postpositions. For example, nous that describe different parts of human body (head, nose, side and so on) sometimes function as postpositions. For example: Фызыр лӏым ипэ иту кӏуащ "The wife went in front of the husband" (the preposition "in front of" in the Circassian sentence is expressed by the phrase ипэ иту "being in front of his nose").

Nouns and pronouns combine with a postposition in the ergative grammatical case only. For example, the postposition деж "near, beside" requires a word in the ergative case:

• жыгы-м деж "near the tree".

Postpositions can attach possessive prefixes to themselves. For example, in singular:

• сэ с-а-деж "near me",
• о у-а-деж "near you",
• абы и деж "near him";

in plural:

• дэ д-а-деж "near us",
• фэ ф-а-деж "near you",
• ахэмэ я деж "near them".

The following words are used as postpositions in the Circassian language:

• ипIэкIэ "before".
• пщ1ондэ "before".
• щыгъуэ "during".
• икIуэцIкI "inside".
• лъандэ "since".
• къэскIэ "until".
• нэс "until".
• деж "near".
• дежкIэ "at".
• иужь "after".
• пащхьэ "in front of".
• щ1ыбагъ "behind".
• щIагъ "under".
• нэмыщI "except".
• фIэкIа "except".
• къэс "every".

• 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: wool, 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)

• Numbers from zero to ten are specific words

1 зы [zə]^ⓘ

2 тӀу [tʷʼə]^ⓘ

3 щы [ɕə]^ⓘ

4 плӀы [pɬʼə]^ⓘ

5 тху [txʷə]^ⓘ

6 хы [xə]^ⓘ

7 блы [bɮə]^ⓘ

8 и [jə]^ⓘ

9 бгъу [bʁʷə]^ⓘ

10 пщӏы [pɕʼə]^ⓘ

• Numbers from eleven to nineteen are built with the word for ten, followed by кӏу ([kʷʼə]) and the unit digit:

11 пщӏыкӀуз [pɕʼəkʷʼəz]

12 пщӏыкӀутIу [pɕʼəkʷʼətʷʼ]

13 пщӏыкӀущ [pɕʼəkʷʼəɕ]

14 пщӏыкӀуплI [pɕʼəkʷʼəpɬʼ]

15 пщӏыкӀутху [pɕʼəkʷʼətxʷ]

16 пщӏыкӀух [pɕʼəkʷʼəx]

17 пщӏыкӀубл [pɕʼəkʷʼəbɮ]

18 пщӏыкӀуй [pɕʼəkʷʼəj]

19 пщӏыкӀубгъу [pɕʼəkʷʼəbʁʷ]}

• The tens follow a vigesimal system from forty up, with the exception of fifty:

20 тӀощӏ [tʷʼaɕʼə] (20)

21 тӀощӏэ зырэ [tʷʼaɕʼəra zəra] (20 and 1)

22 тӀощӏэ тIурэ [tʷʼaɕʼəra tʷʼəra] (20 and 2)

23 тӀощӏэ щырэ [tʷʼaɕʼəra ɕəra] (20 and 3)

...

30 щэщӏ [ɕaɕʼ] (30)

31 щэщӏрэ зырэ [ɕaɕʼra zəra] (30 and 1)

32 щэщӏрэ тIурэ [ɕaɕʼra tʷʼəra] (30 and 2)

...

40 плIыщI [pɬʼəɕʼ] (20 × 2)

50 тхущI,[txʷəɕʼ] (half-hundred)

60 хыщI,[xəɕʼ] (20 × 3)

70 блыщI [bɮəɕʼ] (20 × 3 and 10)

80 ищI [jəɕʼ] (20 × 4)

90 бгъущI [bʁʷəɕʼ] (20 × 4 and 10)

• One hundred is щэ (ɕa). The hundreds are formed by the hundred word root (щ (ɕ)) followed by -и-

(-i-) and the multiplier digit root.

100 щэ (ɕa)

101 щэрэ зырэ (ɕara zəra) (100 and 1)

110 щэрэ пщӏырэ (ɕara pʃʼəra) (100 and 10)

200 щитӀу (ɕitʷʼ) (100 × 2)

201 щитӀурэ зырэ (ɕitʷʼəra zəra) (200 × 2 and 1)

300 щищ (ɕiɕ) (100 × 3)

400 щиплӀ (ɕipɬʼ) (100 × 4)

500 щитху (ɕitxʷ) (100 × 5)

600 щих (ɕix) (100 × 6)

700 щибл (ɕibɮ) (100 × 7)

800 щий (ɕij) (100 × 8)

900 щибгъу (ɕibʁʷ) (100 × 9)

• One thousand is мин (min). The thousands are formed by the thousand word root (мин (məjn))

followed by -и- (-i-) and the multiplier digit root.

1000 мин (min)

1001 минрэ зырэ (minra zəra) (1000 and 1)

1010 минрэ пщӏырэ (minra pʃʼəra) (1000 and 10)

1100 минрэ щэрэ (minra ɕara) (1000 and 100)

2000 минитӀу (minitʷʼ) (1000 × 2)

3000 минищ (miniɕ) (1000 × 3)

4000 миниплӀ (minipɬʼ) (1000 × 4)

5000 минитху (minitxʷ) (1000 × 5)

6000 миних (minix) (1000 × 6)

7000 минибл (minibɮ) (1000 × 7)

8000 миний (minij) (1000 × 8)

9000 минибгъу (minibʁʷ) (1000 × 9)

10000 минипщӏ (minipʃʼ) (1000 × 10)

11000 минипщӀыкӀуз (minipʃʼəkʷʼəz) (1000 × 11)

12000 минипщӀыкӀутIу (minipʃʼəkʷʼətʷʼ) (1000 × 12)

20000 минитӀощӏ (minitʷʼaɕʼə) (1000 × 20)

100000 минищэ (miniɕa) (1000 × 100)

200000 минищитӀу (miniɕitʷʼ) (1000 × 200)

When composed, the hundred word takes the -рэ (-ra) suffix, as well as the ten and the unit if any (e.g.: щэрэ зырэ (ɕara zəra) [101], щэрэ тIурэ (ɕara tʷʼəra) [102], щэрэ пщӀыкӀузырэ (pʃʼəkʷʼətʷʼəra) [111], щитӀурэ щэщӀырэ плIырэ (ɕitʷʼəra ɕat͡ʃəra pɬʼəra) [234]).

• 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]

• Kabardian language
• Circassia
• Circassians

• 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 : [1].
• Ranko Matasović, A short grammar of east Circassian (Kabardian) : [2].