THE FORMATION OF THE WRITING OF CIRCASSIAN
Visitor: Yılmaz Özcan
Date&Time: April 18, 2014 3:51 PM
Comments: CIRCASSIAN WRITING
1. The dependent vowels are written with " a , aa , e , ee , i , o , u , uu ,
y ” letters.
2. The short " a ” which comes after the " g’, h, h’, q, q’, qh, xh ”
consonants is written with " a ” letter and the long " a ” is written with
" aa ” letter. The short " e ” which comes after the other consonants is
written with " e ” letter and the long " a ” which comes after the other
consonants is written with " a ” letter.
3. The front and long " e ” sound is always written with " ee ” letter.
4. The " i ” letter which comes before or after the consonants or
comes after semi-vowels as the only vowel is read like back " ı ” vowel
in Turkish. But the vowel " i ” which comes after he consonant " y ” is
pronounced thinner and shorter.
5. The " o ” letter is pronounced long.
6. The semi-vowel " u ” which comes after the " g, g’, k, q, q’, qh, x, xh ”
consonants is written with " u ” letter and the long " u ” is written with
" uu ” letter. The long " u ” which comes after the other consonants is
written with " u ” letter.
7. The front " i ” sound which comes after " g, k, u ” letters or comes
before or after the other consonants as the only vowel is written with
" y ” letter.
8. In " yy ”; the front " y ” shows the vowel, the next " y ” shows the
consonant.
9. The separated vowels which is at the beginning of the word are
written with " a ,aa , ee , i , o , uu , y ” letters. The separated vowels
which are uttered separately from the former sound are written with a
dash ( - ) in front of then. The" -aa, -ee, -o, -uu, -y ” are long, " -a, -i ”
are short. " -u ” is pronounced like semi-vowel.
10. The separated diphtongs which is at the beginning of the word are
written with " ua , ue , uee , ui , uy ” united letters. The diphtongs which
are uttered separately from the former sound are written with a dash ( - )
in front of then. The " –ua, -uee,-uy ” are long, " -ue, -ui ” are short.
11. Some of the free consonants are written with as the letters of simple
consonants. Some of them are written as the letters of united consonants.
12. The " g ” letter which comes before " e, ee, y ” letters is read like
" g ”consonant in Turkish. The " k ” letter which comes before " e, ee,
y ” letters is read like " k ” consonant in Turkish. The vowel sound of
" y ” letter which comes as abone is not uttered.
13. The " h ” letter which comes before the vowels as single forms the
voice groups in a trice.
14. The " i ” letter which comes before or after the vowels is read like
the consonant of "AYIN” letter in Arabic.
15. The " y ” consonant which doesn’t comes after " g, k, u ” but before
or after the vowels is written with " y ” letter.
16. Pressed consonants are written by putting " ’ ” apostrophie behind
then. Apostrophie on " g’ ” presses the back consonant of " g ” letter,
apostrophie on " k’ ”presses the front consonant of " k ” letter.
17. When the united consonants come separately, a dash ( - ) is put
between the letters while writing.
18. The gerunds in Circassian are written as the given sample gerunds.
PS: The " u ” letter in Circassian is pronounced as " oo ” in English.
. - 1 - 06.03.2014 - Yılmaz Özcan
THE WRITING OF CIRCASSIAN SOUNDS
(KABARDIAN DIALECT)
SOUND /
WORD MEANING
..a (dependent short-vowel or dependent long-vowel)
g’ah’ bring (short a)
dame wing (long a)
..aa (dependent long-vowel)
g’aah’ they’re bringing
g’aag’ue come
a (separated short-vowel)
ane variety of table
ade pliers
yiy-am s/he hasn’t get
jit-at we were saying
aa (separated long-vowel)
aax they’re taking from him
yi-aa-am s/he never had
jit-aat we’d told
b
nibe obdomen
c
cate sour cream
ch
chabe soft
c’
c’e new
d
dane silk
dz
dzin to throw
..e (dependent short-vowel)
mel sheep
yege read; call
..ee (dependent long-vowel)
teepcheky plate
yeegy she’s spinning wool
ee (separated long-vowel)
eey bad
eex he’s taking from him
g’i-eex he’s taking from him
s-eex he’s taking from me
f
fe you; skin, leather
f ’
f ’i good
g
gaz gas
gok’ s/he’s leaving from him
gerc bean
gegu play (semi-vowel u)
gy
gyane shirt
gyide axe
yagy they’re spinning wool (semi-vowel y)
gu
guawe mourning
guiven to be late
degu deal (semi-vowel u)
- 2 - (1/2 left
MSOUND /
WORD EANING
g’
g’achten to take
g’aag’ue come
g’eege read; call
g’oplhe s/he’s looking at here
g’oh’a s/he’s appearing
g’u
yeg’u suitable (semi-vowel u)
gh
jigh tree
h
hane mother
hade father
h’
h’a dog
..i (as dependent short-vowel)
ci horse
zi one
i (separated short-vowel)
iqhin to hold (as vowel)
yi-iqhir the thing s/he holds
t-ix take it from us
acri-i Noah’s pudding
i (as consonant)
ialemet strange
maine meaning
j
baje fox
jh
jhi old
k
karton cardboard
kontrol control
ket sheep-fold
kezuwe in turns
ky
kyar the thing cracked
kyits’ kid
yaky they’re stepping
yeeky he’s stepping (semi-vowel y)
ku
maxueku thursday (semi-vowel u)
k’
k’ape tail
nek’eguugu stye
l
li meat
lh
lhec’in to wipe
l’
pl’i four
m
maze moon
n
ne eye
..o (dependent long-vowel)
bo stable
nobe today
- 2 - (1/2 right)
SOUND /
WORD MEANING
o (separated long-vowel)
o sheepfold
one it’s hanging
ze-one they're hanging each other
ze-oh’a things are going bad
p
pe nose
p’
p’e place; bed
yip-’a? isn’t he feeding
q
qaabze clean
g’aqeeyin to burp
qoplhe he’s looking back
qoh’a he’s going behin
qu
mequ hay (semi-vowel u)
q
q’a graveyard
q’u
q’ueey cheese
q’uih’ ship
qh
qha year
qhaatxe spring
qheeyin to cry
qhogu road (semi-vowel u)
qhu
meqhu is drying (semi-vowel u)
r
weram street
s
se I; knife
wines house
t
tane heifer
t’
nat’e forehead
g’yt’-am he isn’t digging
ts
tsi wool
ts’
ts’e name; louse
..u (dependent long-vowel or dependent semi-vowel)
bzu bird (long u)
duneey world (long u)
..uu (dependent long-vowel)
kuu deep
guu bull
-u (separated semi-vowel)
xee-u he’s dipping it
c’i-uxer buttons
- 3 - (1/2 left)
SOUND /
WORD MEANING
uu (separated long-vowel)
uuwin howl
g’a-uuwin howl
ua (separated long-diphtong)
uax they’re opening
so-uate I’m explaining
ue (separated short-diphtong)
ueten to explain
p-ueten? will you explain?
uee (separated long-diphtong)
ueexu he’s driving away
s-ueex s/he is taking in front of me
ui (separated short-diphtong)
uix open; take it away
g’i-uik’ go away this side
uy (separated long-diphtong)
uyxir taken away
s-uyxir the thing taken from me
v
nive stone
w
wade hammer
x
xade garden
xu
txuog’ue he’s going for us
nexu daylight
xh
pxha wood; wooden
xheeyin to move
xhu
pxhui daughter
..y (as dependent long-vowel or as dependent semi-vowel)
sy my
g’yk’ get out of this
y (separated long-vowel)
yt' two hands
yxar the thing he’s taken from him
g’i-yxar the thing he’s taken from him
s-yxt he was taking from me
y (as consonant)
yatx they’re writing
yege read; call
yeegy s/he’s spinning wool
yin big
k’yyin to shout
yoge s/he is reading
z
ze once
nez coast
- 3 - (1/2 right)
