Circassian Grammar Primer

Introduction

This primer on Circassian grammar provides a clear and concise overview, focusing on the fundamental aspects of the language.

It intentionally steers clear of overly complex details, concentrating instead on the broad points of grammar that are most relevant and useful for beginners. Our aim is to demystify the language, providing clear explanations of the major grammatical elements you’re likely to encounter in everyday Circassian communication. This approach ensures that readers can quickly grasp the essentials, making their learning journey both effective and enjoyable.

Circassian comprises two main dialects, each with distinct characteristics and cultural richness. Despite these differences, the core grammar of Circassian remains consistent across both dialects, making the principles and rules outlined in this primer universally applicable.

This guide will delve into the common grammatical structures shared by both dialects. Wherever there are notable variations in word usage or pronunciation between the dialects, we will highlight these differences with specific examples.

This approach ensures that learners gain a well-rounded understanding of Circassian, appreciating each dialect’s subtle nuances.

Morphology

Morphology studies how words are formed and structured in a language. Circassian morphology is notable for having many consonants and relatively few vowels. The language is also known for its rhythmic quality, often described as melodic, stemming from its unique sound structures and grammatical properties.

Circassian Word Stress and Melody

In Circassian, the placement of stress in words follows certain patterns based on the syllables and the grammatical context of the word. These patterns are straightforward to learn, and with some practice, you’ll quickly develop an ear for them. Let’s explore some basic rules to help you understand when and where to stress syllables in Circassian words.

	Rule:	Example:	Meaning:
1.	Words ending with ‘uh’ sound (э):	да́дэ	grandfather
	Stress the second-to-last syllable in words that end with a short “uh” sound, represented by the Circassian letter э.	да́хэ	beautiful
		лъа́шэ	shame
		етхуа́нэ	fifth

	Rule:	Example:	Meaning:
2.	Words ending in vowels other than э or the semi-vowel й:	хьэмбылу́	worm
	Stress the last syllable for words ending in any vowel except э or the semi-vowel й.	зэма́н	time
		кIэфи́й	whistle
		дзэýз	toothache

	Rule:	Example:	Meaning:
3.	Loan words from Turkish or Arabic:	мыхьэнэ́	meaning
	Stress the last syllable, especially if the word ends in a vowel.	тэрэзэ́	scale
		арэзы́	pleased
		къамышы́	whip

	Rule:	Example:	Meaning:
4.	Loan words from Russian:	къэ́быстэ	cabbage
	Stress on syllables are preserved from the original Russian patterns.	ло́шкэ	spoon
		стэка́н	cup
		па́льто	coat

	Rule:	Example:	Meaning:
5.	Words ending in a consonant:	къамы́л	cane
	Stress the last syllable in words with a single vowel that end in a consonant.	джэдэ́щ	hen house
		дыжьы́н	silver
		дэрбзэ́р	tailor

	Rule:	Example:	Meaning:
6.	Past tense verbs:	Сэ сыкIуа́щ.	I went.
	Stress the last syllable.	Уэ уеджа́щ.	You studied.
		Дэ дылэжьа́щ.	We worked.
		Ар псалъа́щ.	He spoke.

Grammatical Cases

Grammatical case determines how words change based on their role in a sentence. In Circassian, understanding grammatical cases is crucial as they affect the meaning and structure of phrases and sentences. In Circassian, there are four grammatical cases.

	Case	Answers the Questions	Suffix
1.	Nominative Case	Who? Whom? What?	-р
2.	Ergative Case	To whom? To what?	-м
3.	Instrumental Case	By what means? In what direction?	-кIэ
4.	Adverbial Case	Who amongst? What, within?	-у, -yэ

Circassian Nouns

Nouns are words that name things, people, places, ideas, or events. In Circassian, there are two main types:

	Noun Type	Answers the Questions
1.	Refers to people	Who: хэт?
2.	Refers to everything else	What: сыт?

These are important distinctions in Circassian, though there are some exceptions. In classic Circassian literature where animals take human-like characteristics and speak directly to people, they are often referred to with хэт, rather than сыт. Like many languages, Circassian also has common and proper nouns, and it follows rules similar to those of the Russian language.

	Noun Type	Description
1.	Proper nouns	These are names of specific people, places, organizations, etc, and they are always capitalized.
2.	Common nouns	These refer to general things, like objects, concepts, or categories, and are not capitalized unless they start a sentence.

In the Circassian language (and in the Russian language, from which these rules were borrowed), names of nationalities and languages are not considered proper nouns, and so they are not capitalized. This is in contrast to English and Turkish, which both capitalize the names of languages and nationalities. (This is not an issue for Arabic, which does not have capital letters.)

Plurality in the Circassian language is noted through the suffix -хэ as illustrated in the table below.

	Noun Type	Example
1.	Singular form	Person: цыыху
2.	Plural form	People: ц1ыхухэ

If a plural noun is placed into the Nominative or the Ergative Cases, the -хэ suffix comes before the -p or -м suffixes

	Noun Type	Example
1.	Plural form – Nominative Case	ц1ыхухэр
2.	Plural form – Ergative Case	ц1ыхухэм

Circassian Pronouns

Pronouns are words used to substitute for nouns or noun phrases, often to avoid repetition and to streamline communication. They typically refer to people, but can also represent things or places. In this section, we will cover seven types of Circassian Pronouns.

	Pronoun Type	Description
1	Personal Pronouns	Used to replace specific nouns representing people or things. Examples include: I, you, he, she, it, we, they
2	Possessive Pronouns: Independent	Show ownership or possession and can stand alone. Examples include: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs
3	Possessive Pronouns: Dependent	Indicate possession and are used before a noun. Examples include: my, your, his, her, its, our, their
4	Interrogative Pronouns	Used to ask questions. Examples include: who, what, where, when, why, which
5	Demonstrative Pronouns	Refers to specific things. Examples include: this, that, these, those
6	Indefinite Pronouns	Refer to nonspecific people or things. Examples include: anyone, anything
7	Negative Pronouns	Refer to the absence of people or things. Examples include: nobody, none, nothing

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are words used to refer to specific people or things without naming them. In Circassian, they vary based on number (singular or plural) and person (first, second, or third). In Circassian, there are no gender-specific pronouns.

Singular	Plural
I	сэ	we (us)	дэ
you (singular)	уэ	you (plural)	фэ
he / she / it	ар	they	ахэр

In Circassian, we do not capitalize the plural form of you: фэ. Additionally, depending on grammatical case, the pronoun ар can take the form of абы, and the ахэр can take the form of абыхэм.

Possessive Pronouns: Independent

Possessive pronouns are a category of pronouns that indicate ownership or possession. The term “independent” refers to the fact that these pronouns can stand alone without accompanying a noun.

Singular	Plural
mine	сысей	ours	дыдей
yours	уыуей	yours	фыфей
his / hers / its	ей	theirs	яй

Possessive Pronouns: Dependent

Dependent possessive pronouns, also known as possessive adjectives, are a category of pronouns used to show ownership or association and always accompany the noun they modify. Unlike independent possessive pronouns, they cannot stand alone and must be used in conjunction with a noun.

Singular	Plural
my	си	ours	ди
your	уи	your	фи
his / hers / its	и	their	я

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are essential tools in language that allow us to ask questions and gather information. They help in seeking clarity, specifics, or general knowledge about subjects. In Circassian, these pronouns are particularly categorized based on whether they refer to living beings or other entities.

Pronoun	Meaning	Usage & Context
Хэт?	Who?	Pertains exclusively to living beings.
Хэт ей?	Whose?	Indicates possession related to living beings.
Сыт?	What?	Refers to tangible inanimate objects.
ЛIо?	What?	Refers to intangible inanimate objects.
Дэтхэнэ?	Which?	Pinpoints a specific object.
Дэтхэнэр?	Which one?	Identifies a particular object from a group.
Дапхуэдэ?	Which one?	Singles out an object with a specific description from a series.
Дапщэ?	How much / many?	Measures a quantity, be it living or inanimate, tangible or intangible.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are words used to point out or indicate specific things, people, or ideas. They are particularly important for clarity and focus in speech and writing.

Singular	Plural
this	мыр	these	мыхэр
that	мор	those	мохэр

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are a category of pronouns used to refer to non-specific people, things, or amounts. These pronouns do not point to any particular nouns, making them “indefinite.” They are often used when the identity of the noun is unknown or irrelevant to the context.

Singular	Plural
someone / something	зыгуэр	some people / some things	зыгуэрхэ

Note: The pronoun зыгуэр is audibly similar to the adverb зэгуэр. However, they serve different functions. While зыгуэр is a pronoun meaning “someone” or “something,” зэгуэр is an adverb that translates to “once,” “one time,” or “at some unspecified time.

Negative Pronouns

Negative pronouns are a specific category of pronouns used to negate, refuse, or deny the existence of something or someone. These pronouns convey the absence, non-existence, or negation in a sentence.

Circassian Pronoun	Meaning
зыри	no one
зыми	nothing
зыкӀи	nobody / not in the least
зыуи	in no way
зыгуэри	nothing at all

Circassian Adjectives

Adjectives are words used in language to describe or modify nouns and pronouns. They add detail and convey specific qualities about the things or people they are describing. In Circassian, adjectives are formed in one of two ways:
1. Compounding
2. Adding a suffix
When adjectives are formed through compounding, the adjective is a separate word that follows the noun it describes. This is the most common way that adjectives are used.

Compounding Example

	Example	Meaning
1.	щӀалэ ин	big boy
2.	хъыбарыжь кӀыхь	long story
3.	бзу цӀыкӀу	little bird
4.	хьэ бзаджэ	bad dog
5.	джэду фыцIэ	black cat
6.	хъыдан псыф	wet rag

Alternatively, adjectives may be expressed by adding a suffix to the noun it modifies. There are only a handful of adjective suffixes, but they are used very commonly in Circassian

Adding of Suffix Example

	Suffix	Meaning	Example	Meaning
1.	-шхуэ	big	щIалэшхуэ	big boy
2.	-щIэ	new / young	щIалэщIэ	young boy
3.	-жь	old	лIыжь	old man
4.	-ншэ	lacking	акъылыншэ	mindless / stupid
5.	-Iуэ	too much	хуабэIуэ	too hot
6.	-бзэ	totally / utterly	фIыцIабзэ	pitch black (utterly black)
7.	-фI	good	хъыджэбыфI	good girl

Note on “big” in Circassian

As you might have noticed in the examples above, the adjective “big” in Circassian may be expressed through compounding (щӀалэ ин) or through the addition of a suffix (щIалэшхуэ).

	Example	Meaning
Compounding	ЩIалэр инщ.	The boy is big.
Addition of Suffix	Ар щIалэшхуэщ.	He is a big boy.

At first glance, this might seem confusing, but here is a simple rule of thumb to determine which adjective form of big to use:

When the noun appears by itself, use ин.
When the noun is joined by a pronoun, use -шхуэ.

In the first example above, ЩIалэр инщ, the word boy (щIалэ) appears all by itself, so we use the adjective ин. In the second example, Ар щIалэшхуэщ, the word boy (щIалэ) is joined by the pronoun he (ар), so we add the suffix form of big, which is -шхуэ.

Negation of Adjectives

Negation is the grammatical process of turning an adjective into the opposite of its root meaning. In the Circassian language, there are two methods of negation. One way is by adding the prefix мы- in front of the adjective. The other way is by adding -къым as a suffix at the end of the adjective.

Example	Meaning	Prefix: мы-	Suffix: -къым	Meaning
ин	big	мыин	инкъым	not big
цIыкIу	small	мыцIыкIу	цIыкIукъым	not small

Both methods are grammatically the same and a matter of personal choice. Use of the -къым method is slightly more common.

Comparatives

Comparatives are used when comparing two things or people. They often end in “-er” in English, like “smarter” or “faster”. We use them in sentences like “She is bigger than her brother” to show the difference between the two.

In Circassian, comparative adjectives require a bit of help from two related words: нэхъ and нэхърэ. The comparative degree is formed by the particles нэхъ, or by repetition of the same particle нэхърэ … нэхъ. The particle нэхъ always stands before the adjective and нэхърэ stands before the noun, denoting the object that is compared with another object. In the examples below, нэхъ is roughly the same as the suffix -er in English, and нэхърэ is roughly the same as the word “than”.

	Example	Meaning
1.	Ар губзыгъэщ.	She is smart.
2.	Ар нэхъ губзыгъэщ.	She is smarter.
3.	Ар нэхъ губзыгъэщ и дэлъхум нэхърэ.	She is smarter than her brother.

Superlatives

Superlatives are used when comparing more than two things or people, to show which is the most extreme in some way. They often end in “-est”, like “smarter” or “fastest”. We use them in sentences like “He is the fastest at school” to show that no one else in the school is faster than he is. Like Comparatives, to construct Superlatives, adjectives need to use the нэхъ… нэхърэ construction described above. But Superlatives also need help from an adverb: дыдэ (very).

We’ll cover adverbs in the following section, but let’s cover the basics. In Circassian, adverbs that modify adjectives are typically placed after the adjectives. Let’s see how to use the word дыдэ using our previous example.

	Example	Meaning
1.	Ар губзыгъэщ.	She is smart.
2.	Ар губзыгъэ дыдэщ.	She is very smart.

Now if we are able to move on to the Superlative construction.

	Example	Meaning
1.	Ар нэхърэ нэхъ губзыгъэ дыдэщ!	She is the smartest!

Adverbs in the Circassian Language

Adverbs are words that provide more information about verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. While adjectives modify nouns, adverbs modify how actions are performed, how other qualities are described, or even how other adverbs function.

In English, many adverbs are formed by appending the “-ly” suffix to adjectives. Similarly, Circassian often forms adverbs by adding the suffixes “-у” or “-уэ” to adjectives.

	Adjective	Meaning	Suffix	Adverb	Meaning
1.	псынщIэ	fast	-y	псынщIэу	quickly
2.	хуэм	slow	-y	хуэму	slowly
3.	фIы	good	-уэ	фIыуэ	well
4.	Iей	bad	-уэ	Iейуэ	poorly

Circassian Verbs

The Circassian language is complex and full of interesting features, especially in how it uses verbs. This part will help break down these aspects, giving you a straightforward guide on how Circassian verbs work and how to use them, making it easier for you to understand and apply them.

Like most languages, in Circassian, verbs can appear in two forms:

Infinitive Form: This is how a verb would appear in a dictionary, and this is often different from how a verb is used in real life. For example: to go. In every day life, this verb would change form based on usage. For example: I go. He goes. She went. These changes in form are called conjugation, which is the second form in which a verb can appear.

Conjugated Form: As noted above, any time a verb changes from infinitive form, it is conjugated. In Circassian, verbs may be conjugated base on several factors.

	Verb Conjugation Type	Description
1.	Person and Number	This shows who is doing the action and whether it’s singular or plural (like “I walk,” “he walks,” “we walk”).
2.	Tense	This shows when an action takes place. For example, past, present, or future (like “walked,” “walks,” and “will walk”).
3.	Mood	This reflects the speaker’s attitude toward the action, li whether it’s a fact, a command, a wish, a possibility, etc.
4.	Independence	Transitive vs. Intransitive: This category describes whether a verb requires an object to complete its meaning. Transitive verbs need an object (“He is saying his name.”), while intransitive verbs do not (“She is speaking.”).

Let’s explore each of these conjugation types through examples.

Person and Number

The concept of “person and number” in verbs relates to who is doing the action (the subject) and how many subjects there are.

First person refers to the speaker themselves. When a verb is in the first person, it means the speaker is doing the action.
For example, “I walk” is first person singular, and “we walk” is first person plural.

Second person refers to the person being spoken to. Verbs in second person imply that the action is being done by the listener. “You walk” can serve as both second person singular and plural, although some languages have distinct forms for each.

Third person refers to someone or something other than the speaker or listener. Third person singular uses he/she/it in English, as in “he walks,” “she walks,” or “it walks,” while third person plural refers to “they walk,” indicating that the action is done by others who are neither speaking nor being spoken to. We covered this concept in the Pronouns section earlier.

	Singular		Plural
1st Person	I	сэ	we (us)	дэ
2nd Person	you (singular)	уэ	you (plural)	фэ
3rd Person	he / she / it	ар	they	ахэр

In Circassian, we conjugate verbs based on the person and number associated with that verb. Additionally, somewhat unique to Circassian, when we conjugate verbs based on person and number, we often use personal prefixes unique to each person and number. See the example of the verb to go: кIуэн.

Number	Person	Pronoun	Prefix	Verb Root	Sentence	Meaning
Singular	1st	Сэ	со	кIуэ	Сэ сокIуэ.	I go.
	2nd	Уэ	уо		Уэ уокIуэ.	You go.
	3rd	Ар	ма		Ар макIуэ.	He goes.
Plural	1st	Дэ	до		Дэ докIуэ.	We go.
	2nd	Фэ	фо		Фэ фокIуэ.	You go.
	3rd	Ахэр	ма		Ахэр макIуэ.	They go.

The table above conveys a lot of information. It may be a bit overwhelming at first, so let’s take a moment to walk through it together. The first three columns are not new. We have seen singular and plural pronouns in the first, second and third person before. What’s new here is the prefix column. Note that each pronoun takes a unique prefix. This prefix is added to the verb root, which is the same for all pronouns. The sentence column shows how we combine the pronoun, prefix and verb root to construct a sentence. The meaning column shows the meaning of this sentence.

The use of these prefixes is common across all Circassian verbs. All verbs make use of these prefixes, though there are times when the 3rd person singular and plural (ар and ахэр) do not take any prefix. Moreover, while these prefixes follow some general patterns, they vary greatly from one verb to the next. This means that you’ll need to memorize them over time. While this might seem overwhelming, you’ll naturally pick them up with enough exposure, just as native speakers do.

Tense

Verb tense tells us when an action takes place. There are three main tenses:

1. Present Tense: Describes an action happening right now or a general truth. “I walk” means the walking is occurring at this moment, or it’s something that I regularly do.
2. Past Tense: Indicates an action that has already happened. For example, “I walked” means the walking occurred before now.
3. Future Tense: Refers to an action that will happen later. “I will walk” suggests that the walking is going to occur at some point after the current time.

In the section above, we covered the example of to go: кIуэн, and the table illustrates this verb in the present tense. Since we’ve already covered the present tense, in this section, we’ll cover the past and future tense. Here, we have some good news. Conjugating verbs into the past and future tense is very easy.

Past Tense: Add the suffix -ащ
Future Tense: Add the suffix -энущ

There are no exceptions to these rules, and there are no irregular verbs in the Circassian language. There are, however, two important caveats to bear in mind.

1. The verb root for the past and future is often a bit different from the verb root for the present tense, and;
2. The pronoun prefixes used for the past and future are often different from those used in the present tense.

Let’s continue with the example of the verb to go: кIуэн.

Number	Person	Pronoun	Prefix	Verb Root	Past Tense	Future Tense
Singular	1st	Сэ	сы	кIу	Сэ сыкIуащ.	Сэ сыкIуэнущ.
	2nd	Уэ	у		Уэ укIуащ.	Уэ укIуэнущ.
	3rd	Ар			Ар кIуащ.	Ар кIуэнущ.
Plural	1st	Дэ	ды		Дэ дыкIуащ.	Дэ дыкIуэнущ.
	2nd	Фэ	фы		Фэ фыкIуащ.	Фэ фыкIуэнущ.
	3rd	Ахэр			Ахэр кIуащ.	Ахэр кIуэнущ.

Mood

Mood is a grammatical feature that conveys the speaker’s attitude or perception of the action. It shows whether the speaker considers an action as a fact, a command, a wish, a possibility, or a hypothetical situation. Circassian has a wide range of verb moods, but the most common you are likely to encounter are provided below.

	Mood Type	Description	Example	Meaning
1.	Indicative	States a fact.	Сэ сокIуэ.	I go.
2.	Imperative	Gives a command.	КIуэт!	Go!
3.	Interrogative	Asks a question.	Уэ укIуэну?	Will you go?
4.	Subjunctive	Imagines a scenario.	Сэ сыкIуэнумэ…	If I go…
5.	Conditional	Conveys possibilities.	Уэ укIэфынущ.	You can go.

Note: It’s common to combine the subjunctive and conditional moods.

	Example	Meaning
1.	Сэ сыкIуэфынумэ…	If I am able to go…
2.	Уэ укIуэфынумэ…	If you are able to go…

Independence

Verb independence, or valency in linguistic terms, means a verb can stand alone without needing an object. These verbs are called intransitive verbs. They are self-sufficient, meaning they don’t pass their action onto another entity, known as a direct object. On the other hand, dependent verbs require a direct object to complete their action. These are called transitive verbs.

Verb Type	Example	Meaning
Intransitive	Ахэр мэпсалъэ.	They talk.
Transitive	Абыхэм зыгуэр жаIэ.	They are saying something.

As you might notice in the examples above, the intransitive verb to talk: псалъэн takes the pronoun ар. But the transitive verb to say: жыIэн takes the pronoun абы. This is because intransitive verbs place the subject (he) in the Nominative Case. Transitive verbs place the subject (he) in the Ergative Case. If you’ll recall from section on Grammatical Case, the Nominative Case takes the suffix -р and the Ergative Case takes the suffix -M.

Verb Negation

Verb negation is the grammatical process of turning a verb into its opposite meaning. In English, this is done by using the word “not. For example: I go. I do not go.

In Circassian, verbs are negated in two ways, depending on the verb mood.

	Mood Type	Example	Meaning
1.	Indicative	Сэ сыкIуэкъым.	I do not go.
2.	Imperative	Уэ умыкIуэ!	Don’t go!

In both the Indicative and the Imperative case, negation is done through the following steps:
1. The verb takes the pronoun prefix used for the past / future tense
2. It keeps the present-tense verb root
3. We then add the appropriate suffix
a. The Indicative Mood takes the -къым suffix.
b. The Imperative Mood inserts the -мы- affix between the pronoun prefix and the root verb.

Verb Prefixes

In many languages, verbs are combined with prepositions to convey relationships or directionality. For example: I walk. I walk to the store. I walk beside my friend. In contrast, Circassian makes use of a number of prefixes that perform this task. Some of the most common prefixes and affixes are provided below.

Prefixes dealing with position or relationship.

Prefix	Demonstrates	Example	Meaning
бгъэ	relative position	бгъэдэсын	sit next to
гу	relationship	гурыгъэIуэн	understand (or agree)
гуэ	division and sharing	гуэшын	divide (and share)
дэ	communal location	дэтын	stand between
зэ	reciprocity	зэзэуэн	fight (one another)
зэдэ	reciprocity + relationship	зэдэгушыIэн	joke (with one another)
зы	reflexive verbs	зыхуэпэн	dress one’s self

Prefixes dealing with movement or directionality.

Prefix	Demonstrates	Example	Meaning
блэ	direction of movement	блэкIын	pass by (something)
и	placement	илъхьэн	place inside
ире	sending	ирекIуэн	send along
ири	direction of movement	ирикІуэн	go (along a path)
къэ	direction of movement	къэкIуэн	come (towards)
нэ	arrival	нэсын	arrive
пэ	reversal	пэдзыжын	throw (back)
щхьэ	climbing	щхьэпрыпщын	climb (something)
Іу	direction of movement	IукIуэтын	move away

Prefixes dealing with placement.

Prefix	Demonstrates	Example	Meaning
те	relative position	телъхьэн	lay on top
фІэ	hanging	фIэщIэн	hang (up)
хэ	placement	хэлъхьэн	put (into)
кІэ	position (in sequence)	кІэлъыкІуэн	look after (something)
ху	on behalf of another	хуещӀэн	do (for someone)
е	transitive verbs	еджэн	read (something)
гъэ	transitive verbs (compel)	гъэпсэлъэн	make (someone) speak
щІэ	location	щIэтын	be inside (or under)
щы	location	щыIэн	be somewhere
щы	time	щыжеин	when sleeping

Conjunctions in Circassian

Conjunctions in Circassian link sentences, phrases, and clauses. These are words in the Circassian language that connect sentences, phrases, or clauses, providing context and clarity to the flow of ideas. They’re organized into two categories.

	Conjunction Type	Description
1.	Coordinating Conjunctions	These Circassian conjunctions are used to link sentences, phrases, or clauses that have similar importance or structure. They are particularly useful for connecting two main ideas or independent clauses.
2.	Subordinating Conjunctions	These are Circassian conjunctions used to link a main or independent clause with a dependent or subordinate clause, thereby highlighting the relationship between the two in terms of cause, time, or contrast.

Below are some of the more common and useful Circassian Coordinating Conjunctions.

	Coordinating Conjunction	Meaning
1.	-и, икIи, -рэ	and
2.	ауэ	but
3.	арщхьэкӀэ	because (of)
4.	aтӀэ	in spite of
5.	е…е	either…or
6.	хьэмэ	or
7.	зэ…зэ	first…then

Below are some of the more common and useful Circassian Subordinating Conjunctions.

	Subordinating Conjunction	Meaning
1.	сыту	as
2.	щхьэкӀэ	though
3.	сыт щхьэкӀэ	because of/why
4.	папщӀэ	for
5.	папщӀэкӀэ	as
6.	щыгъуэ	when
7.	ару	just
8.	пэтми	although
9.	щытмэ	if
10.	ипкъ иткӀэ	therefore
11.	къыхэкӀкӀэ	because/that’s why

Circassian Unions

Circassian unions determine the rules for combining the six notional parts of speech. Unlike English, which often uses “and” for connecting various parts of speech, Circassian has specific rules for each. These rules are straightforward and governed by the Circassian parts of speech they connect.

	Part of Speech Connected	Rule
1.	Nouns and Pronouns	Use suffix -рэ with other nouns.
2.	Adjectives and Adverbs	Use икIи between words.
3.	Verbs	Add suffix -ри to all verbs except the last one.
4.	Numbers	Add suffix рэ to all numbers in a sequence.

Nouns and Pronouns

	Example	Meaning
1.	Сэ сок1уэ.	I walk.
2.	Щ1алэмрэ хъыджэбзэмрэ мак1уэ.	The boy and the girl walk.
3.	Сэ сок1уэри сопсалъэ.	I walk and talk.

Adjectives and Adverbs

	Example	Meaning
1.	Ар инщ.	It is big.
2.	Ар инщ икIи дахэщ.	It is big and beautiful.
3.	Ар псынщIэу икIи губзэгъэу мэлажьэ.	He works quickly and cleverly.

Verbs

	Example	Meaning
1.	Сэ сок1уэ.	I walk.
2.	Сэ сок1уэри сопсалъэ.	I walk and talk.

Numbers

	Example	Meaning
1.	тIощIрэтхурэ	twenty-five
2.	щэрэщэщIрэ	one hundred thirty-five.

Particles in Circassian

Particles are not exclusive to the Circassian language. These are small words that don’t fit into the usual categories like noun or verb. They often add meaning or clarify the relationship between words in a sentence. They’re key in giving sentences their specific tone and direction.

	Particle	Meaning
1.	дыдэ	quite, very
2.	уеблэмэ	even
3.	пIэрэ	whether, really
4.	мис	here
5.	мес	there (nearby)
6.	адэ	there (further away)
7.	модэ	there (furthest away)
8.	кхъыӀэ	please
9.	нэхъ	more
10.	нэхърэ	more than
11.	хьэуэ	no
12.	нтIэ	yes
13.	къудей	just now

Postpositions in Circassian

Postpositions, like prepositions, are words that express relationships between other words in a sentence, typically indicating direction, location, or time. However, unlike prepositions which come before their related noun or pronoun, postpositions come after. In Circassian, postpositions often indicate time, place or demonstrate attribution.

Postpositions of Time

	Postposition	Meaning
1.	ипIэкIэ	before
2.	пщӀондэ	before
3.	щыгъуэ	during
4.	икIуэцIкI	during
5.	нэужь	after
6.	лъандэ	since
7.	къэскIэ	until
8.	нэс	until

Postpositions of Place

	Postposition	Meaning
1.	деж	to
2.	дежкIэ	at
3.	иужь	after
4.	пащхьэ	in front of
5.	щӀыбагъ	behind
6.	щIагъ	under

Postpositions of Attribution

	Postposition	Meaning
1.	нэмыщI	except
2.	фIэкIа	except
3.	къэс	every
4.	хуэдиз	amount to

Circassian Numbers

Numbers in grammar are used to indicate the quantity or sequence of nouns. They can be ‘cardinal numbers’ (one, two, three) which show quantity, or ‘ordinal numbers’ (first, second, third) which indicate position or order. Numbers can also be singular, referring to one, or plural, referring to more than one. In sentences, numbers help provide specific information about the nouns, like how many there are or in what order they occur.

Cardinal Numbers 1 – 10

Number	Circassian	Meaning
1.	зы	one
2.	тIу	two
3.	щы	three
4.	плIы	four
5.	тху	five
6.	хы	six
7.	блы	seven
8.	и	eight
9.	бгъу	nine
10.	пщIы	ten

Cardinal Number Suffixes

In Circassian, for numbers 2 – 10, instead of using the word for each number, we add a suffix to the end of the noun that we are describing.

	Example	Suffix	Meaning
1	Сэ (зы) мыэӀэрысэ сиӀэщ.	зы	I have one apple.
2	Уэ кхъужьитI уиӀэщ.	тI	You have two pears.
3	Ар бананищ иӀэщ.	щ	She has three bananas.
4	Ахэр ӀэнэнасиплI яӀэщ.	плI	They have four pineapples.
5	Дэ нащитху диӀэщ.	тху	We have five cucumber
6	Фэ хуарджих фиӀэщ.	х	You (plural) have six apricots.
7	Ар щыбжийбл иӀэщ.	бл	He has seven peppers.
8	Сэ бэдрэжани сиӀэщ.	и	I have eight tomatoes.
9	Уэ кӀэртӀофибгъу уиӀэщ.	бгъу	You have nine potatoes.
10	Дэ балийгъипщ1 диӀэщ.	пщI	We have ten cherries.

Note: The number one does not follow this rule, nor do any numbers greater than 10. In Circassian, the number one may be used or omitted. It is equally acceptable to say: Сэ мыэӀэрысэ сиӀэщ and Сэ зы мыэӀэрысэ сиӀэщ.

Cardinal Numbers 11 – 20

Number	Circassian	Meaning
11	пщыкIуз	eleven
12	пщыкIутI	twelve
13	пщыкIущ	thirteen
14	пщыкIуплI	fourteen
15	пщыкIутху	fifteen
16	пщыкIух	sixteen
17	пщыкIубл	seventeen
18	пщыкIуий	eighteen
19	пщыкIубгъу	nineteen
20	тIощI	twenty

Formation of Cardinal Numbers 11 – 19

In Circassian, numbers from 11 through 19 are constructed by combining the word for 10 (пщIы), the root кIу, and then adding the root for numbers 1 through 9.

Number	Base (10)	Root	Number 1-9	Resulting Number
11	пщIы	кIу	3	пщIыкIуз
12	пщIы	кIу	тI	пщIыкIутӀ
13	пщIы	кIу	щ	пщIыкIущ
14	пщIы	кIу	плI	пщIыкIуплӀ
15	пщIы	кIу	тху	пщIыкIутху
16	пщIы	кIу	х	пщIыкIух
17	пщIы	кIу	бл	пщIыкIубл
18	пщIы	кIу	и	пщIыкIуи
19	пщIы	кIу	бгъу	пщIыкIубгъу

Formation of Cardinal Numbers 21+

To form numbers beyond 20 in Circassian, we take the base number (20, 30, 40, etc.), followed by the word for “and” (рэ), then the number representing the units (1, 2, 3, etc.), and conclude with another “and” (рэ). This pattern is consistent for numbers ranging from 20 to 100.

For instance, the number 21 in Circassian is: тIощI (20) + рэ (and) + зы (1) + рэ (and) = тIощI-рэ-зы-рэ.

Number	Construction
20	тIощI
21	тIощI-рэ-зы-рэ
22	тIощI-рэ-тIу-рэ
23	тIощI-рэ-щы-рэ
24	тIощI-рэ-плIы-рэ
25	тIощI-рэ-тху-рэ
26	тIощI-рэ-хы-рэ
27	тIощI-рэ-блы-рэ
28	тIощI-рэ-и-рэ
29	тIощI-рэ-бгъу-рэ

Cardinal Numbers 30 and Beyond

Number	Circassian	Meaning
30	щэщI	thirty
40	плIыщI	forty
50	тхущI	fifty
60	хыщI	sixty
70	блыщI	seventy
80	ищI	eighty
90	бгъущI	ninety
100	щэ	hundred
1000	мин	thousand
1,000,000	мелуан	million

In Circassian, counting hundreds is straightforward. The word for 100 is щэ. To form numbers like 200 or 300, a suffix indicating the quantity is attached directly to щэ. Circassian uses a suffix with the base number to express the count of hundreds.

Number	Circassian	Base (10)	Suffix	Full Formation
100	щэ	щэ	–	щэ
200	щитI	щэ	тI	щитI
300	щищ	щэ	щ	щищ
400	щиплI	щэ	плI	щиплI
500	щитху	щэ	тху	щитху
600	щих	щэ	х	щих
700	щибл	щэ	бл	щибл
800	щий	щэ	и	щий
900	щибгъу	щэ	бгъу	щибгъу

When moving to even larger numbers like the thousands, the logic remains consistent. The foundational word for 1000 is мин. Multiples of a thousand, like 2000 or 3000, are formed by affixing a specific suffix to this base number.

Number	Circassian	Base (10)	Suffix	Full Formation
1000	мин	мин	–	мин
2000	минитI	мин	тI	минитI
3000	минищ	мин	щ	минищ
4000	миниплI	мин	плI	миниплI
5000	минитху	мин	тху	минитху
6000	миних	мин	х	миних
7000	минибл	мин	бл	минибл
8000	миний	мин	и	миний
9000	минибгъу	мин	бгъу	минибгъу

Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers in grammar are used to indicate the order or position of things in a sequence. They are different from cardinal numbers, which show quantity. They are commonly used for ranking, sequencing events, or marking stages.

	Ordinal Type	Description
1.	Positional Ordinals	Positional ordinals are a type of ordinal number used specifically to describe an item’s position or place in a sequence. For example, first, second, and third are positional ordinals.
2.	Temporal Ordinals	Temporal ordinals are ordinal numbers used to describe the timing or sequence of events. They indicate the order in which events occur over time. For example, once, twice and thrice are temporal ordinals.

Positional Ordinals

Positional Ordinal	Example	Construction	Meaning
1st	япэ(рей) / езанэ(рей)	япэ(рей) / езанэ(рей)	first
2nd	етIуанэ(рей)	етIу + анэ(рей)	second
3rd	ещанэ(рей)	ещ + анэ(рей)	third
4th	еплIанэ(рей)	е + плI + анэ(рей)	fourth
5th	етхуанэ(рей)	е + тху + анэ(рей)	fifth

Note: The “рей” in parenthesis is optional.

Temporal Ordinals

Intriguingly, in the Circassian language, there’s a distinct set of ordinals that indicate the frequency with which an action has taken place. Unlike the typical ordinals in English that represent position (first, second, third, etc.), these Circassian ordinals are time-centric, denoting the number of occurrences.

Temporal Ordinal	Example	Meaning
1x	зэ	once
2x	тIо	twice
3x	щэрэ	thrice
4x	плIэрэ	four times
5x	тхурэ	five times

Distributives

Distributive numbers are used to describe how something is divided or distributed among a number of people or things. They often indicate that each person or thing in a group gets an equal part or number.

Temporal Ordinal	Example	Meaning
1×1	зырыз	one by one
2×2	тIурытI	two by two
3×3	щырыщ	three by three
4×4	плIрыплъ	four by four
5×5	тхурытху	five by five

Fractions

Fractional numbers express parts of a whole. They are used to describe something that is less than one in quantity, like halves, thirds, quarters, etc.

Fraction	Example	Meaning
1/2	ныкъуэ	half
1/3	щанэ	third
1/4	плIанэ	quarter
1/5	тхуанэ	fifth

Conclusion

With its rich tapestry of historical and cultural significance, the Circassian language offers a distinct linguistic framework that stands apart from many of its global counterparts. From its nuanced morphology to its systematic grammatical cases and diverse parts of speech, the language presents both a challenge and a delight for linguists and language enthusiasts alike. This summary provides just a glimpse into the intricate design of Circassian grammar. As with all languages, truly grasping its essence requires immersion, practice, and a deep appreciation for the people who speak it. Whether you’re a student, a researcher, or simply someone curious about the world’s languages, the Circassian tongue beckons with its unique melodies and structures, inviting us all to explore further.

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