| Adyghe | |
|---|---|
| West Circassian | |
| Адыгабзэ | |
| Native to | Adygea Krasnodar Krai |
| Ethnicity | Circassians, Cherkesogai |
Native speakers | 610,000 (2010–2020)[1] |
Early forms | |
| Dialects | |
| Cyrillic Latin Arabic | |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Russia
|
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | ady |
| ISO 639-3 | ady |
| Glottolog | adyg1241 |
.png) Distribution of the Adyghe language in Adygea, Russia (2002)[image reference needed] | |
 | |
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Adyghe (/ˈædɪɡeɪ/ or /ˌɑːdɪˈɡeɪ/;[3][a] also known as West Circassian) is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken by the western subgroups of Circassians.[4] It is spoken mainly in Russia, as well as in Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Israel, where Circassians settled after the Circassian genocide (c. 1864–1870) by the Russian Empire. It is closely related to the Kabardian (East Circassian) language, though some reject the distinction between the two languages in favor of both being dialects of a unitary Circassian language.
The literary standard of Adyghe is based on its Temirgoy dialect. Adyghe and Russian are the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation.
In Russia, there are around 128,000 speakers of Adyghe, almost all of them native speakers. In total, some 300,000 speak it worldwide. The largest Adyghe-speaking community is in Turkey, spoken by the diaspora from the Russian–Circassian War (c. 1763–1864). In addition, the Adyghe language is spoken by the Cherkesogai in Krasnodar Krai.
Adyghe belongs to the family of Northwest Caucasian languages. Kabardian (also known as East Circassian) is a very close relative, treated by some as a dialect of Adyghe or of an overarching Circassian language. Ubykh, Abkhaz and Abaza are somewhat more distantly related to Adyghe.
- ^ Adyghe at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ "Adyghe in Russian Federation". UNESCO WAL. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ "Adyghe". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ Aydın, Şamil Emre (2015), Çerkes Diyalektleri Archived 27 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine ISBN 978-605-65691-1-1
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