page_title: Circassians
section_title: Language
hierarchical_section_title: Circassians / Culture / Language
caption_attribution_description: English: The Circassian dialects family tree
context_page_description: The Circassians, also known by their endonym Adyghe, are a Northwest Caucasian ethnic group native to Circassia, many of whom were exiled in the course of the Russian conquest of the Caucasus in the 19th century, especially after the Russo-Circassian War in 1864. The Circassians mainly speak the Circassian languages, a Northwest Caucasian dialect continuum with three main dialects and numerous sub-dialects. Many Circassians also speak Turkish, Russian, English, Arabic and Hebrew, having been exiled by Russia to lands of the Ottoman Empire, where the majority of them live today. Most Circassians are Sunni Muslim.
  In its narrowest sense, the term "Circassian" includes the twelve historic Adyghe princedoms of Circassia; Abdzakh, Besleney, Bzhedug, Hatuqwai, Kabardian, Mamkhegh, Natukhai, Shapsug, Temirgoy, Ubykh, Yegeruqwai and Zhaney, each star on the Circassian flag representing one princedom.
  Historical Circassia has been divided by Soviet and Russian administrations into the modern-day titular Circassian republics of Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia and Krasnodar Krai, as well as southwestern parts of Stavropol Krai and Rostov Oblast.
context_section_description: Circassians mainly speak the Circassian languages, two mutually intelligible languages of the Northwest Caucasian language family, namely Adyghe (West Circassian) and Kabardian (East Adyghe). Adyghe is based on Temirgoy (Chemirgoy) dialect, while Kabardian is based on the dialect of the same name. Circassians also speak Russian, Turkish, English, Arabic, and Hebrew in large numbers, having been exiled by Russia to lands of the Ottoman Empire, where the majority of them live today, and some to neighboring Persia, to which they came primarily through mass deportations by the Safavids and Qajars or, to a lesser extent, as muhajirs in the 19th century.
  Linguists divide the Northwest Caucasian languages into three branches, namely Circassian (Adyghe and Kabardian), Ubykh (consisting only of the Ubykh language, which is considered to have diverged from the Circassian languages and is now a dead language), and Abazgi (Abkhaz and Abaza). The Ubykhs lived on the Black Sea coast, around the city of Sochi, the capital of Circassia, north of Abkhazia.
  Although related, Abazgi and Circassian are mutually unintelligible. Abazgi is spoken by Abkhazians and the Abazins. The Abkhazians lived on the coast between the Circassians and the Georgians, were organized as the Principality of Abkhazia and were involved with the Georgians to some degree. The Abazins or Abaza, their relatives, lived north of the mountains and were involved with Circassia proper. They extended from the mountain crest northeast onto the steppe and partially separated the Kabardians from the rest. Sadz were either northern Abkhazian or eastern Abaza, depending on the source.
  Walter Richmond writes that the Circassian languages in Russia are "gravely threatened." He argues that Russian policy of surrounding small Circassian communities with Slavic populations has created conditions where Circassian languages and nationality will disappear. By the 1990s, Russian had become the standard language for business in the Republic of Adygea, even within communities with Circassian majority populations.
caption: The Circassian dialects and sub-dialects development
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