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- Proverbes Tcherkess

Langue Tcherkess : - Grammaire - Noms


- Grammar of the Kabardian-Tcherkess Language-

  The Kabardian-Tcherkess language (henceforth referred to only as Kabardian, since both the Kabardians and Tcherkess use the same official and literary language) is structurally part of the Apswa-Adygha group of the Ibero-Caucasian languages. Literary Kabardian is based on the Kabardian dialect spoken in greater Kabarda, which is the part of Kabarda to the west of the Terek River. Lesser Kabarda is on the right bank thereof. Kabardian has one dialect, namely Beslanay, and many sub-dialects (Malka, Bakhsan, Terek, Mozdok, Lesser Kabardian, and others).

  The following treatise is based on many works.A full bibliography is provided. The illustrative examples will be given first in Cyrillic (current) and then transcribed in a newLatinized Kabardian Alphabet. Note that this work will be under construction for some time. Your suggestions and contributions would be invaluable. It is recommended that you make a print-out of this page and study the contents very carefully. (Mr Amjad Jaimoukha)


- Stress -


  Stress in Kabardian is feebly expiratory, fixed and mobile. The stress depends on the character of the word: whether it has an open or closed syllable. The following rules govern the stress patterns of Kabardian words:

1- If the word ends in a schwa, - e, the stress falls on the penultimate syllable, ex.:

  • dade grandpa
  • lhashe lame, limping
  • daxe beautiful
  • yetxwane (ordinal numeral) fifth
  • lazche working.

    2- If the word ends in any vowel apart from the schwa, - e, or in the semi-vowel - iy, the stress falls on the last syllable, ex.:

  • h'embilu lung
  • ghwezchkwiy whirlwind
  • ch'efiy whistle
  • baliy cherry.

    3- In loan words (for the most part of Turkish and Arabic origin), which end in a schwa, - e, the stress falls on the ultimate syllable and acts significantly on the penultimate, ex.:

  • mihene meaning, significance
  • tereze balance
  • arezi satisfied
  • qamishi lash, whip.

    4- As a rule, words with closed syllables have the stress on the last syllable, ex.:

  • jedesch hen-coop
  • qamil reed, rush
  • x'ibar news
  • dizchin silver
  • hepship article, item
  • derbzer dressmaker, taylor.

    5- Verbs in the past tense with the suffix - a have the stress on the last syllable, ex.:

  • shxasch he ate
  • dilezchasch we worked
  • weyjasch you studied.

    6- Words adopted from Russian preserve their original stress patterns, ex.:

  • qabista cabbage;
  • loshke spoon.

    7- Case endings and the index of plurality - xe, do not affect the original stress pattern of the word, ex.:

  • wine house,
  • winer
  • x'ijebz girl,
  • x'ijebzir.

    With other suffixes the stress pattern changes as if these were integral parts of the words, ex.:
  • sch'ale child,
  • sch'alaghe childhood, youth
  • lh'ishxwe big man,
  • lh'ishxwasche huge man.
     

    - Cases -

    There are four cases in Kabardian: nominative, ergative-oblique, instrumental-directional and specific.

  • 1- The Nominative Case
    • The nominative case responds to the question ?
  • xet? who?
    or
  • sit? what?
    The affix associated with this case is - p  and  - r.
    The substantive in the nominative case acts as the subject of the sentence, ex.:
  • sch'aler yoje the boy is reading,
    or as the direct object, ex.:
  • se txilhir qesschtasch : I took the book.
  • 2- The Ergative-Oblique Case

    • The ergative-oblique case is associated with the affix - m. Ex.:

  • se yeghejak'wem wipsch'e yestasch : I asked the teacher a question (literally: I gave the teacher a question)
  • de abixem diteypselhih'asch : we talked about them
  • se qalem sischi'asch : I was in town.

      As is obvious from these examples, the ergative-oblique case includes some meanings of dative, genitive, accusative and prepositional cases of English. Substantives in the ergative-oblique case act as subjects, oblique objects and adverbial modifiers of place.
     

     
  • 3- Instrumental-Directional Case

    •   The instrumental-directional case responds to the questions ?

  • xetch'e?: who?, by?
  • sitch'e? with ? or by what?
  • denech'e? where?, in what direction? The affix associated with this case is - ch'e.

      As is obvious from its name, this case has two meanings: instrumental and directional. The instrumental meaning corresponds to the non-prepositional form of the instrumental case:

  • qerendaschch'e sotxe : I am writing with a pencil.

      As far as the directional case is concerned, the meaning associated with it is of an indication of direction of an action without precise specification of the end destination, ex.:

  • de qwazhemch'e dok'we we are going in the direction of the village.
    In some instances, this case can designate movement or action directed specifically to some object, ex.:
  • Senjeley, nobe diy shkolimk'e nisch'ihe Sanjalay, come to our school today.

      The substantive in the instrumental-directional case acts as oblique object or an adverbial modifier of place.

      Applications: directional meanings of accusative case frequently correspond to the ergative case of Kabardian. See examples above.
     

    4-The Specific Case

      The specific case responds to the questions ?

  • xetu? Who?
  • situ? What?
     It is associated with the affixes - y, - y  , - u, - ue.

      This case indicates the choice of some part from a whole, ex.:

  • kombaynim gwedzu geyktar schesch' 'wiyxasch the combine harvested thirty hectares of wheat
  • foshighwu zi kiylogram qesschexwasch I bought one kilogram of sugar.

      The specific case corresponds to the genitive case in English. The substantive in this case plays the role of the oblique object.

    Note: it is essential that this case is not confused with other applications of the suffix - ch'e, such as when it is used as a post-positional suffix, ex.:

  • se adig'ebzech'e ekzameyn sot I am sitting an exam in Kabardian.
    In the word : adig'ebzech'e, the affix , - ch'e, does not give the word neither instrumental nor directional meaning, but merely adds the meaning 'in' to the sentence.



    • Lesson III. Noms

     

    Nouns in Circassian are different by their relation to the human:

    1. Relating to the human (the people, surnames, name, professions, nationalities) are answering to the question 'хэт?' ("who?").

    2. Not Relating to human (animals, fish, plants, inanimate subjects) are answering to question "сыд?" ("what?").

    Nouns in Circassian language are different with their quantity:

    I. The Single form.

    2. The Plural form. Noune gets the suffix '~хэ' in plural form.

    Example: кIалэ - boy, кIалэхэ - boys; бзылъфыгъ - woman, бзылъфыгъхэ - women ; нэ - eye, нэхэ - eyes; etc.

    Noun is being changed on four cases, there it receives the corresponding suffix:

     

    I. Nominitive Case. Has the suffix - р: кIалэр - boy; кIалэхэр - boys, бзылъфыгъэр - woman. Under intransitive verbs expresses the subject, implementing main action. Example: кIалэр еджапIэм кIуагъэ - the boy goes to the school. Under connecting verbs expresses the object to which the main action is directed: бзылъфыгъэм джанэр егъыкIэ - woman a shirt wipes. (the woman is washing the shirt)

     

    2. Ergative Case. Has the suffix -m: кIалэм - boy, кIалэхэм - boys, пшъэшъэхэм - girls, and etc.. 

    It is Used:

    - for connecting verbs, as feature of subject, realising main action: бзылъфыгъэм джанэр егъыкIэ - woman wipes a shirt.

    - Under intransitive verbs, as object of the main action: кIалэр тхъылъэм еджэ - boy reads a book.

    As circumstance of action i.e. feature of place, time of action and etc:

    ЛыIр унэм ихьыгъ - man entered the house.

    Чэщэм къещхыгъ - At night it was raining.

    Тыгъуасэ чылэм сэщыIагъ - Yesterday I was in the village.

     

    3. Instrumental Case. Has the suffix -мкIэ or -кIэ:

    къэлэмкIэ - pencil, ощэмкIэ - axe, лъакъомкIэ - leg and etc..

    Expresses:

    The Instrument of action:

    - ЫцIэр къэлэмкIэ къэтхъыгъ - his name is written in pencil.

    - Мы гъогумкIэ тэблэкIыщтэп - We can not pass this way.

    The Direction of action:

    ХымкIэ жьыбгъэр къэкIыщтыгъ - the wind blows from sea.

     

    4. Invertive. Has the suffix - эу:

    кIалэу - boy, кIалэхэу - boys.

    Expresses:

    The Reception of another quality by the subject:

    Нахь баеу хъугъэ - he became richer.

    People belonging to some professions:

    кIэлэегъаджэу Iоф щыщIэ - He works as a teacher.

     

    The nouns in Circassian are different by their accessory sign:

    There are natural attribute and property attribute.

     

    Natural attribute: Part of body, such words as 'son', 'daughter', 'brother', 'sister' . All other words are belonging to the property attribute.

     

    The Natural attribute is expressed with prefix:


    Single form:

    1. For the 1-st person, сы~or с- (my): гу- heart, сыгу - my heart; сшыпхъу - my sister.

    2. For the 2-nd person, п~ or у- (your): плъакъо - your leg; угу - your heart; пшыпхъу - your sister.

    3. For the 3-rd person, ы-: ылъакъо - his (her)leg; ышыпхъу - his (her) sister.

    Plural form:

    1. For the 1-st person prefix тэ- or т- : тIэхэр - our hands; тлъакъохэр - our legs;

    2. For the 2-nd person prefix шъуы- or шъу- : шъулъакъохэр - your legs; шъушыпхъу - your sister.

    3. For the 3-rd prefix a- : алъакъо - their legs; агу - their heart.


    The Property attribute is Expressed the prefix:


    Single form:

  • For the 1-st person prefix си-: тхъылъ - book, ситхъылъ - my book;

  • For the 2-nd person prefix уи-: уитхъылъ - your book;

  • For the 3-rd person prefix и-: итхъылъ - his book; илI - her husband; ишъузы - his wife.

    • Plural form:

  • For the 1-st person prefix ти-: титхъылъ - our book; тинысэ - our daughter-in-law;

  • For the 2-nd person prefix шъуи -: шъуитхъылъ - your book; шъуиунэ - your house.

  • For the 3-rd person prefix я-: янысэ - their daughter-in-law; янэ - their mother, yat - their father.

    •

     

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