Adyghe Language

Adyghe language (адыгaбзэ, adyghabze, Адыгэбзэ,( ), also known as West Circassian (see: Circassian language), is one of the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation, the other being Russian. It is spoken by various tribes of the Adyghe people: Abzekh, Adamey, Bzhedug; Hatuqwai, Kemirgoy, Makhosh; Natekuay, Shapsug; Zhane, Yegerikuay, each with its own dialect. The language is referred to by its speakers as Adygebze or Adəgăbză, and alternatively spelled in English as Adygean, Adygeyan or Adygei.

There are apparently around 128,000 speakers of the language on the native territory in Russia, almost all of them are native speakers. In the whole world, some 300,000 speak the language. The largest Adyghe-speaking community is in Turkey, spoken by the post-Russian–Circassian War (c. 1763–1864) diaspora; in addition to that, the Adyghe language is spoken by the Cherkesogai in Krasnodar Krai.

Adyghe belongs to the family of Northwest Caucasian languages. Kabardian is a very close relative, treated by some as a dialect of Adyghe or of an overarching Circassian language. Ubykh, Abkhaz, and Abaza somewhat more distantly related to Adyghe.

The language was standardized after the October Revolution in 1917. Since 1938, Adyghe has used Cyrillic. Before that, an Arabic-based alphabet was used together with the Latin.