Shapsug Adyghe dialect

Palatalized velar stops

In the Shapsug and Natukhai dialects there is a palatalized voiced velar stop [ɡʲ] ⟨гь⟩, a palatalized voiceless velar stop [kʲ] ⟨кь⟩ and a palatalized velar ejective [kʲʼ] ⟨кӏь⟩ that were merged with дж [d͡ʒ], ч [t͡ʃ] and кӏ [t͡ʃʼ] in most Adyghe dialects.^[3][4][5][6] Note that the Shapsug dialect also has ч [t͡ʃ], дж [d͡ʒ] and кӏ [t͡ʃʼ] in words like чэмы "cow", джэмышх "spoon" and кӏалэ "boy".

• Shapsug гь [ɡʲ] became дж [d͡ʒ] in other dialects:

• Shapsug кь [kʲ] became ч [t͡ʃ] in other dialects:

• Shapsug кӏь [kʲʼ] became кӏ [t͡ʃʼ] in other dialects:

Retroflex affricates

The retroflex affricate consonants чъ [ʈʂ] and чӏ [ʈʂʼ] (that exist in Chemguy and Bzhedug dialects) merged with the palato-alveolar affricate consonants ч [t͡ʃ] and кӏ [t͡ʃʼ] in the Shapsug and Natukhai dialects.^[7]

• Chemguy чъ [ʈʂ] became ч [t͡ʃ] in Shapsug :

• Chemguy чӏ [ʈʂʼ] became кӏ [t͡ʃʼ] in Shapsug :

Dropped consonants

In the Great Shapsug dialect (Like Bzhedug dialect) in some cases the consonants н [n], м [m] and р [r] are dropped and are not pronounced.^[8]

• The consonant м [m] is dropped before bilabial stops б [b], п [p], пӏ [pʼ] :

• The consonant н [n] is dropped before postalveolar affricates дж [d͡ʒ], ч [t͡ʃ], кӏ [t͡ʃʼ] and before alveolar stops д [d], т [t], тӏ [tʼ] :

• The consonant р [r] is dropped before a voiceless alveolar stop т [t] :

Aspirated consonants

In the Shapsug dialect (Like the Bzhedug dialect) there exist a series of aspirated consonants (/pʰ/ /tʰ/ /ʃʰ/ /t͡sʰ/ /t͡ʃʰ/ /t͡ʂʰ/ /t͡ɕʰʷ/ /kʲʰ/ /kʰʷ/ /qʰ/ /qʰʷ/) that became plain consonants in other dialects:^[9][10]

• Shapsug пʰ [pʰ] ↔ п [p] in other dialects :

Word	Adyghe				Kabardian
	Shapsug		Temirgoy and Abzakh
	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic
sharp	pʰaːpsʼa	пʰапсӏэ	paːpt͡sʼa	папцӏэ	paːpsʼa	paːpt͡sʼa
arrogant	pʰaːɣa	пʰагэ	paːɣa	пагэ	paːɣa	пагэ
nose	pʰa	пʰэ	pa	пэ	pa	пэ

• Shapsug тʰ [tʰ] ↔ т [t] in other dialects :

Word	Adyghe				Kabardian
	Shapsug		Temirgoy and Abzakh
	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic
respect	pχaːtʰa	пхъатʰэ	pχaːta	пхъатэ	-	-
to give	jatʰən	етʰын	jatən	етын	jatən	етын
to take	ʃtʰan	штʰэн	ʃtan	штэн	ɕtan	щтэн
on	tʰajt	тʰет	tajt	тет	tat	тет
smooth	t͡sʼaːʂʷtʰa	цӏашъутʰэ	t͡sʼaːʃʷta	цӏашъутэ	t͡sʼaːfta	цӏафтэ
to afraid	ɕtʰan	щтʰэн	ɕtan	щтэн	ɕtan	щтэн
pillow	ʂħaːntʰa	шъхьантʰэ	ʂħaːnta	шъхьантэ	ɕħaːta	щхьатэ

• Shapsug цʰ [t͡sʰ] ↔ ц [t͡s] in other dialects :

Word	Adyghe				Kabardian
	Shapsug		Temirgoy and Abzakh
	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic
wool	t͡sʰə	цʰы	t͡sə	цы	t͡sə	цы
eyelash	nabzət͡sʰ	нэбзыцʰ	nabzət͡s	нэбзыц	-	-

• Shapsug шʰ [ʃʰ] ↔ щ [ɕ] in other Adyghe dialects :

Word	Adyghe				Kabardian
	Shapsug		Temirgoy and Abzakh
	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic
milk	ʃʰa	шʰэ	ɕa	щэ	ʃa	шэ
lame	ɬaːʃʰa	лъашʰэ	ɬaːɕa	лъащэ	ɬaːʃa	лъашэ
salt	ʃʰəʁʷ	шʰыгъу	ɕəʁʷ	щыгъу	ʃəʁʷ	шыгъу
cloud	pʃʰa	пшʰэ	pɕa	пщэ	pʃa	пшэ
pus	ʃʰənə	шʰыны	ɕənə	щыны	ʃən	шын
accordion	pʃʰəna	пшʰынэ	pɕəna	пщынэ	pʃəna	пшынэ
fat	pʃʰarə	пшʰэры	pɕarə	пщэры	pʃar	пшэр
wax	ʃʰafə	шʰэфы	ʃafə	шэфы	ʃaxʷə	шэху
horse	ʃʰə	шʰы	ʃə	шы	ʃə	шы
sand	pʃʰaːχʷa	пшʰахъо	pʃaːχʷa	пшахъо	pʃaːχʷa	пшахъуэ
story	pʃʰəsa	пшʰысэ	pʃəsa	пшысэ	pʃəsa	пшысэ

• Shapsug кь [kʲ] ↔ ч [t͡ʃ] in other dialects (чʰ [t͡ʃʰ] in Bzhedug) :

• Shapsug кʰу [kʰʷ] ↔ ку [kʷ] in other dialects :

Word	Adyghe				Kabardian
	Shapsug		Temirgoy and Abzakh
	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic
middle	kʰʷə	кʰу	kʷə	ку	kʷə	ку
thigh	kʰʷa	кʰо	kʷa	ко	kʷa	куэ

• Shapsug къʰ [qʰ] ↔ къ [q] in other Adyghe dialects :

Word	Adyghe								Kabardian
	Shapsug		Kfar Kama		Natukhai		Temirgoy and Abzakh
	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic
grave	qʰa	къʰэ	χa	хъэ	q͡χa	кхъэ	qa	къэ	q͡χa	кхъэ

• Shapsug къуʰ [qʰʷ] ↔ къу [qʷ] in other Adyghe dialects :

Word	Adyghe								Kabardian
	Shapsug		Kfar Kama		Natukhai		Temirgoy and Abzakh
	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic
pig	qʰʷa	къʰо	χʷa	хъо	q͡χʷa	кхъо	qʷa	къо	q͡χʷa	кхъуэ
cheese	qʰʷaːja	къʰуае	χʷaːja	хъуае	q͡χʷaːja	кхъуае	qʷaːja	къуае	q͡χʷaj	кхъуей
ship	qʰʷaħ	къʰохь	qʷaħ	къохь	-	-	qʷəħa	къухьэ	q͡χʷəħ	кхъухь
peer	qʰʷəʐə	къʰужъы	qʷəʐə	къужъы	-	-	qʷəʐə	къужъы	q͡χʷəʑə	кхъужьы

• Shapsug чъʰу [t͡ɕʰʷ] ↔ цу [t͡sʷ] in Temirgoy:

Others

In some Shapsug and Natukhai dialects there exist an alveolar ejective fricative [sʼ] ⟨сӏ⟩ that correspond to [t͡sʼ] ⟨цӏ⟩ in other dialects such as Abzakh, Bzhedug, Temirgoy, and Kabardian.^[11]

• Shapsug сӏ [sʼ] ↔ цӏ [t͡sʼ] in other dialects:

In the Shapsug and Natukhai dialects (like Bzhedug and Abzakh) there exist a labialized voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate [t͡ɕʷ] ⟨чъу⟩ that correspond to [t͡sʷ] ⟨цу⟩ in standard Adyghe Temirgoy.

• Shapsug чъу [t͡ɕʷ] ↔ цу [t͡sʷ] in Temirgoy:

The labialized retroflex consonants шъу [ʂʷ] and жъу [ʐʷ] in the literary Temirgoy dialect are alveolo-palatal щу [ɕʷ] and жьу [ʑʷ] in the Black Sea coast dialects of Adyghe (Shapsug dialect and Natukhai dialect).

• Shapsug щу [ɕʷ] ↔ шъу [ʂʷ] in Temirgoy:

• Shapsug жьу [ʑʷ] ↔ жъу [ʐʷ] in Temirgoy:

• In some Shapsug dialects (e.g. Kfar Kama dialect) there exists a voiceless glottal fricative [h] :

Instrumental case

In the instrumental case the noun has the suffix -мгьэ (-mɡʲa) or -гьэ (-gʲa) unlike other dialects that has the suffix -мкӏэ (-mt͡ʃa) or -кӏэ (-t͡ʃa).

• Shapsug: Кӏалэр Адыгэбзэгьэ мэгущаӏэ ↔ Standard: Кӏалэр Адыгэбзэкӏэ мэгущаӏэ - "The boy speaks (using) Adyghe language".
• Shapsug: Къэлэмымгьэ сэтхэ ↔ Standard: Къэлэмымкӏэ сэтхэ - "I write (using) with the pencil".

Desirement mood

In the Shapsug dialect, the suffix ~рагъу /raːʁʷ/ is added to verbs to indicate the desirement to do that verb. For example:

• Туканым сыкӏорагъу - "I want to go to the shop".
• Есыпӏэм рэкӏорэгъуагъ - "(S)he wanted to go to the pool".
• Къэкӏорэгъот кӏалэр - "The boy would want to come".
• Тутын уешъорагъуа? - "Do you want to smoke cigarette?".
• Нэущы уздэгущаӏэрагъу - "I want to speak with you tomorrow".
• Сышхэрагъу игь - "I want to eat now".

Demonstratives

Shapsug has six demonstratives: а /ʔaː/, гьэ /ɡʲa/, у /wə/, дыу /dəwə/, дымы /dəmə/ and мы /mə/.

а /ʔaː/

1. that

   а ӏанэ — that table

   а пшъашъэ — that girl

   а кӏалэм еӏо — that boy is saying

• The determiner 'а' /ʔaː/ refer to a referent that is far away and invisible to both the speaker and the listener(s). It is similar to the English language determiner that, but with the condition that the referent has to be invisible or far away.

у /wə/ (мо /mo/ in other dialects)

1. that

   у ӏанэ — that table

   у пшъашъэ — that girl

   у кӀалэм еӀо — that boy is saying

• The determiner 'у' refer to a referent that is visible and in a known distance from both the speaker and the listener(s) (both the speaker and the listener(s) can see the referent). It is similar to the English language determiner that, but with the condition that the referent has to be visible.

мы /mə/

1. this

   мы ӏанэ — this table

   мы пшъашъэ — this girl

   мы кӀалэм еӀо — this boy is saying

   мы мэгъэ — this year

• The determiner 'мы' refer to a referent that is close to both the speaker and the listener(s). It is exactly like the English language determiner this.

дыу /dəwə/ (дымо /dəmo/ in other dialects)

1. that (over there)

   дыу ӏанэ — that table over there

   дыу пшъашъэ — that girl over there

   дыу кӀалэм еӀо — that boy over there is saying

   дыу цӀыфэр улъэгъуа? — Do you see that person over there?

• The determiner 'дыу' refer to a referent that is visible. This determiner is used when the speaker wants to emphasizes that the object is in his sight, so that the listener(s) will expect the referent to be the thing (s)he looks at. It is usually used to introduce a new referent, for example it can be used to refer to a stranger on the street or to refer to a certain object on the field that is visible. This determiner might be used while pointing one's finger at the people or objects in question.

дымы /dəmə/

1. this (over here)

   дымы ӏанэ — this table over here

   дымы пшъашъэ — this girl over here

   дымы кӀалэм еӀо — this boy over here is saying

   дымы цӀыфэр улъэгъуа? — Do you see this person over here?

• The determiner 'дымы' refer to a referent that is visible. This determiner is similar to the determiner дымо. This is used instead of дымо when the referent is very near. Like the determiner дымо, it might be used while pointing one's finger at the referent in question. Even without pointing fingers the listener(s) will expect the referent to be the thing the speaker looks at. It can be used to point on objects in a room for example.

гьэ /gʲa/ (гьэ джэ /d͡ʒa/ in other dialects)

1. that

   гьэ ӏанэ — that table

   гьэ пшъашъэ — that girl

   гьэ кӏалэм еӏо — that boy is saying

• The determiner 'гьэ' refer to a referent which is usually invisible. This determiner is used when the referent in the conversation is clear to both the speaker and the listener(s). Someone would use this determiner in order to emphasizes that both he and the listener(s) have the same referent in mind.

Future tense

In the Great Shapsug sub dialect (like Bzhedug) the future tense suffix is ~эт (~at) and in some cases ~ыт (~ət) unlike the Small Shapsug sub dialect that has (like Chemirguy) the Suffix ~щт (~ɕt)).

Question words

The word "what" in Standard Adyghe is сыд while in Shapsug it is шъыд and from it derives different terms.

Shapsug has two words for "what":

• шъыд (Refers to an inanimate object, typically tangible).
• лӏэу (Refers to an inanimate object, typically intangible).

The word "лӏэу" was lost in other Adyghe dialects. In Shapsug, from it derives different terms :

Big suffix (~фо)

• The standard Adyghe's suffix -шхо /-ʃxʷa/ which means big or mighty is -фo /-fˠa/ in the Shapsug dialect :

Positional prefix directly (джэхэ~)

• The standard Adyghe's positional prefix -жэхэ /-ʒaxa/ which designates action directed at something or someone forcefully is -джэхэ /-d͡ʒaxa/ in the Shapsug dialect :

Positional prefix merging (го~)

• In the Shapsug and Natukhai dialects, the verbal prefix го~ /ɡʷa-/ designates process of joining or merging with an object on a body. This positional conjugation does not exist in other Circassian dialects. for example :

цум	бжъитӏу	гот
цу-м	бжъ-итӏу	го-т
[t͡sʷəm	bʐəjtʷʼ	ɡʷat]
ox (erg.)	two horns	it have on his body
"the ox have two horns."

шыор	шым	гос
шыо-р	шы-м	го-с
[ʃəwar	ʃəm	ɡʷas]
the horseman (abs.)	horse (erg.)	(s)he is sitting on a body
"the horseman is sitting on the horse."

лӏыжъым	зылъакъо	готэп
лӏыжъы-м	зы-лъакъо	го-тэ-п
[ɬʼəʐəm	zəɬaːqʷa	ɡʷatap]
the old man (erg.)	one leg	(s)he doesn't have on his body
"the old man doesn't have one leg."

шым	зеохьыжьым	кӏалэу	госэр	гозэгъ
шы-м	зеохьы-жь-ым	кӏалэ-у	го-сэ-р	го-зэ-гъ
[ʃəm	zajwaħəʑəm	t͡ʃʼaːɮaw	ɡʷasar	ɡʷazaʁ]
house (erg.)	to get out of control	boy (adv.)	the one on the body	(s)he fell off the body
"when the horse got out of control the boy sitting on it fell."