Adyghe nouns

This article describes the properties of nouns in the Adyghe language.

Noun

Noun cases

Plurality is indicated by the suffix '-хэ' /-xa/

Adyghe also declines nouns into four different cases, each with corresponding suffixes: absolutive, ergative, instrumental, and Adverbial.

Case Suffix example
Cyrillic IPA
Absolutive р /r/ кӏалэр [t͡ʃʼaːɮar] ('the boy')
Ergative м /m/ кӏалэм [t͡ʃʼaːɮam] ('the boy's')
Instrumental (м)кӏэ /(m)t͡ʃʼa/ кӏалэмкӏэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮamt͡ʃʼa] ('using the boy')
Adverbial эу /aw/ кӏалэу [t͡ʃʼaɮaw] ('boy')

Absolutive case

Has the suffix ~р /~r/ (e.g. кӏалэр [t͡ʃʼaːɮar] 'the boy', кӏалэхэр [t͡ʃʼaːɮaxar] ('the boys'), шыр [ʃər] 'the horse'). Nouns in the absolutive case undergoes the action or has its state changed. This case has two main functions:

кӏалэр еджапӏэм мэкӏуагъ
кӏалэ-реджапӏэ-м мэ-кӏо-агъ
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar jad͡ʒaːpʼam makʷʼaːʁ]
the boy (abs.) the school (erg.) (s)he went
"the boy went to the school"
бзылъфыгъэм джанэр егъэкъабзэ
бзылъфыгъэ-м джанэ-р егъэкъабзэ
[bzəɬfəʁam d͡ʒaːnar jaʁaqaːbza]
the woman (erg.) the shirt (abs.) (s)he cleans
"the woman cleans the shirt"

Ergative case

Has the suffix -м /-m/ (e.g. кӏалэм [t͡ʃʼaːɮam] 'the boy's', кӏалэхэмэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮaxama] 'the boys'', шым [ʃəm] 'the horse's). When it's plural it has the suffix -мэ (-ma). Nouns in the ergative case usually change the state of the objects in the sentence. This case has several functions:

бзылъфыгъэм джанэр егъэкъабзэ
бзылъфыгъэ-м джанэ-р егъэкъабзэ
[bzəɬfəʁam d͡ʒaːnar jaʁaqaːbza]
the woman (erg.) the shirt (abs.) (s)he cleans
"the woman cleans the shirt"
кӏалэр тхылъым еджэ
кӏалэ-р тхылъ-ым еджэ
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar txəɬəm jad͡ʒa]
the boy (abs.) the book (erg.) (s)he reads
"the boy reads the book"
кӏалэр чъыгым еплъы
кӏалэ-р чъыгы-м еплъы
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar t͡ʂəɣəm japɬə]
the boy (abs.) the tree (erg.) (s)he looking at
"the boy looks at the tree"
тыгъуасэ чылэм сэщыӏагъ
тыгъуасэ чылэ-м сэ-щыӏ-агъ
[təʁʷaːsa t͡ʃəɮam saɕəʔaːʁ]
yesterday the village (erg.) I was there
"Yesterday I was in the village"
лӏыр мэзым хэт
[ɬʼər mazəm xat]
the man (arg.) in the forest(erg.) (s)he is standing in
"The man is in the forest"

Instrumental–directional case

Has the suffix -мкӏэ /mt͡ʃʼa/ or -кӏэ /t͡ʃʼa/ (e.g. кӏалэмкӏэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮamt͡ʃʼa] 'using the boy', кӏалэкӏэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮat͡ʃʼa] 'using a boy', кӏалэхэмкӏэ [t͡ʃaːɮaxamt͡ʃʼa] 'using the boys', кӏалэхэкӏэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮaxat͡ʃʼa] 'using boys', къэлэмымкӏэ [qalaməmt͡ʃʼa] 'using the pencil', къэлэмкӏэ [qalamt͡ʃʼa] 'using a pencil'); in the Shapsug dialect, it has the suffix -мгьэ /mɡʲa/ or - гьэ /ɡʲa/ and in the Bzedug dialect, it has the suffix -мджэ /md͡ʒa/ or -джэ /d͡ʒa/. This case has several functions:

ыцӏэр къэлэмымкӏэ къитхэгъ
ы-цIэ-эр къэлэм-ымкIэ къи-тхы-эгъ
[ət͡sʼar qalaməmt͡ʃʼa qəjtxaʁ]
his name (abs.) pencil (ins.) he wrote
"he wrote his name with the pencil"
нэрыплъымкӏэ елъэгъу
нэрыплъ-ымкӏэ елъэгъу
[narəpɬəmt͡ʃʼa jaɬaʁʷə]
binocular (ins.) (s)he is seeing
"(s)he is seeing with (using) the binocular"
кӏалэр адыгэбзэкӏэ мэгущаӏэ
кӏалэ-р адыгэбзэ-кӏэ мэгущаӏэ
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar aːdəɣabzat͡ʃʼa maɡʷəɕaːʔa]
boy (arg.) using Adyghe language (ins.) (s)he is speaking
"The boy is speaking (using) Adyghe language."
радиом къиӏохэрэр урысыбзэкӏ
радио-м къи-ӏо-хэ-рэ-р урысыбзэ-кӏ
[radʲɪom qəjʔʷaxarar wərəsəbzat͡ʃʼ]
the radio(arg.) the things (s)he/it says (abs.) Russian language (ins.)
"The things the radio is saying are in Russian language."
хымкӏэ жьыбгъэр къэкӏы
хы-мкӏэ жьыбгъэ-р къэ-кӏы
[xəmt͡ʃʼa ʑəbʁar qat͡ʃʼə]
sea (ins.) the wind (abs.) come
"the wind comes from the sea."
унэмкӏэ кӏалэхэр макӏох
унэ-мкӏэ кӏалэ-хэ-р макӏо-х
[wənamt͡ʃa t͡ʃʼaːɮaxar maːkʷʼax]
house(ins.) the boys (abs.) they are going
"The boys are going toward the house's direction."

Adverbial

Has the suffix -эу /aw/ (e.g. кӏалэу [t͡ʃʼaːɮaw] 'boy'), шэу [ʃaw] 'horse'). In the Kfar Kama Shapsug dialect it has the suffix -ыу /əw/. This case has a number of functions:

лӏыр нахь баеу мэхъогъ
лӏы-р нахь бае-эу мэхъу-эгъ
[ɬʼər [naːħ baːjaw maχʷaʁ]
more rich (adv.) he became
"the man became richer"
пшъэшъэ ӏаер неущы дахэу мэхъощт
[pʂaʂa aːjar nawɕə daːxəw maχʷaɕt]
the ugly girl tomorrow pretty (adv.) (s)he will become
"Tomorrow the ugly girl will become to be pretty"
лавэр мэучъыӏымэ мыжъоу мэхъу
лавэ-р мэучъыӏы-мэ мыжъо-эу мэхъу
[laːvar mawt͡ʂəʔəma məʒʷaw maχʷə]
lava (abs.) when it's getting cold rock (adv.) (s)he/it becomes
"When the lava gets cold it becomes a rock."
силӏ кӏэлэегъаджэу мэлажьэ
си-лӏы кӏэлэегъадж-эу мэлажьэ
[səjɬʼ t͡ʃʼaɮajaʁaːd͡ʒawmaɮaːʑa]
my husbandteacher (adv.)he works
"my husband works as a teacher"

Lack of subject and object

Colloquially, the subject or object may both be dropped if clear from context.

кӏалэм пшъашъэр елъэгъу
кӏалэ-м пшъашъэ-р елъэгъу
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam pʂaːʂar jaɬaʁʷə]
the boy (erg.) the girl (abs.) (s)he is seeing
"the boy is seeing the girl"
кӏалэм елъэгъу
кӏалэ-м елъэгъу
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam jaɬaʁʷə]
the boy (erg.) (s)he is seeing
"the boy is seeing him/her/it"
пшъашъэр елъэгъу
пшъашъэ-р елъэгъу
[pʂaːʂar jaɬaʁʷə]
the girl (abs.) (s)he is seeing
"(s)he is seeing the girl"
елъэгъу
елъэгъу
[jaɬaʁʷə]
(s)he is seeing
"(s)he is seeing him/her/it"

Noun and adjective

In Adyghe, if a noun is accompanied by an adjective, the adjective always placed right after the noun

and also gets the suffixes that indicate the noun case.

пшъэшъэ дахэр макӏо
[pʂaʂa daːxar maːkʷʼa]
girl the pretty (abs.) (s)he is going
"the pretty girl is going"
кӏалэ кӏыхьэм ешхы мыер
[t͡ʃʼaːɮa t͡ʃʼəħam jaʃxə məjar]
boy the long (erg.) he is eating a/the the apple (abs.)
"the long boy is eating the apple"
къэлэм папцӏэмкӏэ сэтхэ
[qalam papt͡sʼamt͡ʃʼa satxa]
pencil sharp (ins.) I am writing
"I am writing with (using) the sharp pencil"
пшъашъэр пшъэшъэ дахэу мэхъущт
[pʂaːʂar pʂaʂa daːxaw maχʷəɕt]
the girl (abs.) pretty girl (adv.) (s)he will turn
"the girl will become a pretty girl"

In case the whole sentence consists of only a noun and an adjective, the adjective can also be placed

before the noun. In this case the adjective does not get the suffix either when placed after the noun or

before it.

дахэ пшъашъэр
[daːxa pʂaːʂa]
pretty the girl (abs.)
"The girl is pretty"

Creating nouns from verbs

In Adyghe, it is possible to indicate the subject and the object of a verb as a noun. The forms of nouns that were created from verbs in different grammatical cases are equal to the forms of the appropriate verbs. The same is also true for their time-tenses.

Verb Absolutive case noun Ergative case noun
Cyrillic IPA Meaning Cyrillic IPA Meaning
макӏо макӏорэ maːkʷʼara the one that is going - - -
еплъы еплъырэ japɬəra the one that is looking at зеплъырэ zajpɬəra the thing (s)he is looking at
еджэ еджэрэ jad͡ʒara the one that is reading it зеджэрэ zajd͡ʒara the thing (s)he is reading
ешхы ишхырэ jəʃxəra the thing (s)he is eating зишхырэ zəjʃxəra the one that is eating it
елъэгъу илъэгъурэ jəɬaʁʷra the thing (s)he is seeing зилъэгъурэ zəjɬaʁʷra the one that is seeing it
реты ритырэ rəjtra the thing (s)he is giving to him зритырэ zrəjtra the one (s)he is giving it to
мэлажьэхэрэмэ къысаӏуагъ ар
мэлажьэ-хэ-рэ-мэ къы-са-Iуагъ ар
[maɮaːʑaxarama qəsaːʔʷaːʁ aːr]
the people that are working (erg.) they told me that
"the people that are working told me that"
кӏалэм еплъырэр пшъашъэр
кӏалэ-м еплъы-рэ-р пшъашъ-эр
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam japɬərar pʂaːʂar]
the boy (erg.) the one that is looking at him/her the girl (abs.)
"the one that is looking at the boy is the girl."
дыу кӏалэхэмкӏэ тхьылъым еджэрэм еплъ
дыу кӏалэ-хэ-мкӏэ тхьылъ-ым еджэ-рэ-м еплъ
[dəw t͡ʃʼaːɮəxamt͡ʃʼa txəɬəm jad͡ʒaram japɬ]
that (over there) boys (ins.) book (erg.) the one that is reading (erg.) look
"among those boys look at the one that is reading the book."
кӏалэм илъэгъурэр пшъашъэр
кӏалэ-м з-илъэгъу-рэ-р пшъашъэ-р
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam jəɬaʁʷərar pʂaːʂar]
boy (erg.) the one (s)he is seeing the girl (abs.)
"the one the boy is seeing is the girl."
кӏалэр тхьылъэу зеджэрэм еплъ
кӏалэ-р тхьылъ-эу з-еджэ-рэ-м еплъ
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar txəɬaw zajd͡ʒaram japɬ]
boy (abs.) book (adv.) the thing (s)he is reading (erg.) look
"look at the book the boy is reading."
тары фылымэу узеплъырэр?
тары фылым-эу у-з-еплъы-рэ-р?
[səd fələm wəzajpɬərar]
which film (adv.) the thing you are looking at (abs.)
"which film you are watching?"
кӏалэм мары риӏорэр пшъашъэм
кӏалэ-м мары з-илъэгъу-рэ-р пшъашъэ-м
[t͡ʃʼaːɮam maːrə rəjʔʷarar pʂaːʂam]
the boy (erg.) this is it the one (s)he is saying it to the girl (erg.)
"this is what the boy is saying to the girl."
а кӏалэм сыд ритырэ
а кӏалэ-м сыд ритырэ
[aː t͡ʃʼaːɮam səd rəjtəra]
that boys (erg.) what the thing (s)he is giving him
"what is the thing (s)he is giving to that boy?"

Direction and location

To indicate the direction of a certain action or the location of a certain action, the prefix зы- (zə-) and the suffix -э (a) (for present tense -рэ (-ra)) are added. Usually this is used together with the positional conjugation prefixes.

сыздакӏорэр сэшӏэ
[səzdaːkʷʼarar saʃʼa]
the place I am going to I know
"I know the place I am going to."
Тыдэ мыжъор здэбдзыгъэр?
[təda məʒʷar zdabd͡zəʁar]
where the rock (abs.) where you threw it
"Where you threw the rock?"

Ownership зи-

To indicate the ownership of a certain noun, the noun gets the prefix зи- (zəj-), for example :

хэт зицӏэр Том
[xat zəjt͡sʼar tom]
who the one who named Tom (name)
"Who is the one named Tom?"
мыр зимащинэм къысиӏуагъ шъунэмысынэу
[mər zəjmaːɕinam səjnaʔʷaːs səjnaʔʷaːs]
this the owner of the car (s)he told me don't touch it (said to plural)
"The owner of this car told me that you (plural) shouldn't touch it."
унэр зиер лӏы
[wənar zəjjar ɬʼə]
house (abs.) the owner of a man
"The owner of the house is a man."

Favourably Зф-

To indicate the object (usually people or animals) a certain verb was done for,the prefix зф- (zf-) and the suffix -э (a) (for present tense -рэ (-ra)) are added to the verb. It can also be used to indicate the reason the subject does the verb, in this case it can be said in a sense that the verb was done for the reason.

зфэсӏуагъэр ар угурыӏон фэшӏ
зфэ-с-ӏуа-гъэ-р ар у-гурыӏо-н фэшӏ
[zfasʔəaːʁar aːr wəɡʷərəʔʷab faʃʼ]
the reason I said it that you (to) understand for it
"The reason I said that is for you to understand."
хэт кӏалэр зфакӏорэр?
[xat t͡ʃʼaːɮar zfaːkʷʼarar]
who the boy (abs.) the one he is going for
"Who is the one the boy is going for?"

Benefactive Зд--

To indicate the object (usually people or animals) a certain verb was done with, the prefix зд- (zd-) and the suffix -э (a) (for present tense -рэ (-ra)) are added to the verb.

хэт кӏалэр здакӏорэр?
[xat t͡ʃʼaːɮar zdaːkʷʼarar]
who the boy (abs.) the one he is going with
"Who is the one the boy is going with?"

Creating nouns from adjective

In Adyghe someone (person) or something (animal, plant, object) that have a specific adjective can be

presented with the adjective word with the additional noun case suffix (absolutive, ergative, etc.) For

example:

кӏуачӏэхэр тиунэ къэгъакӏох
кӏуачӏэ-хэ-р ти-унэ къэ-гъа-кӏо-х
[kʷʼaːt͡ʃʼaxar təjwna qaʁaːkʷʼax]
the strong ones (abs.) our house make them come
"bring the strong ones to our house"
унэм шъукъихьэжь чъыӏэм шъуигъэсмэджэщт
унэ-м шъу-къ-ихьэ-жь чъыӏэ-м шъуи-гъэ-смэджэ-щт
[wənam ʃʷəqiħaʑ t͡ʂəʔam ʃʷiʁasmad͡ʒat]
house (erg.) get inside (to plural) the cold (erg.) it will make you (plural) sick
"get inside the house, the cold will make you sick (said to plural)"
сымаджэхэмэ шъукъадж япэу
сымаджэ-хэ-мэ шъу-къадж япэ-эу
[səmaːd͡ʒaxama ʃʷəqaːd͡ʒ jaːpaw]
the sick ones (egs.) call them (said to plural) firstly
"First call the sick ones. (said to plural)"

In Adyghe any adjective that is measurable or comparable can be turned into a noun by adding the

suffix -агъэ /-aːʁa/, for example:

Сянэ ипсэуагъэ сыфэгуаӏэ
С-янэ и-псэу-агъэ сы-фэ-гуаӏэ
[sijaːna jipsawaːʁa səfaɡʷaːʔa]
my mother his/her health condition I worry for him/her
"The worry for my mother's health condition"

All (~купэ)

To indicate all the objects on a certain noun, the suffix ~купэ (~kʷəpa) is added.

мыекупэр шхы
[məjakʷəpar ʃxə]
all the apples (abs.) eat
"eat all the apples"
пшъашъэкупэм еӏо ар
[pʂaːʂakʷəpam jaʔʷa ʔaːr]
all the girls (erg.) he is saying that
"all the girls are saying that"
пхъэкупэмкӏэ мы унэр зэхэсшӏыхьагъ
[pχakʷəpamt͡ʃʼa wənar zaxasʃʼəħaːʁ]
using all the woods (ins.) this house (abs.) I structured it
"I structured this house with all the woods."
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