Adyghe nouns

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

Noun

Noun cases

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

• кӏалэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮa] ('boy') becomes кӏалэхэ [t͡ʃʼaːɮaxa] ('boys').
• шы [ʃə] ('horse') becomes шыхэ [ʃəxa] ('horses').

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 undergo the action or have their state changed. This case has two main functions:

• Marking the subject of intransitive verbs

кӏалэр	еджапӏэм	мэкӏуагъ
кӏалэ-р	еджапӏэ-м	мэ-кӏо-агъ
[t͡ʃʼaːɮar	jad͡ʒaːpʼam	makʷʼaːʁ]
the boy (abs.)	the school (erg.)	(s)he went
"the boy went to the school"

• Marking the direct object of transitive verbs

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:

• Marking the subject of transitive verbs

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"

• Marking the direct object of transitive verbs

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"

• Marking circumstance of action, e.g. feature of place, time of action
  • чылэ /t͡ʃəɮa/ village → чылэм /t͡ʃəɮam/ in the village
  • мэзахэ /mazaːxa/ dark → мэзахэм /mazaːxam/ in the dark
  • чэщы /t͡ʃəɕə/ night → чэщым /t͡ʃəɕəm/ in the night.
  • пчэдыжьы /pt͡ʃadəʑə/ morning → пчэдыжьым /pt͡ʃadəʑəm/ in the morning.
  • зэман /zamaːn/ distant past → зэманым /zamaːnəm/ in the distant past.

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:

• Marking the instrument or tool of action:
  • къэлэм /qalam/ pencil → къэлэмкӏэ /qalamt͡ʃʼa/ using a pencil.
  • къэлэм /qalam/ pencil → къэлэмымкӏэ /qalaməmt͡ʃʼa/ using the pencil.
  • уатэ /waːta/ hammer → уатэкӏэ /waːtat͡ʃʼa/ using a hammer.
  • уатэ /waːta/ hammer → уатэмкӏэ /waːtamt͡ʃʼa/ using the hammer.

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"

• Marking the used language
  • адыгэбзэ /aːdəɣabza/ Adyghe language → адыгэбзэкӏэ /aːdəɣabzat͡ʃʼa/ using Adyghe language.
  • адыгэбзэ /aːdəɣabza/ Adyghe language → адыгэбзэмкӏэ /aːdəɣabzamt͡ʃʼa/ using the Adyghe language.

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."

• Marking the direction of action:
  • гъогу /ʁʷaɡʷ/ road → гъогумкӏэ /ʁʷaɡʷəmt͡ʃʼa/ from the road (direction).
  • унэ /wəna/ house → унэмкӏэ /wənamt͡ʃʼa/ from the house.
  • хы /xə/ sea → хымкӏэ /xəmt͡ʃʼa/ from the sea (direction).
  • Америкэ /aːmerika/ America → Америкэмкӏэ /aːmerikamt͡ʃʼa/ from America (direction).

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 dialect it has the suffix -ыу /əw/. This case has a number of functions:

• Marking the profession or role of the subject:

лӏыр	кӏэлэегъаджэу	мэлажьэ
лӏыр	кӏэлэегъадж-эу	мэлажьэ
[ɬʼər	t͡ʃʼaɮajaʁaːd͡ʒaw	maɮaːʑa]
man (abs.)	as a teacher (adv.)	(s)he is working
"The man is working as a teacher."

укӏалэу	сыд	мыщ	епӏуалӏэрэр?
у-кӏалэ-у	сыд	мыщ	е-п-ӏуа-лӏэ-рэ-р?
[wət͡ʃʼaːɮaw	səd	məɕ	japʔʷaːɬʼarar]
as a boy (adv.)	what	this	the thing you say about this
"As a boy, what you think about this?"

лӏыр	шакӏоу	мэзым	хэт
лӏы-р	шакӏо-у	мэз-ым	хэт
[ɬʼər	ʃaːkʷʼaw	mazəm	xat]
man (abs.)	as a hunter (adv.)	forest (erg.)	(s)he is standing among them
"The man is in the forest as a hunter."

• Marking the subject that is doing a certain action :

лӏэу	мэзым	хэтым	кӏэрахъо	иӏыгъ
лӏы-эу	мэзы-м	хэт-ым	кӏэрахъо	иӏ-ыгъ
[ɬʼaw	mazəm	xatəm	t͡ʃʼaraːχʷa	jəʔəʁ]
man (adv.)	forest (erg.)	the one that is standing in (erg.)	gun	(s)he has a
"The man that is in the forest has a gun."

хэт	цӏыфыхэу	къыпдакӏохэрэр?
хэт	цӏыфы-х-эу	къы-п-д-а-кӏо-хэ-рэ-р?
[xaw	t͡səfəxae	qəpdaːkʷʼaxarar]
who	the people (adv.)	the ones that come with you
"Who are the people that are coming with you?"

• Marking the thing the subject become :

лӏыр	профессорэу	хъугъэ
лӏыр	профессор-эу	хъу-гъэ
[ɬʼər	profesoraw	χʷəʁa]
man (abs.)	professor (adv.)	(s)he became
"The man became a professor."

уинапэ	плъыжьэу	хъугъэ
уи-напэ	плъыжьы-эу	хъу-гъэ
[wəjnaːpa	pɬəʑaw	χʷəʁa]
your face	red (adv.)	(s)he became
"Your face became red."

Lack of subject and object

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

• Both subject and object are mentioned :

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"

• If the direct object is not mentioned :

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

• If the subject is not mentioned :

пшъашъэр	елъэгъу
пшъашъэ-р	елъэгъу
[pʂaːʂar	jaɬaʁʷə]
the girl (abs.)	(s)he is seeing
"(s)he is seeing the girl"

• If both subject and object are not mentioned :

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.

• Absolutive case

пшъэшъэ	дахэр	макӏо
[pʂaʂa	daːxar	maːkʷʼa]
girl	the pretty (abs.)	(s)he is going
"the pretty girl is going"

• Ergative case

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"

• Instrumental case

къэлэм	папцӏэмкӏэ	сэтхэ
[qalam	papt͡sʼamt͡ʃʼa	satxa]
pencil	sharp (ins.)	I am writing
"I am writing with (using) the sharp pencil"

• Adverbial case

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"

Participle

In Adyghe, it is possible to indicate the subject or the object of a verb as a noun, for example макӏо /maːkʷʼa/ "(s)he is going" to макӏорэ /maːkʷʼara/ "the one that is going". 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, for example :

макӏорэм	ылъэгъугъ	моу	щычъыягъэр
макӏо-рэ-м	ылъэгъу-гъ	моу	щы-чъые-агъ-эр
[maːkʷʼaram	əɬaʁʷəʁ	maw	ɕət͡ʂəjaːʁar]
the one that is going (erg.)	(s)he saw	here	the one that slept at that place (abs.)
"The one that is going saw the one that slept here."

In Adyghe, verbs usually have a subject and an object, each being either marked as a absolutive case or as a ergative case.

• To indicate the absolutive case noun of a verb, the suffix ~рэ (~ra) is added :
• To indicate the ergative case noun of a verb, the prefix з~ (z~) and the suffix ~рэ (~ra) are added.

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

• Examples of sentences with intransitive verbs :

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"

• Examples of sentences with transitive verbs :

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?"

• Examples of sentences with ditransitive verbs :

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?"

Ownership зи-

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

• икӏалэ /t͡ʃ'aːɮa/ - his/her boy → зикӏалэ /zəjt͡ʃʼaːɮa/ - the one the boy belongs to (father or mother).
• иӏанэ /ʔaːna/ - his/her table → зиӏанэ /zəjʔaːna/ - the owner of the table.
• ицӏэ /t͡sʼa/ - his/her name → зицӏэ /zəjt͡sʼa/ - the owner of the name (a person with the name)

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."

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:

• дахэ /daːxa/ - pretty → дахэр /daːxar/ - the pretty person (absolutive case).
• ашӏу /aːʃʷʼə/ - tasty → ашӏухэр /aːʃʷʼəxar/ - the tasty ones (absolutive case).
• мэзахэ /mazaːxa/ - dark → мэзахэм /mazaːxam/ - in the dark (ergative case).
• чъыӏэ /t͡ʂəʔa/ - cold → чъыӏэм /t͡ʂəʔam/ - in the cold (ergative case).

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:

• дахэ /daːxa/ - pretty → дахагъэ /daːxaːʁa/ - beauty.
• кӏуачӏэ /kʷʼaːt͡ʃʼa/ - strong → кӏуачӏагъэ /kʷʼaːt͡ʃʼaːʁa/ - strength.
• псао /psaːwa/ - whole, fine → псэуагъэ /psawaːʁa/ - health condition.
• делэ /dajla/ - fool → делагъэ /dajlaːʁa/ - foolishness.
• псынкӏэ /psənt͡ʃʼa/ - fast → псынкӏагъэ /psənt͡ʃʼaːʁa/ - speed.
• ӏазэ /ʔaːza/ - skilled → ӏэзагъэ /ʔazaːʁa/ - skill.

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.

• кӏалэ /t͡ʃʼaːɮa/ - boy → кӏалэкупэ /t͡ʃʼaːɮakʷəpa/ - all the boys
• мафэ /maːfa/ - day → мафэкупэ /maːfakʷəpa/ - all the days
• фабэ /faːba/ - hot → фабэкупэ /faːbakʼəpa/ - all the heat.
• кӏуачӏэ /kʷʼaːt͡ʃʼa/ - strong → кӏуачӏэкупэ /kʷʼaːt͡ʃʼakʷəpa/ - all the strong ones.

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	mə	wənar	zaxasʃʼəħaːʁ]
using all the woods (ins.)	this	house (abs.)	I structured it
"I structured this house with all the woods."