The Kabardian-Cherkess language (henceforth referred to only as Kabardian, since both the Kabardians and Cherkess use the same official and literary language) is structurally part of the Apswa-Adiga group of the Ibero-Caucasian languages. Kabardian-Cherkess and Beslanay form the eastern branch of the Circassian language, with Adigean and Shapsugh constituting the western variety. 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 (Jilax'steney) 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 new Latinized 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.

  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 э, e, the stress falls on the penultimate syllable, ex.: дадэ, dade grandpa; лъашэ, lhashe lame, limping; дахэ, daxe beautiful; етхуанэ, yetxwane (ordinal numeral) fifth; лажьэ, lazche working; defect, blemish.

2- If the word ends in any vowel apart from the schwa э, e, or in the semi-vowel й, iy, the stress falls on the last syllable, ex.: хьэмбылу, hembilu lung; гъуэжькуий, ghwezchkwiy whirlwind; кIэфий, ch'efiy whistle; балий, baliy cherry.

3- In loan words (for the most part of Turkish and Arabic origin), which end in a schwa э, e, or ы, i, the stress falls on the ultimate syllable and acts significantly on the penultimate, ex.: мыхьэнэ, mihene meaning, significance; тэрэзэ, tereze balance; арэзы, arezi satisfied; къамышы, qamishi lash, whip.

4- As a rule, words with closed syllables have the stress on the last syllable, ex.: джэдэщ, jedesch hen-coop; къамыл, qamil reed, rush; хъыбар, x'ibar news; дыжьын, dizchin silver; хьэпшып, hepship article, item; дэрбзэр, derbzer dressmaker, tailor.

5- Verbs in the past tense with the suffix а, a have the stress on the last syllable, ex.: къэкIуащ, qek'wasch he came; дылэжьащ, dilezchasch we worked; уеджащ, weijasch you (singular) studied.

6- Words adopted from Russian preserve their original stress patterns, ex.: къэбыстэ, qebiste cabbage; лошкIэ, loshch'e spoon.

  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, - 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.
 

 

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Numerals (Numbers)

  Kabardian has the following kinds of numbers: cardinal, ordinal, distributive, fractional and indefinite-cardinal.

1- Cardinal Numbers

      , zi one;      , t'u two;     , sch'i three;        , plh'i four;      , txw five;      , xi six;       , bli seven;     , yi eight;       , bghw nine;       , psch'i ten;             , pschik'wz eleven;                 , pschik'wt' twelve; …;           , t'osch' twenty.

  The cardinal number    , zi one, is placed before the substantive, and is sometimes written separately from it, at others it is fused with it, ex.:        , zish one horse (       , shi horse);               , zi zhem one cow. As a rule, the cardinal numbers from two to ten are placed after the substantive and are fused with it, ex.:          , winiysch three houses (         , wine house);                , ts'ixwiypsch' ten persons. In some instances these numbers are written separately and the substantive assumes the suffix       , - w, ex.:            , winew - sch'i ten houses.

  The number    , zi one, can also be placed after the substantive, in which case the suffixes               ,- w, - we are affixed to the noun, ex.:                , winew - zi one house;              , h'ewe - zi one dog.

  The numbers from eleven to nineteen are formed by the combination of prime numbers, ex.:                      , pschi-k'w-z eleven (literally: ten (and) one);             , pschi-k'w-bl seventeen (literally: ten (and) seven). In these numbers, prime numbers are combined by the connective         , - k'w-.

  The numbers          , t'osch' twenty,             , schesch' thirty,           , plh'isch' forty,               , txwsch' fifty,               , xisch' sixty,           , blisch' seventy, or       ,                , yisch', psch'ey,    and            bghwsch' ninety, are formed by adding the roots of the simple numbers:                     , t'u psch'iwe two ten times (two times ten);                         , txw psch'iwe five ten times (five times ten);                         , bli psch'iwe seven ten times (seven tens). The numbers representing whole hundreds are formed by the root      , sche hundred, to the simple number, ex.:            , schiyt' two hundred;              , schiytxw five hundred;            , schiybl seven hundred.

  The numbers from twenty to thirty, thirty to forty, etc., are formed by combining the elements using the conjunction      , - re -, ex.:                      , t'osch're zire twenty one;                            , schesch're blire thirty seven;                            , bghwsch're txwre ninety five.

  As a rule, the numbers eleven and above are placed after the substantive and are written separately, ex.:                       , wine pschik'wtxw fifteen houses;                          , qale xisch' sixty towns.

  The number       , sche hundred, combines with the substantive just like simple numbers from two to ten, ex.:                , winiysche hundred houses,              , winew - sche hundred houses.
 

2- Ordinal Numbers


 




               ,              , yape(rey), yezane(rey) first.

                  , yet'wane(rey)                         second.

                  , yeschane(rey)                        third.

                  , yeyane(rey)                           eighth.

                  , yepsch'ane(rey)                     tenth.

                  , yepschik'wzane(rey)              eleventh.

                  , yepschik'wxane(rey)              sixteenth.
 

 
  The first ordinal number has four variants, the rest have two. All these variants are equivalent and in their meaning and usage they do not differ significantly. Ordinal numbers are formed by the addition of the prefix e -, ye -, and one of the suffixes         ,               , - ane, - anerey, ex.:
            , ye-psch'-ane(rey) tenth;                      , ye-bl-ane(rey) seventh.
  Ordinal numbers in whole tens and hundreds are formed just as the numbers to twentieth, ex.:                        , yetxwsch'ane(rey) fiftieth;                     , yeschiytxwane(rey) five hundredth.
  The ordinal numbers between twenty and thirty, thirty and forty, etc. are formed by using the conjunction      , - re, ex.:                            , t'osch're yexanere twenty sixth.
 
Note: ordinal number                   , yeschane(rey) hundredth, cannot be morphologically (from its appearance) differentiated from the ordinal number           , yeschane(rey) thirtieth. They can only be distinguished from the context.
  Ordinal numbers, in distinction from attributes, can be placed either before or after the substantives or attributes, ex.:               , yexane klasir (the) sixth grade, or                  , klas yexaner (the) sixth grade. The order of appearance of case endings and indices in the combination of ordinal numbers and substantives is the same as in the combination of adjectives and substantives.
 
4. Distributive Numerals

               , psch'ripsch' in tens, ten by ten

  Distributive numerals are formed by combining the roots of the cardinal numbers by means of the connective syllable     , - ri -, ex.:                          , schirisch in threes, three by three (       , schi three).

  Distributive numbers from eleven to nineteen and those in whole tens and hundreds are formed by repeating the corresponding cardinal number without using any affixes, ex.:                                   , pschik'wtxw-pschik'wtxw in elevens, eleven by eleven;                      , t'osch'-t'osch' in twenties, twenty by twenty;                                  , scheniqwe-scheniqwe in fifties, fifty by fifty; , schiyx-schiyx in six hundreds, six hundred by six hundred.

  Numbers between twenty and thirty, thirty and forty, etc., are formed by combining the lower whole ten number with the required number using a dash, ex.:                                            , t'osch'-t'oschre txwritxwre in/by twenty fives, twenty five by twenty five.

  Distributive numerals are usually placed after the substantive, ex.:                                , txilh t'osch'-t'osch' books ... in/by twenties.
 

1. Fractional Numbers

             , niqwa 1/2, half, is placed after the substantive and is written separately. This number is placed before an adjective and is fused with it, ex.:                  , niqwedeyle half-witted, stupid (          , deyle stupid). It is also placed before verbal stems and is adjoined to them, ex.:                , niqwelhes half-washed (            , lhesin to wash),                    , niqwezelhi'wx half-tidy (              , zelhi'wxin to tidy up, ex.: a room).
 
 

1. Indefinite-Cardinal Numbers


  These numbers are used for approximation. They are formed by the combination of three cardinal numbers, the first of which is always     , zi one, and the next two are consecutive numbers, the lower one coming first, ex.:            , zitxwx five or six (        , txw five,      , xi six);                  , zit'usch two or three (     , t'u two,          , schi three);                      , zibghwpsch' nine or ten (        , bghw nine,       , psch'i ten). Indefinite-cardinal numbers can either be placed before or after the substantive, but more often they are placed after, ex.:                       , ts'ixw ziyibghw eight or nine persons.

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Pronouns

1. Personal and Personal-Demonstrative pronouns

  As is obvious from these tables, in contradistinction from substantives, personal pronouns of the 1st and 2nd person singular and plural are not declined in the nominative and ergative-oblique cases - the pronomial root is unchanged (refer too sections on nominative and ergative-oblique cases above).

  As for the third-person singular and plural, Kabardian does not furnish distinct pronouns, instead the pronomial functions are implemented by the demonstrative pronouns. To distinguish these particular applications, these pronouns are dubbed personal-demonstrative. Their declension is as follows:

  ap, ar, is used as subject with intransitive verbs, ex.:                         , ar matxe he/she is writing, or writes; ap                  , ar melazche he/she is working; ap                         , ar qizewasch he/she hit me (      , wen,to hit, is an intransitive verb).     , abi is used as the subject with transitive verbs, ex.:                                        , abi adigebzer yeyj he is studying Circassian.
Note: at this stage it is worthwhile to realize that classification of high order Kabardian verbs (other than the very simplest: subject+verb) into transitive and intransitive is somewhat more complex than in the English equivalents. It is perhaps counter-intuitive that      , wen to hit, is intransitive in Kabardian, whereas             , wich'in to kill, should be considered transitive. The moral of the note: you have to prepare yourself to memorize the categorization of the Kabardian verb (in addition to its meaning). Perhaps if ever the question of simplification of the grammar of Kabardian is considered, this aspect should be placed high on the agenda.
 

1.    Demonstrative Pronouns

  In combination with substantives, these demostrative pronouns have also syntactical functions, but they never act as attributes.

  Invisible demonstrative pronouns without definite words - substantives - cannot exist independently, but must always come before definite words, in which position they act as attributes, ex.:                     , mi winexer these houses;                      , mo zhigir that tree.
 
 

1. Possessive Pronouns

Declension of independent possessive pronouns:

First-person singular

nominative	, sisey(r)	mine
ergative-oblique	, siseym	mine
instrumental-directional	, sisey(m)ch'e	by/with/to mine
specific	, siseywe	of mine

Second-person singular

nominative	, wiwey(r)	yours
ergative-oblique	, wiweym	yours
instrumental-directional	, wiwey(m)ch'e	by/with/to yours
specific	, wiweywe	of yours

Third-person singular

nominative	, yey(r)	his/hers/its
ergative-oblique	, yeym	his/hers/its
instrumental-directional	, yey(m)ch'e	by/with/to his/hers/its
specific	, yeywe	of his/hers/its

First-person plural

nominative	, didey(r)	ours
ergative-oblique	, dideym	ours
instrumental-directional	, didey(m)ch'e	by/with/to ours
specific	, dideywe	of ours

Second-person plural

nominative	, fifey(r)	yours
ergative-oblique	, fifeym	yours
instrumental-directional	, fifey(m)ch'e	by/with/to yours
specific	, fifeywe	of yours

Third-person plural

nominative	, yay(r)	theirs
ergative-oblique	, yaym	theirs
instrumental-directional	, yay(m)ch'e	by/with/to theirs
specific	, yaywe	of theirs

Note: the plurals of independent possessive pronouns are generally formed by adding the suffix -    -, -xe-, ex.: if I refer to one of my books,              , siseyr mine, to a number of my books,               , siseyxer mine; for the 2nd-person plural,             , fifeyr (one object),                , fifeyxer (more than one object).

         ?, xet? is used to refer to people, and      ?, sit? is used for others (animals, plants, inanimate objects, concepts, etc.).

Declension of interrogative pronouns:

Pronoun referring to persons

nominative	, xet(ir)	who, whom
ergative-oblique	, xet(im)	who, whom
instrumental-directional	, xet(im)ch'e	by/with/to whom
specific	, xetu	of whom

 
Pronoun referring to all other things

nominative	, sit(ir)	what
ergative-oblique	, sit(im)	what
instrumental-directional	, sit(im)ch'e	by/with/to what
specific	, situ	of what

  The rest of the interrogative pronouns (except           ?, dara? what, and              ?, xet yey? whose?, to whom?) are not distinguished by anything special. The pronoun         ?, dara? what?, is indeclinable. The pronoun          ?, xet yey? whose?, to whom?, is declined according to whether it has a definite or indefinite form?