Editing Circassian languages (section)

{{Short description|Subdivision of the Northwest Caucasian language family}}
{{Infobox language family
|name        = Circassian
|altname     = Cherkess
|ethnicity   = [[Circassians]], [[Cherkesogai]]
|region      = [[North Caucasus]]
|familycolor = Caucasian
|protoname   = [[Proto-Circassian language|Proto-Circassian]]
|child1      = [[Adyghe language|Adyghe]]
|child2      = [[Kabardian language|Kabardian]]
|glotto      = circ1239
|glottorefname=Circassian
|map         = Caucasic languages.svg
|mapcaption  = {{legend|#D9196D|Circassian}}
|fam1=[[Northwest Caucasian languages|Northwest Caucasian]]}}

'''Circassian'''{{Efn|({{IPAc-en|s|ɜːr|ˈ|k|æ|ʃ|ən}})}} ({{Langx|ady|Адыгабзэ}}; {{Langx|kbd|Адыгэбзэ}}), also known as '''Cherkess''' ({{IPAc-en|tʃ|ɜːr|ˈ|k|ɛ|s}} {{respelling|chur|KESS}}), is a subdivision of the [[Northwest Caucasian languages|Northwest Caucasian]] language family, spoken by the [[Circassians|Circassian people]]. There are two main variants of the Circassian language, defined by their literary standards, [[Adyghe language|Adyghe]] ({{lang|ady|кӀахыбзэ}}; also known as West Circassian) and [[Kabardian language|Kabardian]] ({{lang|kbd|къэбэрдейбзэ}}; also known as East Circassian). The languages are highly [[Mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]] with one another, but differ to a degree where they would be considered clear-cut dialects. The earliest extant written records of the Circassian language are in the [[Arabic script]], recorded by the Turkish traveller [[Evliya Çelebi]] in the 17th century,<ref name="refMuratpapşualfabe">Papşu, Murat (2006)."[http://www.circassianworld.com/TR/Adige_Yazisi.pdf Çerkes-Adığe yazısının tarihçesi] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214161014/http://www.circassianworld.com/TR/Adige_Yazisi.pdf |date=December 14, 2013 }}". ''Nart, İki Aylık Düşün ve Kültür Dergisi'', Sayı 51, Eylül-Ekim 2006. {{in lang|tr}}</ref> although the [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] and [[Georgian scripts|Georgian]] alphabets were adapted for them in ancient and medieval times.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://circassianweb.com/page/33|title=The Circassian Alphabet|website=circassianweb.com|publisher=Circassian Family Tree|access-date=24 March 2024}}</ref>

There is consensus among the linguistic community about the fact that Adyghe and Kabardian are typologically distinct languages.<ref name="Kuipers">{{cite book|last1=Kuipers|first1=Aert H.|title=Phoneme and morpheme in Kabardian (eastern Adyghe)|date=1960|publisher=Mouton & Co.|location=The Hague|page=7|ref=Kuipers}}</ref><ref name="Smeets">{{cite book|last1=Smeets|first1=Henricus Joannes|title=Studies in West Circassian phonology and morphology|date=1984|publisher=The Hakuchi Press|location=Leiden|isbn=90-71176-01-0|page=41|ref=Smeets}}</ref><ref name="Hewitt05">{{cite journal|last1=Hewitt|first1=George|title=North West Caucasian|journal=Lingua|date=2005|volume=115|issue=1–2|page=17|doi=10.1016/j.lingua.2003.06.003|url=https://zenodo.org/record/968232|access-date=16 April 2017|ref=Hewitt05}}</ref> However, the local terms for these languages refer to them as dialects. The Circassian people call themselves {{lang|mis|адыгэ}} <!-- Kabardian and Adyghe --> ({{Transliteration|mis|adyge}}; English: Adyghe) in their native language. In the southwestern part of European Russia, there is also a [[Federal Subject]] called [[Adygea]] ({{langx|ru|Адыгея}}, {{Transliteration|ru|Adygeya}}), enclaved within [[Krasnodar Krai]], which is named after the Circassian [[endonym]]. In the [[Russian language]], the Circassian subdivision is treated as a group of languages and called {{lang|ru|адыгские}} ({{Transliteration|ru|adygskie}}, meaning the Adyghe languages), whereas the Adyghe language is called {{lang|ru|адыгейский}} ({{Transliteration|ru|adygeyskiy}}, meaning the language of those in [the Republic of] Adygea). The terms ''Circassian'' and ''Cherkess'' are sometimes used in several languages as synonyms for the [[Northwest Caucasian languages]] in general or the Adyghe language in particular.