Editing Adyghe language (section)

== Phonology ==
{{Main|Adyghe phonology}}
Adyghe exhibits between 50 and 60 [[consonant]]s depending on the dialect. All dialects possess a contrast between plain and labialized [[glottal stop]]s. A very unusual minimal contrast, and possibly unique to the [[Abzakh Adyghe dialect|Abzakh dialect]] of Adyghe, is a three-way contrast between plain, [[labialized]] and [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized]] [[glottal stop]]s (although a palatalized glottal stop is also found in [[Hausa language|Hausa]] and a labialized one in [[Tlingit language|Tlingit]]). The [[Shapsug Adyghe dialect|Shapsug (Black Sea) dialect]] of Adyghe contains a very uncommon sound: a [[voiceless bidental fricative]] {{IPAblink|h̪͆}}, which corresponds to the [[voiceless velar fricative]] {{IPAblink|x}} found in other varieties of Adyghe. This sound is only known to be used in the Black Sea dialect.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Bidental consonant|Bidental]]
! colspan="3" | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! colspan="2" | [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br />alveolar]]
! colspan="2" | [[Alveolo-palatal consonant|Alveolo-<br />palatal]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
! colspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! colspan="2" | [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Pharyngeal consonant|Pharyngeal]]
! colspan="2" | [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! {{small|plain}}
! {{small|[[Labialization|lab.]]}}
! {{small|plain}}
!{{small|[[Sibilant consonant|sib.]]}}
! {{small|[[Labialization|lab.]]}}
! {{small|plain}}
! {{small|[[Labialization|lab.]]}}
!{{small|plain}}
!{{small|[[Labialization|lab.]]}}
! {{small|plain}}
! {{small|[[Labialization|lab.]]}}
! {{small|plain}}
! {{small|[[Labialization|lab.]]}}
! {{small|plain}}
! {{small|[[Labialization|lab.]]}}
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|  {{IPA link|m}}
|  {{IPA link|mʷ}}
|
|  {{IPA link|n}}
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! rowspan="3" | [[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]/
[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
! {{small|[[ejective consonant|ejective]]}}
|  {{IPA link|pʼ}}
|  {{IPA link|pʷʼ}}
|
|  {{IPA link|tʼ}}
|{{IPA link|t͡sʼ}}
|  {{IPA link|tʷʼ}}
|{{IPA link|t͡ʃʼ}}
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|{{IPA link|t͡ʂʼ}}
|  {{IPA link|kʼ}}
|  {{IPA link|kʷʼ}}
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|-
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
|  {{IPA link|p}}
|
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|  {{IPA link|t}}
|{{IPA link|t͡s}}
|{{IPA link|t͡sʷ}}
|{{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}
|
|{{IPA link|t͡ɕ}}<sup>2</sup>
|{{IPA link|t͡ɕʷ}}
|{{IPA link|t͡ʂ}}
|  {{IPA link|k}}
|  {{IPA link|kʷ}}
|  {{IPA link|q}}
|  {{IPA link|qʷ}}
|
|  {{IPA link|ʔ}}
|  {{IPA link|ʔʷ}}
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
|  {{IPA link|b}}
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|  {{IPA link|d}}
|{{IPA link|d͡z}}
|{{IPA link|d͡zʷ}}
|{{IPA link|d͡ʒ}}
|
|{{IPA link|d͡ʑ}}<sup>2</sup>
|{{IPA link|d͡ʑʷ}}
|{{IPA link|d͡ʐ}}
|  {{IPA link|ɡ}}<sup>1</sup>
|  {{IPA link|ɡʷ}}
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! rowspan="3" | [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
! {{small|[[ejective consonant|ejective]]}}
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|{{IPA link|ɬʼ}}
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|  {{IPA link|ʃʼ}}
|  {{IPA link|ʃʷʼ}}
|{{IPA link|ɕʼ}}
|{{IPA link|ɕʷʼ}}
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|-
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
|  {{IPA link|f}}
|
|{{IPA link|h̪͆}}<sup>2</sup>
|  {{IPA link|ɬ}}
|{{IPA link|s}}
|
|  {{IPA link|ʃ}}
|  {{IPA link|ʃʷ}}
|  {{IPA link|ɕ}}
|{{IPA link|ɕʷ}}
|  {{IPA link|ʂ}}
|  {{IPA link|x}}
|  {{IPA link|xʷ}}
|  {{IPA link|χ}}
|  {{IPA link|χʷ}}
| {{IPA link|ħ}}
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! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
|  {{IPA link|v}}<sup>1</sup>
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|  {{IPA link|ɮ}}
|{{IPA link|z}}
|
|  {{IPA link|ʒ}}
|  {{IPA link|ʒʷ}}
|  {{IPA link|ʑ}}
|{{IPA link|ʑʷ}}
|  {{IPA link|ʐ}}
|  {{IPA link|ɣ}}
|
|  {{IPA link|ʁ}}
|  {{IPA link|ʁʷ}}
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! colspan="2" | [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| {{IPA link|w}}
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|  {{IPA link|j}}
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|  {{IPA link|w}}
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! colspan="2" | [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
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|  {{IPA link|r}}
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# These consonants exist only in [[Loanword|borrowed words]].
# Note: Adyghe has many consonants that appear across its dialects, and thus has a complex system of consonant [[Allophone|allophony]]. More information on those can be found at [[Adyghe phonology]].

In contrast to its large inventory of consonants, Adyghe has only three phonemic vowels in a [[vertical vowel system]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://journals.linguisticsociety.org/proceedings/index.php/BLS/article/download/809/592|website=Berkeley Linguistics Society|last1=Applebaum|first1=Ayla|last2=Gordon|first2=Matthew|title=A Comparative Phonetic Study of the Circassian Languages|year=2013|publisher=University of California, Santa Barbara|access-date=27 March 2022|archive-date=28 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628233340/https://journals.linguisticsociety.org/proceedings/index.php/BLS/article/download/809/592|url-status=live}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
!
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA link|ə}}
|-
! [[Near-open vowel|Near-open]]
| {{IPA link|ɐ}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| {{IPA link|aː}}
|}