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Proto-Kabardian language
Reconstructed ancestor of the Circassian languages From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Proto-Kabardian (or Proto Eastern Circassian) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Kabardian dialects and the Besleney dialect. Together with its sister language, Proto-Adyghean, it is descended from Proto-Circassian.
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Phonology
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Velar consonants to palato-alveolar
In the Proto-Kabardian language there exist a palatalized voiced velar stop [ɡʲ] ⟨гь⟩, a palatalized voiceless velar stop [kʲ] ⟨кь⟩ and a palatalized velar ejective [kʲʼ] ⟨кӏь⟩[1]. The consonants гь [ɡʲ], кь [kʲ] and кӏь [kʲʼ] survived in the in the Besleney dialect and in several Kabardian dialects (such as Kabardian Uzunyayla).[2] In other Kabardian dialects, mainly in Kabardino and Cherkessia, they became palato-alveolar consonants дж [d͡ʒ], ч [t͡ʃ] and кӏ [t͡ʃʼ] respectively.
Affricate to fricative
Proto-Kabardian had 6 distinct consonants:
Then, in the Kabardian dialects, the affricate postalveolar consonants became fricative:
In the Baslaney dialect, they were unchanged and remained d͡ʒ ⟨дж⟩, t͡ʃ ⟨ч⟩ and t͡ʃʼ ⟨чӏ⟩. For example:
- The Proto-Kabardian word чӏэкӏьын "to come out from under" became щӏэкӏьын in Kabardian.
- The Proto-Kabardian word чӏэгъуэжын "to regret" became щӏэгъуэжын in Kabardian.
- The Proto-Kabardian word пачӏэ "mustache" became пащӏэ in both Kabardian.
- The Proto-Kabardian word чӏалэ "boy; young man" became щӏалэ in Kabardian.
- The Proto-Kabardian word чӏымахуэ "winter" became щӏымахуэ in Kabardian.
- The Proto-Kabardian word чӏэ "new" became щӏэ in both Kabardian.
But words like кӏьапсэ "rope", кӏьагуэ "short" & кӏьэ "tail" were still pronounced with kʲʼ.
Later on, in the Kabardian dialects mainly in Kabardino and Cherkessia, the velar consonants гь [ɡʲ], кь [kʲ] and кӏь [kʲʼ] became palato-alveolar consonants дж [d͡ʒ], ч [t͡ʃ] and чӏ [t͡ʃʼ] respectively[3]. Now words like кӏапсэ "rope", кӏагуэ "short" & кӏэ "tail" were pronounced with чӏ t͡ʃʼ. In Modern Standard Kabardian, even though the letter is written as "кӏ", it is pronounced as чӏ t͡ʃʼ.
For example, in the following table, you can see how the words "new" & "tail" are distinct in all dialects except Bzhedug & Chemgui.
The way the affricate postalveolar consonants became fricative in the Kabardian dialects:
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Grammar
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Disappearance of the absolutive third person plural in Modern Kabardian
In Circassian, there are two third person plural forms: the absolutive plural indicated by the suffix -x ⟨-х⟩, and the ergative plural, indicated by the prefix -jaː ⟨-я⟩.
An example with еджн (to read):
- ар тхылъым еджащ "(s)he read the booy".
- ахэр тхылъым еджахэщ "they read the book".
- ар тхылъхэм яджащ "(s)he read the book".
- ахэр тхылъхэм яджахэщ "they read the books".
An example with лъэгъун (to see):
- абы ар илъэгъуащ "(s)he saw it"
- абы ахэр илъэгъуахэщ "they saw it"
- абыхэм ар ялъэгъуащ "(s)he saw them"
- абыхэм ахэр ялъэгъуахэщ "they saw them"
In Modern Kabardian, the absolutive third-person plural has disappeared and now resembles the singular form.
Disappearance of the present tense -r ⟨-р⟩ suffix
In Modern Kabardian, the suffix -r ⟨-р⟩ disappeared in the imperfect tense as well as in the negative present tense:
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References
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