Learn the Circassian Language — Adyghe Dictionary & Lessons

The Circassian language (Adygabze / Адыгабзэ) is the native tongue of the Adyghe and Kabardian peoples of the North Caucasus and the worldwide Circassian diaspora. CircassianWeb is a living archive for learning, practicing, translating, and preserving this endangered Northwest Caucasian language across both its main literary branches — West Circassian (Adyghe) and East Circassian (Kabardian / Къэбэрдей-Шэрджэс).

Adyghe & Kabardian Dictionary

Our searchable Circassian dictionary covers thousands of Adyghe and Kabardian words with translations into English, Turkish, Arabic, Russian, and Hebrew. Every entry includes the Cyrillic spelling, Latin transliteration, part of speech, example sentences, and where available a recorded native pronunciation. The dictionary grows weekly through native-speaker contributions.

Pronunciation & Voice Archive

Circassian is famous for one of the largest consonant inventories of any language, including ejectives, labialized, and pharyngealized sounds that have no equivalent in English. Our voice archive lets you hear each letter, common syllables, and full phrases spoken by native speakers from Kabardino-Balkaria, Adygea, Turkey, Jordan, and Syria, so learners can match accent and intonation, not just spelling.

Translations & Yandex Translate Support

Beyond the curated dictionary, the platform integrates Yandex Translate for Adyghe and Kabardian so you can translate full sentences and paragraphs between Circassian and English, Russian, Turkish, Arabic, and Hebrew. Machine output is clearly labeled and can be improved by community editors — combining instant coverage with human accuracy.

Daily Phrases & Everyday Adyghe Words

Start speaking Circassian today with our daily phrases: greetings (Уипчэдыжь шIу — "good morning"), thanks (Тхьэуегъэпсэу), family terms, food, travel, prayer, and traditional Xabze expressions used at weddings, condolences, and gatherings. Phrases are grouped by situation so heritage learners in the diaspora can use them with grandparents and elders immediately.

Community Corrections & Crowdsourced Learning

Every word, translation, and audio clip on CircassianWeb is open to community correction. Native speakers and learners can suggest fixes, add missing Kabardian variants, upload pronunciations, and flag errors. This crowdsourced model keeps the Circassian dictionary accurate across dialects and ensures the language stays alive in the hands of its own community, not just academic institutions.

Circassian Alphabet

Both Adyghe and Kabardian are written today in a Cyrillic-based alphabet of around 60 letters and digraphs. Our interactive alphabet chart shows each character with its Latin equivalent, IPA value, audio sample, and sample words — the fastest way to start reading Circassian script.