Abkhaz (аҧсуа бызшәа)

Abkhaz is a North West Caucasian language related to Abaza, Adyghe, Kabardian and Ubykh. About 100,000 people speak Abkhaz in Abkhazia, an autonomous republic within Georgia. There are also Abkhaz speakers, perhaps hundreds of thousands, in Turkey, the republic of Adjara in Georgia, Syria, Jordan, Germany and the USA.

There are two main dialects of Abkhaz: the northern Bzâp dialect and the southern Abz'âwa dialect, upon which literary Abkhaz is based.

Abkhaz first appeared in writing in 1862/3 in the Cyrillic alphabet using a spelling system based on the Bzâp dialect and devised by the Russian soldier-linguist Baron Peter von Uslar. Other spelling systems using the Georgian, Latin, and Cyrillic alphabets appeared during the 20th century. The current Cyrillic-based system, which has been in use since 1954, is considered somewhat cumbersome with its 14 extra letters for consonants and its inconsistencies. Recently there have been suggestions that a new Latin-based spelling system should be created.

The first ever novel in Abkhaz was written by Dârmit' Gulia (1874-1960), who is regarded as the Father of Abkhaz Literature. He also founded the first Abkhaz newspaper, wrote poety, plays, translations, historical and ethnographical writings and lectured on Abkhaz at Tbilisi University.

Abkhaz alphabet and pronunciation

Sample text in Abkhaz

Дарбанзаалак ауаюы дшоуп ихы дақъиҭны. Ауаа зегь зинлеи патулеи еийароуп. Урҭ ирымоуп ахшыюи аламыси, дара дарагь аешьеи реиҩш еизыйазароуп.

Transliteration
Darbanzaalak auajuy dšoup ihy daķ'iţny. Auaa zeg' zinlei patulei eijaroup. Urţ irymoyp axšyjui alamysi, dara darag' aeš'ei reiòš eizyjazaroup.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Links

Information about Abkhaz language and people
http://www.abkhazia.org/lang.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abkhaz_language
http://www.kapba.de/Language2.html
http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/abkhaz.shtml

Teach Yourself Abkhazian - online lessons
http://apsni.com

Free Abkhaz fonts
http://www.abkhazeti.ru/arc/abkhazuri1.zip

Related languages

Abaza, Abhkaz, Adyghe, Avar, Chechen, Dargwa, Georgian, Ingush, Kabardian, Lak, Laz, Lezgian, Svan, Tabassaran, Tsez, Ubykh

Other languages written with the Cyrillic alphabet

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