Abaza
абаза
Abaza is an Abkhaz-Adyge language spoken in Russia and Türkiye, by about 48 thousand people. Glottolog rates it threatened.
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Abaza (абаза бызшва, abaza byzshwa; Adyghe: абазэбзэ) is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken by Abazins in Russia. The language has gone through several different orthographies based primarily on Latin and Cyrillic letters. Its consonant-to-vowel ratio is remarkably high; making it quite similar to many other languages from the same parent chain. The language evolved in popularity in the mid to late 1800s, but has become an endangered language.
Abaza is spoken by approximately 35,000 people in Russia, where it is written in a Cyrillic alphabet, as well as another 10,000 in Turkey, where the Latin script is used.
It consists of two dialects, the Ashkherewa dialect and the T'ap'anta dialect, which is the literary standard. The language also consists of five subdialects known as Psyzh-Krasnovostok, Abazakt, Apsua, Kubin-Elburgan and Kuvin.
From Wikipedia · Abaza language · CC BY-SA 4.0
Words in Abaza
| Meaning | Word | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| father | аба | aba |
| ear | лымхӏа | ləmḥa |
| heart | агвы | agʷə |
| liver | чӏва | ćʷʼa |
| water | дзы | dzə |
| rain | ква | kʷa |
| snow | сы | sə |
| wind | пша | pša |
| sea | амшын | amšən |
| dog | ла | la |
| fish | пслачва | pslaćʷa |
| louse | цӏа | cʼa |
| one | закӏы | zakʼə |
| two | гӏвба | ʻʷba |
| three | хпа | xpa |
| four | пщба | pśba |
| five | хвба | xʷba |
| ten | жваба | žʷaba |
| tea | чай | ćaj |
| coffee | ко́фе | kófe |
| salt | джькӏа | dźkʼa |
| rice | прунджь | prundź |
| apple | чӏва | ćʷʼa |
| hello | сальам | salᶻam |
| book | книга | kniga |
Most similar languages
Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.
Nearby languages
Elsewhere
Glottolog · abaz1241 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · abq