How i learned Circassian

Over the past month, I have actively been studying the Circassian language, specifically its Western (Adyghean) dialect. Based on my initial impressions, I would like to make the following points:

1. If you have tried learning any Caucasian language, you will find it easier to pick up others. And not just that, Turkish grammar is also ergative and is constructed by attaching different particles, prefixes, and prepositions to the root word in a similar way.
2. Is Georgian language difficult to learn? Hahaha!
3. In the Circassian language, there are four letters each for G, Gh, and Kh, six letters (!) for K and Sh, and three letters each for L, P, T, C, and Ch.
4. You might think the letter L is straightforward, but that’s not the case here! The different variants of L have no equivalents in any of the languages I know. It’s something in between T and L with a mouthful of hot potatoes. And there’s also the letter “1”, which sounds like exhaling when you strike a blow with the breath.
5. There are also some advantages — there are individual similar words or parts of words in Georgian (e.g., “jeri” and “jer”, “bevri” and “be”). However, sometimes they have the opposite meaning, as in Russian and Czech. For example, Georgian “mze” means sun, and Circassian “maze” means moon.
6. However, in terms of word composition, it’s still a nightmare — you need to understand each word. They are glued together into long, eye-popping combinations of words, like in the German language, only complicated by the presence of unfamiliar letters. Try reading “ne’wase tyzerezefekhug’emch1e” (nice to meet you) right away. Even in the Georgian language, it sounds somewhat easier — “sasiamnovnoa tkveni gatsnoba”. In Circassian, there are even funny horrors — the word for fruit is “pkheshh’he-nyshh’hekher” (literally something like “the tops of something wooden”), and the word for insects is “hats1e-p1ats1eher” (I don’t even know how to translate this literally). In general, there is also material for entertainment.
7. But, despite the complexity of the language, its content is very poetic, as in Georgian. Compare for yourself — doesn’t “Tham sh1u uetl’eg’u!” sound beautiful? It’s one of the grandmother’s ways of saying thank you in Circassian, literally translated as “May God love you!” or the more common “Thauigh’epseu!” — thank you very much or literally “Health to you from God”. It’s as majestic as the Georgian “Dila mshvidobisa!” — good morning, literally sounding like “peaceful morning” or the well-known “Gamarjoba!”, which translates to a wish for victory.

Learn languages — they open up a huge and wonderful world of new meanings and interpretations of the universe!

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