Kabardian language

Kabardian (/kəˈbɑːrdiən/), also known as East Circassian, is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken by the eastern subgroups of Circassians. Native to Circassia in the Caucasus, it is official in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, but is mostly spoken in the Circassian diaspora.

Kabardian is closely related to the Adyghe or West Circassian language; some reject the distinction between the two languages in favour of both being dialects of a unitary Circassian language. Despite phonological differences, Circassian languages are reciprocally intelligible, with speakers being able to communicate. While the self-designation for both Adyghe and Kabardian language is Adyghe, in linguistic and administrative terms, "Adyghe" refers specifically to the language of the western tribes of Circassians, while "Kabardian" refers to the language of the two eastern tribes (Kabardians and Besleney). Ubykh, Abkhaz and Abaza are more distantly related to Kabardian.

The language has 47 or 48 consonant phonemes, of which 22 or 23 are fricatives, depending upon whether one counts [h] as phonemic, but it has only 3 phonemic vowels. It is one of very few languages to possess a clear phonemic distinction between ejective affricates and ejective fricatives. Like all other Northwest Caucasian languages, Kabardian is an ergative language and has an extremely complex verbal system.

Kabardian is written in a form of Cyrillic and serves as the literary language for Circassians in both Kabardino-Balkaria (where it is usually called the "Kabardian language") and Karachay-Cherkessia (where it is called the "Cherkess language"). Arabic- and Latin-based writing systems have also been historically used for the language.

Since 2004, the Turkish broadcasting corporation TRT has maintained a half-an-hour programme a week in the Terek dialect of Kabardian.