Eastern Circassian is ergative–absolutive, predominatly marks head final and its normal word order is SOV (Subject-Object-Verb).
Its verbal morphology however is the most complex part of the language, being inflected with suffixes and prefixes, making it very agglutinative and polysynthetic.
A verb can be marked for several persons (polypersonality), number, tense, mood, causative and with a large array of preverbs.
Unlike nominative–accusative languages, such as English, where the single argument of an intransitive verb ("She" in the sentence "She walks.")
A fault in this can change the meaning of the sentence drastically, switching the roles of the subject and object.
For instance, look at the following two sentences: ЩӏалэмЩӏалэ-м[ɕʼaːɮamboy.ERGпщащэрпщащэ-рpɕaːɕargirl.ABSйолъэгъуйолъэгъуjawɬaʁʷ](s)he is seeingЩӏалэм пщащэр йолъэгъуЩӏалэ-м пщащэ-р йолъэгъу[ɕʼaːɮam pɕaːɕar jawɬaʁʷ]boy.ERG girl.ABS {(s)he is seeing}"The boy is seeing the girl.
"ЩӏалэмЩӏалэ-м[ɕʼaːɮamboy.OBLпщащэрпщащэ-рpɕaːɕargirl.ABSйоплъйоплъjawpɬ](s)he is looking atЩӏалэм пщащэр йоплъЩӏалэ-м пщащэ-р йоплъ[ɕʼaːɮam pɕaːɕar jawpɬ]boy.OBL girl.ABS {(s)he is looking at}"The girl is looking at the boy.
It is however frequently encoded in other parts of the sentence which are mandatory, for example the verb or possessive marking.
"the boy is involved in reading the book"An example with an transitive verb ирет "gives" and indirect object пщащэм "girl".
"The Instrumental case can also mark the direction of action: дэдэ[daweкъуажэмкӏэкъуажэ-мкӏэqʷaːʒamt͡ʃʼavillage.INSдокӏуэдокӏуэdawkʷʼa]we goдэ къуажэмкӏэ докӏуэдэ къуажэ-мкӏэ докӏуэ[da qʷaːʒamt͡ʃʼa dawkʷʼa]we village.INS {we go}"we are going in the direction of the village"Том,Том,[tomTom (name)нобэдинобэдиnawbaditodayеджапӏэмкӏэеджапӏэ-мкӏэjad͡ʒaːpʼamt͡ʃʼaschool.INSныщӏыхьэныщӏыхьэnəɕʼəħa]stop byТом, нобэди еджапӏэмкӏэ ныщӏыхьэТом, нобэди еджапӏэ-мкӏэ ныщӏыхьэ[tom nawbadi jad͡ʒaːpʼamt͡ʃʼa nəɕʼəħa]{Tom (name)} today school.INS {stop by}"Tom, come to our school today"Has the suffix -уэ /wa/, or -у /əw/ (e.g. щӏалу [ɕʼaːɮəw] 'boy').
The adverbial case usually expresses a transition into something, or definition (clarification, which often works like the English words -which, -who, -that... ) of a name.
For example: лӏырлӏыр[ɬʼərman.ABSпрофессорэупрофессор-эуprofesorawprofessor.ADVхъуащхъу-ащχʷaːɕ](s)he becameлӏыр профессорэу хъуащлӏыр профессор-эу хъу-ащ[ɬʼər profesoraw χʷaːɕ]man.ABS professor.ADV {(s)he became}"The man became a professor.
"лӏыжьулӏыжъ-у[ɬʼəʑəwold man.ADVщысарщыс-а-рɕəsaːrthe one that sitкӏуэжащкӏуэ-ж-ащkʷʼaʒaːɕ](s)he returnedлӏыжьу щысар кӏуэжащлӏыжъ-у щыс-а-р кӏуэ-ж-ащ[ɬʼəʑəw ɕəsaːr kʷʼaʒaːɕ]{old man.ADV} {the one that sit} {(s)he returned}"The old man who had sat there, left.
пщэщэ[pɕaɕagirlдахэрdaːxarthe pretty.ABSмакӏуэmaːkʷʼa](s)he is goingпщэщэ дахэр макӏуэ[pɕaɕa daːxar maːkʷʼa]girl {the pretty.ABS} {(s)he is going}"the pretty girl is going"щӏалэ[ɕʼaːɮaboyкӏыхьэмt͡ʃʼəħamthe long.ERGешхыjaʃxəhe is eating a/theмыӏэрысэməʔarəsa]the apple.ABSщӏалэ кӏыхьэм ешхы мыӏэрысэ[ɕʼaːɮa t͡ʃʼəħam jaʃxə məʔarəsa]boy {the long.ERG} {he is eating a/the} {the apple.ABS}"the long boy is eating the apple"къэрэндащ[qarandaːɕpencilпапцӏэмкӏэpapt͡sʼamt͡ʃʼasharp.INSсотхэsawtxa]I am writingкъэрэндащ папцӏэмкӏэ сотхэ[qarandaːɕ papt͡sʼamt͡ʃʼa sawtxa]pencil sharp.INS {I am writing}"I am writing with (using) the sharp pencil"In Kabardian someone (person) or something (animal, plant, object) that does a specific verb (or something happened to him/it) can be represented with the verb word with the additional suffix -э (a) (for present tense -рэ (-ra)).
а /ʔaː/ мо /maw/ мы /mə/ The demonstratives can be used to express different things like: In Kabardian, only the first and second person, singular and plural, pronouns have dedicated words.
Effectively speaking in terms of usage, а is the third person pronoun, however that is a demonstrative (for more details see here).
арaːrарaːrморmorморmorмырmərмырmərабыaːbəабыaːbəмобыmobəмобыmobəмыбыməbəмыбыməbəабыкӏэaːbət͡ʃʼaабыкӏэaːbət͡ʃʼaмобыкӏэmobət͡ʃʼaмобыкӏэmobət͡ʃʼaмыбыкӏэməbət͡ʃʼaмыбыкӏэməbət͡ʃʼaарэуaːrawарэуaːrawморэуmorawморэуmorawмырэуmərawмырэуmərawахэрaːxarахэрaːxarмохэрmoxarмохэрmoxarмыхэрməxarмыхэрməxarабыхэмaːbəxamабыхэмaːbəxamмобыхэмmobəxamмобыхэмmobəxamмыбыхэмməbəxamмыбыхэмməbəxamабыхэмкӏэaːbəxamt͡ʃʼaабыхэмкӏэaːbəxamt͡ʃʼaмобыхэмкӏэmobəxamt͡ʃʼaмобыхэмкӏэmobəxamt͡ʃʼaмыбыхэмкӏэməbəxamt͡ʃʼaмыбыхэмкӏэməbəxamt͡ʃʼaахэрэуaːxarawахэрэуaːxarawмохэрэуmoxarawмохэрэуmoxarawмыхэрэуməxarawмыхэрэуməxarawмыбымыбы[məbəThis.ERGщӏакхъуэщӏакхъуэɕʼaːqχʷaa breadйошхыйо-шхыjawʃx](s)he eatsмыбы щӏакхъуэ йошхымыбы щӏакхъуэ йо-шхы[məbə ɕʼaːqχʷa jawʃx]This.ERG {a bread} {(s)he eats}"This person/animal eats bread"мыбыкӏэмыбы0кӏэ[məbət͡ʼaThis way.INSщӏалэрщӏалэ0рɕʼaːɮarthe boy.ABSкъакӏуэкъа-кӏуэqaːkʷʼa](s)he is comingмыбыкӏэ щӏалэр къакӏуэмыбы0кӏэ щӏалэ0р къа-кӏуэ[məbət͡ʼa ɕʼaːɮar qaːkʷʼa]{This way.INS} {the boy.ABS} {(s)he is coming}"The boy is coming from this way"сиси[səjmyунэунэwənahouseфыкъакӏуэфы-къа-кӏуэfəqaːkʷʼa]come.PLси унэ фыкъакӏуэси унэ фы-къа-кӏуэ[səj wəna fəqaːkʷʼa]my house come.PL"Come to my house"диди[dəjOurмашинэкӏэмашинэ-кӏэmaːʃinat͡ʃʼausing the car.INSкъалэмкъалэмqaːɮamthe city.ERGдокӏуэдо-кӏуэdawkʷʼa]we are goingди машинэкӏэ къалэм докӏуэди машинэ-кӏэ къалэм до-кӏуэ[dəj maːʃinat͡ʃʼa qaːɮam dawkʷʼa]Our {using the car.INS} {the city.ERG} {we are going}"we are going to the city with our car"сэсийsasəjсэсийsasəjдэдийdadəjдэдийdadəjуэуийwawəjуэуийwawəjфэфийfafəjфэфийfafəjийjəjийjəjяйjaːjяйjaːjсэсыйsasəjсэсыйsasəjдэдийdadəjдэдийdadəjуэуийwawəjуэуийwawəjфэфийfafəjфэфийfafəjийjəjийjəjяйjaːjяйjaːjсэсиемкӏэsasəjamt͡ʃʼaсэсиемкӏэsasəjamt͡ʃʼaдэдиемкӏэtatəjamt͡ʃʼaдэдиемкӏэtatəjamt͡ʃʼaуэуиемкӏэwawəjamt͡ʃʼaуэуиемкӏэwawəjamt͡ʃʼaфэфиемкӏэʃʷaʃʷəjamt͡ʃʼaфэфиемкӏэʃʷaʃʷəjamt͡ʃʼaиемкӏэjəjamt͡ʃʼaиемкӏэjəjamt͡ʃʼaяемкӏэjaːjamt͡ʃʼaяемкӏэjaːjamt͡ʃʼaсэсийуsasəjawсэсийуsasəjawдэдийуdadəjawдэдийуdadəjawуэуийуwawəjawуэуийуwawəjawфэфийуfafəjawфэфийуfafəjawиеуjəjawиеуjəjawяеуjaːjawяеуjaːjawIn Kabardian whole one – зыгоруэ, Serves for indication of all notions corresponding to English words "someone", "something", "someone", "something", "sometime", "somewhere", etc.
Verbs' affixes express meaning of subject, direct or indirect object, adverbial, singular or plural form, negative form, mood, direction, mutuality, compatibility and reflexivity, which, as a result, creates a complex verb, that consists of many morphemes and semantically expresses a sentence.
The simply reason is that the absolutive third person is a null-morpheme (∅-), while the ergative has dedicated morphemes for singular and plural (и- jə- and я- jaː-).
The true base form of the ergative is /w/, however because of the writing system, this doesn't get distinguished from the absolutive marker /wə/, as both are written with the letter <у>.
In front of consonants, the second person singular ergative у- marker gets hardened to a labial plosive.
E.g.: The о- prefix is a morpheme which can't be neatly categorized, as it spans over various categories be it tense, mood, dynamicity and polarization.
In participles, adverbial participles, masdars, imperative, interrogative and other forms of verbs their negative from is expressed with the prefix -мы, which, usually, goes before the root morpheme, that describes the main meaning: In verbs the negative meaning can also be expressed with the suffix -къым, which usually goes after the suffixes of time-tenses.
They switch grammatical cases similarly to nouns: A qualitative adjective as a compliment in a sentence goes after the word it describes: к1алэ дэгъу "good boy", унэ лъагэ "high house"; a relative adjective goes before it: пхъэ уадэ "wooden hammer", гъущӏ пӏэкӏор "iron bed".
In different grammatical cases: Combining adjectives with nouns it is possible to produce a great lot of phrases: пщэщэ дахэ "beautiful girl", щӏалэ дэгъу "good boy", цӏыху кӏыхьэ "long man", гъуэгу занщӏэ "straight road", удз шхъуантӏэ "green grass" and so on.
For example: нэхъ хужы "whiter, more white" (comparative form) and янэхъ хужы "whitest, most white", The Comparative degree is formed by auxiliary word нэхъ: The superlative degrees is formed by auxiliary word анахь (more than all...): The following suffixes are added to nouns: The following suffixes are added to adjectives: Мы[məthisджанэрd͡ʒaːnarshirtуэркӏэwart͡ʃʼafor youиныӏуэjənəʔʷa]slightly bigМы джанэр уэркӏэ иныӏуэ[mə d͡ʒaːnar wart͡ʃʼa jənəʔʷa]this shirt {for you} {slightly big}"This shirt is slightly big for you"Мы[məthisсурэтырsəwratərpaintingдэхэдэдdaxadad]very beautifulМы сурэтыр дэхэдэд[mə səwratər daxadad]this painting {very beautiful}"This painting is very beautiful"To indicate a thought or an opinion of someone, the prefix фӏэ~ (fʼa~) is added to the adjective.
пхъэм[pχamthe wood.ERGиjəitsӏувыгъэjəʔʷəvəʁawidth656565сантиметрsaːntimetr]centimetersпхъэм и ӏувыгъэ 65 сантиметр[pχam jə jəʔʷəvəʁa 65 saːntimetr]{the wood.ERG} its width 65 centimeters"The wood's width is 65 centimeters"щӏалэм[ɕʼaːɮamboy.ERGлъэщыгъэɬaɕəʁastrengthхэлъxaɬ]it is laying inщӏалэм лъэщыгъэ хэлъ[ɕʼaːɮam ɬaɕəʁa xaɬ]boy.ERG strength {it is laying in}"The boy has strength in him.
модэкӏэмодэ-кӏэ[modat͡ʃʼaover there.INSтучаныртучан-ырtut͡ʃaːnərshop.ABSӏутӏутʔʷərt]it is standingмодэкӏэ тучаныр ӏутмодэ-кӏэ тучан-ыр ӏут[modat͡ʃʼa tut͡ʃaːnər ʔʷərt]{over there.INS} shop.ABS {it is standing}"The shop is placed over there.
It is difficult to define the exact count of postpositions in the Circassian language, because even such major parts of speech as nouns (from the point of view of their functionality) sometimes can be included into the group, together with some verb prefixes.
For example, nous that describe different parts of human body (head, nose, side and so on) sometimes function as postpositions.