Tevfik Esenc (Zaisua)

[GodOfUnbelief]

I expected to hear lots of complex ejectives consonants.

I barely hear any here or do my ears fail me perhaps?.

[JudeConlee]

I have an interest in obscure/extinct/otherwise "unusual" languages, and I must say that this is really a fascinating language to listen to.

[FokkerTISM2]

Is Dumezil the guy who spoke the title before Esench told the Ubyh story?

[Carbatay]

@FokkerTISM2 I think that is him.

[Tayamiz]

oh my god, their language sounds very similar to adighabza!

[Asadzua]

Абызшва даарадза ипшдзан аха ицвгьан.

[hasanun100]

bu videonun türkçesini izlemek istiyorsanız youtube ye şöyle yazın türkçe ubıhçe çeviri

[erikacrp]

thank you so much for sharing this. is really precious

[Kabardinka007]

Russia has caused displacement and disappearance Ubykh and other Circassians from their native lands in the Black Sea coast

[YodaTheElder]

@Kabardinka007 The real reason for this was the wrong choice of their elders to fight against Russia. To those who chose to remain in Russia and with Russia, rather than to emigrate to Turkey, the fate was much supportive. They retained their language and authentic culture, and because Russia is now live on their lands.

circassianlibrary. org/lib/html/Shinkuba-The_Last­_of_the_Departed/text_1_4_6. html

[Kabardinka007]

Сыту бзэ дахащэ ди адыгэ-абазэбзэр! :)

[dieglhix]

i'm wondering how much ppl did record this with his own microphone then set it to backwards lol

[VicenteTaranis]

Esenç was the last Ubykh speaker, died on October 7, 1992.

[Conway79]

According to wikipedia the last speaker died in 1992. Is there enough information about it for people to relearn and revive Ubykh?

[Carbatay]

This is one of his records.

I think that is really to revive it but I don't see who can do it.

[AkkordionBloke]

@Conway79

Not only was Tefvik Esenç the last speaker, but there are other languages closely related to Ubykh with similar sounds.

[fiveofakind]

got some people usin english as a lingua franca all up in here

[apswa07]

Ubykhia is not Abkhazia.

[AndyNapso]

Well, you just listen to Ubykh language and then to Abkhaz language and then Adyghe (Shapsugh dialect) language and tell me which one is sounds closer to Ubykh, that what i can say to you.

And let other people hear too and ask them which one sounds like the Ubykh more.

[apswa07]

From the wiki article on the Ubykh language: "With regard to the other languages of the family, Ubykh is closer to Abkhaz than to any other member, but shares many features with Adyghe due to geographic and cultural influence; many Ubykh speakers were bilingual in Ubykh and Adyghe".

[AndyNapso]

many people say many things, Georgians say reall Abkhaz people are Georgians and so on.

i listen to this language and it is almost and i repeat almost like my language and shapsugh dialect!

i heard abkhaz language before and this is no closer to it than my language from hearing it.

i think linguistics must check it again.

[apswa07]

Shapsugh dialect doesn't have tʷ, dʷ, tʷʼ, ʃʷ, ʒʷ, qʲʼ, χʲ, ʁʲ. But all of these sounds are used in Abkhaz.

Andy, let's say that Ubykh is equally close to Adyge and Abkhaz :)

[AndyNapso]

No i am not arguing in a bad sense :)

we are just disscusing brother.

and those letters you mentioned, yes there are in Shapsugh, i know because i am Shapsugh :)

[apswa07]

I know Shapsug phonology (I have books about it). Shapsug doesn't have tʷ, dʷ, tʷʼ, ʃʷ, ʒʷ, qʲʼ, χʲ, ʁʲ. It has тIу, but it differs from tʷʼ.

[AndyNapso]

LOL bro, i told you i am Shapsugh my village are Shapsugh we speak Shapsugh even the Abzakh and Bjedough here speak Shapsugh because we are majority, i am telling you, when i hear this Ubykh dialect it is just like hearing my own dialect

[apswa07]

It is just like hearing your own dialect, but you don't understand almost anything, because it is a different language. Right, bro?

[AndyNapso]

I think i understand few words, it is hearing a Shapsugh speaks in reverse maybe :)

[g0r3n]

The wikipedia says that ubykh had quite a lot of adyghe loanwords, especially by the end of language's existence. Maybe those are the ones you recognize. It is quite possible that in terms of pronunciation ubykh was closer to shapsugh than to any other adyghe language.

[AndyNapso]

That what i say, when i hear this language in this clip, it is like i am hearing my own language (more like my own dialect!), very similar.

[anne241163]

I recognize many sounds /letters used in Arabic.

[Sawserok]

what letters and what sounds is that? do you even know arabic?

[anne241163]

Yes, I do, I can read and write it (slowly). I was thinking of letters no 7, 19 and 21 in the Arabic alphabet, these sounds does not exist in the Roman alphabet, but maybe in yours?

[Sawserok]

what letters? these are not circassian letters, these are letters that translates the ubikh language in french language, we don't use these letters. we use in these days kyrilllic alphabet

[anne241163]

My brother, I don't know the kyrillic alphabet, that's why I said maybe in yours.The letters in the video are in the Roman /West European alphabet, and the video is in French which I speak very well. You seem very angry, why the attitude? Have a look at the short Arabic video on my page, and count letters 7,19 and 21.

[Sawserok]

i really don't understand what you compare to what? what letters are you talking about?? what 7,19 and 21?? i told you what you see here is not circassians, BUT what you hear is the circassian one, those letters you see here i don't know what they are and what they means. so i really don't understand what you think

[AndyNapso]

Ubykhs were Adygs, it could be that they wanted to koin their brothers country Abkhazia, some of shapsugh areas were also were part of Abkhazia too.

[apswa07]

Ubykhs were not Adygs. Ubykhs had their own distinct language.

[AndyNapso]

yes they were Adygs, at first i thought that they weren't but eventualy they turned out to be Adygs, their language was somekind of mixture between Abkhazian and Adyge languages.

[apswa07]

No, Ubykh language is not a mixture. We have three distinct languages: Adyge—Ubykh—Abaza/Abkhaz.

[AndyNapso]

we got some ubykhs families among us in kavkaz, and i asked some of them what are ubykhs actualy is it adyge or abkhaz? and they said they are adygs, it is them who say it and their surname is ubykh

[apswa07]

They said they are adygs because they are assimilated with adygs.

[AndyNapso]

Well i don't know then, at first i thought they are not Adygs but a small nation by themselv's, but every where i went and asked ppl tell me they are one of 12 Adyge tribes.

then what are they? i know Abkhaz ppl are 3 tribes, so what are the sub-tribes of Ubykhs?

[apswa07]

I don't know about Ubykh sub-tribes. The main thing is that they had their distinct language.

Abkhaz tribes are садз, цуыджьы, ахIкIыпсоу, бзып, гума, абжьыуа, дал, цIабал.

[AndyNapso]

Bro, Why most of them Assimilated with Adygs then? they Assimilated with Abzakh and Shapsugh more than Abkhazians

what is left of them after the great war

[AnaMurida]

A friend told me the language remotely exists. Could it be possible for it to be revived?

Adige peoples were exiled because of their Islamic faith, but InshaAllah they will be able to keep their religion, culture and language.

Allah is Great.

[AndyNapso]

Adyge not exiled only for their Islamic faith, they were exiled because they were trouble to russians and russians wanted the Adyge lands.

[AnaMurida]

The Russians became impatient with Adygs when they refused to change their religion and give up their land.

Is there any possibility for your peoples return?

[ahmeshito]

Increíble....

[Carbatay]

I'm not sure.

[apswa07]

No.

[jamesS0289]

It was probably an ejective sound, like /k'/, rather than a click sound.

But you're right, it does sound kinda click-ish. :)

[samarabob]

@faceofjesusinmysoup he's not, it's just a far back of the throat glottal sound, so it sounds kind of like it.

[AkkordionBloke]

@faceofjesusinmysoup Not quite a click, but one of the may plosive consonants in Ubykh.

[vaguelyhumanoid]

@AkkordionBloke

I think you mean ejective consonants-plosives are jut stops.

[googlephi]

@faceofjesusinmysoup

Those are probably ejective consonants you hear. Ubykh has no clicks, but quite a collection of different consonants (including ejectives).

[tr1ad]

@faceofjesusinmysoup

No, it was an ejective consonant.

[tr1ad]

@faceofjesusinmysoup Maybe you shouldn't be wrong in the first place.

[KALPAK7]

Abkhaz-Adiga-Ubykh

Are One Nation

[Pigsterinium]

This is a laungage I would liketo learn.

[DixieBanjo]

Are there any books available to learn Ubykh?

[jineps]

ubykh people were the most extravert ones in northwestern caucasus. they were living in seaside and mainly dealing with trade (commodity and slave). so when they exiled to turkey, they easily assimilated by neighboring communities. it was sometimes adyghes (as in the case of manyas and samsun) sometimes abkhaz (in adapazar) but mostly turks. furthermore, even when they were in caucasus, almost all could speak adyghe language (adyghabze)and maybe a third was fluent in ubykh..

[Devast8ion]

A language of 82 consonants and 2 vowels, for anyone interested. That is one hell of a ratio.

[qqqqssssxxxx]

Strangely, Ubykh doesn't cluster consonants so that you have no more than three in a row. English easily beats that!

[Qetapaz]

So what? English is still ultimately the most boring language by it's typology. There are some caucasian languages having clusters of 8 consonants.

[qqqqssssxxxx]

I'm just saying that with all the consonants Ubykh has, it does not cluster as much as, say, Georgian. გვბრდღვნი!

[Etude]

With all the consonants Georigian has, it does not cluster as much as Nuxálk. Xlpkhltlplskʦ! :)

[Conway79]

There are easily at least four vowel sounds in there.

[ketsuban]

Allophony - you can have multiple vowel *sounds* which are manifestations of the same vowel *phoneme* in different environments.

[changolini]

@Devast8ion how did u found this info at do they sell any dictionaries or audios of this language

[Werzemes]

All interested in Ubykh language are waiting when the comprehensive English-Ubykh & Ubykh-English dictionary will be published. There is in Australia one enthusiast of revival of that ancient language. His name is Rohan Fenwick.

[RolfLarsson]

So is this language still dead?

[malice200]

Yup; this recording is of the last person to speak the language, Tevfik Esenç, who died in 1992.

[RolfLarsson]

So sad. Are the Ubykhs in their own region, or are they a minority in like Azerbaijan or something? Someone needs to revive this language.

[BobCassidy]

They do not live in one region anymore. There is no reall point in reviving the language as their are no speakers left

Do a google for "Ubykh people wiki"

[Pohjoiskarjalainen]

On pourrait aussi souhaiter qu'il y aurait une "traduction" en IUPAC, afin de mieux apercevoir les sons de la langue.

[hakanster]

oubykh people used to live on the mounts of Caucassia and they used to earn their living at wood and its products,now they are all around the world spread and you are so lucky if you have a oubykh friend by your side.because they are so special and precious people with their traditions and culture! hakansterhotmailcom

[hakanster]

oubykh people are so distinguished!

[Carbatay]

I don't know.

I just know that there was this family between Ubykh people.

[Carbatay]

It must be Hundja.

[Carbatay]

What is your family name?

[cjon]

The language does sound like French to a person who knows no French - that's the amazing thing about Ubykh. For years, I've read about this language in books but had no idea how it would sound like.

Thanks to whoever uploaded this! Yes, this is the last speaker of Ubykh. Hundreds of hours of recordings were made in his language not only because it was dying but because it was also unique.

The wikipedia article for this language as a result is more thorough than languages of similar popularity.

[carnationsoul]

Trans Part 2:

'-If you eat fish, you become more intelligent, that's why,' said the other. 'Oh really? If so, give me a bit of your fish! How much did it cost?' 'A pound.' 'Very well,' and the cheese guy gives him a pound. A little later, whilst on their way, he demands to the one who bought the fish, 'how much did this fish cost?' 'A pound. You see how intelligent you've becoming licking the head? How much more would you be had you eaten the entire fish?!'

[Carbatay]

Thanx for translation.

[carnationsoul]

You're very welcome...

What a shame that such an interesting and beautiful language died out..

[Carbatay]

This shame on Russia and Turkey.

[CiLeBuLBuLu]

It has nothing to do with Turkey. The Russian exported these people, whereas the Turks received them with open arms...

It sounds a bit like hebrewic, but it is less harsh than hebrewic. It sounds like a beautiful language, to sad it extinguished.

[carnationsoul]

Some people have asked for a translation. Here goes:

One day, two men were walking together. They went to buy their provisions for their journey. One buys some cheese and bread, the other some fish and bread. On the way there, the one who had bought the cheese says to his companion: 'hey, why do you lot eat such an awful lot of fish?'

[faflimabuyukova]

my family is ubikh but nobody knows this ubikh language they live in Sakarya Sapanca Yanik koy...

[Pshinoqua]

write to me i am also Ubykh adigha07 at mail dot ru

[arraquiel]

merhaba yanikkoy lu musunuz gercekten?

[infernofire89]

my mother is an ubykh but she cant speak ubykh.i think the reason why she has not been taught ubykh language is,after exile ubykh elders encouraged their people to assimilate into Turkish culture.

[bshrtmara]

Can anybody provide us with an English translation?

[avzenk]

bu dil ubih cami?

[Carbatay]

Ubih.

[shatterprone]

Funny that the translation is French because to my ears, his language sounds very much like French due to the many pharyngealisations.

[DolimNaramek]

Last speaker was died in Turkey.1992

[Carbatay]

It's him.

[Bigfishwhatabigfish]

You know what the most fascinating thing about Ubykh was? It's phonetics contained about 81 consonants, but only 3 vowels! =0

[Vortarulo]

Wow... sounds interesting. Too bad the language died out. No one speaks it anymore. :S

[Carbatay]

Where they are?

[zawurkan]

oubykh dili benim delim, dünyaya biraz daha erken gelip öğrenmek için neleri feda etmezdimki.

[AsyaThawho]

I can't understand even a word hahahahaha...

[Carbatay]

Sausryqua can translate it :)

[sausryqua]

sure i can :)

[sausryqua]

Very very similar to Abkhaz language.Thanks

[Carbatay]

I haven't time for translation now.

[Carbatay]

He is died in 1992.