Besleney

Besleney villages of Circassia around 1830–1850; "1" denotes nine villages resettled from the mountains by General Gregory von Saß; "2" denotes villages whose names are unknown; The area of village concentration in the upper reaches of the Laba River tributaries is now part of Krasnodar Krai between Adygea to the north and Karachay-Cherkessia to the south

The Besleney (Circassian: Bеслъэней, IPA: [basɬənəj]; Russian: Бесленеевцы) are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of the twelve stars on the green-and-gold Circassian flag. By character, culture and language, the Besleney are closest to Kabardians. The noble families of the Besleney were Kanoko and Shaloho, ancestors of Kabardian Prince Beslan, (the son of legendary Prince Inal), who established his own tribe of the same name.

Population

Abazin

Abkhaz

Abzakh

Abzakh

Besleney

Bzhedug

Hatuqwai

Kabardian

Kuban Kabardian

Mamkhegh

Natukhai

Natukhai

Shapsug

Shapsug

Temirgoy

Temirgoy

Ubykh

Yegeruqwai

Zhaney

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Historical locations of Circassian tribes

The majority of the Besleney live in the valley of Bolshaya and Malaya Laba Rivers and on the bank of Urup in the Russian Republics of Karachay-Cherkessia, Krasnodar Krai and Adygea. They also extend to the valleys of Chetem, Fars, Psefir, Kuban (Western Circassia).

Language

See also: Besleney Kabardian dialect

The Besleney people speak the Besleney sub-dialect (Adyghe: Бэслъыныйбзэ) of the Kabardian Adyghe dialect (East Circassian). However, because the Besleney tribe lived at the center of Circassia, the Besleney dialect also shares a large number of features with dialects of the West Adyghe dialect. Like the Adyghe Shapsug sub-dialect, there exist a palatalized voiced velar plosive [ɡʲ], a palatalized voiceless velar plosive [kʲ] and a palatalized velar ejective [kʲʼ], which were merged to [d͡ʒ], [t͡ʃ] and [t͡ʃʼ] in other Circassian dialects. The Besleney dialect also has an alveolar lateral ejective affricate [t͡ɬʼ], which corresponds to an alveolar lateral ejective fricative [ɬʼ] in most other varieties of Circassian. The Besleney dialect has a voiceless glottal fricative [h] that corresponds to [x] in other Circassian dialects.

Meaning	Besleney sub-dialect		Standard Kabardian		Standard Adyghe		Shapsug sub-dialect
	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA	Cyrillic	IPA
horse	чъы	[t͡ʂɘ]	шы	[ʃɘ]	шы	[ʃɘ]	шы	[ʃɘ]
sister	чъыпхъу	[t͡ʂɘpχʷ]	шыпхъу	[ʃɘpχʷ]	шыпхъу	[ʃɘpχʷ]	шыпхъу	[ʃɘpχʷ]
wedding	нысачъэ	[nɘsaːt͡ʂɐ]	нысашэ	[nɘsaːʃɐ]	нысашэ	[nɘsaːʃɐ]	нысашэ	[nɘsaːʃɐ]
day	махуэ	[maːxʷɐ]	махуэ	[maːxʷɐ]	мафэ	[maːfɐ]	мафэ	[maːfɐ]
black	фӏыцӏэ	[fʼɘt͡sʼɐ]	фӏыцӏэ	[fʼɘt͡sʼɐ]	шӏуцӏэ	[ʃʷʼɘt͡sʼɐ]	шӏусӏэ	[ʃʷʼɘsʼɐ]
shirt, dress	гьанэ	[ɡʲaːnɐ]	джанэ	[d͡ʒaːnɐ]	джанэ	[d͡ʒaːnɐ]	гьанэ	[ɡʲaːnɐ]
tree	джыг	[d͡ʒɘɣ]	жыг	[ʒɘɣ]	чъыгы	[t͡ʂɘɡɘ]	чъыгы	[t͡ʃɘɣɘ]
four	птлӏы	[pt͡ɬʼɘː]	плӏы	[pɬʼɘː]	плӏы	[pɬʼɘː]	плӏы	[pɬʼɘː]
man	тлӏы	[t͡ɬʼɘː]	лӏы	[ɬʼɘː]	лӏы	[ɬʼɘː]	лӏы	[ɬʼɘː]
chicken	гьэд	[gɐd]	джэд	[d͡ʒɐd]	чэты	[t͡ʃɐtɘ]	кьэт	[kʲɐt]
tail, seed	кӏьэ	[kʲʼɐ]	кӏэ	[t͡ʃʼɐ]	кӏэ	[t͡ʃʼɐ]	кӏьэ	[kʲʼɐ]
young man, boy	кӏалэ	[t͡ʃʼaːlɐ]	щӏалэ	[ɕʼaːɮɐ]	кӏалэ	[t͡ʃʼaːɮɐ]	кӏалэ	[t͡ʃʼaːlɐ]
new	кӏэ	[t͡ʃʼɐ]	щӏэ	[ɕʼɐ]	кӏэ	[t͡ʃʼɐ]	кӏэ	[t͡ʃʼɐ]

See also

• East Adyghe dialect
• West Adyghe dialect
• Other Circassian tribes:
• Abzakh
• Bzhedug
• Hatuqwai
• Kabardian
• Mamkhegh
• Natukhai
• Rescue of Leningrad Jewish children in Beslenei
• Shapsug
• Temirgoy
• Ubykh
• Yegeruqwai
• Zhaney

External links

• UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive - Recording Details for Kabardian Beslenei dialect