ABSTRACT
Circassian itself is divided into a Western and an Eastern group. Languages of the Western group have the most complex consonantal inventories, and among these Bzhedukh is the most complex. All members of the other two groups have three uvular series: plain rounded and 'palatalized'. Except in some forms of the Dudaruko-Bibard sub-dialect of Abaza, these segments are unique to the Circassian group. Circassian itself is divided into a Western and an Eastern group. Languages of the Western group have the most complex consonantal inventories, and among these Bzhedukh is the most complex. Professors Catford and Kuipers cannot be faulted for their misinterpretation. Some young Circassians, in the course of acquiring their mother tongue, apparently had the same impressions that these two linguists had. Universal in the Northwest Caucasian (NWC) family is the series of rounded velars.
