ABSTRACT
Closely related to the Abkhaz languages are the Abaza dialects. They stand in relationship to Abkhaz in much the same way that the East Circassian languages do to the West Circassian group. The dialects of Abaza are highly varied, showing various retentions of traits found in one or another of the Abkhaz dialects. Typifying the Abaza dialects is the absence of the rounded dental series, found in all the Abkhaz languages, including Ashkharwa. In the Tapanta dialect these have merged with the other rounded coronals to produce a rounded alveo-palatal series. The state of affairs seen in this Anatolian dialect is similar to that observed in the Kum-Lo dialect. There are three segments found in Abaza in the back region of the mouth that do not occur in the Abkhaz languages. These are the glottal stop, voiceless palatal spirant, and a voiceless rounded velar spirant. These are borrowings from the Circassian languages.
