Adyghe Int. Sci. J. Vol. 26, No. 2. Pp. 67–77.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.47928/1726-9946-2026-26-2-67-77
EDN: SPWJKV
PHILOLOGY
| UDC 811.352.3 | Original Article |
Lesken dialect – area of distribution and specific features
Bizhoev Boris Chamalovich
Doctor of Philological Sciences, Head of the Kabardian-Circassian Language Sector, Institute for Humanities Research of the Kabardino-Balkarian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Nalchik, Russia), Honored Scientist of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic and the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8193-7126, SPIN-code: 4801-7866, bizhoev1952@mail.ru
Abstract. The presence of features distinct from the literary language in the speech of residents of several villages in the Lesken District of the Kabardino-Cherkess Republic was noted by linguists as early as the mid-20th century. However, until now, this had not been the subject of dedicated research. Only a few facts had been cited in passing, sometimes attributed to residents of two or three villages, sometimes to the entire district. It was necessary to conduct a comprehensive survey and, based on its results, firstly, identify a list of the specific features inherent to the district’s population and, secondly, define the boundaries of the territory where they occur. This task became relevant and urgent due to the largescale study of the current state of the dialects and subdialects of the Kabardino-Circassian language. A field expedition was organized and speech samples from residents of the region were collected, sufficient to objectively assess the situation and draw reasoned conclusions. It has been irrefutably established that the origin of the Lesken dialect was the mass settlement of the village of Aslamurzovo (today’s Second Lesken) by Ossetian-Digor settlers in the 19th century. They adopted a distinctive Kabardian language, which subsequently affected the Kabardians themselves due to the numerical superiority of the new settlers. Currently, the Lesken dialect is also spoken by residents of the village of Erokko, who were resettled from Second Lesken in the early 20th century. However, in other settlements in the region – Anzorey, Khatuy, Urukh, and Argudan- he Ossetians were unable to exert a similar influence, as their influx there was not as extensive. In these villages, only the vocabulary has been enriched with a number of Ossetianisms, and this does not provide grounds for classifying them as part of the dialect under
study, whose main distinction lies in phonetic phenomena. The collected field data allowed us to identify the current state of the Lesken dialect and the changes it has undergone compared to data collected half a century ago. The conclusion is as follows: its specific features persist among older people and, to some extent, among the middle generation. These features are virtually absent from the current generation, but among the latter, the influence of the Russian language is significant, not only in vocabulary but also in phonetics, morphology, and even syntax, which cannot but raise concerns about the future of the native language.
Keywords: Lesken dialect, features, borrowings, phonetics, vocabulary, literary language.
Funding. The work was not carried out within the framework of funds.
Competing interests. There are no conflicts of interest regarding authorship and publication.
Contribution and Responsibility. The author participated in the writing of the article and is fully responsible for submitting the final version of the article to the press.
For citation. Bizhoev B.Ch. Lesken dialect – area of distribution and specific features. Adyghe Int. Sci. J. 2026. Vol. 26, No. 2. Pp. 67–77. DOI: https://doi.org/10.47928/1726-9946-2026-26-2-67-77; EDN: SPWJKV
Submitted 05.05.2026; approved after reviewing 25.05.2026; accepted for publication 09.06.2026.
© Bizhoev B.Ch., 2026
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