The problem of originals: To the forefathers of the Adyghe language

Kardanov Musadin L.,

Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor of the Kabardino-Circassian Language and Literature Department

Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H.M. Berbekov

e-mail: musadin07@mail.ru

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3393-549X

Shugusheva Juleta Kh.,

Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor of the Kabardino-Circassian Language and Literature Department

Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H.M. Berbekov

e-mail: shugushd@mail.ru

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7162-5057

In parallel with quantum theory in physics, language demonstrates that each individual sound in a word can function as an independent element with its own unique semantics. At the same time, when sounds are combined into words and sentences, they begin to behave like “waves”, where the individual characteristics of the sounds are combined, creating a single semantic structure. In this paper, we propose the assumption that each sound has a certain meaning, the understanding of which can significantly help in identifying the components of the proto-language in languages that are considered unrelated today. Interdisciplinary analysis of sounds allows, in our opinion, to move beyond traditional approaches to establishing linguistic kinship, focusing not on phonetic characteristics (place and method of education), but on determining the quantum (smallest) value of the content. A new term is being introduced into scientific usage — the quantum meaning of sound, which reflects a minimal, indivisible semantics. Regardless of the position of the letter in the word, the same sound retains its original meaning. It is also important to note that the sounds in ancient words have a clearly structured hierarchy: the quantum meaning of the first sound in the word is key to understanding the general meaning of the whole word. For example, from the pair reguli / ireguli “presses”, the archaic form is preserved in the first word, where the quantum meaning of the sound [r] is dominant in determining the semantics of the word as a whole.

Keywords: Adyghe language, semantics, etymology, quantum meaning of sound, lexeme, radius, grammaticalization, morpheme

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