Elements of Archaeolinguistics in the Etymology of the Term ‘Nart’, by Aslan M. Shazzo

Aslan Shazzo (1953–2024) was a Circassian journalist, civic activist, and researcher. Born in Pashkovsky, Krasnodar, he graduated from the Faculty of Philology at Kuban State University. He worked in journalism before serving as a researcher at the Adyghe Republican Institute for Humanities Research, where his interests included Adyghe (Circassian) history, language, and epic tradition. Shazzo was the founder and editor-in-chief of the online publication Natpress, which became an important platform for public discourse and cultural reflection in the North Caucasus.

Abstract

The article advances the hypothesis that the term nart originated in a remote epoch when the Adyghe, Abkhaz, and Ubykh constituted a single people. Proceeding from this assumption and on the basis of comparison between the components of the term and their Adyghe–Abkhaz–Ubykh parallels, three possible interpretations of its original meaning are proposed.

Keywords: Narts, heroic epic, Asker Gadagatl, nat, Natukhai, Adyghe, Ubykh, Abaza, Abkhaz.

The heroic epic Narts represents the most ancient specimen of Caucasian oral folk creativity—a fact that scarcely requires special proof. It suffices to note that the epic contains narrative motifs clearly reflecting the matriarchal epoch. Among these are the tales of Satanay-guasha, Akonda-dakha, and others. This, in turn, suggests that the term nart itself arose in very remote antiquity. It may, however, have undergone subsequent modification—either simplification or complication.

One such modification may be the relatively recent addition of the sound r. A number of facts suggest that the original form of the word nart may have been nat.

First, Shapsug, Natukhai, and partially Bzhedug storytellers in the recent past employed precisely this form. Second, the form nat has been preserved as a component in the sub-ethnonym Natukhai (Adyghe: натхъуай, natxuay; also натхъуадж, natxuadzh; наткъуадж, natquadzhe), the latter variant meaning “settlement of the Nats.” Moreover, the form nat occurs in Circassian surnames such as Natuko (Натыкъу), not to be confused with НэтIэкъу; Natyrbov (Нэтырбэ); Natkho (Натхъо), and others.

An etymology of the term nart based exclusively on Adyghe material was proposed by one of the elders of North Caucasian folkloristics, Asker Gadagatl. According to his interpretation, na (нэ) means “eye,” while t or tyn signifies “to give” or “gift.” The whole, therefore, is to be understood as “the eye that gives” [Natrkher, 2017, Vol. I, p. 38].

However, ne in the meaning “eye” is a purely Adyghe semantic unit. No parallels are found in Ubykh or Abaza–Abkhaz. From the standpoint of the commonality of these languages, the meaning “eye” appears accidental. Moreover, within the internal logic of Adyghe itself, the meaning “eye” would more precisely be expressed by another lexical form. Comparing the verbs pl’en “to look” and l’eg’un “to see,” one may detect the form l’e.

Clear parallels to this Adyghe base are found in Abkhaz a-la, Abaza la, and Ubykh bl’e, all meaning “eye” [Shagirov 1977, Vol. I, p. 276].

As for ne meaning “eye,” it appears to be related to ne meaning “place.” This ne remains in use in certain words, for example psyne (псынэ), where psy- (псы-) means “water” and -ne (-нэ) should properly be interpreted as “place”; or nepk’ (нэпкъ), where ne- denotes “place” and -pk’y “framework, skeleton.”

In seeking a common Adyghe–Abkhaz semantic basis connected with this ancient ne, attention should be drawn to the Abkhaz pronoun a-na meaning “there” [Shagirov 1977, Vol. I, p. 280], as well as the Abkhaz preverb na- “thither.” A comparable meaning is discernible in the Adyghe preverb ne- in words such as nesyn “to reach (there), to touch (that).”

From these meanings one may proceed to others, for instance in nekI’o and nakI’ue, where ne- and na- approximate the sense “come on, together there,” while -kI’o / -kI’ue means “to go.” In total, these forms represent the imperative of the verb.

Such shades of meaning—from exhortative nuance to vocative address—were evidently primary in that remote epoch for the entire semantic spectrum of words formed with ne. When Adyghe, Ubykh, and Abaza–Abkhaz later differentiated into separate languages, Adyghe developed ne in the sense “look in that place,” later simplified to “look,” and only in relatively recent times acquiring the meaning “eye.”

Thus, interpreting the component na- in nart as 'eye' significantly reduces the antiquity of the term.

Yet there also existed a word with an n-base meaning “person.” This meaning is closer to our objective. These forms survive today with narrowed semantics: Circassian ane, ny “mother,” Ubykh ne, Abkhaz an, and Abaza any with the same meaning [Shagirov 1977, Vol. I, p. 30]. If they now mean “mother,” then in a matriarchal society such a designation would have extended not only to dominant women but also to their children, some of whom became male hunters and defenders.

Words in which the component ne signifies “person” still exist in Adyghe. For example, nyne is an affectionate address to a child. It does not mean “mother’s eye” but rather “mother’s child,” i.e., a person. Or nanyue “child,” where metathesis has occurred: the component na (“child”) appears first, ny (“mother”) second, with the addition of a third element -ue. Likewise nebghyr “individual,” where ne may be discerned in the sense “person,” while bghy means “ridge, waist” of a human being.

From ane, ny and their Ubykh and Abaza–Abkhaz counterparts were likely formed the endings -an, -en, -yn, which today occur as components in the Circassian sub-ethnonym Zhane (жанэ); in surnames such as Bghane (Бгъанэ), Yeghane (Егъанэ), Bedjane (Бэджанэ); and in proper names from the Nart epic—Chechan (Чэчан), Nasren (Насрэн), Lashyn (Лащын), and others. The original meaning of this component was evidently “child,” belonging to a particular mother, and later “person,” member of the community—specifically, of the matriarchal order.

Turning to the second component of nat(e), it is readily identifiable in the related languages: Adyghe tyn, Ubykh te, t’y, Abkhaz a-tara, Abaza atra—all meaning “to give” [Shagirov 1977, Vol. II, p. 85]. From this perspective, nat(e) may be explained as “the giving person,” a meaning logically appropriate to a period of transition from matriarchy to patriarchy, when leadership passed to the successful male hunter.

Yet tyn is not the only possible interpretation. Another candidate is the component t, more precisely txu, as found in the sub-ethnonym natxuay (натхъуай).

If one segments natxuay, the final element -ay represents a possessive plural suffix [Collection of Articles on the Ethnography of Adygea, 1975, p. 248], as already noted by the distinguished scholar and first Palaeolithic archaeologist of Adygea, P. Autlev. The main stem natxu is virtually identical to that in the Shapsug surname Natkho (Натхъо).

If, as argued above, na / ne is to be understood not as “eye” but as “person,” then the translation of Natkho as “gray-eyed,” proposed for example by Abazins who also regard the surname Natkho as their own, cannot be accepted. The Adyghe–Abkhaz international character of the component txu is also hinted at in Natyrbov (Нэтырбэ), where the final -be recalls Abaza–Abkhaz ba “son.”

Adyghe–Abkhaz parallels for -txu are as follows: Adyghe txo, txue “gray, hoary” (of a person, i.e., gray-haired); Ubykh txʷ?e “ash”; Abkhaz a-xʷa “ash, gray,” where, according to [Georges] Dumézil [the comparative mythologist], the sound t has been lost; Abaza kxʷa “ash” [Shagirov 1977, Vol. II, p. 70]. If these meanings are projected into the distant past, natxu could denote a man turning gray or already gray—chosen by his kin as head of an emerging patriarchal community.

A weakness of this hypothesis lies in the reduction of txo to a simple t without residual elements indicating prior complexity—apart from the surname Natkho. Yet if conditions allowed nat to develop into the more complex nart, why should the simplification of natxu to nat be impossible? Perhaps such differentiation served to distinguish the primary clan (natxu) from the people (nat) generated by it. Indirect confirmation may lie in the alternative ethnonym natquadzhe, derived from the same ancient base.

Furthermore, Adyghe surnames exist in which nat appears in pure form: Nat, Natby, Natdzheriy, where -by and -dzheriy are clearly later accretions.

This invites a third attempt to interpret the component t in nat. It may derive from Adyghe ate, ty / ade “father.” Ubykh t’y fits this series; Abaza aba and Abkhaz ab somewhat less so [Shagirov 1977, Vol. I, pp. 56–57], though the author of the Etymological Dictionary of the Adyghe (Circassian) Languages considered such deviations permissible.

Thus we arrive at three possible meanings of the component t, te in nat. If preference is to be given, the first—t from tyn “to give, gift”—appears most convincing. Regardless of whether the social order was matriarchal or patriarchal, from a man was always required the ability to procure and to share generously what he had obtained.

The soundness of the broader argument is further supported by the presence of -t (and occasionally -d) endings in ancient Circassian ethnonyms and clan names: the legendary Narts and their adversaries the Chints; historical Hatti, Kerkets, Sindi, Antae, Sarmatians, Dzurti (Jews), and others. Among Adyghe surnames we find Hat, Khot, Got, Khut, Set, Bat, Met, Bit, Kat, Chet (Ket), Shet, Khatit, Chermit, and many more.

Whatever its ultimate origin, the -t ending in nat possesses sufficiently convincing Adyghe–Ubykh–Abkhaz parallels. On this basis one may assert that the epic and the term nart arose in a distant epoch when the Adyghe–Abkhaz languages had not yet differentiated into separate languages and perhaps existed as dialectal variants of a common proto-language.

A collateral result of analysing the components of nat is the clarification of degrees of kinship among Adyghe, Ubykh, and Abkhaz. The evidence suggests that Adyghe and Ubykh are, overall, closer to one another than Ubykh is to Abkhaz. The variety of Adyghe spoken by western Circassians appears particularly close to Ubykh.

References

1. Gadagatl, A. M. Geroicheskii epos Narty adygskikh (cherkesskikh) narodov [The Heroic Epic Narts of the Adyghe (Circassian) Peoples]. Maykop, 1987, p. 320.
   
2. Shagirov, A. K. Etimologicheskii slovar’ adygskikh (cherkesskikh) yazykov [Etymological Dictionary of the Adyghe (Circassian) Languages]. Moscow, 1977. Vol. I, pp. 276, 280, 30, 56–57; Vol. II, pp. 85, 70.
   
3. Sbornik statei po etnografii Adygei [Collection of Articles on the Ethnography of Adygea]. Maykop, 1975. Autlev, P. U. “Iz adygskoi etnonimii” [From Adyghe Ethnonymy], p. 248.