A North Caucasian language and a member of the North-West group, spoken by some 45,000 people in the Russian autonomous republic of Karachay-Cherkessia and in Germany, Turkey and the USA. Its closest linguistic affiliation is with Abkhaz.
Like other Caucasian languages, Abaza has a large number of consonants (63) and few vowels. As a result, it is considered by linguists to be one of the most difficult Caucasian languages to learn. It is written in both the Roman and Cyrillic alphabets.
| Grammar | |
| Case and agreement in Abaza | ABAZA GRAM 1 |
| Listening - Fiction | |
| Nart sagas from the Caucasus | ABAZA LFICT 1a |
| The sword and the horse of Sosruqwo | ABAZA LFICT 1(CD) |