Kabardian scientist recreated Abkhaz dictionary

In the world of gadgets, smartphones, TVs, the Internet and everyone’s favorite “YouTube” with our “heroes”, we are young people, we often forget or do not know at all the real heroes of our time. These are scientists, public, cultural figures, inventors and many others. The hero of this article is a real patriot of his small and large homeland, a person who is engaged in a good, necessary and right thing — the science of language. Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor of the Department of the Kabardino-Circassian Language and Literature of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H. M. Berbekov Albek Chamirovich Abazov in 2003 discovered the original manuscript, which bore the working title “Dictionary of the Abaza. Assembled on the spot, by the fleet by Lieutenant Vladimir Romanov.» Albek Chamirovich, starting from the first year, spent a lot of time in the archives, collecting materials on the material culture of the peoples of Kabardino-Balkaria.

So, in the course of collecting new information about the first ascent of Elbrus Kilar Khashirov, observing the fate of the people of that era and the participants of this very expedition in the funds of the Russian State Archive of the Navy of St. Petersburg, I discovered a small message about a naval officer Romanov, who allegedly wrote an Abaza dictionary. With only this little information, Abazov managed to establish the name and patronymic of this naval officer. It turned out that he was a fleet lieutenant Vladimir Romanov — one of the participants in the 1825 Decembrist uprising, who was later exiled to the Caucasus. “This message said that along the coast of Abkhazia, one of the Decembrists got acquainted with the local Abaza, their culture, language, way of life and began to compile a dictionary of the Abaza language. I was immediately interested in this topic, and I began to look for which of the Decembrists was in the Caucasus. I «shoveled» a lot of literature and established the person who owned this dictionary. It was a certain Vladimir Romanov, who in 1827 took part in the voyage on the sloop «Diana» along the coast of Abkhazia.

During the Russian-Turkish wars, Vladimir Romanov took part in the battles of Anapa and Varna (a city in Bulgaria) on the Paris ship. While the ship was standing, V. Romanov went on a boat to the Abaza lands, got acquainted with the locals and in 1827 compiled a dictionary, which he later sent to his naval command, ”comments Albek Abazov. A. Abazov shared his find with his French colleague, a Caucasian expert from Paris, Bernard Utier. So a strong friendly and creative connection was struck between them, which Albek Abazov especially values. Later, Bernard provided scientific advice and assistance for the publication of an article in the Paris Linguistic Bulletin and the publication of the manuscript of the dictionary he discovered. Albek Chamirovich reconstructed the dictionary of the Abaza language and offered an electronic version to his Abkhaz colleagues: Abkhazian literary critic, candidate of philological sciences Vasily Shamoneyevich Avidzba (at that time director of the Institute of Humanitarian Studies of the Academy of Sciences of Abkhazia and Abkhazian linguist, lexicologist Leonid Khigovich, Samanbe. Abazov published it in Turkey in 2014. The original of the manuscript discovered by the associate professor of KBSU is kept in the funds of the Russian State Archive of the Navy in St. Petersburg. The second copy of the manuscript is in the funds of the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia. Albek Abazov, together with his French colleague, an employee of the State Center scientific research of France by Bernard Utier — checked both versions and found out that the Tbilisi manuscript is a draft version of the St. Petersburg version. discovered work — «Dictionary of Abkhaz and other Circassian dialects.» Albek Abazov was the head and main executor for a grant from the Russian Humanitarian Scientific Foundation and the Academy of Sciences of Abkhazia for the period from 2013 to 2014 — the project «Caucasus in the research of the Decembrists: about the unknown manuscript of the» Abaza dictionary «(Dictionary of the Abkhaz language and other Circassian dialects) V. NS. Romanov «.

“My dream is to find this dictionary too. I must admit that I know where to start the search, in which direction to move, but funds are needed for such research,” — Albek Abazov notes with regret. Remembering his childhood, the scientist speaks with deep gratitude about the first teachers who laid in him a love for his native language: this is an elementary school teacher Khadinat Khazhmuratovna Karasheva (Nagoyeva), and a teacher of the Kabardian language and literature in grades 5-10, an excellent student of public education of the RSFSR , honored teacher of the KBASSR school Zoya Mukhamedovna Mamkhegova. Thanks to these teachers, A. Abazov realized that he wanted to study his native language. In 1981, Albek Chamirovich graduated from school with an excellent certificate and entered the historical and philological faculty of KBSU, specializing in Kabardian language and literature.

Abazov treated the teachers and his mentors at the university with reverence. “I was lucky because a galaxy of talented specialists worked at the university. Among them are professors Urusov Khatali Shakhimovich, Khakuashev Andrey Khanashkhovich, Taov Khazesha Talievich, Kambachokov Adam Mushtagidovich, associate professors Naloev Akhmedkhan Khamurzovich (legendary participant, military officer of the Great Patriotic War, People’s Writer of Kabardino-Balkarians, Tamal Khashadovich), Naloevna who studied the Kabardian language, folklore and literature,” — recalls Abazov. According to the teacher and scientist, today students of our university have many opportunities to prove themselves in this field of activity. “Getting higher education is a truly interesting and responsible life stage. Studying at a university is not only a path from a lecture to an exam or practice. In fact, everything is much more interesting. There are additional opportunities to reveal your potential and gain an interesting and useful experience, engaging in fascinating scientific activities from the first year under the guidance of their teachers — employees of specialized departments. At KBSU, student scientific events are held annually in all branches of science. Participation in conferences at various levels (university, North Caucasus Federal District, all-Russian, international) opens up a number of prospects. First, young people learn to write research papers that can form the basis of a graduation project. Secondly, this is an opportunity to study in depth the discipline of interest and determine the field of work. Thirdly, this is a great way to practice the skill of public speaking,” — notes Abazov.

From the biography of the scientist linguist A.Ch. Abazov

Albek Chamirovich Abazov was born on September 3, 1964 in the village. Kyzburun III of the Baksan region of the KBASSR. My father worked on a collective farm, my mother raised 6 sons. Albek Chamirovich is the second oldest brother. She has been working at KBSU since the fall of 1988. Candidate of Philological Sciences (1993), Associate Professor (1996), member of the Writers’ Union of Russia (2003), critic, literary critic Abazov works at the Department of the Kabardino-Circassian Language and Literature of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University, where he teaches the following disciplines of the department. «History of Kabardino-Circassian Literature»; «Drama in Kabardino-Circassian Literature»; «Literature of kindred peoples»; «Methodological problems of the Adyghe literary criticism and criticism»; «Modern trends in literary studies»; “Methods and technology of professional activity (Kabardino-Circassian language and literature); «The history of the Kabardino-Circassian literary criticism» and others. From September 12, 2013 to November 2015, A.Ch. Abazov was on a long trip abroad at the invitation, where he stayed in the department opened by him as an associate professor-doctor of the Department of Circassian Language and Culture of the Department of Caucasian Languages ​​and Cultures at the Erciyes University of the Turkish Republic. A.Ch. Abazov is an active participant in the work of scientific and practical conferences of the regional, all-Russian, international level: Paris (France); Amman (Jordan); Przemysl (Poland); Sofia (Bulgaria); Ankara, Istanbul (Turkey), Abkhazia (Sukhum); Ufa, Pyatigorsk, Maykop, Makhachkala, Nalchik (Russia) and others. Along with teaching activities, A. Abazov is also engaged in social work. So, in the period from June 18, 2018 to March 17, 2021, he was the Executive Director of the non-profit organization “Multiculture” Foundation for Supporting the History, Language and Traditions of the Peoples of the North Caucasus. Since August 2021 — Albek Chamirovich is the director of the Association for Mutual Assistance and Development of the Abaza (Abaza) Clan.

A.Ch. Abazov’s rewards

Certificate of Merit of the Ministry of Education and Science of the KBR (2012) «For fruitful work in the education system of the KBR, achievements in training highly qualified specialists»; Certificate of honor of the Parliament of the KBR (2013) «For a significant contribution to the development of education in the republic and active social activities»; Certificate of honor of the Government of the KBR (2018) «For many years of conscientious work and contribution to the development of education in the republic»; The title «Veteran of Labor» (2018) was awarded by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the KBR. Certificate of honor of KBSU (2019) for many years of conscientious work. Certificate of honor of the Union of Writers of Russia (2021) «For great selfless work on the history of the creation of the Union of Writers of Kabardino-Balkaria».