Which languages belong to the Northwest Caucasian family?

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The Northwest Caucasian language family, also known as the Abkhazo-Adyghian languages, consists of the following languages:

  • Abkhaz12
  • Abaza12
  • Adyghian12
  • Kabardian (often referred to as Circassian)12
  • Ubykh (now extinct)12

These languages are primarily spoken in the northwestern region of the Caucasus Mountains. While Adyghian and Kabardian are sometimes grouped together as Circassian, and Abkhaz and Abaza share a very close affinity, Ubykh historically occupied an intermediate position between the Abkhaz-Abaza and Adyghe-Kabardian groups. These languages are characterized by a high number of distinctive consonants and a limited number of vowels.12