Абхазский аналитический алфавит академика Н. Я. Марра

The present paper features a brief history of the transcription-transliteration system that the academician Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr created on the basis of the Roman alphabet, with the addition of sublinear and supralinear marks, at the end of the 19th century. Originally devised for the graphic representation of Georgian and Armenian languages, after further development it was applied to the graphic rendition of all Caucasian languages, which were considered to form a single language family, called Japhetic. Further, in 1926 a variant of it was adapted to the consonant-rich Abkhaz and introduced as its official alphabet; because of its too complicated character, however, it was replaced two years later by a more suitable Latin-based alphabet. Like the whole linguistic activity of its creator, this system, which was differently labeled (Japhetidological transcription, analytical alphabet, Abkhaz analytical alphabet), offers a quite interesting overview of the theoretical issues that were on the agenda in the twenties and thirties. Strongly criticized by famous exponents of Soviet linguistics (among them E. D. Polivanov and N. F. Yakovlev), the Abkhaz analytical alphabet can be only partially considered as Marr’s personal contribution to the Latinisation movement during the cultural revolution. Our analysis tries to highlight the correlation between the cultural climate change after the October revolution and the ideological interpretation and epistemological evolution of Marr’s analytical alphabet.