Circassian, also known as Cherkess, is a subdivision of the Northwest Caucasian language family, spoken by the Circassian people. There are two Circassian languages, defined by their literary standards, Adyghe, with half a million speakers, and Kabardian, with a million. The languages are highly mutually intelligible with one another, but differ to a degree where they would be considered clear-cut dialects. The earliest extant written records of the Circassian languages are in the Arabic script, recorded by the Turkish traveller Evliya Çelebi in the 17th century, although the Greek and Georgian alphabets were adapted for them in ancient and medieval times.

Cherkesogai, or Circassian Armenians (Armenian: չերքեզահայեր cherk'ezahayer; Circassian: Адыгэ-ермэлы; Russian: черкесские армяне; sometimes referred to as Ermeli, Mountainous Armenians or Transkuban Armenians, are ethnic Armenians who have inhabited Russia's Krasnodar Krai and Republic of Adyghea since the end of 15th century and spoke the Adyghe language, in contrast to other Armenians living in the region. They reside mostly in the cities of Armavir and Maykop. The total number of Cherkosogai is about 50,000 people. According to the Russian 2002 Census, 230 Armenians speak Lowland Adyghe and 222 speak Kabardian Adyghe natively.