All letters of the Kabardian and Adyghe alphabets are typed with the Russian keyboard, many as two to four characters (Кхъу, Шъу), except the palochka Ӏ. On Android, Gboard has Kabardian and Adyghe keyboards; on iPhone, type a capital Latin I or set up a text replacement for Ӏ.
The palochka: the one letter a Russian keyboard lacks
The palochka (Russian палочка, “little stick”) is a letter of both alphabets. On its own it is a glottal stop, and after a consonant it marks an ejective, as in КӀ, ЛӀ and ПӀ. It came into Cyrillic in the late 1930s, at first as the digit 1. Most keyboards do not have it, so people type the digit 1 or a capital I instead. In Unicode it is U+04C0; the rarer small form is U+04CF. Some fonts have no palochka at all and show an empty box.
Kabardian letters with the palochka:
Adyghe letters with the palochka:
Everything else is Russian letters. A sound Russian does not have is written with a combination, and each combination counts as one letter: Kabardian has 25 of them, Adyghe 32, from Гъ and Къ to Кхъу.
On Android: Gboard
- Install Gboard from Google Play if your phone does not already use it.
- Open the keyboard’s features menu, then tap More, Settings and Languages.
- Choose Kabardian or Adyghe: Google lists both among Gboard’s languages.
- Choose the layout you want and tap Done.
Google’s list is for Gboard on Android phones and tablets; the iPhone version of Gboard does not list Kabardian or Adyghe (both checked on October 11, 2026).
On iPhone: the Russian keyboard and a shortcut
- Add the Russian keyboard: Settings, General, Keyboard, Keyboards, Add New Keyboard, Russian.
- Type the letters with it. For the palochka, switch to the English keyboard and type a capital I, a common stand-in.
- For the real Ӏ, copy it with the button on this page. Then, in any text field, touch and hold the globe or emoji key, tap Keyboard Settings, then Text Replacement and +.
- Paste Ӏ into Phrase and type a short code you never use otherwise into Shortcut. From then on, typing the code gives you Ӏ.
A capital I, the digit 1 or the real Ӏ?
In chats, a capital I is a common stand-in and so is the digit 1. The Circassian app writes the palochka as a capital Latin I in all its lessons, so text typed that way works in the app, including its translator. For anything printed or official, use the real Ӏ: it is a different character, even if it looks the same.
Every letter, with its sound
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Typing Circassian: questions
Is there a Circassian keyboard?
On Android, yes: Gboard lists Kabardian and Adyghe among its languages. On iPhone, use the Russian keyboard and a capital I or a text replacement for the palochka.
How do I type the palochka Ӏ?
Copy it from this page (U+04C0), type a capital Latin I or the digit 1 as a stand-in, or set up a text replacement on iPhone.
Why are there letters like Кхъу?
Both alphabets write the sounds Russian lacks with letter combinations, and each combination counts as one letter: Kabardian has 25 such letters, Adyghe 32.
Does the Circassian app understand a capital I?
Yes. The app writes the palochka as a capital Latin I in all its lessons, so its translator takes text typed that way.
Sources
- Google, “Set up Gboard” (Android, supported languages: Adyghe, Kabardian; and the iPhone & iPad version, which lists neither), read October 11, 2026.
- Apple, iPhone User Guide: “Add or change keyboards on iPhone” and “Set up shorthand for frequently used text on iPhone”, read October 11, 2026.
- Wikipedia, “Palochka”: history, Unicode, keyboards and fonts.
- The letters: the site’s Kabardian and Adyghe alphabet pages and their sources.
- Circassian app, version 5.9.0: the palochka as a capital Latin I in the lessons.
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