The Kabardian language (адыгэбзэ, adəgăbză; Adyghe: къэбэрдеибзэ ( [qabardejbza] (help·info)), also known as East Circassian (see: Circassian language), is a Northwest Caucasian language, closely related to the Adyghe language. It is spoken mainly in the Russian republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay–Cherkessia (the native territories) and in Turkey and the Middle East (the extensive post-war diaspora). It has 47 or 48 consonant phonemes of which 22 or 23 are fricatives, depending upon whether one counts [h] as phonemic, but this is contrasted with just three phonemic vowels. It is one of very few languages to possess a clear phonemic distinction between ejective affricates and ejective fricatives.

The Kabardian language has two major dialects, Kabardian and Besleney. Some linguists argue that Kabardian is only a dialect of an overarching Adyghe or Circassian language that consists of all of the dialects of Adyghe and Kabardian together, and the Kabardians themselves most often refer to their language using the Kabardian term Adighabze ("Adyghe language"). Several linguists, including Georges Dumézil, have used the terms eastern Circassian (Kabardian) and western Circassian (Adyghe) in order to avoid this confusion, but both "Circassian" and "Kabardian" may still be found in linguistic literature. There are several key phonetic and lexical differences that create a reasonably well-defined separation between the eastern and western Circassian dialects, but the degree to which the two are mutually intelligible has not yet been determined. The matter is also complicated somewhat by the existence of Besleney, which is usually considered a dialect of Kabardian, but which also shares a large number of features with certain dialects of Adyghe.

Circassian, also known as Cherkess, is a dialect continuum of the Caucasus. There are two Circassian languages as defined by their literary standards, Adyghe (Adyge, West Circassian), with half a million speakers, and Kabardian (East Circassian) with a million. The spoken languages, however, merge, with geographically intermediate dialects intelligible to both standards.

The terms "Circassian" and "Cherkess" are sometimes also used as synonyms for the Northwest Caucasian languages in general.