Each ethnic community contains certain ideas about the connection of space with human behavior, about the meaning of the concept of "place" in the traditional culture of communication.

Thus, the distance between the communicants - the British typically 1 – 3 m, i.e. in the range of good audibility without increasing tone. For many Arab ethnic groups, Latin Americans and representatives of the peoples of southern Europe, the distance between the interlocutors is less than 1 meter.

Abkhazian etiquette – the core of the culture of communication of the ethnos – involves a distance between the communicants in 1.5 – 2 m. Especially, such an obligation was imposed on the participants-"antagonists": a woman-a man who is not related; senior-junior (age, kinship, property). Taking into account the above-mentioned conditions of communication, the distance between communicants of etiquette situation could vary within the range from 0.5 to 2 meters.

For example, at a meeting of the niece and the mother's brother the first approaches, presses to his shoulder, to a breast, the last, in reply, also touches her forehead, to the head. In this case, we can observe closely related proximal behavior.

Familiar with each other women (especially relatives), saying Hello to each other, can reduce the distance between the alleged communication.

Also, men can do, especially the elderly, even more reducing the distance between themselves, taking each other's arms.

In the construction of the proximal behavior, an important role is played by figuring out "in what relative relation the communicants are", i.e. revealing the hidden conditions of communication, since the gender, age of the communicants are often obvious.

For example, a man, saying Hello at a distance with a familiar woman, knowing that she is the namesake of his mother or grandmother, can come closer, hug with different words of goodwill…

When meeting guests, the hosts, especially younger ones, go beyond the gate to meet them, thereby expanding the expected range of their hospitality and related services.

The organization and functioning of the space in the ethnic culture of communication of Abkhazians, like many other ethnic groups, is carried out according to the following schemes – oppositions: "left - right", "center - periphery", "front facade -rear", "front - behind", "first - intermediate - last", "high - low".

With regard to the right - left dichotomy, it should be said that the right side of Abkhazians was more honorable in terms of magical and religious views than the left, associated with luck, happiness, while the left, on the contrary, correlated with failure, misfortune.

Proximal actions, where the right side is preferred, are usually labelled.

According to the informants, the right foot crossed the threshold of the house, left the house, got out of bed; the right hand started a significant case, gave or took something, touched the baby, served food, poured wine, poured water on the hands or on the body from right to left, but not Vice versa, etc.

In this regard, an interesting piece of folk tales about how an unfamiliar rider, who appeared in the distance, people decided to take the following way: "If he comes to the right and greets us – take his stirrup and help to dismount, because he will be our friend. And if he comes up on the left and greets us – kill him, otherwise he will get ahead of you." Abkhazians say "arymarakh akemkea, arygarakh dyketseiit" (not left, but right turned where the left side is improper, and the right -  noble space of a man).

In many Nations of the world the left side was called female, and the right side was called male: the biblical legend about the origin of eve from the left rib of Adam, "Tantrism considers the right part of the body – male, and the left – female", Abkhazians in the ideas about the prenatal intrauterine life of the child say that "the boy lies in the right side, and the girl in the left".

The woman walking next to the man was given the right side of him in order to protect her way, to support her hand.

"In the culture of the peoples of the Caucasus, – writes Yu. Karpov, – "right" was given a special positive charge often when combining the sign axis "right – left" with the axis "male – female". But in the mentioned etiquette form, another aspect should be taken into account. Saber was located on the left side of the mountaineer, so when meeting on the road men diverged so that their left, "armed" sides were facing each other – in this position is inconvenient to grab a weapon. When meeting with a woman did the opposite, as well as not supposed to show them the left side of the body with a gun during the conversation. If a woman is to give way to a man, then a man is obliged to drive so that his weapon is not turned to the side of the woman."

The male rider stands on the right hand of the woman, because the female saddle with one stirrup located on the left side, so it is more likely to fall on the right, there is more that before women did not ride without the escort of male relatives.

A male relative can walk among his female relatives in the middle, a closely related woman walks in the middle of the walking men, and the older one is on her left and the younger one is on her right.

Right, the "honorable" side was given also a "senior" by age, kinship and property, social status as opposed to the left, "less honorable" belonging to, respectively, the "younger" communicants.

For example, a guest, as a privileged person, sat on the right side of the blazing fireplace; if a young man hurries on horseback with an assignment, he can overtake the leading or traveling elders, but only on the left side of them (overtakes, slowing down the movement of the horse, with words of apology).

"If go along the old man and the boy, the latter must go with him next, and to stay a little behind and to the left. If the age difference is not so great, the elder goes to the right. If there are three on the road, the elder is always in the middle, the middle is on the left, and the younger is on the right, so that if the younger falls behind on the road in connection with some assignment, then those two will continue to go according to the rule of etiquette."

If the senior moves in the car, he gets ahead in that case, if all the other passengers younger than him, or he sits in the back seat together with the coeval companions. Moreover, a more prestigious place in this case is in the middle, so as not to disturb the elder when leaving it.

The rider sat on his horse and dismounted from his left side, although symbolically (apparently because of luck) it is called the right. The guest, especially the son-in-law or the young relative, leaving from the house, turned the horse's head to the dwelling, turning sideways already out of the yard.

Of particular importance were the opposition "high - low", "front - behind", "first - intermediate - last", "center - periphery".

In one folklore source about the origin of class inequality says that people with a long transition stopped for the night on the river bank. Those who took the top position, later became princes, located below them, gained noble rank, and took the lowest place near the river were the peasantry.

This creates a spatial arrangement that explains the пenesis of social status relative to their positions, loci and, apparently, legitimizing their mythological picture of the world. Turning to ethnographic sources, we find confirmation of the connection of high social status with the corresponding pro-semic arrangement.

"The old men always squatted around, the Prince or the most influential nobleman occupied the bench," wrote A. Miller. Peasants, in most cases, were forbidden to build dwellings higher than noble by the location and height of the house on an equal basis with nobles. F. Thornau writes about the reception in the house of the Prince, who always sat on a high chair, while the humble peasants sat on the carpet or did not sit at all (depending on their age).

Even in intrauterine life, the eldest at birth is the one who is above his twin.

It is interesting to note the message of V. V. Avidzba about the organization of space in the process of conflict communication: "in the middle of the decomposed burka sat the main mediator, and on both sides representatives of the conflicting parties."

Opposition "center - periphery", "front - rear" play a significant role in the occasional etiquette (A.K. Baiburin).

"In the middle of the yard, under the shade of the walnut tree, with installed underneath the guests table spoke in my native village Arasazykh bzybs and sadz," says the poet W. B. Bartsits. Guests were placed in special rooms (asasairta), and the eldest of them was allocated the best room, but if the rooms in the house was not enough, the younger lay down at the door, and the older guests – in front of her. The guest room was also provided with a back door with a ladder in case the guest leaves through it, without disturbing others and without causing embarrassment. Such doors were also in the room of young spouses who lay down later than other inhabitants of the house and rose before all. Such doors were intended for carrying through them the cleaned and ironed clothes of the guest.

The spatial organization of the place of reception of the guest depended on many reasons. This is the duration of the "guest" (day, week, etc.), weather conditions, time of year, guest status. So, if a guest is going to stay the night (judging by time of arrival: ashyzh iaaz aunyka dgezchueit, shibzchanschtakh – aukha dipkharylon – "who came in the morning to return home, and after dinner - staying the night"; unhurried conduct of the guest), the owner offers him a break from the road in a designated room for guests asasairta. The Circassians for this purpose had the special guest house - the guest-chamber, where guest feel the rightful owner.

Here is a subtly noticed description of the guest's visit "on an important matter" by the pen of the master of the artistic word F. A. Iskander: "Uncle Sandro invited the young man to the house, but he flatly refused, and then uncle Sandro realized that there was something else, and as a relaxed version of hospitality invited him under the shade of an apple tree, and he did not very willingly followed uncle Sandro there."

Ritualized forms of proxemic behavior are found at weddings, in funeral and memorial ceremonies, where all participants of the ceremony adhere to certain loci.

So, the owner of a wedding celebration meets guests, standing in the middle of the yard where at first enter men from going together, and then women. It is interesting to note the modern fact of the construction of the solemn space by riders far outside the yard, at the beginning of the village, who met there famous guests and accompanied them to the house.

Guests also were met by laid table in the middle where there were two men-neighbors, who treats all of the setting in the courtyard of the first wedding feast.

At the front stairs against the facade of the house were arranged dances: women were located in a semicircle on one side, and men – on the other, moved forward young guys, girls, children.

In this situation, there were specific rules of following, differentiated by the following oppositions: male position - female position; position "senior - junior". That the man could not see the delicate parts of the female clothes he went down the stairs ahead. If a man had "younger" in age, property, kinship to the woman (or man too) he conceded her right from himself, more honourable way, a woman walked in front of him at 1-2 levels above.

At the table, an honorable place was considered to be in front of the front door, on the right hand of the owner (if the owner of the house was "younger" in age, in property, in relation to the guest, he did not agree to sit next to them, but brought someone from his older relatives or neighbors). Among the "contenders" for the prestigious place were relatives on the line of grandmothers, on the maternal line, peculiar, a guest from afar, first arrived, etc. Moreover, the age is not particularly taken into account, because Abkhazians "kinship above all." If the arrived uncle on mother is younger than years of the neighbour of the owner of the house, he (anscha) will offer him (the neighbour) the place of honor at a table on what the last can and not agree as anscha – the most expensive guest in the house of the nephew.

At the table it was impossible to indicate the place the older person, because such action could stumble upon a replica of the older "sakhteou iszymdyrsoi?"("as if I don't know where I should sit.")

In the XIX - early XX century in pre-revolutionary Abkhazia youth from the owners and, less frequently, from the number of guests did not sit down at the same table with the senior. They were either in another room or not sitting down at all.

During the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, the restrictive framework of hospitality etiquette significantly expanded, accepting the customs and customs of neighboring nations, leveling urban subculture and, of course, the dictatorship of economic categories and values.

As early as the beginning of the XX century A. Miller wrote about the influence of foreign ethnic traditions: "If Abkhazians adhere to so strict customs in public affairs and questions of honor, in other respects they willingly accept all sorts of innovations from Mingrelians and Russians. Sometimes even women are present during the reception, which was not allowed in any case before."

The existing rules of etiquette, including the seating arrangements, are the standards of behavior to which to compare life "then" and "now" is used atotori, mostly elderly.

In the considered aspect of table etiquette we will give some examples.

A son (guest) should not sit next to his father, a son-in-law - with his father-in-law, a nephew - with an uncle on the mother's side, etc.

Women guests tried to sit at the end of the table to get up before the end of the feast; daughter-in-law, being a guest, did not sit at the same table with her father-in-law and other older relatives of her husband. But even if she was given the right to sit at the table with the whole family of her husband, she tried not to do it in public. With regard to the tandem "son - in-law" the custom of avoidance was not so tough, but if the son-in-law is very young or only became such (son-in-law), and the mother-in-law is elderly, the seating at the same table is also excluded (son-in-law did not sit at the table).

An elderly honorary woman was seated in the "head" part of the table, but she could politely refuse.

Thus, a ritualized ceremonial picture of the pro-family behavior of Abkhazians is created, positioning a rich range of relationships in the context of the "dynamics of space", organizing this very space in accordance with ethical norms and moral values.