The present paper features the publication of an unedited manuscript by the Soviet linguist E.D. Polivanov, submitted in November 1927 by its author not for publication but just as a contribution to the discussion around the so-called Abkhaz Analytical Alphabet. This graphic system was devised by the academician Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr on the basis of the Latin alphabet for the representation of all Japhetic (Caucasian) languages. In the first section of the introduction, the main characteristics of Marr's Analytical Alphabet are presented; the second section addresses the linguistic discussion that followed its introduction in Abkhazia as the official alphabet in 1926 and its replacement two years later by a Latin-based alphabet. The third section comments on some questions of Abkhaz phonetics and transcription; the fourth is devoted to textual and editorial issues. The edition of the Russian text is accompanied by an English translation, prepared by Grazia Giannetta (Macerata).