Kartvelian languages

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(Redirected from
South Caucasian languages
)
Not to be confused with Karelian language, Karenic languages, or Kartu languages.
Kartvelian
ქართველური
Geographic
distribution		Western
Trans-Caucasus, Northeast Anatolia
Linguistic classificationOne of the world's primary language families
Proto-languageProto-Kartvelian
Subdivisions
  • Svan
  • Georgian-Zan
    (Karto-Zan)
ISO 639-5ccs
Linguasphere42-C
Glottologkart1248

The Kartvelian languages (/kɑːrtˈvɛliən, -ˈviːl-/ kart-VEL-ee-ən, -⁠VEEL-; Georgian: ქართველური ენები, romanized: kartveluri enebi; also known as South Caucasian, Kartvelic, and Iberian languages[1]) are a language family indigenous to the South Caucasus and spoken primarily in Georgia. There are approximately 5.2 million Kartvelian speakers worldwide, with large groups in Russia, Iran, the United States, the European Union, Israel,[2] and northeastern Turkey.[3] The Kartvelian family has no known relation to any other language family, making it one of the world's primary language families.[4]

The most widely spoken of these languages is

Asomtavruli script at the once-existing Georgian monastery near Bethlehem,[5] dated to c. 430 AD.[6] Georgian scripts
are used to write all Kartvelian languages.

Social and cultural status

Georgian is the official language of Georgia (spoken by 90% of the population) and the main language for literary and business use in Georgia. It is written with an original and distinctive alphabet, and the oldest surviving literary text dates from the 5th century AD. The old

Georgian script seems to have been derived from the Greek script,[7]
but this is not certain.

cultural autonomy
, and after 1989.

The Laz language was written mainly between 1927 and 1937, and now again in Turkey using the Latin alphabet. Laz, however, is disappearing as its speakers are integrating into mainstream Turkish society.

Classification

Part of a series on
Georgians
ქართველები
The
Kartvelian
people
Nation
Georgia
Ancient Kartvelian people
  • Colchians
  • Iberians
Subgroups
Culture
Languages
Religion
Symbols
History of Georgia

The Kartvelian language family consists of four closely related languages:

  • Svan (ლუშნუ ნინ, lušnu nin), with approximately 35,000–40,000 native speakers in Georgia, mainly in the northwestern mountainous region of Svaneti and the Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia
  • Georgian-Zan
     (also called Karto-Zan)
    • Georgian (ქართული ენა, kartuli ena) with approximately 4 million native speakers, mainly in Georgia. There are Georgian-speaking communities in Russia, Turkey, Iran, Israel, and EU countries, but the current number and distribution of them are unknown.
      • Judaeo-Georgian (ყივრული ენა, kivruli ena) with some 85,000 speakers, is the only Kartvelian Jewish dialect, its status being the subject of debate among scholars.[8]
    • Zan (also called Colchian)
      • Samegrelo and Abkhazia (at present in Gali district only). The number of Mingrelian speakers in Abkhazia was very strongly affected by the war with Georgia in the 1990s which resulted in the expulsion and flight of the ethnic Georgian population, the majority of which were Mingrelians. Nevertheless, Georgians in Abkhazia (mostly Mingrelians) make up 18% of the population, in Gali district 98.2%.[9] The Mingrelians displaced from Abkhazia are scattered elsewhere in the Georgian government territory, with dense clusters in Tbilisi and Zugdidi
        .
      • Laz (ლაზური ნენა, lazuri nena), with 22,000 native speakers in 1980, mostly in the Black Sea littoral area of northeast Turkey, and with some 2,000 in Adjara, Georgia.[citation needed]

Genealogical tree


Proto-Kartvelian
Proto-Georgian-Zan
(Proto-Karto-Zan)
Zan
SvanMingrelianLazGeorgian

The connection between these languages was first reported in linguistic literature by Johann Anton Güldenstädt in his 1773 classification of the languages of the Caucasus, and later proven by G. Rosen, Marie-Félicité Brosset, Franz Bopp and others during the 1840s. Zan is the branch that contains the Mingrelian and Laz languages.

On the basis of

Proto-Georgian-Zan (Proto-Karto-Zan) to the 19th century BC,[10][11] and the further division into Georgian and Zan to the 8th century BC,[11] although with the reservation that such dating is very preliminary and substantial further study is required.[10]
A 2023 study employing Bayesian linguistic phylogenetics in conjunction with archaeological, ethnoecological, and human population genetic data suggests a substantially earlier separation between Svan and the Karto-Zan languages. This multidisciplinary approach dates the divergence to the Early Copper Age, approximately 7600 years before present. [12]

Higher-level connections

No relationship with other languages, including

Dené–Caucasian languages family, but these are viewed as spurious by nearly all historical linguists.[13][14][15][16][17] Certain grammatical similarities with Basque, especially in the case system, have often been pointed out. However, the hypothesis of a relationship, which also tends to link the Caucasian languages with other non-Indo-European and non-Semitic languages of the Near East of ancient times, is generally considered to lack conclusive evidence.[7] Any similarities to other linguistic phyla may be due to areal
influences. Heavy borrowing in both directions (i.e. from North Caucasian to Kartvelian and vice versa) has been observed; therefore, it is likely that certain grammatical features have been influenced as well.

Phonetics and phonology

Regular correspondences

Vowels[18]
Proto-Kartv. Geo. Zan Svan
*ა (*a)
[ɑ] 		a
[ɑ] 		o
[ɔ] 		a
[ɑ]
*ე (*e)
[ɛ] 		e
[ɛ] 		a
[ɑ] 		e
[ɛ]
*ი (*i)
[i] 		i
[i] 		i
[i] 		i
[i]
*ო (*o)
[ɔ] 		o
[ɔ] 		o
[ɔ] 		o
[ɔ]
*უ (*u)
[u] 		u
[u] 		u
[u] 		u
[u]
Consonants[19]
Proto-Kartv. Geo. Zan Svan
stops
 *ბ (*b)
[b] 		b
[b] 		b
[b] 		b
[b]
*დ (*d)
[d] 		d
[d] 		d
[d] 		d
[d]
*გ (*g)
[ɡ] 		g
[ɡ] 		g
[ɡ] 		g / ǯ
[ɡ] / [d͡ʒ]
Voiced
affricates
 *ძ (*ʒ)
[d͡z] 		ʒ
[d͡z] 		ʒ
[d͡z] 		ʒ / z
[d͡z] / [z]
*ძ₁ (*ʒ₁)
[ɖʐ] 		ǯ
[d͡ʒ] 		ǯ / ž
[d͡ʒ] / [ʒ]
*ჯ (*ǯ)
[d͡ʒ] 		ǯ
[d͡ʒ] 		ǯg / ʒg
[d͡ʒɡ] / [d͡zɡ] 		ǯg / sg
[d͡ʒɡ] / [sɡ]
Voiced
fricatives
 *ზ (*z)
[z] 		z
[z] 		z
[z] 		z
[z]
*ზ₁ (*z₁)
[ʐ] 		ž
[ʒ] 		ž
[ʒ]
*ღ (*ɣ)
[ɣ] 		ɣ
[ɣ] 		ɣ
[ɣ] 		ɣ
[ɣ]
*უ̂ (*w)
[w] 		v
[v] 		v
[v] 		w
[w]
Ejective
stops 		*პ (*ṗ)
[pʼ] 		ṗ
[pʼ] 		ṗ
[pʼ] 		ṗ
[pʼ]
*ტ (*ṭ)
[tʼ] 		ṭ
[tʼ] 		ṭ
[tʼ] 		ṭ
[tʼ]
*კ (*ḳ)
[kʼ] 		ḳ
[kʼ] 		ḳ
[kʼ] 		ḳ / č'
[kʼ] / [t͡ʃʼ]
*ყ (*qʼ)
[qʼ] 		qʼ
[qʼ] 		qʼ / ʔ / ḳ
[qʼ] / [ʔ] / [kʼ] 		qʼ
[qʼ]
Ejective
affr. 		*წ (*ċ)
[t͡sʼ] 		ċ
[t͡sʼ] 		ċ
[t͡sʼ] 		ċ
[t͡sʼ]
*წ₁ (*ċ₁)
[ʈʂʼ] 		čʼ
[t͡ʃʼ] 		čʼ
[t͡ʃʼ]
*ტʼ (*ɬʼ)
[t͡ɬʼ] 		h
[h]
*ჭ (*čʼ)
[t͡ʃʼ] 		čʼ
[t͡ʃʼ] 		čʼḳ / ċḳ
[t͡ʃʼkʼ] / [t͡sʼkʼ] 		čʼḳ / šḳ
[t͡ʃʼkʼ] / [ʃkʼ]
Voiceless
stops
and affr. 		*ფ (*p)
[p] 		p
[p] 		p
[p] 		p
[p]
*თ (*t)
[t] 		t
[t] 		t
[t] 		t
[t]
*ც (*c)
[t͡s] 		c
[t͡s] 		c
[t͡s] 		c
[t͡s]
*ც₁ (*c₁)
[ʈʂ] 		č
[t͡ʃ] 		č
[t͡ʃ]
*ჩ (*č)
[t͡ʃ] 		č
[t͡ʃ] 		čk
[t͡ʃk] 		čk / šg
[t͡ʃk] / [ʃɡ]
*ქ (*k)
[k] 		k
[k] 		k
[k] 		k / č
[k] / [t͡ʃ]
*ჴ (*q)
[q] 		x
[x] 		x
[x] 		q
[q]
Voiceless
fricatives 		*ხ (*x)
[x] 		x
[x]
*შ (*š)
[ʃ] 		š
[ʃ] 		šk / sk
[ʃk] / [sk] 		šg / sg
[ʃɡ] / [sɡ]
*ს (*s)
[s] 		s
[s] 		s
[s] 		s
[s]
*ს₁ (*s₁)
[ʂ] 		š
[ʃ] 		š
[ʃ]
*ლʿ (*lʿ)
[ɬ] 		∅ l
[l]
Liquids *ლ (*l)
[l] 		l
[l] 		l
[l]
*რ (*r)
[r] 		r
[r] 		r
[r] 		r
[r]
Nasals
 *მ (*m)
[m] 		m
[m] 		m
[m] 		m
[m]
*ნ (*n)
[n] 		n
[n] 		n
[n] 		n
[n]

Grammar

Noun classification

The Kartvelian languages have grammatical gender based on animacy, classifying objects as intelligent ("who"-class) and unintelligent ("what"-class) beings.

Noun classification scheme
Concrete
Abstract
Animate Inanimate
Human and "human-like" beings (e.g. God, deities, angels)
Animals
 		Inanimate physical entities
Abstract objects
Intelligent Unintelligent
"who"-class "what"-class

Declension

Grammatical case markers
Case Singular Plural
Mingrelian Laz Georgian Svan Mingrelian Laz Georgian Svan
Nominative -i -i/-e -i -i -ep-i -ep-e -eb-i -är
Ergative -k -k -ma -d -ep-k -epe-k -eb-ma -är-d
Dative -s -s -s -s -ep-s -epe-s -eb-s -är-s
Genitive -iš -iš -is -iš -ep-iš -epe-š(i) -eb-is -are-š
Lative -iša -iša — — -ep-iša -epe-ša — —
Ablative -iše -iše — — -ep-iše -epe-še(n) — —
Instrumental -it -ite -it -šw -ep-it -epe-te(n) -eb-it -är-šw
Adverbial -o(t)/-t -ot -ad/-d -d -ep-o(t) — -eb-ad -är-d
Finalis -išo(t) — -isad -išd -ep-išo(t) — -eb-isad -är-išd
Vocative — — -o (/-v) — — — -eb-o —
Example adjective declension
Stem: ǯveš- (Min.), mǯveš- (Laz), ʒvel- (Geo.), ǯwinel- (Svan) – "old"
Case Singular Plural
Mingrelian Laz Georgian Svan Mingrelian Laz Georgian Svan
Nominative ǯveš-i mǯveš-i ʒvel-i ǯwinel ǯveš-ep-i mǯveš-ep-e ʒvel-eb-i ǯwinel-är
Ergative ǯveš-k mǯveš-i-k ʒvel-ma ǯwinel-d ǯveš-ep-k mǯveš-epe-k ʒvel-eb-ma ǯwinel-är-d
Dative ǯveš-s mǯveš-i-s ʒvel-s ǯwinel-s ǯveš-ep-s mǯveš-i-epe-s ʒvel-eb-s ǯwinel-är-s
Genitive ǯveš-iš mǯveš-iš ʒvel-is ǯwinl-iš ǯveš-ep-iš mǯveš-epe-š ʒvel-eb-is ǯwinel-är-iš
Lative ǯveš-iša mǯveš-iša — — ǯveš-ep-iša mǯveš-epe-ša — —
Ablative ǯveš-iše mǯveš-iše — — ǯveš-ep-iše mǯveš-epe-še — —
Instrumental ǯveš-it mǯveš-ite ʒvel-it ǯwinel-šw ǯveš-ep-it mǯveš-epe-te ʒvel-eb-it ǯwinel-är-šw
Adverbial ǯveš-o mǯveš-ot ʒvel-ad ǯwinel-d ǯveš-ep-o — ʒvel-eb-ad ǯwinel-är-d
Finalis ǯveš-išo — ʒvel-isad ǯwinel-išd ǯveš-ep-išo — ʒvel-eb-isad ǯwinel-är-išd
Vocative — — ʒvel-o — — — ʒvel-eb-o —

Verb

Kartvelian verbs can indicate one, two, or three

indirect
). The person may be singular or plural. According to the number of persons, the verbs are classified as unipersonal, bipersonal or tripersonal.

  • Unipersonal verbs have only a subject and so are always intransitive.
  • Bipersonal verbs have a subject and one object, which can be direct or indirect. The verb is:
    • transitive when the object is direct;
    • intransitive if the object is indirect.
  • Tripersonal verbs have one subject and both direct and indirect objects and are ditransitive.
Verb personality table
Unipersonal Bipersonal Tripersonal
intransitive transitive intransitive ditransitive
Subject + + + +
Direct object + +
Indirect object + +

Subjects and objects are indicated with special affixes.

Personal markers
Subject set
Singular Plural
Old Geo. Mod. Geo. Ming./Laz Svan Old Geo. Mod. Geo. Ming./Laz Svan
S1 v- v- v- xw- v-...-t v-...-t v-...-t xw-...-(š)d (excl.)

l-...-(š)d (incl.)

S2 x/h- ∅,(h/s)- ∅ x-/∅ x/h-...-t ∅,(h/s)-...-t ∅-...-t x/∅-...-(š)d
S3 -s,-a/o,-n,-ed -s,-a/o -s,-u,-n (l)-...-s/(a) -an,-en,-es,-ed -en,-an,-es -an,-es (l)-...-x
Object set
O1 m- m- m- m- m- (excl.)

gv- (incl.)

gv- m-...-t,-an,-es n- (excl.)

gw- (incl.)

O2 g- g- g- ǯ- g- g-...-t g-...-t,-an,-es ǯ-...-x
O3 x/h,∅- ∅,s/h/∅- ∅ ∅,x- x/h,∅- ∅,s/h/∅-...-t ∅-...-t,-an,-es ∅,x-...-x

By means of special markers Kartvelian verbs can indicate four kinds of action intentionality ("version"):

  • subjective—shows that the action is intended for oneself,
  • objective—the action is intended for another person,
  • objective-passive—the action is intended for another person and at the same time indicating the passiveness of subject,
  • neutral—neutral with respect to intention.
Version markers
Version Mingrelian Laz Georgian Svan
Subjective -i- -i- -i- -i-
Objective -u- -u- -u- -o-
Objective-passive -a- -a- -e- -e-
Neutral -o-/-a- -o- -a- -a-

Case patterns

Subject, direct object and indirect object are coded by the three core-cases, namely ergative, nominative and dative. Although the term "ergative" is traditional, strictly speaking no Kartvelian language features

active alignment,[20]
depending on two factors:

Georgian and Svan have accusative alignment in the Present series (often termed Series I) and active alignment in the Aorist series (Series II).

Georgian and Svan[21]
Subject Direct object Indirect object
Class 1 Class 3 Class 2
Series I Nominative Dative
Series II Ergative Nominative Dative

Laz has extended the case marking of Series II to Series I, thus featuring active alignment regardless of tense.

Laz[22]
Subject Direct object Indirect object
Class 1 Class 3 Class 2
Series I Ergative Nominative Dative
Series II Ergative Nominative Dative

Mingrelian, on the other hand, has extended the use of the ergative to all intransitive verbs, becoming fully accusative in all series, although with different case marking.

Mingrelian[23]
Subject Direct object Indirect object
Class 1 Class 3 Class 2
Series I Nominative Dative
Series II Ergative Nominative Dative

Examples from inherited lexicon

Cardinal Numbers
  Proto-Kartv.

form

Karto-Zan Svan
Proto-form Georgian Mingrelian Laz
1. one, 2. other *s₁xwa
[ʂxwɑ] 		*s₁xwa
[ʂxwɑ] 		sxva
[sxvɑ]
(other) 		šxva
[ʃxva]
(other) 		čkva / škva
[t͡ʃkvɑ] / [ʃkvɑ]
(other, one more) 		e-šxu
[ɛ-ʃxu]
(one)
one n/a *erti
[ɛrti] 		erti
[ɛrti] 		arti
[ɑrti] 		ar
[ɑr] 		n/a
two *yori
[jɔri] 		*yori
[jɔri] 		ori
[ɔri] 		žiri / žəri
[ʒiri] / [ʒəri] 		žur / ǯur
[ʒur] / [d͡ʒur] 		yori
[jɔri]
three *sami
[sɑmi] 		*sami
[sɑmi] 		sami
[sɑmi] 		sumi
[sumi] 		sum
[sum] 		semi
[sɛmi]
four *otxo
[ɔtxɔ] 		*otxo
[ɔtxɔ] 		otxi
[ɔtxi] 		otxi
[ɔtxi] 		otxo
[ɔtxɔ] 		w-oštxw
[w-ɔʃtxw]
five *xuti
[xuti] 		*xuti
[xuti] 		xuti
[xuti] 		xuti
[xuti] 		xut
[xut] 		wo-xušd
[wɔ-xuʃd]
six *eks₁wi
[ɛkʂwi] 		*eks₁wi
[ɛkʂwi] 		ekvsi
[ɛkvsi] 		amšvi
[ɑmʃwi] 		aši
[ɑʃi] 		usgwa
[usɡwɑ]
seven *šwidi
[ʃwidi] 		*šwidi
[ʃwidi] 		švidi
[ʃvidi] 		škviti
[ʃkviti] 		škvit
[ʃkvit] 		i-šgwid
[i-ʃɡwid]
eight *arwa
[ɑrwɑ] 		*arwa
[ɑrwɑ] 		rva
[rvɑ] 		ruo / bruo
[ruɔ] / [bruɔ] 		ovro / orvo
[ɔvrɔ] / [ɔrvɔ] 		ara
[ɑrɑ]
nine *ts₁xara
[t͡ʂxɑrɑ] 		*ts₁xara
[t͡ʂxɑrɑ] 		tsxra
[t͡sxrɑ] 		čxoro
[t͡ʃxɔrɔ] 		čxoro
[t͡ʃxɔrɔ] 		čxara
[t͡ʃxɑrɑ]
ten *a(s₁)ti
[ɑ(ʂ)ti] 		*ati
[ɑti] 		ati
[ɑti] 		viti
[viti] 		vit
[vit] 		ešd
[ɛʃd]
twenty n/a *ots₁i
[ɔt͡ʂi] 		otsi
[ɔt͡si] 		etsi
[ɛt͡ʃi] 		etsi
[ɛt͡ʃi] 		n/a
hundred *as₁i
[ɑʂi] 		*as₁i
[ɑʂi] 		asi
[ɑsi] 		oši
[ɔʃi] 		oši
[ɔʃi] 		aš-ir
[ɑʃ-ir]
Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
  Proto-Kartv. Georgian Mingrelian Laz Svan
I *me
[mɛ] 		me
[mɛ] 		ma
[mɑ] 		ma(n)
[mɑ] 		mi
[mi]
You (sg.) *sen
[sɛn] 		šen
[ʃɛn] 		si
[si] 		si(n)
[si] 		si
[si]
That *e-
[ɛ-] 		e-sa
[ɛ-sɑ] 		e-na
[ɛ-nɑ] 		(h)e-ya
[(h)ɛ-jɑ] 		e-ǯa
[ɛ-d͡ʒɑ]
We *čwen
[t͡ʃwɛn] 		čven
[t͡ʃvɛn] 		čki(n) / čkə(n)
[t͡ʃki(n)] / [t͡ʃkə(n)] 		čkin / čku / šku
[t͡ʃkin] / [t͡ʃku] / [ʃku] 		näy

[næj]

You (pl.) *stkwen
[stkwɛn] 		tkven
[tkvɛn] 		tkva(n)
[tkvɑ(n)] 		tkvan
[tkvɑn] 		sgäy
[sɡæj]
Possessive Pronouns
  Proto-Kartv. Georgian Mingrelian Laz Svan
My *č(w)e-mi
[t͡ʃ(w)ɛ-mi] 		če-mi
[t͡ʃɛ-mi] 		čki-mi
[t͡ʃki-mi] 		čki-mi / ški-mi
[t͡ʃki-mi] / [ʃki-mi] 		mi-šgu
[mi-ʃɡu]
Your (sg.) *š(w)eni
[ʃ(w)ɛni] 		šeni
[ʃɛni] 		skani
[skɑni] 		skani
[skɑni] 		i-sgu
[i-sɡu]
His/her/its *m-is₁
[m-iʂ] 		m-is-i
[m-is-i] 		mu-š-i
[mu-ʃ-i] 		(h)e-mu-š-i
[(h)ɛ-mu-ʃ-i] 		m-ič-a
[m-it͡ʃ-ɑ]
Our *čweni
[t͡ʃwɛni] 		čveni
[t͡ʃvɛni] 		čkini / čkəni
[t͡ʃkini] / [t͡ʃkəni] 		čkini / čkuni / škuni
[t͡ʃkini] / [t͡ʃkuni] / [ʃkuni] 		gu-šgwey (excl.)
[ɡu-ʃɡwɛj]

ni-šgwey (incl.)
[ni-ʃɡwɛj]

Your (pl.) *stkweni
[stkwɛni] 		tkveni
[tkvɛni] 		tkvani
[tkvɑni] 		tkvani
[tkvɑni] 		i-sgwey
[i-sɡwɛj]

See also

Citations

  1. ^ Boeder (2002), p. 3
  2. ^ "Israel". Ethnologue.
  3. ^ "Browse by Language Family". Ethnologue.
  4. ^ Dalby (2002), p. 38
  5. ^ Lang (1966), p. 154
  6. ^ Hewitt (1995), p. 4.
  7. ^
    Macropedia
    , "Languages of the World", see section titled "Caucasian languages".
  8. ^ Judeo-Georgian at Glottolog
  9. ^ "Государственный комитет Республики Абхазия по статистике". ugsra.org. Archived from the original on 2020-07-28. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  10. ^ a b Klimov (1998b), p. 14
  11. ^ a b Klimov (1994), p. 91
  12. ^ Gavashelishvili, A; et al. (2023), "The time and place of origin of South Caucasian languages: insights into past human societies, ecosystems and human population genetics", Scientific Reports, 13 (21133),
    doi:10.1038/s41598-023-45500-w
  13. ISBN 9781134149629
    .
  14. ^ Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 286–288
  15. ^ Goddard, Ives (1996). "The Classification of the Native Languages of North America". In Ives Goddard, ed., "Languages". Vol. 17 of William Sturtevant, ed., Handbook of North American Indians. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. pg. 318
  16. ^ Trask, R. L. (2000). The Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pg. 85
  17. ^ Dalby, Andrew (1998). Dictionary of Languages. New York: Columbia University Press. pg. 434
  18. ^ Fähnrich (2002), p. 5
  19. ^ Fähnrich (2002), p. 5-6
  20. ^ Testelets (2020), pp. 513–516
  21. ^ Harris (1985), p. 46
  22. ^ Harris (1985), p. 55
  23. ^ Harris (1985), p. 58

General references

External links
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