| Kartvelian | |
| Also Known As: | ქართველური |
| Region: | Western Trans-Caucasus, Northeast Anatolia |
| Familycolor: | Caucasian |
| Family: | One of the world's primary language families |
| Protoname: | Proto-Kartvelian |
| Child1: | Svan |
| Child2: | Georgian-Zan (Karto-Zan) |
| Iso5: | ccs |
| Glotto: | kart1248 |
| Glottorefname: | Kartvelian |
| Lingua: | 42-C |
| Linglist: | kart |
| Linglist2: | scau |
| Map: | Kartvelian languages.svg |
The Kartvelian languages (; Georgian: ქართველური ენები|tr; 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 million Georgian language 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 Georgian. The earliest literary source in any Kartvelian language is the Old Georgian Bir el Qutt inscriptions, written in ancient Georgian Asomtavruli script at the once-existing Georgian monastery near Bethlehem,[5] dated to .[6] Georgian scripts are used to write all Kartvelian languages.
Georgian is the official language of Georgia (spoken by 90% of the population) and serves as its main language for literary and business use. 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, but this is not certain.
Mingrelian has been written with the Georgian alphabet since 1864, especially in the period from 1930 to 1938, when the Mingrelians enjoyed some 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.
The Kartvelian language family consists of four closely related languages:
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 glottochronological analysis, Georgi Klimov dates the split of the Proto-Kartvelian into Svan and Proto-Georgian-Zan (Proto-Karto-Zan) to the 19th century BC,[9] [10] and the further division into Georgian and Zan to the 8th century BC,[10] although with the reservation that such dating is very preliminary and substantial further study is required.[9] 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.According to this study it is highly likely that Proto-Karto-Zan (i.e. Proto-Georgian-Zan) prior to its split into Georgian and Zan was spoken by pre-Kura-Araxes and Kura-Araxes farmers that thrived in the watershed of Mtkvari (Kura) River during the Copper and Bronze Ages.
No relationship with other languages, including Northwest Caucasian and/or Northeast Caucasian, has been demonstrated so far.[11] There have been numerous attempts to link Kartvelian languages to other language families, such as the proposed Nostratic family, but these have fallen out of favor.[12] 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.[11] 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.
| a pronounced as /[ɑ]/ | o pronounced as /[ɔ]/ | a pronounced as /[ɑ]/ | |
| e pronounced as /[ɛ]/ | a pronounced as /[ɑ]/ | e pronounced as /[ɛ]/ | |
| i pronounced as /[i]/ | i pronounced as /[i]/ | i pronounced as /[i]/ | |
| o pronounced as /[ɔ]/ | o pronounced as /[ɔ]/ | o pronounced as /[ɔ]/ | |
| u pronounced as /[u]/ | u pronounced as /[u]/ | u pronounced as /[u]/ |
| Voiced stops |
| b pronounced as /[b]/ | b pronounced as /[b]/ | b pronounced as /[b]/ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| d pronounced as /[d]/ | d pronounced as /[d]/ | d pronounced as /[d]/ | |
| g pronounced as /[ɡ]/ | g pronounced as /[ɡ]/ | g / ǯ pronounced as /[ɡ]/ / pronounced as /[d͡ʒ]/ | |
| Voiced affricates |
| ʒ pronounced as /[d͡z]/ | ʒ pronounced as /[d͡z]/ | ʒ / z pronounced as /[d͡z]/ / pronounced as /[z]/ |
| ǯ pronounced as /[d͡ʒ]/ | ǯ / ž pronounced as /[d͡ʒ]/ / pronounced as /[ʒ]/ | ||
| ǯ pronounced as /[d͡ʒ]/ | ǯg / ʒg pronounced as /[d͡ʒɡ]/ / pronounced as /[d͡zɡ]/ | ǯg / sg pronounced as /[d͡ʒɡ]/ / pronounced as /[sɡ]/ | |
| Voiced fricatives |
| z pronounced as /[z]/ | z pronounced as /[z]/ | z pronounced as /[z]/ |
| ž pronounced as /[ʒ]/ | ž pronounced as /[ʒ]/ | ||
| ɣ pronounced as /[ɣ]/ | ɣ pronounced as /[ɣ]/ | ɣ pronounced as /[ɣ]/ | |
| v pronounced as /[v]/ | v pronounced as /[v]/ | w pronounced as /[w]/ | |
| Ejective stops |
| ṗ pronounced as /[pʼ]/ | ṗ pronounced as /[pʼ]/ | ṗ pronounced as /[pʼ]/ |
| ṭ pronounced as /[tʼ]/ | ṭ pronounced as /[tʼ]/ | ṭ pronounced as /[tʼ]/ | |
| ḳ pronounced as /[kʼ]/ | ḳ pronounced as /[kʼ]/ | ḳ / č' pronounced as /[kʼ]/ / pronounced as /[t͡ʃʼ]/ | |
| qʼ pronounced as /[qʼ]/ | qʼ / ʔ / ḳ pronounced as /[qʼ]/ / pronounced as /[ʔ]/ / pronounced as /[kʼ]/ | qʼ pronounced as /[qʼ]/ | |
| Ejective affr. |
| ċ pronounced as /[t͡sʼ]/ | ċ pronounced as /[t͡sʼ]/ | ċ pronounced as /[t͡sʼ]/ |
| čʼ pronounced as /[t͡ʃʼ]/ | čʼ pronounced as /[t͡ʃʼ]/ | ||
| h pronounced as /[h]/ | |||
| čʼ pronounced as /[t͡ʃʼ]/ | čʼḳ / ċḳ pronounced as /[t͡ʃʼkʼ]/ / pronounced as /[t͡sʼkʼ]/ | čʼḳ / šḳ pronounced as /[t͡ʃʼkʼ]/ / pronounced as /[ʃkʼ]/ | |
| Voiceless stops and affr. |
| p pronounced as /[p]/ | p pronounced as /[p]/ | p pronounced as /[p]/ |
| t pronounced as /[t]/ | t pronounced as /[t]/ | t pronounced as /[t]/ | |
| c pronounced as /[t͡s]/ | c pronounced as /[t͡s]/ | c pronounced as /[t͡s]/ | |
| č pronounced as /[t͡ʃ]/ | č pronounced as /[t͡ʃ]/ | ||
| č pronounced as /[t͡ʃ]/ | čk pronounced as /[t͡ʃk]/ | čk / šg pronounced as /[t͡ʃk]/ / pronounced as /[ʃɡ]/ | |
| k pronounced as /[k]/ | k pronounced as /[k]/ | k / č pronounced as /[k]/ / pronounced as /[t͡ʃ]/ | |
| x pronounced as /[x]/ | x pronounced as /[x]/ | q pronounced as /[q]/ | |
| Voiceless fricatives |
| x pronounced as /[x]/ | ||
| š pronounced as /[ʃ]/ | šk / sk pronounced as /[ʃk]/ / pronounced as /[sk]/ | šg / sg pronounced as /[ʃɡ]/ / pronounced as /[sɡ]/ | |
| s pronounced as /[s]/ | s pronounced as /[s]/ | s pronounced as /[s]/ | |
| š pronounced as /[ʃ]/ | š pronounced as /[ʃ]/ | ||
| ∅ | l pronounced as /[l]/ | ||
| Liquids |
| l pronounced as /[l]/ | l pronounced as /[l]/ | |
| r pronounced as /[r]/ | r pronounced as /[r]/ | r pronounced as /[r]/ | |
| Nasals |
| m pronounced as /[m]/ | m pronounced as /[m]/ | m pronounced as /[m]/ |
| n pronounced as /[n]/ | n pronounced as /[n]/ | n pronounced as /[n]/ |
The Kartvelian languages have grammatical gender based on animacy, classifying objects as intelligent ("who"-class) and unintelligent ("what"-class) beings.
| 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 | |||
| 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 | |||||||
| 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 | |||||||
Kartvelian verbs can indicate one, two, or three grammatical persons. A performer of an action is called the subject and affected persons are objects (direct or indirect). The person may be singular or plural. According to the number of persons, the verbs are classified as unipersonal, bipersonal or tripersonal.
| Bipersonal | Tripersonal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| intransitive | transitive | intransitive | ditransitive | ||
| Subject | + | + | + | + | |
| Direct object | + | + | |||
| Indirect object | + | + |
Subjects and objects are indicated with special affixes.
| center" style="background:#C0C0C0 " colspan="10" | 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 | -i- | -i- | -i- | -i- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Objective | -u- | -u- | -u- | -o- | |
| Objective-passive | -a- | -a- | -e- | -e- | |
| Neutral | -o-/-a- | -o- | -a- | -a- |
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 ergative alignment. Rather, they display a mixture of nominative-accusative and active alignment,[15] 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).
| 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.
| 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.
| Subject ! | Direct object | Indirect object | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Class 3 | Class 2 | ||||
| Series I | Nominative | Dative | ||||
| Series II | Ergative | Nominative | Dative | |||
| Proto-Kartv.form | Karto-Zan | Svan | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proto-form | Georgian | Mingrelian | Laz | ||||
| 1. one, 2. other |
|
| sxva pronounced as /[sxvɑ]/ (other) | šxva pronounced as /[ʃxva]/ (other) | čkva / škva pronounced as /[t͡ʃkvɑ]/ / pronounced as /[ʃkvɑ]/ (other, one more) | e-šxu pronounced as /[ɛ-ʃxu]/ (one) | |
| one | n/a |
| erti pronounced as /[ɛrti]/ | arti pronounced as /[ɑrti]/ | ar pronounced as /[ɑr]/ | n/a | |
| two |
|
| ori pronounced as /[ɔri]/ | žiri / žəri pronounced as /[ʒiri]/ / pronounced as /[ʒəri]/ | žur / ǯur pronounced as /[ʒur]/ / pronounced as /[d͡ʒur]/ | yori pronounced as /[jɔri]/ | |
| three |
|
| sami pronounced as /[sɑmi]/ | sumi pronounced as /[sumi]/ | sum pronounced as /[sum]/ | semi pronounced as /[sɛmi]/ | |
| four |
|
| otxi pronounced as /[ɔtxi]/ | otxi pronounced as /[ɔtxi]/ | otxo pronounced as /[ɔtxɔ]/ | w-oštxw pronounced as /[w-ɔʃtxw]/ | |
| five |
|
| xuti pronounced as /[xuti]/ | xuti pronounced as /[xuti]/ | xut pronounced as /[xut]/ | wo-xušd pronounced as /[wɔ-xuʃd]/ | |
| six |
|
| ekvsi pronounced as /[ɛkvsi]/ | amšvi pronounced as /[ɑmʃwi]/ | aši pronounced as /[ɑʃi]/ | usgwa pronounced as /[usɡwɑ]/ | |
| seven |
|
| švidi pronounced as /[ʃvidi]/ | škviti pronounced as /[ʃkviti]/ | škvit pronounced as /[ʃkvit]/ | i-šgwid pronounced as /[i-ʃɡwid]/ | |
| eight |
|
| rva pronounced as /[rvɑ]/ | ruo / bruo pronounced as /[ruɔ]/ / pronounced as /[bruɔ]/ | ovro / orvo pronounced as /[ɔvrɔ]/ / pronounced as /[ɔrvɔ]/ | ara pronounced as /[ɑrɑ]/ | |
| nine |
|
| tsxra pronounced as /[t͡sxrɑ]/ | čxoro pronounced as /[t͡ʃxɔrɔ]/ | čxoro pronounced as /[t͡ʃxɔrɔ]/ | čxara pronounced as /[t͡ʃxɑrɑ]/ | |
| ten |
|
| ati pronounced as /[ɑti]/ | viti pronounced as /[viti]/ | vit pronounced as /[vit]/ | ešd pronounced as /[ɛʃd]/ | |
| twenty | n/a |
| otsi pronounced as /[ɔt͡si]/ | etsi pronounced as /[ɛt͡ʃi]/ | etsi pronounced as /[ɛt͡ʃi]/ | n/a | |
| hundred |
|
| asi pronounced as /[ɑsi]/ | oši pronounced as /[ɔʃi]/ | oši pronounced as /[ɔʃi]/ | aš-ir pronounced as /[ɑʃ-ir]/ | |
| Proto-Kartv. | Georgian | Mingrelian | Laz | Svan | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I |
| me pronounced as /[mɛ]/ | ma pronounced as /[mɑ]/ | ma(n) pronounced as /[mɑ]/ | mi pronounced as /[mi]/ | |
| You (sg.) |
| šen pronounced as /[ʃɛn]/ | si pronounced as /[si]/ | si(n) pronounced as /[si]/ | si pronounced as /[si]/ | |
| That |
| e-sa pronounced as /[ɛ-sɑ]/ | e-na pronounced as /[ɛ-nɑ]/ | (h)e-ya pronounced as /[(h)ɛ-jɑ]/ | e-ǯa pronounced as /[ɛ-d͡ʒɑ]/ | |
| We |
| čven pronounced as /[t͡ʃvɛn]/ | čki(n) / čkə(n) pronounced as /[t͡ʃki(n)]/ / pronounced as /[t͡ʃkə(n)]/ | čkin / čku / šku pronounced as /[t͡ʃkin]/ / pronounced as /[t͡ʃku]/ / pronounced as /[ʃku]/ | näy pronounced as /[næj]/ | |
| You (pl.) |
| tkven pronounced as /[tkvɛn]/ | tkva(n) pronounced as /[tkvɑ(n)]/ | tkvan pronounced as /[tkvɑn]/ | sgäy pronounced as /[sɡæj]/ | |
| Possessive Pronouns | ||||||
| Proto-Kartv. | Georgian | Mingrelian | Laz | Svan | ||
| My |
| če-mi pronounced as /[t͡ʃɛ-mi]/ | čki-mi pronounced as /[t͡ʃki-mi]/ | čki-mi / ški-mi pronounced as /[t͡ʃki-mi]/ / pronounced as /[ʃki-mi]/ | mi-šgu pronounced as /[mi-ʃɡu]/ | |
| Your (sg.) |
| šeni pronounced as /[ʃɛni]/ | skani pronounced as /[skɑni]/ | skani pronounced as /[skɑni]/ | i-sgu pronounced as /[i-sɡu]/ | |
| His/her/its |
| m-is-i pronounced as /[m-is-i]/ | mu-š-i pronounced as /[mu-ʃ-i]/ | (h)e-mu-š-i pronounced as /[(h)ɛ-mu-ʃ-i]/ | m-ič-a pronounced as /[m-it͡ʃ-ɑ]/ | |
| Our |
| čveni pronounced as /[t͡ʃvɛni]/ | čkini / čkəni pronounced as /[t͡ʃkini]/ / pronounced as /[t͡ʃkəni]/ | čkini / čkuni / škuni pronounced as /[t͡ʃkini]/ / pronounced as /[t͡ʃkuni]/ / pronounced as /[ʃkuni]/ | gu-šgwey (excl.) pronounced as /[ɡu-ʃɡwɛj]/ni-šgwey (incl.) pronounced as /[ni-ʃɡwɛj]/ | |
| Your (pl.) |
| tkveni pronounced as /[tkvɛni]/ | tkvani pronounced as /[tkvɑni]/ | tkvani pronounced as /[tkvɑni]/ | i-sgwey pronounced as /[i-sɡwɛj]/ | |