| Proto-Kartvelian | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of | Kartvelian languages |
| Lower-order reconstructions | |
The Proto-Kartvelian language, or Common Kartvelian ( Georgian: წინარექართველური ენა, romanized: ts'inarekartveluri ena, Georgian: პროტოქართველური ენა, romanized: p'rot'okartveluri ena), is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Kartvelian languages, which was spoken by the ancestors of the modern Kartvelian peoples. The existence of such a language is widely accepted by specialists in linguistics, who have reconstructed a broad outline of the language by comparing the existing Kartvelian languages against each other. [1] Several linguists, namely Gerhard Deeters and Georgy Klimov have also reconstructed a lower-level proto-language called Proto-Karto-Zan or Proto-Georgian-Zan, which is the ancestor of Karto-Zan languages (includes Georgian and Zan). [2]
The ablaut patterns of Proto-Kartvelian are highly similar to those of the Indo-European languages, and so it is thought that Proto-Kartvelian interacted with Indo-European at a relatively early date. [3] This is reinforced by cognates with Indo-European, such as the Proto-Kartvelian * mḳerd- ('breast'), and its possible relation to the Proto-Indo-European * ḱerd- ('heart'). Proto-Kartvelian *ṭep- (warm) may also be related to Proto-Indo-European *tep- 'warm'. [1][ better source needed]
The modern descendants of Proto-Kartvelian are Georgian, Svan, Mingrelian and Laz. The ablaut patterns of Proto-Kartvelian were better preserved in Georgian and (particularly) Svan than in either Mingrelian or Laz, in which new forms have been set up so that there is a single, stable vowel in each word element. [1]
The system of pronouns of Proto-Kartvelian is distinct on account of its category of inclusive– exclusive (so, for instance, there were two forms of the pronoun "we": one that includes the listener and one that does not). This has survived in Svan but not in the other languages. Svan also includes a number of archaisms from the Proto-Kartvelian era, and therefore it is thought that Svan broke off from Proto-Kartvelian at a relatively early stage: the later Proto-Kartvelian stage (called Karto-Zan) split into Georgian and Zan (Mingrelo-Laz). [1]
| Front | Back | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | |||||
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | (i [ i]) | (u [ u]) | ||||
| Open-mid | e [ ɛ] | ē [ ɛː] | o [ ɔ] | ō [ ɔː] | ||
| Open | a [ ɑ] | ā [ ɑː] | ||||
| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Postalveolar | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | sibilant | central | lateral [8] | |||||||
| Nasal | m [ m] | n [ n] | ||||||||
| Plosive | voiced | b [ b] | d [ d] | ʒ [ d͡z] | ʒ₁ [ d͡ʐ] | ǯ [ d͡ʒ] | g [ ɡ] | |||
| voiceless | p [ p] | t [ t] | c [ t͡s] | c₁ [ t͡ʂ] | č [ t͡ʃ] | k [ k] | q [ q] | |||
| ejective | ṗ [ pʼ] | ṭ [ tʼ] | c̣ [ t͡sʼ] | c̣₁ [ t͡ʂʼ] | č̣ [ t͡ʃʼ] | ɬʼ [ t͡ɬʼ] | ḳ [ kʼ] | q̇ [ qʼ] | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | s [ s] | s₁ [ ʂ] | š [ ʃ] | lʿ [ ɬ] | x [ x] | h [ h] | |||
| voiced | z [ z] | z₁ [ ʐ] | ž [ ʒ] | ɣ [ ɣ] | ||||||
| Trill | r [ r] | |||||||||
| Approximant | w [ w] | l [ l] | y [ j] | |||||||
Distinction between plain [ q] and ejective [ qʼ] remains only in Svan language. This distinction also existed in Old Georgian.
- ^ a b c d Britannica, 15th edition (1986): Macropedia, "Languages of the World", "Caucasian languages"
- ^ Klimov (1998), p. VIII
- ^ Gamkrelidze & Ivanov (1995), pp. 768, 774–776
- ^ Gamkrelidze & Machavariani (1965)
- ^ Klimov (1998), p. X
- ^ Gamkrelidze (1966), p. 70, 73, 80
- ^ Gamkrelidze (1966), p. 70
- ^ a b Fähnrich (2002), p. 5
- "Languages of the World". Encyclopædia Britannica: Macropedia (15th ed.). 1986. "Caucasian languages" section.
- Fähnrich, H. (2002). Kartwelische Wortschatzstudien. Jena: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität.
- Gamkrelidze, T. (January–March 1966). "A Typology of Common Kartvelian". Language. 42 (1): 69–83.
- Gamkrelidze, T.; Ivanov, V. (1995). Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and a Proto-Culture. Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
- Gamkrelidze, T.; Machavariani, G. (1965). The system of sonants and ablaut in Kartvelian languages (in Russian and Georgian).
- Klimov, G. (1998). Etymological Dictionary of the Kartvelian Languages. Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
- Schmidt, Karl Horst (1962). Studien zur Rekonstruktion des Lautstandes der südkaukasischen Grundsprache XXXIV No. 3 (in German). Abhandlung für die Kunde des Morgenlandes.
| Grammar |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Writing | ||
| Encoding | ||
| Genealogy | ||
| Other | ||
| Proto-Kartvelian | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of | Kartvelian languages |
| Lower-order reconstructions | |
The Proto-Kartvelian language, or Common Kartvelian ( Georgian: წინარექართველური ენა, romanized: ts'inarekartveluri ena, Georgian: პროტოქართველური ენა, romanized: p'rot'okartveluri ena), is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Kartvelian languages, which was spoken by the ancestors of the modern Kartvelian peoples. The existence of such a language is widely accepted by specialists in linguistics, who have reconstructed a broad outline of the language by comparing the existing Kartvelian languages against each other. [1] Several linguists, namely Gerhard Deeters and Georgy Klimov have also reconstructed a lower-level proto-language called Proto-Karto-Zan or Proto-Georgian-Zan, which is the ancestor of Karto-Zan languages (includes Georgian and Zan). [2]
The ablaut patterns of Proto-Kartvelian are highly similar to those of the Indo-European languages, and so it is thought that Proto-Kartvelian interacted with Indo-European at a relatively early date. [3] This is reinforced by cognates with Indo-European, such as the Proto-Kartvelian * mḳerd- ('breast'), and its possible relation to the Proto-Indo-European * ḱerd- ('heart'). Proto-Kartvelian *ṭep- (warm) may also be related to Proto-Indo-European *tep- 'warm'. [1][ better source needed]
The modern descendants of Proto-Kartvelian are Georgian, Svan, Mingrelian and Laz. The ablaut patterns of Proto-Kartvelian were better preserved in Georgian and (particularly) Svan than in either Mingrelian or Laz, in which new forms have been set up so that there is a single, stable vowel in each word element. [1]
The system of pronouns of Proto-Kartvelian is distinct on account of its category of inclusive– exclusive (so, for instance, there were two forms of the pronoun "we": one that includes the listener and one that does not). This has survived in Svan but not in the other languages. Svan also includes a number of archaisms from the Proto-Kartvelian era, and therefore it is thought that Svan broke off from Proto-Kartvelian at a relatively early stage: the later Proto-Kartvelian stage (called Karto-Zan) split into Georgian and Zan (Mingrelo-Laz). [1]
| Front | Back | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | |||||
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | (i [ i]) | (u [ u]) | ||||
| Open-mid | e [ ɛ] | ē [ ɛː] | o [ ɔ] | ō [ ɔː] | ||
| Open | a [ ɑ] | ā [ ɑː] | ||||
| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Postalveolar | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | sibilant | central | lateral [8] | |||||||
| Nasal | m [ m] | n [ n] | ||||||||
| Plosive | voiced | b [ b] | d [ d] | ʒ [ d͡z] | ʒ₁ [ d͡ʐ] | ǯ [ d͡ʒ] | g [ ɡ] | |||
| voiceless | p [ p] | t [ t] | c [ t͡s] | c₁ [ t͡ʂ] | č [ t͡ʃ] | k [ k] | q [ q] | |||
| ejective | ṗ [ pʼ] | ṭ [ tʼ] | c̣ [ t͡sʼ] | c̣₁ [ t͡ʂʼ] | č̣ [ t͡ʃʼ] | ɬʼ [ t͡ɬʼ] | ḳ [ kʼ] | q̇ [ qʼ] | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | s [ s] | s₁ [ ʂ] | š [ ʃ] | lʿ [ ɬ] | x [ x] | h [ h] | |||
| voiced | z [ z] | z₁ [ ʐ] | ž [ ʒ] | ɣ [ ɣ] | ||||||
| Trill | r [ r] | |||||||||
| Approximant | w [ w] | l [ l] | y [ j] | |||||||
Distinction between plain [ q] and ejective [ qʼ] remains only in Svan language. This distinction also existed in Old Georgian.
- ^ a b c d Britannica, 15th edition (1986): Macropedia, "Languages of the World", "Caucasian languages"
- ^ Klimov (1998), p. VIII
- ^ Gamkrelidze & Ivanov (1995), pp. 768, 774–776
- ^ Gamkrelidze & Machavariani (1965)
- ^ Klimov (1998), p. X
- ^ Gamkrelidze (1966), p. 70, 73, 80
- ^ Gamkrelidze (1966), p. 70
- ^ a b Fähnrich (2002), p. 5
- "Languages of the World". Encyclopædia Britannica: Macropedia (15th ed.). 1986. "Caucasian languages" section.
- Fähnrich, H. (2002). Kartwelische Wortschatzstudien. Jena: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität.
- Gamkrelidze, T. (January–March 1966). "A Typology of Common Kartvelian". Language. 42 (1): 69–83.
- Gamkrelidze, T.; Ivanov, V. (1995). Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and a Proto-Culture. Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
- Gamkrelidze, T.; Machavariani, G. (1965). The system of sonants and ablaut in Kartvelian languages (in Russian and Georgian).
- Klimov, G. (1998). Etymological Dictionary of the Kartvelian Languages. Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
- Schmidt, Karl Horst (1962). Studien zur Rekonstruktion des Lautstandes der südkaukasischen Grundsprache XXXIV No. 3 (in German). Abhandlung für die Kunde des Morgenlandes.
| Grammar | | |
|---|---|---|
| Writing | ||
| Encoding | ||
| Genealogy | ||
| Other | ||