Kartvelian languages

Not to be confused with Karelian language, Karenic languages, or Kartu languages.

Kartvelian
Geographic distribution	South Caucasus, East Black Sea region
Linguistic classification	One of the world's primary language families
Proto-language	Proto-Kartvelian
Subdivisions	Svan Georgian-Zan (Karto-Zan)
Language codes
ISO 639-5	ccs
Glottolog	kart1248
Linguasphere	42-C
Distribution of the Kartvelian languages. Karto-Zan   Georgian   Mingrelian   Laz Svan   Svan

The Kartvelian languages (/kɑːrtˈvɛliən, -ˈviːl-/ kart-VEL-ee-ən, -⁠VEEL-; Georgian: ქართველური ენები, romanized: kartveluri enebi), also known as South Caucasian or Kartvelic languages, are a language family indigenous to the South Caucasus and spoken primarily in Georgia. There are approximately 5 million Georgian language speakers worldwide. The Kartvelian family is not related to any other language family in the world, making it one of the primary language families.

The most widely spoken Kartvelian language, and the only literary language in the family, is standard Georgian. The earliest written source attesting to the existence of any Kartvelian language is an Old Georgian inscription located at the now-defunct Georgian Orthodox monastery near Bethlehem, dated to c. 430 AD. Georgian scripts are used to write all Kartvelian languages.

Status

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 distinct from every other language, but their alphabetical order largely corresponds to the Greek alphabet, with the exception of letters denoting uniquely Georgian sounds, which are grouped at the end.

Mingrelian has historically been only a spoken, regional language and Mingrelian speakers have traditionally relied on the standard Georgian as their literary language. Through the late 19th century there were no known written Mingrelian grammar books or dictionaries. There have been some limited publications in Mingrelian throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, but printing publications in Mingrelian is controversial because it is seen as deviation from its historic profile as a non-literary language.

The Laz language was written mainly between 1927 and 1937, and then in Turkey using the Latin alphabet. Laz is endangered as its speakers are shifting to Turkish.

Classification

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 their current numbers and distribution 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.
  • Zan (also called Colchian)
    • Mingrelian (მარგალური ნინა, margaluri nina), with some 500,000 native speakers in 1989, mainly in the western regions of Georgia, namely 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%. 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.

Genealogical tree

Proto-Kartvelian

Proto-Georgian-Zan (Proto-Karto-Zan)

Zan

Svan

Mingrelian

Laz

Georgian

Proposed Kartvelian evolution showing wildlife with reconstructed proto-Kartvelian names (black areas); past societies (HG: Hunter-gatherers, N: Neolithic, CA: Copper Age, BA: Bronze Age, IA: Iron Age); and major rivers in whose watersheds extant Kartvelian languages evolved (colored lines). KBP means millennia before 1950.

The Kartvelian, or South Caucasian, family comprises Georgian, Svan, Mingrelian, and Laz. Its common internal classification identifies Svan as the first branch to separate from Proto-Kartvelian. Georgian, Mingrelian, and Laz descend from Proto-Karto-Zan, within which Mingrelian and Laz form the Zan branch.

The connection between these languages was first noted in the linguistic literature by Johann Anton Güldenstädt in his 1773 classification of the languages of the Caucasus and was subsequently demonstrated by Georg Rosen, Marie-Félicité Brosset, Franz Bopp, and others in the 1840s. It is worth noting, however, that Georgians had recognized the relatedness of these languages long before the emergence of modern linguistics. In his 1745 work Description of the Kingdom of Georgia, the Georgian geographer and historian Prince Vakhushti of Kartli described Mingrelian as a "corrupted" form of Georgian, supporting his view by citing words in the two languages that were similar in form and meaning.

The chronology of Kartvelian branching remains uncertain. Traditional calculations based on rates of vocabulary replacement place the separation of Svan in the third millennium BC and the Georgian–Zan division in the first millennium BC, with one reconstruction dating the latter to approximately the eighth century BC. One 2023 study using a Bayesian phylogenetic analysis recovered the same branching structure but estimated the Svan–Karto-Zan division at a mean of 7,641 years BP and the Georgian–Zan division at 2,617 years BP. The authors reported a wide credible interval for the earlier division.

Scholars have variously located the Proto-Kartvelian homeland in western or southwestern Georgia, northeastern Anatolia, the Lesser Caucasus, and the Armenian Highlands. Reconstructed vocabulary relating to plants, animals, pastoralism, agriculture, and textile production has been used to support proposed locations in the uplands of western Georgia and eastern Anatolia. A 2023 study compared its linguistic phylogeny with reconstructed plant and animal distributions, archaeological and environmental evidence, and population-genetic patterns. It proposed a homeland largely overlapping the Colchis glacial refugium in western Georgia.

The processes through which the Kartvelian languages acquired their historical distributions remain incompletely understood. Proposed explanations include migration, territorial expansion, bilingualism, assimilation, and language shift. Historical-linguistic reconstructions suggest that Svan was formerly spoken across a wider part of western Georgia, while Mingrelian and Laz were geographically separated due to the westward spread of Georgian-speaking communities during the seventh and eighth centuries AD. The later predominance of Georgian in government, literature, and worship is associated with the political influence of Kartli (Iberia), the adoption of Christianity, and the institutions of the Georgian Church.

Higher-level connections

No relationship with other languages, including Northwest Caucasian and/or Northeast Caucasian, has been demonstrated so far. 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. Certain grammatical similarities with Basque, particularly in the case system, have often been noted. 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 ancient Near East, is generally considered to lack conclusive evidence. 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 also been influenced.

Phonetics and phonology

Regular correspondences

Vowels

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

	Proto-Kartv.	Geo.	Zan	Svan
Voiced 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 traces of 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	—N/a	—N/a		-ep-iša	-epe-ša	—N/a	—N/a
Ablative	-iše	-iše	—N/a	—N/a		-ep-iše	-epe-še(n)	—N/a	—N/a
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)	—N/a	-eb-ad	-är-d
Finalis	-išo(t)	—N/a	-isad	-išd		-ep-išo(t)	—N/a	-eb-isad	-är-išd
Vocative	—N/a	—N/a	-o (/-v)	—N/a		—N/a	—N/a	-eb-o	—N/a

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	—N/a	—N/a		ǯveš-ep-iša	mǯveš-epe-ša	—N/a	—N/a
Ablative	ǯveš-iše	mǯveš-iše	—N/a	—N/a		ǯveš-ep-iše	mǯveš-epe-še	—N/a	—N/a
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	—N/a	ʒvel-eb-ad	ǯwinel-är-d
Finalis	ǯveš-išo	—N/a	ʒvel-isad	ǯwinel-išd		ǯveš-ep-išo	—N/a	ʒvel-eb-isad	ǯwinel-är-išd
Vocative	—N/a	—N/a	ʒvel-o	—N/a		—N/a	—N/a	ʒvel-eb-o	—N/a

Verb

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.

• 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 ergative alignment. Rather, they display a mixture of nominative-accusative and active alignment, depending on two factors:

• the class to which the verb belongs, based on its morphological and syntactic properties (class 1 including all transitive verbs, while intransitive verbs are divided between class 2 and 3);
• the series to which the tense/aspect/mood form (traditionally known as screeve) belongs.

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

	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

	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

	Subject			Direct object	Indirect object
	Class 1	Class 3	Class 2
Series I	Nominative			Dative
Series II	Ergative			Nominative	Dative

Examples of vocabulary

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]

Various lexical examples in the Kartvelian languages

English	Georgian	Mingrelian	Laz	Svan
hello	gamarjoba	gomordzgua	geǯginoba/xelaǩaoba	xoča ladeġ
I love you	me šen miyvarxar	ma si miork	ma si maoropen	mi si malat
thanks	madloba	mardi	mardi	makhvmar
god	ɣmerti	ɣoronti	ğormoti	ɣērbet
heart	guli	guri	guri	gwi
sister	da	da	da	dačûir
grandfather	ṗaṗa	ṗaṗu	p̌ap̌u	baba
grandmother	bebia	bebi	didinana	bebe
son-in-law; bridegroom	siʒe	sinǯa	sica	čiže
old	ʒveli	ǯveši	mjveşi	ǯûinel
new	axali	axali	ağani	maxe
fox	mela	mela	meli	māl
hand	xeli	xe	xe	ši
size	zoma	zoma	zoma	nazim
apiece; each	tito	tito	tito	tẅit
low; short	dabali	dabali	tapala	dambāl
turtle	ḳu	ḳu	ḳu	ḳu
angle; corner	ḳutxe	ḳuntxu	ḳutxe	ḳutxẅ
relative	naṭesavi	naṭese	noṭese	nāṭi
big	didi	didi	didi	xoša
short	moḳle	mǩule	mǩule	mekušde
weight	c̣ona	c̣onua	oǯonu	c̣ən
broken; fragment(s)	naṭexi	noṭexi	noṭexi	näküish
laugh	sicili	ʒica	ożiʒinu	līcû
lightning	elva	valua	ovalu	hel
goat	txa	txa	txa	dakhəl
crane (bird)	c̣ero	c̣ero	ç̌aro	c̣ǟrû
ear	q̇uri	q̇uǯi	q̇uǯi	šdim
nose	cxviri	čxvindi	čxvindi	nepxwna
stem	ɣero	ɣeri	ğeri	ɣēr
meat	xorci	xorci	xorci	leɣw
spoon	ḳovzi	ḳizi	ǩizi	ḳiz
hoe	toxi	torxi	toxi	bērg
tooth	ḳbili	ḳibiri	ḳibiri	šdik
fingernail	prčxili	bircxa	burcxa	cxa
hear	smena	siminua	osiminu	lisme
dig	txra	txorua	ontxoru	lištxar
swim	curva	čurua	ončuru	lilcune
give	micema	mečama	mečamu	lihwdi
round	mrgvali	rgvali	morgvali	murgual/ḳurṗi
near	axlo	xološi	xolo	areuas
walk	svla	ula	ulu	lizāl
say	tkma	tkuma	otku	liqle
straight	sc̣ori	c̣ori	c̣ori	mec̣win
fruit	xili	xili	xila	xil
sky	ca	ca	mca	cǟš
rope	toḳi	toḳi	toç̌i	täḳû
tail	ḳudi	ḳudeli	ḳudeli	haḳûäd
mouth	ṗiri	ṗiǯi	p̌ici	ṗil
year	c̣eli	c̣ana	ǯana	zäy
stomach	kuči	kuči	kuči	kuiw
rain	c̣vima	č̣vima	mç̌vima	učxa
blood	sisxli	zisxiri	diʒxiri	zisx
smoke	ḳvamli	ḳuma	ǩoma	ḳûäm
language	ena	nina	nena	nən
sun	mze	bža	mžora	məž
forest	ṭq̇e	ṭq̇a	mt̆ǩa	tskhek
sea	zġva	zġva	zuġa	ʒuġwa
king	mepe	mapa	mapa	nepe
day	dġe	dġa	ndġa	la-deġ
brother	ʒma	ǯima	ǯuma	ǯəmil
daughter	asuli	osurskua	osuri	hasûiš
bear	datvi	tunti	mtuti	däštw
maggot	maṭli	munṭuri	munťuri	məṭ
dog	ʒaɣli	ǯoɣori	coğori	žeɣ
bull	xari	xoǯi	xoǯi	qän
insect	mc̣eri	č̣andi	mč̣aǯi	mēr
cup	tasi	tasi	tasi	tns
fence	ɣobe	ɣoberi	ğoberi	ɣob
millet	peṭvi	paṭi	paťi	peṭû
apple	vašli	uškur	oškuri	ûisgû
pear	mskhali	skhuli	mcxuli	vicx
elderberry	anc̣li	inč̣iri	inč̣iri	gänč̣w
wool	maṭq̇li	monṭq̇ori	monṭḳori	mäṭq̇
leather	ṭq̇avi	ṭq̇ebi	ťǩebi	tup
milk	rʒe	bža	mža	ləǯe
thin	txeli	txitxu	titxu	dətxel
chicken	qatami	kotomi	kotomi	qatal
horse	cxeni	cxeni	cxeni	č̣až
wife	coli	čili	çili	xexw
man	kaci	koči	koči	mare
mother	deda	dida	nana/dida	di
father	mama	muma	muma	mu
road, way	gza	šara/za	gza	šukw
eye	tvali	toli	toli	te
billy-goat	vaci	oči	boči	fiku
hair	tma	toma	toma	pät
water	wyali	wyari	wkari	lic
stone	qva	qva	kva	q̣wa
honey	tafli	tofuri	tofuri	tui
lake	tba	toba	tiba	ṭûib
ravine	ɣele	ɣali	ğali	ɣel
name	saxeli	saxeli	joxo	jaxe
iron	rḳina	rḳina	erǩina	berež
gold	okro	orko	okro	ûokr
silver	vercxli	varčxili	baçxuri	ûarčxil

See also

• Proto-Kartvelian language

General references

• Boeder, Winfried (1979). "Ergative syntax and morphology in language change: the South Caucasian languages". In Plank, Frans (ed.). Ergativity: towards a theory of grammatical relations. London: Academic Press. pp. 435–480. ISBN 9780125581509.
• Boeder, Winfried (2002). "Speech and thought representation in the Kartvelian (South Caucasian) languages". In Güldemann, Tom; von Roncador, Manfred (eds.). Reported Discourse. A Meeting-Ground of Different Linguistic Domains. Typological Studies in Language, vol. 52. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing. pp. 3–48. ISBN 9789027229588.
• Boeder, Winfried (2005). "The South Caucasian languages". Lingua. 115 (1–2): 5–89. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2003.06.002.
• Dalby, A. (2002). Language in Danger; The Loss of Linguistic Diversity and the Threat to Our Future. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231129008.
• Yardumian, Aram; Schurr, Theodore G. (2025). The Peopling of the Caucasus: Early Human Settlement at the Crossroads of Continents. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781009520201. ISBN 978-1-009-52020-1.
• Deeters, Gerhard (1930). Das kharthwelische Verbum: vergleichende Darstellung des Verbalbaus der südkaukasischen Sprachen (in German). Leipzig: Markert und Petters. OCLC 751319764.
• Delshad, Farshid (2010). Georgica et Irano-Semitica (in German). Wiesbaden: Deutscher Wissenschaftsverlag. ISBN 978-3868880045.
• Fähnrich, Heinz (2002). Kartwelische Wortschatzstudien (in German). Jena: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität.
• Fähnrich, Heinz (2007). Kartwelisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German). Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-47-42032-3.
• Blažek, Václav; Krpcová, Šárka (2007). "On the Application of Glottochronology to Kartvelian languages". Mother Tongue. 12: 125–133.
• Fähnrich, Heinz (2008). Kartwelsprachen. Altgeorgisch, Neugeorgisch, Mingrelisch, Lasisch, Swanisch (in German). Wiesbaden: Reichert. ISBN 978-3-89500-653-1.
• Fähnrich, Heinz (2016). Die Kartwelier. Grundsprache, Kultur, Lebensraum (in German). Wiesbaden: Reichert. ISBN 978-3-95490-192-0.
• Gamkrelidze, Thomas (1966). "A Typology of Common Kartvelian". Language. 42 (1): 69–83. doi:10.2307/411601. JSTOR 411601.
• Gamkrelidze, Thomas; Ivanov, Vjaceslav V. (1995). Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and a Proto-Culture. 2 vols. Translated by Jakobson, Roman. Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110147285.
• Harris, Alice C. (1985). Diachronic syntax: the Kartvelian case. London: Academic Press. ISBN 978-90-04-36508-7.
• Harris, Alice C., ed. (1991). The Indigenous Languages of the Caucasus, Vol.1: The Kartvelian languages. Delmar, New York: Caravan Books.
• Hewitt, B. George (1995). Georgian: A Structural Reference Grammar. Amerstdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 978-90-272-3802-3.
• Kajaia, Otar (2001). Megrul-kartuli leksiḳoni [Megrelian-Georgian dictionary] (in Georgian). Vol. 1.
• Kartozia, Guram (2005). The Laz language and its place in the system of Kartvelian languages (in Georgian). Tbilisi: Nekeri.
• Klimov, Georgij (1964). Этимологический словарь картвельских языков [Etymological Dictionary of Kartvelian Languages] (in Russian).
• Klimov, Georgij (1994). Einführung in die kaukasische Sprachwissenschaft [Introduction to Caucasian linguistics] (in German). Translated by Gippert, Jost. Hamburg: Buske. ISBN 9783875480603.
• Kohl, Philip L. (2007). The Making of Bronze Age Eurasia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-84780-3.
• Klimov, Georgij (1998). Etymological Dictionary of the Kartvelian Languages. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110156584.
• Klimov, Georgij (1998). Languages of the World: Caucasian languages (in Russian). Moscow: Academia.
• Lang, David Marshall (1966). The Georgians. Ancient people and places No. 51. New York: Praeger. ISBN 9780500020494.
• Ruhlen, M. (1987). A Guide to the World's Languages, Vol. 1: Classification. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
• Testelets, Yakov G. (2020). "Kartvelian (South Caucasian) Languages". In Polinsky, Maria (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Languages of the Caucasus. Oxford Handbooks Series. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190690694.
• Tuite, K. (1998). Kartvelian Morphosyntax. Number agreement and morphosyntactic orientation in the South Caucasian languages. Studies in Caucasian Linguistics, 12. Munich: LINCOM Europa.

External links

• Kartvelian Languages Department of the Arnold Chikobava Institute of Linguistics, Georgian Academy of Sciences
• Lazuri Nena – The Language of the Laz by Silvia Kutscher
• The Iberian-Caucasian Connection in a Typological Perspective by Arthur Holmer
• The Rise, Fall and Revival of the Ibero-Caucasian Hypothesis by Kevin Tuite (Université de Montréal)
• Atlas of the Caucasian Languages: Kartvelian Family
• Map of the Caucasian Languages