Proto-Kartvelian language

Proto-Kartvelian
Reconstruction of	Kartvelian languages
Lower-order reconstructions	Proto-Georgian-Zan

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. 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).

Influences

See also: Proto-Indo-European language

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. 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'.

Relation to descendants

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.

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).

Phonology

Vowels

Proto-Kartvelian vowels

	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]

Consonants

Proto-Kartvelian consonants

		Labial	Alveolar		Retroflex	Postalveolar		Velar	Uvular	Glottal
			plain	sibilant		central	lateral
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.

References

• "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.