| 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. 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 languageThe 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
| 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
| 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.
Notes
- ^ 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
- ^ Fähnrich (2002), p. 5
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. doi:10.2307/411601. JSTOR 411601.
- 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.
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