Proto-Kartvelian language explained

The Proto-Kartvelian language, or Common Kartvelian (Georgian: წინარექართველური ენა|tr, Georgian: პროტოქართველური ენა|tr), 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]

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.^[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'.

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

! colspan="2" rowspan="2"

Front	Back
unrounded		rounded
short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	(*i pronounced as /link/)				(*u pronounced as /link/)
Open-mid	e pronounced as /link/	ē pronounced as /link/			o pronounced as /link/	ō pronounced as /link/
Open			a pronounced as /link/	ā pronounced as /link/

Consonants

Proto-Kartvelian consonants^{[4] [5]}

		Labial	Alveolar		Retroflex	Postalveolar		Velar	Uvular	Glottal
							[6]
Nasal		m pronounced as /link/	n pronounced as /link/
Plosive		b pronounced as /link/	d pronounced as /link/	ʒ pronounced as /link/	ʒ₁ pronounced as /link/	ǯ pronounced as /link/		g pronounced as /link/
		p pronounced as /link/	t pronounced as /link/	c pronounced as /link/	c₁ pronounced as /link/	č pronounced as /link/		k pronounced as /link/	q pronounced as /link/
		ṗ pronounced as /link/	ṭ pronounced as /link/	c̣ pronounced as /link/	c̣₁ pronounced as /link/	č̣ pronounced as /link/	ɬʼ pronounced as /link/	ḳ pronounced as /link/	q̇ pronounced as /link/
Fricative				s pronounced as /link/	s₁ pronounced as /link/	š pronounced as /link/	lʿ pronounced as /link/	x pronounced as /link/		h pronounced as /link/
				z pronounced as /link/	z₁ pronounced as /link/	ž pronounced as /link/		ɣ pronounced as /link/
Trill						r pronounced as /link/
Approximant		w pronounced as /link/	l pronounced as /link/			y pronounced as /link/

Distinction between plain pronounced as /link/ and ejective pronounced as /link/ remains only in Svan language. This distinction also existed in Old Georgian.

References

• Book: Encyclopædia Britannica

  Macropedia

  . 15th . 1986 . Languages of the World . "Caucasian languages" section.
• Book: Fähnrich, H. . 2002 . Kartwelische Wortschatzstudien . Friedrich-Schiller-Universität . Jena.
• Gamkrelidze . T. . Tamaz Gamkrelidze . January–March 1966 . A Typology of Common Kartvelian . . 42 . 1 . 69–83.
• Book: Gamkrelidze, T. . Tamaz Gamkrelidze . Ivanov . V. . Vyacheslav Ivanov (philologist) . 1995 . Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and a Proto-Culture. . . Berlin / New York.
• Book: Gamkrelidze, T. . Tamaz Gamkrelidze . Machavariani . G. . 1965 . The system of sonants and ablaut in Kartvelian languages . ru, ka . " parameter requires a ",Tbilisi-->. " value, which is more important information in the first place. .
• Book: Klimov, G. . Georgy Klimov . 1998 . Etymological Dictionary of the Kartvelian Languages . . Berlin / New York.
• Book: Schmidt, Karl Horst . 1962 . Studien zur Rekonstruktion des Lautstandes der südkaukasischen Grundsprache XXXIV No. 3 . de . Abhandlung für die Kunde des Morgenlandes.

Notes and References

1. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Caucasian-languages Britannica, 15th edition (1986): Macropedia, "Languages of the World", "Caucasian languages"
2. Klimov (1998), p. VIII
3. Gamkrelidze & Ivanov (1995), pp. 768, 774–776
4. Gamkrelidze (1966), p. 70
5. Fähnrich (2002), p. 5
6. Fähnrich (2002), p. 5