Kartvelian languages

The Kartvelian languages, also known as South Caucasian or Kartvelic languages, are a special group of languages spoken mainly in the country of Georgia. There are about 5 million people who speak the most common Kartvelian language, called Georgian, all around the world. What makes the Kartvelian languages unique is that they do not share a common origin with any other language families, so they are one of the main language groups in the world.

The most widely spoken language in this family is standard Georgian, which is the only one with a long history of writing. The oldest known writing in any Kartvelian language is an Old Georgian inscription found near the old Georgian monastery close to Bethlehem, dating back to around 430 AD. All Kartvelian languages are written using special Georgian scripts, which makes their writing system quite interesting and unique.

Status

Georgian is the official language of Georgia and is used for most writing and business. It has its own special alphabet, and the oldest books in Georgian date back to the 5th century AD. The way letters are ordered in Georgian is mostly like the Greek alphabet, but it has some extra letters for sounds only found in Georgian.

Mingrelian is mainly a spoken language used in certain areas, and people who speak it usually use Georgian for writing. For a long time, there were no books explaining Mingrelian rules or dictionaries for it. Only a few books in Mingrelian have been published in recent years, and some people debate whether it should even have printed books.

The Laz language was written down mostly between 1927 and 1937, and later in Turkey using the Latin alphabet. Today, Laz is at risk because many of its speakers are starting to use Turkish instead.

Classification

The Kartvelian language family has four closely related languages.

• Svan has about 35,000–40,000 speakers in Georgia's mountainous northwest.
• Georgian-Zan includes:
  • Georgian with around 4 million speakers, mainly in Georgia and some communities in Russia, Turkey, Iran, Israel, and EU countries.
  • Zan, which has two languages:
    • Mingrelian with about 500,000 speakers in western Georgia.
    • Laz with around 22,000 speakers in northeast Turkey and a few in Adjara, Georgia.

Genealogical tree

The link between these languages was first noted in 1773 and later confirmed by many experts. Studies suggest these languages separated very early, possibly around the time of the Copper Age.

Higher-level connections

Scientists have not found any proven links between Kartvelian languages and other language families. Some think they might share features with Basque, but this is not certain. It’s possible that some similarities come from languages influencing each other over time.

Phonetics and phonology

Regular correspondences

Grammar

The Kartvelian languages have a special way of grouping things. They sort objects into two groups: "who" (like people) and "what" (like things).

Kartvelian verbs can show one, two, or three people involved in an action. Verbs with just one person are always about someone doing something without affecting anyone else. Verbs with two people can be about doing something to someone or for someone. Verbs with three people show someone doing something to another person and also giving something to a third person. Special word endings show who is doing what to whom.

These verbs can also show four different kinds of intention behind an action: doing something for oneself, for another person, for another person while being passive, or with no special intention.

Examples of vocabulary