The Proto-Kartvelian language, or Common Kartvelian ( ka, წინარექართველური ენა, tr, ka, პროტოქართველური ენა, tr), is the

linguistic reconstruction Linguistic reconstruction is the practice of establishing the features of an unattested ancestor language of one or more given languages. There are two kinds of reconstruction: * Internal reconstruction uses irregularities in a single language t ...

of the common ancestor of the

Kartvelian languages The Kartvelian languages ( ; ka, ქართველური ენები, tr; also known as South Caucasian or Kartvelic languages Boeder (2002), p. 3) are a language family indigenous to the South Caucasus and spoken primarily in Geor ...

, 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.Britannica, 15th edition (1986): Macropedia, "Languages of the World", "Caucasian languages"
/ref> Several linguists, namely Gerhard Deeters and Georgy Klimov have also reconstructed a lower-level

proto-language In the tree model of historical linguistics, a proto-language is a postulated ancestral language from which a number of attested languages are believed to have descended by evolution, forming a language family. Proto-languages are usually unatte ...

called Proto-Karto-Zan or Proto-Georgian-Zan, which is the ancestor of Karto-Zan languages (includes Georgian and Zan). The Bashplemi lake tablet is thought to possibly be Proto-Kartvelian.

Influences

The

ablaut In linguistics, the Indo-European ablaut ( , from German ) is a system of apophony (regular vowel variations) in the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE). An example of ablaut in English is the strong verb ''sing, sang, sung'' and its relate ...

patterns of Proto-Kartvelian are highly similar to those of the

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

, and so it is thought that Proto-Kartvelian interacted with Indo-European at a relatively early date.Gamkrelidze & Ivanov (1995), pp. 768, 774–776 This is reinforced by cognates with Indo-European, such as the Proto-Kartvelian '' '' ('breast'), and its possible relation to the Proto-Indo-European '' '' ('heart'). Proto-Kartvelian '' '' (warm) may also be related to Proto-Indo-European '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

pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (Interlinear gloss, glossed ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts of speech, but so ...

s 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

Consonants

Distinction between plain and

ejective In phonetics, ejective consonants are usually voiceless consonants that are pronounced with a glottalic egressive airstream. In the phonology of a particular language, ejectives may contrast with aspirated, voiced and tenuis consonants. Some l ...

remains only in

Svan language Svan ( ''lušnu nin''; ka, სვანური ენა, tr) is a Kartvelian languages, Kartvelian language spoken in the western Georgia (country), Georgian region of Svaneti primarily by the Svans, Svan people. With its speakers variously ...

. This distinction also existed in Old Georgian.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kartvelian, Proto, Language Agglutinative languages Kartvelian language Proto-Kartvelian language