The Proto-Kartvelian language, or Common Kartvelian ( ka, წინარექართველური 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 Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, ...
. 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"](_blank)
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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).
Influences
The ablaut
In linguistics, the Indo-European ablaut (, from German '' Ablaut'' ) 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 i ...
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 overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Du ...
, 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 words borrowed from 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 directly derived from 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 pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun ( abbreviated ) 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 parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not ...
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 q 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 ...
q' remains only in Svan language
Svan ( ''lušnu nin''; ka, სვანური ენა, tr) is a Kartvelian language spoken in the western Georgian region of Svaneti primarily by the Svan people. With its speakers variously estimated to be between 30,000 and 80,000, th ...
. This distinction also existed in Old Georgian
Old Georgian (ႤႬႠჂ ႵႠႰႧႭჃႪႨ, ''enay kartuli'') was a literary language of the Georgian monarchies attested from the 5th century. The language remains in use as the liturgical language of the Georgian Orthodox Church and for ...
.
Notes
References
*Encyclopædia Britannica
The ( Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
, 15th edition (1986): Macropedia, "Languages of the World", see section titled
Caucasian languages"
*
* Gamkrelidze, Th. (1966) "A Typology of Common Kartvelian", ''Language, Vol. 42, No. 1 (Jan. – Mar.), pp. 69–83''
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kartvelian, Proto, Language
Agglutinative languages
Kartvelian language
Proto-Kartvelian language
The Proto-Kartvelian language, or Common Kartvelian ( ka, წინარექართველური ენა, tr), is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Kartvelian languages, which was spoken by the ancestors of th ...