Mingrelian is a Kartvelian language from the Caucasus. Like other languages in the area, it contains a large number of grammatical cases and shows ergative alignment. Mingrelian is mostly agglutinative in terms of morphological inflection, although it has no grammatical gender or noun classes, unlike neighbouring Caucasian languages from the Nakh-Dagestanian family. Mingrelian verbs index numerous tense-aspect-moods, with traces of evidentiality indexation.
Mingrelian has two dialects: Zugdidi-Samurzakano (northwestern) and Senaki-Martvili (southeastern).
Mingrelian has five vowel phonemes /i ɛ a ɔ u/. The Zugdidi-Samurzaqano dialect has a sixth /ə/ which is the result of assimilation of /i/ and /u/.
Front | Back | ||
---|---|---|---|
unrounded | rounded | ||
High | i [ i ] ი | (ə [ ə ] ჷ) | u [ u ] უ |
Mid | e [ ɛ ] ე | o [ ɔ ] ო | |
Low | a [ ɑ ] ა |
The consonant inventory of Mingrelian contains series of aspirated and ejective consonants that contrast with voiced consonants. The inventory and is almost identical to that of Laz, Georgian, and Svan. The table below shows the consonants of Mingrelian in romanized script, phonetic symbols from the IPA, and in Mkhedruli script.
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m [ m ] მ | n [ n ] ნ | |||||
Plosive | voiced | b [ b ] ბ | d [ d ] დ | g [ ɡ ] გ | |||
aspirated | p [ pʰ ] ფ | t [ tʰ ] თ | k [ kʰ ] ქ | ||||
ejective | p̌ [ pʼ ] პ | ţ [ tʼ ] ტ | ǩ [ kʼ ] კ | q̌ [ qʼ ] ყ | ɔ [ ʔ ] ჸ | ||
Affricate | voiced | ž [ d͡z ] ძ | dj [ d͡ʒ ] ჯ | ||||
aspirated | ʒ [ t͡sʰ ] ც | ç [ t͡ʃʰ ] ჩ | |||||
ejective | ǯ [ t͡sʼ ] წ | č [ t͡ʃʼ ] ჭ | |||||
Fricative | voiced | v [ v ] ვ | z [ z ] ზ | j [ ʒ ] ჟ | ɣ [ ɣ ] ღ | ||
voiceless | s [ s ] ს | ş [ ʃ ] შ | x [ x ] ხ | h [ h ] ჰ | |||
Trill | r [ r ] რ | ||||||
Approximant | l [ l ] ლ | y [ j ] ჲ |
Mingrelian has nine grammatical cases, which are indexed in all nominals. Unlike neighboring Nakh-Dagestanian languages, Mingrelian verbs show no case markings. Grammatical case endings are the same for nouns and adjectives, both in the singular and the plural, unlike many Indo-European languages such as Latin or Polish. Mingrelian case morphemes are shown below.
Case | Mingrelian | |
---|---|---|
nominative | -ი | -i |
ergative | -ქ | -k |
dative | -ს | -s |
genitive | -იშ | -iş /iʃ/ |
lative | -იშა | -işa /iʃa/ |
ablative | -იშე | -işe /iʃe/ |
instrumental | -ით | -it |
adverbial | -ო(თ) | -o(t) |
benefactive | -იშო(თ) | -işo(t) /iʃot/ |
Mingrelian nouns and adjectives occur in singular and plural forms.
Example of the declension of noun stem კოჩ- (ǩoç- “man”) in singular and plural forms.
Case/Number | Singular | Plural | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mkhedruli | Romanized | IPA | Mkhedruli | Romanized | IPA | |
Nominative | კოჩი | ǩoç-i | / kʼɔtʃʰi / | კოჩეფი | ǩoç-ep-i | / kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰi / |
Ergative | კოჩქ | ǩoç-k | / kʼɔtʃʰkʰ / | კოჩეფქ | ǩoç-ep-k | / kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰkʰ / |
Dative | კოჩს | ǩoç-s | / kʼɔtʃʰs / | კოჩეფს | ǩoç-ep-s | / kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰs / |
Genitive | კოჩიშ | ǩoç-iş | / kʼɔtʃʰiʃ / | კოჩეფიშ | ǩoç-ep-iş | / kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰiʃ / |
Lative | კოჩიშა | ǩoş-işa | / kʼɔtʃʰiʃa / | კოჩეფიშა | ǩoç-ep-işa | / kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰiʃa / |
Ablative | კოჩიშე | ǩoç-işe | / kʼɔtʃʰiʃɛ / | კოჩეფიშე | ǩoç-ep-işe | / kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰiʃɛ / |
Instrumental | კოჩით | ǩoç-it | / kʼɔtʃʰit / | კოჩეფით | ǩoç-ep-it | / kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰit / |
Adverbial | კოჩო | ǩoç-o | / kʼɔtʃʰɔ / | კოჩეფო | ǩoç-ep-o | / kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰɔ / |
Benefactive | კოჩიშო | ǩoç-išo | / kʼɔtʃʰiʃɔ / | კოჩეფიშო | ǩoç-ep-işo | / kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰiʃɔ / |
Declension of stem წვეშ- (ǯveş- “old”) in singular and plural forms.
Case | Singular | Plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | წვეში | ǯveş-i | წვეშეფი | ǯveş-ep-i |
Ergative | წვეშქ | ǯveş-k | წვეშეფქ | ǯveş-ep-k |
Dative | წვეშს | ǯveş-s | წვეშეფს | ǯveş-ep-s |
Genitive | წვეშიშ | ǯveş-iş | წვეშეფიშ | ǯveş-ep-iş |
Lative | წვეშიშა | ǯveş-işa | წვეშეფიშა | ǯveş-ep-işa |
Ablative | წვეშიშე | ǯveş-işe | წვეშეფიშე | ǯveş-ep-işe |
Instrumental | წვეშით | ǯveş-it | წვეშეფით | ǯveş-ep-it |
Adverbial | წვეშო | ǯveş-o | წვეშეფო | ǯveş-ep-o |
Benefactive | წვეშიშო | ǯveş-işo | წვეშეფიშო | ǯveş-ep-işo |
Example of the declension of noun stem კოჩ- (ǩoç- “man”) in comparison to corresponding Laz კოჩ- (ǩoç-) , Georgian კაც- (kʼats-) and Svan č'äš (“husband”) forms. Note that Laz does not index adverbial and benefactive cases through suffixes, neither do Georgian nor Svan index the lative or ablative.
Case | Singular | Plural | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mingrelian | Laz | Georgian | Svan | Mingrelian | Laz | Georgian | Svan | |||
Nominative | კოჩი | ǩoçi | ǩoçi | kʼatsi | č'äš | კოჩეფი | ǩoçepi | ǩoçepe | kʼatsebi | č'äšär |
Ergative | კოჩქ | ǩoçk | ǩoçik | kʼatsma | č'äšd | კოჩეფქ | ǩoçepk | ǩoçepek | kʼatsebma | č'äšärd |
Dative | კოჩს | ǩoçs | ǩoçis | kʼatss | č'äšs | კოჩეფს | ǩoçeps | ǩoçepes | kʼatsebs | č'äšärs |
Genitive | კოჩიშ | ǩoçiş | ǩoçiş | kʼatsis | č'äšiš | კოჩეფიშ | ǩoçepiş | ǩoçepeş | kʼatsebis | č'äšäriš |
Lative | კოჩიშა | ǩoşişa | ǩoçişa | - | - | კოჩეფიშა | ǩoçepişa | ǩoçepeşa | ||
Ablative | კოჩიშე | ǩoçişe | ǩoçişe | კოჩეფიშე | ǩoçepişe | ǩoçepeşe | ||||
Instrumental | კოჩით | ǩoçit | ǩoçite | kʼatsit | č'äššw | კოჩეფით | ǩoçepit | ǩoçepete | kʼatsebit | č'äšäršw |
Adverbial | კოჩო | ǩoço | kʼatsad | č'äšd | კოჩეფო | ǩoçepo | kʼatsebad | č'äšärd | ||
Benefactive | კოჩიშო | ǩoçišo | kʼatsistvis | č'äšišd | კოჩეფიშო | ǩoçepişo | kʼatsebistvis | č'äšärišd |
Mingrelian has traces of a noun classification system that distinguishes animacy semantically along the lines of human-like or un-human-like.
Concrete | Abstract | ||
Animate | Inanimate | ||
Human and "human-like" beings (e.g. God, deities, angels) | Animals | Inanimate physical entities | Abstract objects |
Human-like | Un-human-like | ||
mi? ("who?") | mu? ("what?") |
I | მა | ma |
You (sing.) | სი | si |
We | ჩქი/ჩქƨ | çki/çkə |
You (pl.) | თქვა | tkva |
Singular | Plural | ||
This | ina | These | (t)enepi |
That | ena | Those | (t)inepi |
1st person | singular | ჩქიმი/ჩქƨმი | çkimi/çkəmi |
---|---|---|---|
plural | ჩქინი/ჩქƨნი | çkini/çkəni | |
2nd person | singular | სქანი | skani |
plural | თქვანი | tkvani | |
3rd person | singular | მუში | muşi |
plural | ინეფიშ | inepiş |
The Mingrelian verb has the categories of person, number, version, tense, mood, aspect, voice, and verbal focus.
In Mingrelian the verbs can be monovalent, bivalent or trivalent. This feature is also shared with other Kartvelian languages.
Unipersonal | Bipersonal | Tripersonal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
intransitive | transitive | intransitive | ditransitive | |
Subject | + | + | + | + |
Direct Object | + | + | ||
Indirect Object | + | + |
The person may be singular or plural.
Subject and object markers in Mingrelian are roughly the same as in Laz.
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
S1 | v- | v-...-t |
S2 | ∅- | ∅-...-t |
S3 | ∅-...-∅/-s/-u | ∅-...-na/-es |
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
O1 | m- | m-...-na/-es/-t |
O2 | g- | g-...-na/-es/-t |
O3 | ∅- | ∅-...-na/-es |
In pre-consonant position the markers v- and g- may change phonetically:
In Mingrelian there are four types of version marking:
Version | Mingrelian | Laz | Georgian | Svan |
---|---|---|---|---|
Subjective | -i- | -i- | -i- | -i- |
Objective | -u- | -u- | -u- | -o- |
Objective-passive | -a- | -a- | -e- | -e- |
Neutral | -o-/-a | -o- | -a- | -a- |
In total there are 20 screeves in Mingrelian. They are grouped in four series.
I series | ||
---|---|---|
Screeve | Stem: ç̌ar- "to write" | Translation |
present | ç̌aruns | s/he writes |
imperfect | ç̌arundu | s/he was writing |
imperfective optative | ç̌arundas | s/he were writing |
imperfective conditional | ç̌arundu-ǩon | if s/he were writing |
future imperfect | ç̌arundas iʔuapu(n)/iʔii(n) | s/he will be writing |
conditional of future imperfect in the past | ç̌arundu-ǩon iɣuapudu/iɣiidu | if s/he were writing |
future | doç̌aruns | s/he will write |
future in the past | doç̌arundu | s/he would write |
future optative | doç̌arundas | |
II series | ||
aorist | ç̌aru | s/he wrote |
aorist optative | ç̌aras | should s/he write |
aorist conditional | ç̌aru-ǩon | if s/he wrote |
III series | ||
inferential I | uç̌aru(n) | (it seems) s/he has written |
inferential II | uç̌arudu | (it seems) s/he had written |
inferential optative I | uç̌arudas | may s/he have written |
inferential conditional II | uç̌arudu-ǩon | if s/he have written |
IV series | ||
inferential III | noç̌arue(n) | (it seems) s/he has written |
inferential IV | noç̌aruedu | (it seems) s/he had written |
inferential optative III | noç̌aruedas | may s/he have written |
Inferential conditional IV | noç̌aruedu-ǩon | if s/he have written |
Indicative
Indicative statement claims that the proposition should be taken as an apparent fact.
Interrogative
There are two ways to express interrogative mood:
Imperative
Indicates a command or request. The aorist form is used when addressing 2nd person (singular/plural) and aorist optative in all other cases.
Subjunctive
Expresses possibility, wish, desire. The subjunctive mood in Mingrelian is provided by optative screeves.
Conditional
Indicates condition in contrary to a fact. It is produced by adding a verbal suffix -ǩo(ni) to the end of a verb.
In Mingrelian the verbs may have two aspects depending on the completeness of action (perfective aspect ) or the lack of it (imperfective aspect ). The perfective aspect is derived by adding a preverb to the verb.
In 2nd, 3rd, 4th series the verbs equally have both aspect forms, while in the 1st series the screeves are distributed between two aspects.
Imperfective Aspect | |||
---|---|---|---|
Screeve | Stem: ჭარ- ç̌ar- "to write" | Translation | |
present | ჭარუნს | ç̌aruns | s/he writes |
imperfect | ჭარუნდუ | ç̌arundu | s/he was writing |
imperfective optative | ჭარუნდას | ç̌arundas | s/he were writing |
imperfective conditional | ჭარუნდუ კონ | ç̌arundu ǩon | if s/he were writing |
future imperfect | ჭარუნდას იჸუაფუნ/იჸიიდუ | ç̌arundas iʔuapu(n)/iʔii(n) | s/he will be writing |
conditional of future imperfect in the past | ç̌arundu ǩon iʔuapudu/iʔiidu | if s/he were writing | |
Perfective Aspect | |||
future | დოჭარუნს | do-ç̌ar-uns | s/he will write |
future in the past | დოჭარუნდუ | do-ç̌arundu | s/he would write |
future optative | დოჭარუნდას | doç̌arundas |
Mingrelian words for kinship reflect both generation and gender, although many words are derived. It also denotes a large number of members of one's extended family as well as in-laws.
Nuclear family [1] [2] | ||
---|---|---|
Mother | დიდა | dida |
Father | მუმა | muma |
Sister | და | da |
Brother | ჲიმა | yima |
Daughter | ოსორისქუა | osoriskua |
Son | ბოში | boşi |
Wife | ოსური | osuri |
Husband | ქომონჲი | komonyi |
Extended family [1] | |||
---|---|---|---|
Grandmother | ბები | bebi | |
Grandfather | ბაბუ | babu | |
Aunt | maternal | დეიდა | deida |
paternal | მამიდა | mamida | |
Uncle | maternal | ბიჲია | biyia |
paternal | |||
Nice or Nephew | brother's child | ჲიმასქუა | yimaskua |
sister's child | დასქუა | daskua | |
Cousin | aunt's child | მამიდასქუა | mamidaskua |
uncle's child | ბიჲასქუა | biyaskua |
In-laws and Step family [1] [2] | ||
---|---|---|
Mother-in-law | დიანთილი | diantili |
Father-in-law | მუანთილი | muantili |
Son-in-law | გესინჯებული | gesindjebuli |
Parents of your child's spouse | ზახალეფი | zaxalefi |
Sister-in-law | ოხოლასქილი | oxolaskili |
Brother-in-law | სინჯა | sindja |
Stepmother | დიდაჸონირი | didaɔoneri |
Stepfather | მუმაჸონირი | mumaɔoneri |
Stepchild | სქუაჸონირი | skuaɔoniri |
Mingrelian numerals follow a vigesimal system (i.e. base 20), like in Georgian.
Most of the Mingrelian cardinal numbers are inherited from Proto-Kartvelian language, except arti (one) and eçi (twenty), which are considered as a Karto-Zan heritage, since there are no regular equivalents in Svan.
Mingrelian | ||
---|---|---|
1 | ართი | arti |
2 | ჟირი/ჟჷრი | zhiri/zhəri |
3 | სუმი | sumi |
4 | ოთხი | otxi |
5 | ხუთი | xuti |
6 | ამშვი | amşvi |
7 | შქვითი | şkviti |
8 | (ბ)რუო | (b)ruo |
9 | ჩხორო | çxoro |
10 | ვითი | viti |
11 | ვითაართი | vitaarti |
12 | ვითოჟირი | vitozhiri |
13 | ვითოსუმი | vitosumi |
14 | ვითაანთხი | vitaantxi |
15 | ვითოხუთი | vitoxuti |
20 | ეჩი | eçi |
21 | ეჩდოართი | eçdoarti |
30 | ეჩდოვითი | eçdoviti |
40 | ჟაარნეჩი | zhaarneçi |
50 | ჟაარნეჩიდოვიჩი | zhaarneçidoviti |
60 | სუმონეჩი | sumoneçi |
70 | სუმონეჩდოვითი | sumoneçdoviti |
80 | ოთხონეჩი | otxoneçi |
90 | ოთხონეჩდოვითი | otxoneçdoviti |
100 | ოში | oşi |
101 | ოშართი | oşarti |
102 | ოშჟირი | oşzhiri |
110 | ოშვითი | oşviti |
200 | ჟიროში | zhiroşi |
500 | ხუთოში | xutoşi |
1000 | ანთასი | antasi |
1999 | ანთას ჩხოროშ ოთხონეჩდოვითოჩხორო | antas çxoroş otxoneçdovitoçxoro |
2000 | ჟირი ანთასი | zhiri antasi |
10000 | ვითი ანთასი | viti antasi |
In Mingrelian, ordinal numbers are derived by the circumfix ma- -a, with the exception of the word for “first”, პირველი (p̌irveli), which is not derived from the word for “one” ართი arti.
Ordinal |
---|
ma-NUMBER-a |
Mingrelian | |
---|---|
1st | p̌irveli |
2nd | mazhira |
3rd | masuma |
4th | maotxa/mantxa |
5th | maxuta |
6th | maamşva |
7th | maşkvita |
8th | maruo |
9th | maçxora |
10th | mavita |
11th | mavitaarta |
12th | mavitozhira |
20th | maeça |
21st | eçdomaarta |
30th | eçdomavita |
100th | maoşa |
101st | oşmaarta |
102nd | oşmazhira |
110th | oşmavita |
200th | mazhiroşa |
500th | maxutoşa |
1000th | maantasa |
The fractional numbers derivation rule in Mingrelian is akin to Old Georgian and Svan.
Mingrelian/Laz |
---|
na-NUMBER-al/or |
Mingrelian | |
---|---|
whole | teli |
1/2 | gverdi |
1/3 | nasumori |
1/4 | naotxali or naantxali |
1/5 | naxutali |
1/6 | naamşvali |
1/7 | naşkvitali |
1/8 | naruali |
1/9 | naçxorali |
1/10 | navitali |
1/11 | navitaartali |
1/12 | navitozhirali |
1/20 | naeçali |
1/100 | naoşali |
1/1000 | naantasali |
In linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection. For instance, the verb break can be conjugated to form the words break, breaks, and broke. While English has a relatively simple conjugation, other languages such as French and Arabic or Spanish are more complex, with each verb having dozens of conjugated forms. Some languages such as Georgian and Basque have highly complex conjugation systems with hundreds of possible conjugations for every verb.
Georgian is the most widely spoken Kartvelian language; it serves as the literary language or lingua franca for speakers of related languages. It is the official language of Georgia and the native or primary language of 88% of its population. Its speakers today amount to approximately 3.8 million. Georgian is written with its own unique Georgian scripts, alphabetical systems of unclear origin.
Abkhaz, also known as Abkhazian, is a Northwest Caucasian language most closely related to Abaza. It is spoken mostly by the Abkhaz people. It is one of the official languages of Abkhazia, where around 190,000 people speak it. Furthermore, it is spoken by thousands of members of the Abkhazian diaspora in Turkey, Georgia's autonomous republic of Adjara, Syria, Jordan, and several Western countries. 27 October is the day of the Abkhazian language in Georgia.
The Georgian scripts are the three writing systems used to write the Georgian language: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. Although the systems differ in appearance, their letters share the same names and alphabetical order and are written horizontally from left to right. Of the three scripts, Mkhedruli, once the civilian royal script of the Kingdom of Georgia and mostly used for the royal charters, is now the standard script for modern Georgian and its related Kartvelian languages, whereas Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri are used only by the Georgian Orthodox Church, in ceremonial religious texts and iconography.
The Georgians, or Kartvelians, are a nation and Caucasian ethnic group native to present-day Georgia and surrounding areas historically associated with the Georgian kingdoms. Significant Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, Greece, Iran, Ukraine, the United States, and the European Union.
Aorist verb forms usually express perfective aspect and refer to past events, similar to a preterite. Ancient Greek grammar had the aorist form, and the grammars of other Indo-European languages and languages influenced by the Indo-European grammatical tradition, such as Middle Persian, Sanskrit, Armenian, the South Slavic languages, Georgian, Pontic Greek, and Pashto, also have forms referred to as aorist.
The Laz or Lazurilanguage is a Kartvelian language spoken by the Laz people on the southeastern shore of the Black Sea. In 2007, it was estimated that there were around 20,000 native speakers in Turkey, in a strip of land extending from Melyat to the Georgian border, and around 1,000 native speakers around Adjara in Georgia. There are also around 1,000 native speakers of Laz in Germany.
Mingrelian, or Megrelian is a Kartvelian language spoken in Western Georgia, primarily by the Mingrelians. Mingrelian has historically been only a regional language within the boundaries of historical Georgian states and then modern Georgia, and the number of younger people speaking it has decreased substantially, with UNESCO designating it as a "definitely endangered language".
Svan 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, the UNESCO designates Svan as a "definitely endangered language". It is of particular interest because it has retained many features that have been lost in the other Kartvelian languages.
Bats, also known as Batsbi, Batsi, Batsb, Batsaw, or Tsova-Tush) is the endangered language of the Bats people, a North Caucasian minority group living in the Republic of Georgia. Batsbi is part of the Nakh branch of Northeast Caucasian languages. It had 2,500 to 3,000 speakers in 1975, with only one dialect. Batsbi is only used for spoken communication, as Bats people tend to use Georgian when writing.
Odishi was a historical district in western Georgia, the core fiefdom of the former Principality of Mingrelia, with which the name "Odishi" was frequently coterminous. Since the early 19th century, this toponym has been supplanted by Mingrelia (Samegrelo).
Georgian grammar has many distinctive and extremely complex features, such as split ergativity and a polypersonal verb agreement system.
The grammar of Classical Nahuatl is agglutinative, head-marking, and makes extensive use of compounding, noun incorporation and derivation. That is, it can add many different prefixes and suffixes to a root until very long words are formed. Very long verbal forms or nouns created by incorporation, and accumulation of prefixes are common in literary works. New words can thus be easily created.
Tauya is a Rai Coast language spoken in the Ramu River valley, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea by approximately 350 people. The Linguistics Department at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, has Tauya language resources.
Georgian is a Kartvelian language spoken by about 4 million people, primarily in Georgia but also by indigenous communities in northern Turkey and Azerbaijan, and the diaspora, such as in Russia, Turkey, Iran, Europe, and North America. It is a highly standardized language, with established literary and linguistic norms dating back to the 5th century.
The Proto-Kartvelian language, or Common Kartvelian, 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.
The Kartvelian languages are a language family indigenous to the South Caucasus and spoken primarily in Georgia. There are approximately 5 million Georgian language speakers worldwide, with large groups in Russia, Iran, the United States, the European Union, Israel, and northeastern Turkey. The Kartvelian family has no known relation to any other language family, making it one of the world's primary language families.
The Zan languages, or Zanuri or Colchidian, are a branch of the Kartvelian languages constituted by the Mingrelian and Laz languages. The grouping is disputed as some Georgian linguists consider the two to form a dialect continuum of one Zan language. This is often challenged on the most commonly applied criteria of mutual intelligibility when determining borders between languages, as Mingrelian and Laz are only partially mutually intelligible, though speakers of one language can recognize a sizable amount of vocabulary of the other, primarily due to semantic loans, lexical loans and other areal features resulting from geographical proximity and historical close contact common for dialect continuums.
Laz is a Kartvelian language. It is sometimes considered as a southern dialect of Zan languages, the northern dialect being the Mingrelian language.
Murle is a Surmic Language spoken by the Murle people in the southeast of South Sudan, near the Ethiopian border. A very small number of Murle live across the border in southwestern Ethiopia.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). (in Russian and Mingrelian){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)