Mingrelian grammar

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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.

Contents

Mingrelian has two dialects: Zugdidi-Samurzakano (northwestern) and Senaki-Martvili (southeastern).

Grammatical cases

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.

CaseMingrelian
nominative -ი-i
ergative -ქ-k
dative -ს-s
locative -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/

Nominals

Mingrelian nouns and adjectives occur in singular and plural forms.

Example of noun declension

Example of the declension of noun stem კოჩ- (ǩoç- “man”) in singular and plural forms.

Case/NumberSingularPlural
Mkhedruli Romanized IPA MkhedruliRomanizedIPA
Nominativeკოჩǩoç-i/ kʼɔtʃʰi /კოჩეფიǩoç-ep-i/ kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰi /
Ergativeკოჩǩoç-k/ kʼɔtʃʰkʰ /კოჩეფქǩoç-ep-k/ kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰkʰ /
Dativeკოჩǩoç-s/ kʼɔtʃʰs /კოჩეფსǩoç-ep-s/ kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰs /
Genitiveკოჩიშǩoç-/ kʼɔtʃʰiʃ /კოჩეფიშǩoç-ep-iş/ kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰiʃ /
Lativeკოჩიშაǩoş-işa/ kʼɔtʃʰiʃa /კოჩეფიშაǩoç-ep-işa/ kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰiʃa /
Ablativeკოჩიშეǩoç-işe/ kʼɔtʃʰiʃɛ /კოჩეფიშეǩoç-ep-işe/ kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰiʃɛ /
Instrumentalკოჩითǩoç-it/ kʼɔtʃʰit /კოჩეფითǩoç-ep-it/ kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰit /
Adverbialკოჩǩoç-o/ kʼɔtʃʰɔ /კოჩეფოǩoç-ep-o/ kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰɔ /
Benefactiveკოჩიშოǩoç-išo/ kʼɔtʃʰiʃɔ /კოჩეფიშოǩoç-ep-işo/ kʼɔtʃʰɛpʰiʃɔ /

Example of adjective declension

Declension of stem ჯვეშ- (ǯveş- “old”) in singular and plural forms.

CaseSingularPlural
MkhedruliRomanizationIPAMkhedruliRomanization
Nominativeჯვეშǯveş-i/ dʒveʃi /ჯვეშეფიǯveş-ep-i
Ergativeჯვეშǯveş-k/ dʒveʃk /ჯვეშეფქǯveş-ep-k
Dativeჯვეშǯveş-s/ dʒveʃs /ჯვეშეფსǯveş-ep-s
Genitiveჯვეშიშǯveş-/ dʒveʃiʃ /ჯვეშეფიშǯveş-ep-iş
Lativeჯვეშიშაǯveş-işa/ dʒveʃiʃa /ჯვეშეფიშაǯveş-ep-işa
Ablativeჯვეშიშეǯveş-işe/ dʒveʃiʃe /ჯვეშეფიშეǯveş-ep-işe
Instrumentalჯვეშითǯveş-it/ dʒveʃit /ჯვეშეფითǯveş-ep-it
Adverbialჯვეშǯveş-o/ dʒveʃo /ჯვეშეფოǯveş-ep-o
Benefactiveჯვეშიშოǯveş-işo/ dʒveʃiʃo /ჯვეშეფიშოǯveş-ep-işo

Comparison with other Kartvelian languages

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.

CaseSingularPlural
MingrelianLazGeorgianSvanMingrelianLazGeorgianSvan
Nominativeკოჩიǩoçiǩoçikʼatsič'äšკოჩეფიǩoçepiǩoçepekʼatsebič'äšär
Ergativeკოჩქǩoçkǩoçikkʼatsmač'äšdკოჩეფქǩoçepkǩoçepekkʼatsebmač'äšärd
Dativeკოჩსǩoçsǩoçiskʼatssč'äšsკოჩეფსǩoçepsǩoçepeskʼatsebsč'äšärs
Genitiveკოჩიშǩoçǩoçişkʼatsisč'äšišკოჩეფიშǩoçepişǩoçepeşkʼatsebisč'äšäriš
Lativeკოჩიშაǩoşişaǩoçişa--კოჩეფიშაǩoçepişaǩoçepeşa
Ablativeკოჩიშეǩoçişeǩoçişeკოჩეფიშეǩoçepişeǩoçepeşe
Instrumentalკოჩითǩoçitǩoçitekʼatsitč'äššwკოჩეფითǩoçepitǩoçepetekʼatsebitč'äšäršw
Adverbialკოჩოǩoçokʼatsadč'äšdკოჩეფოǩoçepokʼatsebadč'äšärd
Benefactiveკოჩიშოǩoçišokʼatsistvisč'äšišdკოჩეფიშოǩoçepişokʼatsebistvisč'äšärišd

Traces of noun classification

Mingrelian has traces of a noun classification system that distinguishes animacy semantically along the lines of human-like or un-human-like.

Concrete Abstract
AnimateInanimate
Human and "human-like" beings (e.g. God, deities, angels) Animals Inanimate physical entities Abstract objects
Human-likeUn-human-like
mi? ("who?")mu? ("what?")

Pronouns

Personal pronouns (nominative)

Iმაma
You (sing.)სიsi
Weჩქი/ჩქჷçki/çkə
You (pl.)თქვაtkva

Demonstrative pronouns (nominative)

SingularPlural
ThisinaThese(t)enepi
ThatenaThose(t)inepi

Possessive pronouns

1st personsingularჩქიმი/ჩქჷმიçkimi/çkəmi
pluralჩქინი/ჩქჷნიçkini/çkəni
2nd personsingularსქანიskani
pluralთქვანიtkvani
3rd personsingularმუშიmuşi
pluralინეფიშinepiş

Verbs

The Mingrelian verb has the categories of person, number, version, tense, mood, aspect, voice, and verbal focus.

Personality and number

In Mingrelian the verbs can be monovalent, bivalent or trivalent. This feature is also shared with other Kartvelian languages.

Table of verb personality

UnipersonalBipersonalTripersonal
intransitivetransitiveintransitiveditransitive
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.

Subject markers

 SingularPlural
S1v-v-...-t
S2∅-∅-...-t
S3∅-...-∅/-s/-u∅-...-na/-es

Object markers

 SingularPlural
O1m-m-...-na/-es/-t
O2g-g-...-na/-es/-t
O3∅-∅-...-na/-es

In pre-consonant position the markers v- and g- may change phonetically:

  • v- → b- (in Zugdidi-Samurzakano dialect)
  • g- → r- (in both dialects)

Version

In Mingrelian there are four types of version marking:

Version markers
VersionMingrelianLazGeorgianSvan
Subjective-i--i--i--i-
Objective-u--u--u--o-
Objective-passive-a--a--e--e-
Neutral-o-/-a-o--a--a-

Tenses

In total there are 20 screeves in Mingrelian. They are grouped in four series.

Verb screeves (sample conjugation)
I series
ScreeveStem: ç̌ar- "to write"Translation
presentç̌arunss/he writes
imperfectç̌arundus/he was writing
imperfective optativeç̌arundass/he were writing
imperfective conditionalç̌arundu-ǩonif s/he were writing
future imperfectç̌arundas

iʔuapu(n)/iʔii(n)

s/he will be writing
conditional of future imperfect in the pastç̌arundu-ǩon

iɣuapudu/iɣiidu

if s/he were writing
futuredoç̌arunss/he will write
future in the pastdoç̌arundus/he would write
future optativedoç̌arundas
II series
aoristç̌arus/he wrote
aorist optativeç̌arasshould s/he write
aorist conditionalç̌aru-ǩonif s/he wrote
III series
inferential Iuç̌aru(n)(it seems) s/he has written
inferential IIuç̌arudu(it seems) s/he had written
inferential optative Iuç̌arudasmay s/he have written
inferential conditional IIuç̌arudu-ǩonif s/he have written
IV series
inferential IIInoç̌arue(n)(it seems) s/he has written
inferential IVnoç̌aruedu(it seems) s/he had written
inferential optative IIInoç̌aruedasmay s/he have written
Inferential conditional IVnoç̌aruedu-ǩonif s/he have written

Moods

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.

Aspect

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.

Aspect distribution in the 1st series
Imperfective Aspect
ScreeveStem: ჭარ- ç̌ar- "to write"Translation
presentჭარუნსç̌arunss/he writes
imperfectჭარუნდუç̌arundus/he was writing
imperfective optativeჭარუნდასç̌arundass/he were writing
imperfective conditionalჭარუნდუ კონç̌arundu ǩonif s/he were writing
future imperfectჭარუნდას

იჸუაფუნ/იჸიიდუ

ç̌arundas

iʔuapu(n)/iʔii(n)

s/he will be writing
conditional of future imperfect in the pastç̌arundu ǩon

iʔuapudu/iʔiidu

if s/he were writing
Perfective Aspect
futureდოჭარუნსdo-ç̌ar-unss/he will write
future in the pastდოჭარუნდუdo-ç̌arundus/he would write
future optativeდოჭარუნდასdoç̌arundas

Lexicon

Kinship terms

Mingrelian words for kinship reflect both generation and gender, although many words are derived. It has a mixed system of classificatory and descriptive system. Mingrelian kinship terms denote a large number of members of one's extended family as well as in-laws.

Nuclear family

Nuclear family [1] [2]
Motherდიდაdida
Fatherმუმაmuma
Sisterდაda
Brotherჯიმაdjima
Daughterოსორისქუაosoriskua
Sonბოშიboşi
Wifeოსურიosuri
Husbandქომონჯიkomondji

Extended family

Extended family [1]
Grandmotherბებიbebi
Grandfatherბაბუbabu
Auntmaternalდეიდაdeida
paternalმამიდაmamida
Unclematernalბიძიაbižia
paternal
Niece or

Nephew

brother's childჯიმასქუაdjimaskua
sister's childდასქუაdaskua
Cousinaunt's childმამიდასქუაmamidaskua
uncle's childბიძასქუაbižaskua

In-laws and step-family

In-laws and Step family [1] [2]
Mother-in-lawდიანთილიdiantili
Father-in-lawმუანთილიmuantili
Son-in-lawგესინჯებულიgesindjebuli
Parents of your child's spouseზახალეფიzaxalefi
Sister-in-lawოხოლასქილიoxolaskili
Brother-in-lawსინჯაsindja
Stepmotherდიდაჸონირიdidaɔoneri
Stepfatherმუმაჸონირიmumaɔoneri
Stepchildსქუაჸონირიskuaɔoniri

Numerals

Mingrelian numerals follow a vigesimal system (i.e. base 20), like in Georgian.

Cardinal numbers

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.

Cardinal numbers' table
Mingrelian
1ართიarti
2ჟირი/ჟჷრიzhiri/zhəri
3სუმიsumi
4ოთხიotxi
5ხუთიxuti
6ამშვიamşvi
7შქვითიşkviti
8(ბ)რუო(b)ruo
9ჩხოროçxoro
10ვითიviti
11ვითაართიvitaarti
12ვითოჟირიvitozhiri
13ვითოსუმიvitosumi
14ვითაანთხიvitaantxi
15ვითოხუთიvitoxuti
20ეჩიeçi
21ეჩდოართიeçdoarti
30ეჩდოვითიeçdoviti
40ჟაარნეჩიzhaarneçi
50ჟაარნეჩიდოვიჩიzhaarneçidoviti
60სუმონეჩიsumoneçi
70სუმონეჩდოვითიsumoneçdoviti
80ოთხონეჩიotxoneçi
90ოთხონეჩდოვითიotxoneçdoviti
100ოშიoşi
101ოშართიoşarti
102ოშჟირიoşzhiri
110ოშვითიoşviti
200ჟიროშიzhiroşi
500ხუთოშიxutoşi
1000ანთასიantasi
1999ანთას ჩხოროშ ოთხონეჩდოვითოჩხოროantas çxoroş otxoneçdovitoçxoro
2000ჟირი ანთასიzhiri antasi
10000ვითი ანთასიviti antasi

Ordinal numbers

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
Ordinal numbers
 Mingrelian
1stp̌irveli
2ndmazhira
3rdmasuma
4thmaotxa/mantxa
5thmaxuta
6thmaamşva
7thmaşkvita
8thmaruo
9thmaçxora
10thmavita
11thmavitaarta
12thmavitozhira
20thmaeça
21steçdomaarta
30theçdomavita
100thmaoşa
101stoşmaarta
102ndoşmazhira
110thoşmavita
200thmazhiroşa
500thmaxutoşa
1000thmaantasa

Fractional numbers

The fractional numbers derivation rule in Mingrelian is akin to Old Georgian and Svan.

Fractional number derivation
Mingrelian/Lazna-NUMBER-al/or
Fractional numbers' table
 Mingrelian
wholeteli
1/2gverdi
1/3nasumori
1/4naotxali or

naantxali

1/5naxutali
1/6naamşvali
1/7naşkvitali
1/8naruali
1/9naçxorali
1/10navitali
1/11navitaartali
1/12navitozhirali
1/20naeçali
1/100naoşali
1/1000naantasali

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hewitt, Brian George. "The Kinship-Lexicon of Georgian, Mingrelian and Abkhaz." Bedi Kartlisa Paris 39 (1981): 256-267.
  2. 1 2 K̕urdaje, Ramaz; Šonia, Dodo; T̕andilava, Lile; Nižaraje, Lela (2015). K̕art̕ul-megrul-lazur-svanur-inglisuri lek̕sikoni: = Georgian-Megrelian-Laz-Svan-English dictionary. Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar: Daibečda Gamomc̕emloba "Petitši". ISBN   978-9941-9386-8-9.