Georgian language

Georgian language
ArnoldPlaton, based on File:Early Georgian States Colchis And Iberia.svg and thi · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Name	Georgian
Nativename	ქართული
States	Georgia
Region	South Caucasus
Ethnicity	Georgians
Speakers	~4 million
Family	Kartvelian languages
Script	Georgian scripts
Nation	Georgia
Iso1	ka
Iso2	geo (B) / kat (T)
Iso3	kat
Glotto	nucl1302
Glottorefname	Nuclear Georgian

Georgian language. It is the most widely spoken of the Kartvelian languages and serves as the official language of Georgia. With a rich literary tradition dating to the 5th century, it possesses a unique and ancient alphabetic writing system. The language is a critical element of national identity for the Georgians, with its core spoken in the South Caucasus region.

History and evolution

The earliest attested form is Old Georgian, with inscriptions found in a Judean Desert monastery and the Bolnisi Sioni basilica. The development of a literary standard was profoundly influenced by the conversion of Iberia to Christianity and the work of early ecclesiastics. The medieval period saw a flourishing of literature, including the epic The Knight in the Panther's Skin by Shota Rustaveli during the Georgian Golden Age. Subsequent periods, under the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, saw policies of Russification, though the language persisted as a central pillar of cultural resistance.

Classification and related languages

Georgian forms the core of the Kartvelian family, which is not related to Indo-European, Turkic, or Semitic families of the region. Its closest relatives within this family are Svan, Mingrelian, and Laz, the latter spoken primarily in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The Kartvelian family is considered a primary language family, with no proven genetic links to others, though some hypotheses have proposed connections to Basque or Northwest Caucasian languages.

Phonology and writing system

The phonemic inventory includes a series of ejective consonants, a feature shared with some Caucasian languages. It has a relatively simple five-vowel system. The language is written in three distinct scripts: the ancient, monumental Asomtavruli, the medieval ecclesiastical Nuskhuri, and the modern, cursive Mkhedruli, which is used exclusively today. The creation of the alphabet is traditionally attributed to Parnavaz I, though scholarly consensus points to its development preceding the Christianization of Iberia.

Grammar and syntax

Georgian grammar is characterized by polypersonal agreement, where a verb can agree with both subject and object. It employs a verb-centric morphosyntactic alignment system known as split ergativity, which shifts based on tense and aspect. The language is agglutinative, building words through extensive prefixing and suffixing. Notably, it has a complex system of preverbs that modify verb meaning and indicate directionality, and it lacks grammatical gender.

Vocabulary and word formation

The core vocabulary is Kartvelian, with significant historical layers from contact with neighboring cultures. Borrowings include terms from Ancient Greek, via religious texts, Persian during the Safavid era, Arabic through theological exchange, Turkish from the Ottoman Empire, and more recently, Russian and English. New words are frequently formed through derivation and compounding, and the language has a robust system for creating neologisms, overseen by institutions like Ilia State University.

Dialects and modern usage

Major dialect groups include Kartlian, Kakhetian, Imeretian, Gurian, Adjarian, and the Khevsur dialect of the Caucasus Mountains. The standard language is based primarily on the Kartli and Kakheti dialects. It is the language of government, media like the Georgian Public Broadcaster, and education from Tbilisi State University to primary schools. It holds official status in Georgia and is also spoken in communities in Iran, Turkey, Russia, and by diasporas in cities like New York City and Paris.

Category:Languages of Georgia (country) Category:Kartvelian languages Category:Official languages