Laz grammar
Introduction '''Laz''' is a South Caucasian language. It is sometimes considered as a southern dialect of Zan languages, the northern dialect being the Mingrelian language.Today, the area where Laz is spoken stretches from the village Sarpi of Khelvachauri district in Georgia to the village Kemer of Rize province in Turkey. Laz is spoken also in Western Turkey in the villages created by Laz muhajirs in 1877–1878.In Georgia, out of Sarpi, the Laz language islets were also in Abkhazia, but the fate of them is obscure at present.Laz is divided into three dialects: Khopa-Chkhala, Vitze-Arkabe and Atina-Artasheni. Dialectical classification is mainly conditioned by phonetic characteristics. More specifically, the crucial point is the reflexes of the Kartvelian phoneme , which is maintained only in the Khopa-Chkhala dialect but has different reflections in Vitze-Arkabe and Atina-Artasheni dialects (see below).
Phonology and writing system ===Vowels===Laz vowel inventory consists of five sounds: ''a'', ''e'', ''i'', ''o'', ''u''.+''Laz vowel scheme'' front back nonlabial labial high i   u  mid e   o   low a  ===Consonants===The consonant inventory of Laz varies among the dialects. A full set of sounds is present in the Khopa-Chkhala dialect, while the Vitze-Arkabe and Atina-Artasheni dialects lost glottalized uvular ''q''.+ Consolidated table of Laz consonants  labial dental alveolar velar uvular laryngeal nasals         stops                                 affricates                             fricatives                      liquids         glides       ===Phonological processes=======Uvular ''q'' sound change====Glottalized uvular ''q'' is preserved only in the Khopa-Chkhala dialect before the vowels and the consonants ''v'' and ''l''. This sound is also evidenced after glottalized stops and affricates in several words, such as ''p̌qorop'' (I love smb./sth. ); ''ǩqorop'' (I love you); ''t̆qubi'' (twins), ''ǯqv-/ǯqvin-'' (to reconcile); ''ç̌qint̆i'' (fresh-soft and unripe). But in the most of cases ''*t̆q → t̆ǩ''; ''*ǯq → ǯǩ''; ''*ç̌q → ç̌ǩ''.In the Vitze-Arkabe dialect, in the neighborhood of consonants ''*q → ǩ'' (exception is the verb ''ovapu ← *oqvapu'' "to be"). In the word-initial prevocalic and in the intervocalic positions ''*q → ∅''.In Atina-Artasheni dialect:*in word-initial prevocalic position ''q → ∅''. E.g. ''*qoropa → oropa'' "love", ''*qona → ona'' "cornfield" etc. * in intervocalic position ''*q → y/∅''. E.g. ''*loqa → *loʔa → loya/loa'' "sweet", *luqu → *luʔu → luu'' "cabbage" etc. *word-initial ''qv → ''ǩv/v''. E.g. ''qvali → ''ǩvali/vali'' "cheese, ''*qvaci → ǩvaci/vaci'' "testicle" etc. *intervocalic ''qv → y''. E.g. ''*oqvapu → oyapu'' "to be/become", ''*iqven → iyen'' "s/he will be/become" etc. *in all other cases ''q → ∅''====Regressive assimilation====The most common types are:* regressive voicing:** ''s → z''** ''t → d''** ''k → g''** ''ş → j''** ''ç → c''** ''p → b''* regressive devoicing:** ''b → p''** ''g → k''* regressive glottalization** ''b → p̌''** ''p → p̌''** ''g → ǩ''====Dissimilative deletion of consonant====In some morphological contexts featuring two consonants ''n'' split only with a vowel, the former can be deleted. ''miqonun → miqoun'' (I have {an animate object}), ''iqvasinon → iqvasion'' (s/he will be), ''mulunan → *muluan → mulvan'' (they are coming).Another dissimilation, presumably sporadic, occurs in ''deǩiǩe → deiǩe'' (minute); note also that the Arabic source of this word دقيقة ''daqīqa'' contains a uvular , and as above uvulars are unstable in Laz.====Intervocalic reduction of ''r''====This process is evidenced in the Khopa-Chkhala and Vitze-Arkabe dialects, where in intervocalic position facultatively ''r  → y  → ∅''.====Palatalization of velars====In the Atina-Artasheni dialect, the velars followed by the front vowels ''e'' and ''i'' and the glide ''y'' transform to alveolar affricates:*''g → c''*''ǩ → ç̌''*''k → ç''=== Alphabet ===A Laz newspaper in 1928Laz is written in a Georgian script or in the Latin script (as used in Turkish, but with specific Laz extensions). Georgian (Mkhedruli) Latin (Turkey) Latin (rare) IPA Orthographic alphabets Transcriptions ა a a  ბ b b  გ g g  დ d d  ე e e  ვ v v  ზ z z  თ t t  ი i i  კ ǩ, ''or'' kʼ ḳ  ლ l l  მ m m  ნ n n  ჲ y y  ო o o  პ p̌, ''or'' pʼ ṗ  ჟ j ž  რ r r  ს s s  ტ t̆, ''or'' tʼ ṭ  უ u u  ფ p p  ქ k k  ღ ğ ɣ  ყ q qʼ  შ ş š  ჩ ç č  ც ʒ, ''or'' з  c  ძ ž, ''or'' zʼ ʒ  წ ǯ, ''or'' зʼ  ċ  ჭ ç̌, ''or'' çʼ č’  ხ x x  ჯ c ǯ  ჰ h h  ჶ f f
Grammatical cases Laz has eight grammatical cases: nominative, ergative, dative, genitive, lative, ablative, instrumental and almost extinct adverbial. MarkerNominative  -''i/-e''Ergative  -''k''Dative  -''s''Genitive  -''iş''Lative  -''işa''Ablative  -''işe''Instrumental  -''ite''Adverbial  -''ot''===Example of adjective declension=== MarkerStem: ''mcveş-'' ("old")Nominative  -''i''  ''mcveş-'''i'''''Ergative  -''k''  ''mcveş-i-'''k'''''Dative  -''s''  ''mcveş-i-'''s'''''Genitive  -''iş''  ''mcveş-'''iş'''''Lative  -''işa''  ''mcveş-'''işa'''''Ablative  -''işe''  ''mcveş-'''işe'''''Instrumental  -''ite''  ''mcveş-'''ite'''''Adverbial  -''ot''  ''mcveş-'''ot'''''===Example of noun declension=== MarkerStem: ''ǩoç-'' ("man")Nominative  -''i''  ''ǩoç-'''i'''''Ergative  -''k''  ''ǩoç-i-'''k'''''Dative  -''s''  ''ǩoç-i-'''s'''''Genitive  -''iş''  ''ǩoç-'''iş'''''Lative  -''işa''  ''ǩoç-'''işa'''''Ablative  -''işe''  ''ǩoç-'''işe'''''Instrumental  -''ite''  ''ǩoç-'''ite'''''Adverbial  -''ot''  ''n/a''
Nouns As in other South Caucasian languages, Laz distinguishes two classes of nouns and classifies objects as:* 'Intelligent' entities. Respective interrogative is ''mi?'' (who? )* 'Non-intelligent' entities. Respective interrogative is ''mu?'' (what? )=== Noun classification scheme ===''Concrete''''Abstract''''Animate''''Inanimate''''Human and "sentient" beings (e.g. God, deities, angels)''''Animals''''Inanimate physical entities''''Abstract objects'''''Intelligent''''''Non-Intelligent'''mi? ("who?")mu? ("what?")
Numerals The Laz numerals are near identical to their Megrelian equivalents with minor phonetic differences. The number system is vigesimal like in Georgian.===Cardinal numbers===Almost all basic Laz cardinal numbers stem from the Proto-Kartvelian language, except ''ar(t)'' (one) and ''eči'' (twenty), which are reconstructed only for the Karto-Zan chronological level, having regular phonetical reflexes in Zan (Megrelo-Laz) and Georgian. The numeral ''šilya'' (thousand) is a Pontic Greek loanword and is more commonly used than original Laz ''vitoši''.====Laz cardinal numbers compared to Megrelian, Georgian and Svan==== LazMegrelianGeorgianSvan 1 ar(t) arti erti ešxu 2 jur/cur žiri/žəri ori yori 3 sum sumi sami semi 4 otxo otxi otxi oštxw 5 xut xuti xuti woxušd 6 anşi amšvi ekvsi usgwa 7 şkvit škviti švidi išgwid 8 ovro ruo rva ara 9 çxoro čxoro cxra čxara 10 vit viti ati ešd 11 vitoar vitaarti tertmeṭi ešdešxu 12 vitojur vitožiri tormeṭi ešdori 13 vitosum vitosumi cameṭi ešdsemi 14 vitotxo vitaantxi totxmeṭi ešdoštx 15 vitoxut vitoxuti txutmeṭi ešdoxušd 20 eçi eči oci yerwešd 21 eçidoar ečdoarti ocdaerti yerwešdiešxu 30 eçidovit ečdoviti ocdaati semešd 40 jurneçi žaarneči ormoci woštxuešd 50 jurneçidovit žaarnečdoviti ormocdaati woxušdešd 60 sumeneçi sumoneči samoci usgwašd 70 sumeneçidovit sumonečdoviti samocdaati išgvidašd 80 otxoneçi otxoneči otxmoci arašd 90 otxoneçidovit otxonečdoviti otxmocdaati chxarašd 100 oşi oši asi ašir 101 oşi do ar ošarti aserti ašir i ešxu 102 oşi do jur ošžiri asori ašir i yori 110 oşi do vit ošviti asati ašir i ešd 200 juroşi žiroši orasi yori ašir 500 xutoşi xutoši xutasi woxušd aršir 1000 şilya/vitoşi antasi atasi atas 1999 şilya çxoroşotxoneçdovit̆oçxoro antas čxorošotxonečdovitočxoro atas cxraasotxmocdacxrameṭi atas čxara aširchxarašd chxara 2000 jurşilya žiri antasi ori atasi yori atas 10000 vit şilya viti antasi ati atasi ešd atas===Ordinal numbers===Ordinal numbers in Laz are produced with the circumfix ''ma-...-a'', which, in contrast with Megrelian, may be extended with suffix ''-n''. The circumfix ''ma-...-a'' originates from Proto-Kartvelian and has regular phonetical equivalents in Georgian (''me-...-e'') and Svan (''me-...-e'')====Ordinal numbers' derivation rule====LazMegrelianGeorgianSvan '''ma'''-NUMBER-'''a'''(''ni'') '''ma'''-NUMBER-'''a''' '''me'''-NUMBER-'''e''' '''me'''-NUMBER-'''e'''====Laz ordinal numbers compared to Megrelian, Georgian and Svan==== LazMegrelianGeorgianSvan 1st maartani ṗirveli ṗirveli manḳwi 2nd majura(ni) mažira meore merme 3rd masuma(ni) masuma mesame meseme 4th maotxa(ni) maotxa/mantxa meotxe meuštxwe 5th maxuta(ni) maxuta mexute meuxušde 6th maanşa(ni) maamšva meekvse meusgwe 7th maşkvita(ni) maškvita mešvide meyšgwide 8th maovra(ni) maruo merve meare 9th maçxora(ni) mačxora mecxre meyčxre 10th mavita(ni) mavita meate meyšde 11th mavitoarta(ni) mavitaarta metertmeṭe meyšdešxue 12th mavitojura(ni) mavitožira metormeṭe meyšdore 13th mavitosuma(ni) mavitosuma mecameṭe meyšdseme 14th mavitotxa(ni) mavitaantxa metotxmeṭe meyšdoštxe 15th mavitoxuta(ni) mavitoxuta metxutmeṭe meyšdoxušde 20th maeça(ni) maeča meoce meyerwešde 21st eçidomaarta(ni) ečdomaarta ocdameerte 30th ečidomavita(ni) ečdomavita ocdameate mesemešde 40th majurneça(ni) mažaarneča meormoce meuštxuešde 50th jurneçidomavita(ni) žaarnečdomavita ormocdameate meuxušdešde 60th masumeneça(ni) masumoneča mesamoce meusgwešde 70th sumeneçidomavita(ni) sumonečdomavita samocdameate meyšgwidešde 80th maotxoneça(ni) maotxoneča meotxmoce mearašde 90th otxoneçidomavita(ni) otxonečdomavita otxmocdameate mečxarašde 100th maoşa(ni) maoša mease meašire 101st oşmaarta(ni) ošmaarta asmeerte 102nd oşmajura(ni) ošmažira asmeore 110th oşmavita(ni) ošmavita asmeate 200th majuroşa(ni) mažiroša meorase meyorašire 500th maxutoşa(ni) maxutoša mexutase meuxušdašire 1000th maşilya(ni)/mavitoşa(ni) maantasa meatase meatase===Fractional numbers===The fractional numbers' derivation rule in Laz and Megrelian is akin to Old Georgian and Svan.====Fractional numbers' derivation rule==== Laz Megrelian Georgian Svan ''Old'' ''New'' '''na'''-NUMBER-'''al/or''' '''na'''-NUMBER-'''al/or''' '''na'''-NUMBER-'''al''' '''me'''-NUMBER-'''ed''' '''na'''-NUMBER-'''al/ul'''====Laz fractional numbers compared to Megrelian, Georgian and Svan====   Laz Megrelian Georgian Svan Old New whole mteli teli mrteli mteli tel half gverdi gverdi naxevari naxevari xənsga 1/3 nasumori nasumori nasamali mesamedi nasemal 1/4 naotxali naotxali/naantxali naotxali meotxedi naoštxul 1/5 naxutali naxutali naxutali mexutedi naxušdal 1/6 naanşali naamšvali naekvsali meekvsedi nausgwul 1/7 naşkvitali naškvitali našvidali mešvidedi nayšgwidal 1/8 naovrali naruali narvali mervedi naaral 1/9 naçxorali načxorali nacxrali mecxredi načxaral 1/10 navitali navitali naatali meatedi naešdal 1/11 navitoartali navitaartali natertmeṭali metertmeṭedi naešdešxul 1/12 navitojurali navitožirali natormeṭali metormeṭedi naešdoral 1/20 naeçali naečali naocali meocedi nayerwešdal 1/100 naoşali naošali naasali measedi naaširal 1/1000 naşilyali/navitoşali naantasali naatasali meatasedi naatasal
Pronouns ===Personal pronouns=== '''Laz''' '''Megrelian''''''Georgian''' ''Khopa-Chkhala'' ''Vitze-Arkabe'' ''Atina-Artasheni'' I ma(n) ma ma ma me You (sing.) si(n) si si si šen That (close to speaker) aya haya ham ena esa This ia heya him ina isa We çki çku şǩu čki/čkə čven You (pl.) tkvan tkvan t̆ǩva tkva tkven Those antepe hamtepe hani enepi eseni These entepe hemtepe hini inepi isini===Possessive pronouns=== '''Laz''' '''Megrelian''''''Georgian''' ''Khopa-Chkhala'' ''Vitze-Arkabe'' ''Atina-Artasheni'' My çkimi çkimi şǩimi čkimi/čkəmi čemi Your (sing.) skani skani sǩani skani šeni His/her/its muşi muşi himuşi muši misi Our çkini çkuni şǩuni čkini/čkəni čveni Your (pl.) tkvani tkvani t̆ǩvani tkvani tkveni Their mutepeşi hemtepeşi nişi inepiš mati
Verbs Laz verbs are inflected for seven categories: person, number, version, tense, mood, aspect and voice.===Person and Number===In Laz, like Megrelian, Georgian and Svan, verbs can be unipersonal, bipersonal and tripersonal*Monovalent verbs have only subjective person and are intransitive. *Bivalent verbs have one subject and one object (''direct'' or ''indirect''). They are:**transitive if the object is ''direct''**intransitive if the object is ''indirect''*Trivalent verbs have one subject and two objects (one ''direct'' and the other ''indirect'') and are ditransitive.+Verb personality table Unipersonal Bipersonal Tripersonal ''intransitive'' ''transitive'' ''intransitive'' ''ditransitive'' Subject + + + + Direct Object + + Indirect Object + +The person may be singular or plural.Subject and object markers in Laz are the same as in Megrelian====Subject markers====   '''Singular''' '''Plural''' '''S1''' v- v-...-t '''S2''' ∅- ∅-...-t '''S3''' ∅-...-n/-s/-u ∅-...-an/-es====Object markers====   '''Singular''' '''Plural''' '''O1''' m- m-...-an/-es/-t '''O2''' g- g-...-an/-es/-t '''O3''' ∅- ∅-...-an/-esIn pre-consonant position, the markers ''v-'' and ''g-'' change phonetically:*Before voiced consonants:'' v- → b-''*Before voiceless (nonglottalized) consonants:**''v- → b- → p-''**''g- → k-''*Before glottalized consonants:**''v- → b- → p̌-''**''g- → ǩ-''===Version===Like Megrelian, Georgian and Svan, Laz has four types of version marking:*subjective – shows that the action is intended for oneself,*objective – action is intended for another person,*objective-passive – the action is intended for another person and at the same time indicating the passiveness of subject,*neutral – neutral with respect to intention.====Laz version markers compared to Megrelian, Georgian and Svan==== '''Version''' '''Laz''' '''Megrelian''' '''Georgian''' '''Svan''' ''Subjective'' ''-i-'' ''-i-'' ''-i-'' ''-i-'' ''Objective'' ''-u-'' ''-u-'' ''-u-'' ''-o-'' ''Objective-passive'' ''-a-'' ''-a-'' ''-e-'' ''-e-'' ''Neutral'' ''-o-'' ''-o-/-a-'' ''-a-'' ''-a-''===Tenses===The maximum number of screeves in Laz is 22.They are grouped in three series. Two screeves (''future I'' and ''past of future I'') exist only for the verb ''r-'', which serves as a 1st series root for ''oqopumu/ovapu/oyapu'' (to be).====Paradigm of verb conjugation===='''stems: ç̌ar- (to write)''' and '''r- (to be: just for ''future I'' and ''past of future I'')''' '''I Series''' '''Khopa-Chkhala''' '''Vitze-Arkabe''' '''Atina-Artasheni''' ''present'' ç̌arups ç̌arums ''imperfect'' ç̌arupt̆u ç̌arumt̆u ''imperfective optative'' ç̌arupt̆as ç̌arumt̆as ''imperfective inferential'' ç̌arupt̆-eren ç̌arumt̆u-doren ç̌arumt̆u-donu ''present conditional'' ç̌arupt̆u-ǩon ç̌arumt̆u-ǩo(n) ''future I'' (r)t̆as-unon (r)t̆asen ort̆as-en ''past of future I'' (r)t̆as-unt̆u t̆ast̆u ort̆as-eret̆u '''II Series''' '''Khopa-Chkhala''' '''Vitze-Arkabe''' '''Atina-Artasheni''' ''aorist'' ç̌aru ''aoristic optative'' ç̌aras ''aoristic inferential I'' ç̌ar-eleren/ç̌ar-een/ç̌ar-elen ç̌aru-doren ç̌aru-donu ''aoristic inferential II'' ç̌ar-eleret̆u/ç̌ar-eet̆u/ç̌ar-elet̆u ç̌aru-dort̆u ''aoristic inferential optative'' ç̌ar-eleret̆as/ç̌ar-eet̆as/ç̌ar-elet̆as n/a ''aoristic conditional'' ç̌aru-ǩon ''future II'' ç̌aras-unon ç̌aras-en ''past of future II'' ç̌aras-unt̆u/ç̌ara-t̆u ç̌ara-t̆u ç̌aras-ert̆u ''conditional of aoristic inferential II'' ç̌ar-eleret̆u-ǩon/ç̌ar-eet̆u-ǩon n/a ''inferential of the past of future II'' ç̌aras-unt̆-eren ç̌ara-t̆u-doren n/a ''conditional of the past of future II'' ç̌ara-t̆u-ǩon n/a '''III Series''' '''Khopa-Chkhala''' '''Vitze-Arkabe''' '''Atina-Artasheni''' ''inversive inferential I'' uç̌arun ''inversive inferential II'' uç̌arut̆u ''inferential optative'' uç̌arut̆as ''inferential conditional'' uç̌arut̆u-ǩo(n)According to oldness these screeves can be grouped in two sets:*old (primary) (common with Megrelian). *new (secondary) derived from the basic screeves (specific Laz). '''Classification of screeves according to oldness''' '''Old (common with Megrelian)''' '''New (specific Laz)''' present imperfective inferential imperfect future I imperfective optative past of future I present conditional aoristic inferential I aorist aoristic inferential II aoristic optative aoristic inferential optative aoristic conditional future II inversive inferential I past of future II inversive inferential II Conditional of aoristic inferential II inferential optative inferential of the past of future II inferential conditional conditional of the past of future II===Mood=======Indicative====Indicative statement claims that the proposition should be taken as an apparent fact.====Interrogative====There are two ways to transform an indicative statement into a question:*by means of interrogative words. E.g. ''mi?'' (who? ), ''mu?'' (what? ), ''so?'' (where? ), ''mundes?'' (when? ), ''muç̌o?'' (how?) etc. This rule is valid for Megrelian, Georgian and Svan as well. *by adding an interrogative particle ''-i'' to the end of a verb. It has the same function as Megrelian ''-o'', Old Georgian ''-a'' and Svan ''-ma/-mo/-mu''.====Imperative====Indicates a command or request. The aorist form is used when addressing 2nd person (singular/plural) and aoristic optative in all other cases.====Subjunctive====Expresses possibility, wish, desire.====Conditional====Indicates condition in contrary to a fact. For this reason a verbal suffix ''-ǩo'' (At.-Arsh, Vtz.-Ark.) / ''-ǩon/-ǩoni'' (Khop.-Chkh.) is used.===Aspect======Voice===
See also === Notes ====== References ===*********.**. **
External links *  Laz Georgian-Latin and Latin-Georgian converter