Laz grammar

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Laz is a Kartvelian 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 [qʼ], which is maintained only in the Khopa-Chkhala dialect but has different reflections in Vitze-Arkabe and Atina-Artasheni dialects (see below).

Vowels

Laz vowel inventory consists of five sounds: a, e, i, o, u.

Laz vowel scheme
front back
nonlabial labial
high i [i] u [u]
mid e [ɛ] o [ɔ]
low a [ɑ]

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 m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩
stops voiced b ⟨b⟩ d ⟨d⟩ ɡ ⟨g⟩
voiceless aspirated p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ k ⟨k⟩
glottalized pʼ ⟨p̌⟩ tʼ ⟨t̆⟩ kʼ ⟨ǩ⟩ qʼ ⟨q⟩
affricates voiced d͡z ⟨ž⟩ d͡ʒ ⟨c⟩
voiceless aspirated t͡s ⟨ʒ⟩ t͡ʃ ⟨ç⟩
glottalized t͡sʼ ⟨ǯ⟩ t͡ʃʼ ⟨ç̌⟩
fricatives voiced v ⟨v⟩ z ⟨z⟩ ʒ ⟨j⟩ ɣ ⟨ğ⟩
voiceless f ⟨f⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ʃ ⟨ş⟩ x ⟨x⟩ h ⟨h⟩
liquids l ⟨l⟩ r ⟨r⟩
glides j ⟨y⟩

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 [q], 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 1928

Laz 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 ɑ
ბ b b b
გ g g ɡ
დ d d d
ე e e ɛ
ვ v v v
ზ z z z
თ t t t
ი i i i
კ ǩ, or kʼ ḳ kʼ
ლ l l l
მ m m m
ნ n n n
ჲ y y j
ო o o ɔ
პ p̌, or pʼ ṗ pʼ
ჟ j ž ʒ
რ r r r
ს s s s
ტ t̆, or tʼ ṭ tʼ
უ u u u
ფ p p p
ქ k k k
ღ ğ ɣ ɣ
ყ q qʼ qʼ
შ ş š ʃ
ჩ ç č t͡ʃ
ც ʒ, or з [1] c t͡s
ძ ž, or zʼ ʒ d͡z
წ ǯ, or зʼ [1] ċ t͡sʼ
ჭ ç̌, or çʼ č’ t͡ʃʼ
ხ x x x
ჯ c ǯ d͡ʒ
ჰ h h h
ჶ f f f

Grammatical cases

Laz has eight grammatical cases: nominative, ergative, dative, genitive, lative, ablative, instrumental and almost extinct adverbial.

  Marker
Nominative-i/-e
Ergative-k
Dative-s
Genitive-iş
Lative-işa
Ablative-işe
Instrumental-ite
Adverbial-ot

Example of adjective declension

  Marker Stem: mcveş- ("old")
Nominative-imcveş-i
Ergative-kmcveş-i-k
Dative-smcveş-i-s
Genitive-işmcveş-iş
Lative-işamcveş-işa
Ablative-işemcveş-işe
Instrumental-itemcveş-ite
Adverbial-otmcveş-ot

Example of noun declension

  Marker Stem: ǩoç- ("man")
Nominative-iǩoç-i
Ergative-kǩoç-i-k
Dative-sǩoç-i-s
Genitive-işǩoç-iş
Lative-işaǩoç-işa
Ablative-işeǩoç-işe
Instrumental-iteǩoç-ite
Adverbial-otn/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

  Laz Megrelian Georgian Svan
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 çxoroş

otxoneçdovit̆oçxoro

 antas čxoroš

otxonečdovitočxoro

 atas cxraas

otxmocdacxrameṭi

 atas čxara ašir

chxarašd 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

Laz Megrelian Georgian Svan
ma-NUMBER-a(ni) ma-NUMBER-a me-NUMBER-e me-NUMBER-e

Laz ordinal numbers compared to Megrelian, Georgian and Svan

  Laz Megrelian Georgian Svan
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

See also

External links

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