Proto-Kartvelian language

Template:Short description Template:Infobox proto-language The Proto-Kartvelian language, or Common Kartvelian (Georgian: , romanized: Template:Ka-translit, Georgian: , romanized: Template:Ka-translit), 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 (includes Georgian and Zan).

The Bashplemi lake tablet is thought to possibly be Proto-Kartvelian.

Influences

The ablaut patterns of Proto-Kartvelian are highly similar to those of the Indo-European languages, and so it is thought that Proto-Kartvelian interacted with Indo-European at a relatively early date. This is reinforced by cognates with Indo-European, such as the Proto-Kartvelian ('breast'), and its possible relation to the Proto-Indo-European ('heart'). Proto-Kartvelian (warm) may also be related to Proto-Indo-European 'warm'.Template:Better source needed

Relation to descendants

The modern descendants of Proto-Kartvelian are Georgian, Svan, Mingrelian and Laz. The ablaut patterns of Proto-Kartvelian were better preserved in Georgian and (particularly) Svan than in either Mingrelian or Laz, in which new forms have been set up so that there is a single, stable vowel in each word element.

The system of pronouns of Proto-Kartvelian is distinct on account of its category of inclusive–exclusive (so, for instance, there were two forms of the pronoun "we": one that includes the listener and one that does not). This has survived in Svan but not in the other languages. Svan also includes a number of archaisms from the Proto-Kartvelian era, and therefore it is thought that Svan broke off from Proto-Kartvelian at a relatively early stage: the later Proto-Kartvelian stage (called Karto-Zan) split into Georgian and Zan (Mingrelo-Laz).

Phonology

Vowels

Proto-Kartvelian vowels

	Front		Back
			unrounded		rounded
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	( Template:IPAblink)				( Template:IPAblink)
Open-mid	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink			Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink
Open			Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink

Consonants

Proto-Kartvelian consonants

		Labial	Alveolar		Retroflex	Postalveolar		Velar	Uvular	Glottal
			plain	sibilant		central	lateral
Nasal		Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink
Plosive	voiced	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink		Template:IPAblink
	voiceless	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink		Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink
	ejective	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink
Fricative	voiceless			Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink		Template:IPAblink
	voiced			Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink		Template:IPAblink
Trill						Template:IPAblink
Approximant		Template:IPAblink	Template:IPAblink			Template:IPAblink

Distinction between plain Template:IPAblink and ejective Template:IPAblink remains only in Svan language. This distinction also existed in Old Georgian.