Georgian: A Learner's Grammar (Essential Grammars)

497 Pages·2005·2.07 MB·English

by  George Hewitt

Georgian
A Learner’s Grammar
Second Edition
This new edition of Georgian: A Learner’s Grammaris a completely revised
and updated guide to the fascinating and most widely spoken language of the
Caucasus.
ThisGrammarpresents the language in the form of grammatical descriptions
supplemented with dialogues and reading passages. Full attention is given to
script reproduction and recognition, pronunciation, lexis and individual points
of grammar. There is also a varied and extensive range of exercise work.
Features of this new edition include:
• Highlighting of verbal roots throughout the grammatical sections and
vocabularies
• Some extra exercises for practice of verb forms
• Use of the new Georgian currency
• Examples of Georgian literature, both poetry and prose, each with its own
self-contained vocabulary.
This new edition provides a key to the exercises, Georgian–English vocabu-
lary lists and a glossary of grammatical terms.
George Hewitt is Professor of Caucasian languages at SOAS, London
University, and has been a Fellow of the British Academy since 1997.

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First published 1996
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Second edition published 2005
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
© 1996, 2005 George Hewitt
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Hewitt, B. G.
Georgian: a learner’s grammar/George Hewitt – 2nd ed.
p. cm.
English and Georgian
Originally published: New York: Routledge, 1995.
1. Georgian language – Grammar. 2. Georgian language –
Textbooks for foreign speakers – English. I. Title
PK9107.H48 2005
499′.96982421 – dc22 2005009535
ISBN 0–203–02233–5 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0–415–33370–9 (hbk)
ISBN 0–415–33371–7 (pbk)
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6 modern Georgian grammar
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8 es cigni didi mocicebiT ejGvneba Tanamedrove
9 KarTuli gramatikis Pujemdeblis,
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Contents
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Preface to the second edition xiii
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Introduction 1
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Handwritten examples 9
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5 Lesson 1 13
6 Greetings and introductions 15
7 Citation form of nouns and adjectives 16
8 Locative expressions 16
9 Formation of adverbs 16
20111 Asking questions 17
1 Consonant-final words 17
2 Pronouns, possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns 17
3 Formality 18
4 The present tense of to be 18
5 The verb of motion and similar formations 19
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7 Lesson 2 24
8 The plural of nouns 26
9 The dative case 27
30111 The genitive case 27
1 Declension of the demonstrative adjectives 28
2 Adjective agreement with datives and genitives 28
3 Preverbs 29
4 Numbers 29
5 Telling the time 30
6 Days of the week 31
7 Months of the year 31
8 The present tense of the verbs stand up,sit down,lie down 32
9 Names denoting common relationships and possessives 34
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2 Asking about and stating one’s age 40
3 The comparative and superlative grades of adjectives
44111 and adverbs 40
viii Contents
The instrumental case 41
Adjective agreement with the instrumental 41
Postpositions 41
Summary of the past tense of irregular verbs from
previous lessons 43
Subject agreement markers within the verb for intransitive
subjects 44
Lesson 4 48
The division of the tense system 52
Subject and direct object case marking and verbal agreement
for Series I transitives 52
Word order 53
Transitive verbs in the present indicative 53
Neutral version 55
Verb agreement with 3rd person plural subjects 55
Syncope of -o- in nouns 56
The adverbial case of nouns 56
Adjective agreement with nouns in the adverbial case 56
The postposition -mdeup to 57
Lesson 5 61
Subjective version 64
Indirect objects 66
Locative version 67
Indefinite pronouns and adverbs 68
Articles 69
Lesson 6 75
The future indicative of transitive verbs 77
Object agreement affixes 79
Reflexives 81
Emphatic pronouns 82
Lesson 7 87
Objective version 90
Expressions with too,also,as well 92
Emphatic interrogative particle 92
Relative clauses 92
The potential negative 93
The vocative case 94
Adjective agreement with the vocative 94
Contents ix
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The syntax of Series II transitive verbs 103
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The ergative case 104
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Declension types and agreement patterns 104
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The aorist indicative forms of transitive verbs 106
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The formation of colloquial relative clauses 125
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Temporal clauses meaning when 126
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Temporal clauses meaning while 127
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Manner clauses meaning as,like 128
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Temporal clauses meaning as soon as 128
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Temporal clauses meaning after 129
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Noun clauses 129
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Causal clauses because,since,as 130
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Simple conditional(if) clauses 130
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The verb knowin the present indicative 131
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Lesson 10 136
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Meaning and syntax of Class 2 intransitive verbs 145
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The marking of intransitive verbs with indirect objects 146
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Some anomalies among the intransitives 150
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Some irregular future indicatives 151
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30111 The syntax required by intransitive verbs in Series II 171
1 The medial verbs in the present, future and aorist indicatives 173
2 The syntax of medial verbs 177
3 Version as a change of tense marker 177
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7 intransitives and medials 187
8 Some uses of the aorist subjunctive 194
9 How to give an instruction in the imperative 196
40111 How to construct expressions of prohibition 198
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3 Stative verbs 209
44111 The indirect verbs 210