The simplicity of nominal morphology is compensated by a complicated verbal morphology in Georgian. Nominals have only two morphological categories in Georgian: number and case, while verbs have about fourteen! One verb form can simultaneously show more than ten categories. At the same time, the expression of these categories is not so simple as in nominal morphology where each category has its own marker. Fusional markers are more common in verb inflection and derivation. Some categories are expressed by the whole construction of a verb, and not by some separate morphemes.
A verb form may change according to the person and number of the subject and even the object(s).
Minimally, the verb consists of a root and a person marker, but it can have a more complicated structure too. The following morphemes with the different combinations can be presented in the verb form:
The morphological structure of the verb
| Preverb | Person marker | Relation marker | ROOT | Passive voice marker | Causative suffix | Thematic suffix | Tense marker | Person marker | Number |
The categories expressed by these markers (aspect, voice, version, contact, orientation...) will be discussed in the next parts.
The three subject persons have their markers in the verb form. Number and person are marked by different affixes in the first and the second persons: person is marked by prefixes, and number - by a suffix. In the third person a fusional (shared) marker both for person and number occurs.
(In the tables below, pronouns are written in the brackets
because the use of pronouns is not obligatory in Georgian, since the person
is indicated by the verb form):
|
|
|
| (me) v-wer | (Cven) v-wer-T |
| (me) v-c'er | (chven) v-c'er-t |
| (I) 1Subject-write | (We) 1Subject-write-Plural |
| I am writing, I write | We are writing, We write |
| (Sen) ø-wer | (Tqven) ø-wer-T |
| (shen) ø-c'er | (tkven) ø-c'er-t |
| (you. singular) II Subject-write | (you. plural) II Subject-write-Plural |
| You are writing, You write | You are writing, You write |
| (is) wer-s | (isini) wer-en |
| (is) c'er-s | (isini) c'er-en |
| (s/he) write-III Subj.Singular | (they) write-III Subj.Plural |
| He is writing, He writes | They are writing, They write |
The forms changing only by person and number form one paradigm; e. g.:
Present:
| v-xatav | ø-xatav | xatav-s | v-xatav-T | ø-xatav-T | xatav-en |
| v-xat'av | ø-xat'av | xat'av-s | v-xat'av-t | ø-xat'av-t | xat'av-en |
| I paint | you paint | he/she paints | we paint | you paint | they paint |
Future:
| da-v-xatav | da-ø-xatav | da-xatav-s | da-v-xatav-T | da-ø-xatav-T | da-xatav-en |
| da-v-xat'av | da-ø-xat'av | da-xat'av-s | da-v-xat'av-t | da-ø-xat'av-t | da-xat'av-en |
| I shall paint | you will paint | he/she will paints | we shall paint | you will paint | they will paint |
The name of such a paradigm is "mc'k'rivi" in Georgian, which means "a row". The simplified form of this word "screeve" is used in English. A "screeve" (a row) has approximately the same functions as the tense forms in English. The number of rows is less in Georgian than in English: 16 rows (tense forms) in English and 11 rows (screeves) in Georgian. The main features that distinguish the rows from one another are tense, aspect and mood in Georgian.
The subject and object person markers
More information:
© Manana Kock Kobaidze & Karina Vamling