Verb classification and introduction to sentence structure

Verbs in Georgian can be classified syntactically and morphologically.

Morphological classification involves describing the rules of verb derivation and verb conjugation.
Syntactic classification involves describing the case markings of the subject and objects of the verb.
Syntactic classification is quite simple. Morphological classification is bit more complex. The main schemes are given below.

Syntactic classification
There are three verb classes, corresponding to the three clusters of case marking and person/number marking, distinguished in Georgian. These three groups are presented below (cf. Table 1). For a substantial number of the verbs following pattern (B), the semantic correlate active subject is appropriate, also called direct verbs. The term inversive verbs is used for verbs behaving according to pattern (C). Such verbs may be characterized as having experiencer subjects. They are not agentive: subject does not act by itself but it is rather the target of some incoming emotion or stimuli (cf. also Inversion). Remaining verbs pattern according to (A) and are not distinguished by those parameters. The term used for such verbs is neutral verbs (in Western linguistics) or passive verbs (Georgian grammar tradition).

The choice of person/number-markers in the verb and the patterning of case marking of the verb complements (objects) occur in three clusters. The recurring patterns are represented in Table 1.

Table 1. Case marking and person/number marking

     
Person marking
Case marking
(A)




Neutral verbs
 Subject  
 v-series
 Nominative

Object (if any)  
m-series
Dative
   
Series
   
(B)
Subject
I
v-series
Nominative
 Direct verbs
 
II
v-series
Ergative
   
III
m-series
Dative




 
  Direct object
I
m-series
Dative
   
II
m-series
Nominative
   
III
v-series
Nominative
         
  Indirect object
I
m-series
Dative
   
II
m-series
Dative
   
III
(no marker in the verb)
(PP with the postposition Tvis, tvis "for")





(C)
Subject
(experiencer)



Inversive verbs

m-series Dative

Object (if any)
v-series Nominative

Pattern A

The verbs that pattern according to (A) are a rather heterogeneous group. They may have one, two or three arguments, but do not express transitive relations. The examples below show a verb with two arguments following pattern (A). The verb contains the relational marker e- e- that is associated with the object, deda-s deda-s mother-DAT, corresponding to a prepositional object in the English translation.
 

(I) bavSv-i deda-s e-mal-eb-a
bavshv-i deda-s e-mal-eb-a
child-Nom mother-Dat Rel.marker-hide-Them.sufix-IIISubject.Singular.Present
The child hides from (its) mother.




(II) bavSv-i deda-s da-e-mal-a
bavshv-i deda-s da-e-mal-a
child-Nom mother-Dat Preverb-Relational marker-hide-IIISubject person. Singular. Aorist
The child hid from (its) mother.




(III) bavSv-i deda-s da-malv-ia
bavshv-i deda-s da-mal-v-ia
child-Nom mother-Dat Preverb-hide-Them.suffix-Perf
(Apparently, it turns out) the child has hidden from (its) mother.

Some other examples of the same type:
 
(I)
kac-i dga-s magida-ze
k'ac-i dga-s magida-ze
man-Nom stand-IIISubj.pers.Pres. table-on
The man stands on the table.


(II)
kac-i idg-a magida-ze
k'ac-i idg-a magida-ze
man-Nom stand-IIISubj.pers.Aor table-on
The man stood on the table.


(III)
kac-i mdgar-a magida-ze
k'ac-i mdgar-a magida-ze
man-Nom stand-IIISubj.pers.Perf. table-on
It turns out that the man has stood on the table.

 
 
(I) weril-i i-wereb-a
c'eril-i i-c'ereb-a
letter-Nom Pass-write-IIISubj.pers.Pres 
The letter is being written


(II) weril-i da-i-wer-a
c'eril-i da-i-c'er-a
letter-Nom Preverb-Pass-write-IIISubj.pers.Aor
The letter has been written


(III) weril-i da-wer-il-a
c'eril-i  da-c'eril-a
letter-Nom Preverb-write-IIISubj.pers.Perf.
It turns out that the letter has been written.

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Pattern B
In a substantial group of Georgian verbs, the marking of grammatical relations by person/number-affixes and cases differs depending on choice of tense form. Verbs that behave in this way include transitive and ditransitive verbs. One-valent activity verbs also fall into this group.
 
More information:
Transitive verbs in Georgian
Semantic definition of transitive verbs
Formal definition of transitive verbs
Semantic definition of direct and indirect objects
Formal definition of direct and indirect objects


First, some examples of three valent verbs (verbs having subject and two objects - direct object and inditect object): swers sc'ers he writes him it, vaCuqeb vachukeb I give him it (as a present), vparav vp'arav I steal it from him and vubrZaneb vubrdzaneb I order him it. In the third tense/aspect/mood-series, such verbs do not accomodate a marker for an indirect object; instead the indirect object appears as a postpositional phrase (instead of indirect object, an object with the postposition -Tvis -tvis appears).
 
  (I) kac-i Zma-s weril-s s-wer-s
k'ac-i dzma-s c'eril-s s-c'er-s
man-Nom. brother-Dat. letter-Dat.  III Indirect obj.pers.mark.-write-IIISubj.pers.  marker.Present
The man writes a letter to his brother




(II) kac-ma Zma-s weril-i mi-s-wer-a
k'ac-ma dzma-s c'eril-i mi-s-c'er-a
man-Erg brother-Dat letter-Nom Preverb-III Indirect obj.pers.mark.-write-IIISubj. pers.marker.Aorist
The man wrote a letter to his brother




(III) kac-s Zm-is-(a)-Tvis weril-i mi-u-wer-ia
k'ac-s dzm-is-(a)-tvis c'eril-i mi-u-c'er-ia
man-Dat brother-Gen-(emphatic vowel)-posposition for letter-Nom Preverb-Relational marker-write-Perfect
(It turns out that/Apparently) the man has written a letter to his brother

Transitive verbs like vwer vc'er  I write it, vxatav vxat'av I build it, vaSeneb vasheneb I build it, pattern in the same way, with the exception that they do not have any indirect object.
 
  (I) (me) weril-s v-wer
(me) c'eril-s v-c'er
(I) letter-Dat. ISubject person marker-write-Present
I write a letter




(II) (me) weril-i da-v-wer-e 
(me) c'eril-i da-v-c'ere 
(I)  letter-Nom Preverb-ISubject person marker-write-Aorist
I wrote a letter




(III) (me) weril-i da-m-i-wer-ia 
(me) c'eril-i da-m-i-c'er-ia 
(I) letter-Nom Preverb-I Object person marker-Relational marker-write-Perfect
(It turns out that/Apparently) I have written a letter

When comparing the marking of case and person/number in the third tense/aspect-series to the marking in the first and second series, one can observe a "reverse" pattern. The m-series markers/dative case, that were associated with the object positions, are linked to the subject position in the third tense/aspect-series. Conversely, the v-series markers/nominative mark the direct object in the third tense/aspect-series. This "reverse" marking has been called inversion;  the subject is marked by the m-series markers in and the object by the v-markers (cf also Inversion).

Subject is changing by the person and number, direct object is the third person singular:

Subject Direct
object

 It turns out that/Apparently
1Singular 3Sg da-m-i-Wri-a
da-m-i-ch'ri-a
I have wounded him/her/it
2Singular 3Sg da-g-i-Wri-a
da-g-i-ch'ri-a
You have wounded him/her/it
3Singular 3Sg da-u-Wri-a
da-u-ch'ri-a
He/she/it have wounded him/her/it
1Plural 3Sg da-gv-i-Wri-a
da-gv-i-ch'ri-a
We have wounded him/her/it
2Plural 3Sg da-g-i-Wri-a-T
da-g-i-ch'ri-a-t
You have wounded him/her/it
3Plural 3Sg da-u-Wri-a-T
da-u-ch'ri-a-t
They have wounded him/her/it

Subject is  the third person singular, direct object is changing by the person and number:

Subject Direct
object

 It turns out that
3Sg 1Sg da-v-u-Wri-var
da-v-u-ch'ri-var
He/she/it has wounded me
3Sg 2Sg da-u-Wri-xar
da-u-ch'ri-xar
He/she/it has wounded you
3Sg 3Sg da-u-Wri-a
da-u-ch'ri-a
He/she/it has wounded him/her/it
3Sg 1Plural da-v-u-Wri-varT
da-v-u-ch'ri-vart
He/she/it has wounded us
3Sg 2Plural da-u-Wri-xarT
da-u-ch'ri-xart
He/she/it has wounded you
3Sg 3Plural da-u-Wri-a
da-u-ch'ri-a
He/she/it has wounded them

Examples of one valent activity verbs following pattern (B) include vcekvav vcek'vav I dance (Conjugation type 3), vtiri vt'iri I am crying (Conjugation type 4), duRs dughs it boils (Conjugation type 5). Some of these verbs are compatible with "content" objects, i.e. "to dance a dance" or quantifier phrases like bevri bevri "a lot", that is case marked as a direct object.
 
  (I) is cekv-av-s  (bevr-s)
is cek'v-av-s (bevr-s)
he-Nom  dance-Them. suffix-III Subject person marker.Sg.Present (a lot-Dat)
He dances (a lot)




(II) man i-cekv-a (bevri)
man i-cek'v-a (bevr-i)
he-Erg  Rel.mark.-dance-III Subject person marker.Sg.Aor
He danced (a lot)




(III) ma-s u-cekv-ia (bevri)
ma-s u-cek'v-ia
he-Dat Rel.mark.-dance-Perf 
Apparently he has danced (a lot).

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Pattern C
Verbs that follow the (C) pattern, may be characterized as verbs of emotion, having experiencers as their subjects: mciva mciva I'm cold, miyvars miq'vars I love it, minda minda I want it. It is the dative case and the m-series person/number-markers that mark the subject/experiencer, whereas the object takes the nominative case and the v-series markers.
 
(I) (me) m-iyvar-s (is) 
(me) m-iq'var-s is 
(I/Dat./) IObject pers.marker-love-IIISubject pers. marker.Pres.  (he.Nom)
I love him(/her/it)


(I) (ma-s)  v-uyvar-var (me)
(ma-s)  v-uq'var-var (me)
(he-Dat) ISubject pers. marker-love-auxiliary verb.Pres (I/Nom/)) 
He loves me

Note that the terms inversive, direct and neutral verbs will be used as referring to verbs selecting those marking patterns (A-C) described above in combination with certain semantic correlates. There is not a perfect correlation between the semantic correlates "active" and "experiencer" subjects and the verbs selecting marking patterns (B) and (C), respectively. Rather, if a predicate has an "active" subjects, then pattern (B) is the unmarked choice and if it has an experiencer subject, then pattern (C) is appropriate (= inversive verbs)
 
 

Case marking and person/number in the verb
Semantic correlates
Neutral verbs (A)



 

Subject: Nom / v- Object: Dat / m-

 

Direct verbs (B)

Subject: 
I - Nom. / v-
II - Erg. / v-
III - Dat. / m-
DO:
I - Dat. / m-
II - Nom. / m-
III - Dat. / v-
IO:
I - Dat. / m-
II - Dat. / m-
III - (PP)
Inversive, or Indirect verbs (C)
Subject: Dat. / m- Object: Nom. / v-
Non-experiencer subjects
(non-active subjects)

Active subjects 

 

Experiencer subjects

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More information:
Morphological classification
Voice of verb in Georgian
 
 

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 © Karina Vamling & Manana Kock Kobaidze