Other  consonant clusters

Other  consonant clusters within  morphemes (both in the beginning and in the end) also show a tendency to be formed  with the increasing fricativity in Georgian. On the boundary of syllables, an "unregular" consonant cluster is usually split (devided) between two vowels and forms two "regular" clusters.

The classes of consonants after the increasing fricativity are presented in the following table:
I:   b p p'  d t t'  g k  k'
dz c c'  dzh  ch  ch'
II:  z s zh sh
III: g x q'
IV: v m
V: r l n
(Tevdore Uturgaidze, kartuli enis ponemat'uri st'rukt'ura, The phonemic structure of the Georgian language, Tbilisi, Mecniereba, 1976, p.102).

The consonant clusters having the zero or discretive (interrupted) fricativity (or fricativeness)  within one morpheme often signal either the former (original) morpheme boundary in a word or the loan words. The "unregular" or "irregular" cluster can be formed as a result of phonetic processes too. In such cases the different ways for its overcoming occur in  dialects:

Metathesis:

shebmuli > shembuli; xshiri >shxiri
Despirantisation of fricatives:
mxali>pxali; mzhave >bzhave


Spirantisation of occlusives:

k'bili> k'vili
tbili > tvili
bdzaneba > bzaneba
 Loss of consonants:
prchxili > pchxili, rka > ka
Weaken:
st'umari _ht'umari
Defricatisation:
sc'acvla _ st'avla
Development of a vowel:
chrdili _ chirdili
(Tevdore Uturgaidze, kartuli enis ponemat'uri st'rukt'ura, The phonemic structure of the Georgian language, Tbilisi, Mecniereba, 1976, p.115-126).

The reverse process occurs as well when one more consonant (most often a sonant) develops in the regular consonant cluster that makes the fricativeness of this cluster discretive (interrupted) , e. g.: v-pckv-ni  > v-prckvn-i and gdzili > grdzili > ghrdzili. Then one more step (development of a vowel) can occur in order to overcome the cluster of discretive (interrupted) fricativity: ghirdzil-i.

Sets of three consonants, when involving a sonant, have two variants in dialects:

a) A vowel is found alongside a sonant:
chrdili > chirdili (shade), k'lde > k'ilde (rock), brma > birma // burma (blind);

b) A sonant is lost, which may be attended by other phonetic changes: k'lde > k'de > k't'e (rock)
 
 

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