Adjectives
Definition
Declension
Degrees of comparison
Original and derived adjectives

Additional information:
More information about declension of adjectives
More information about postpositional adjectives
Adjective as a predicative complement

List of some often used adjectives


Definition

An adjective is a word which qualifies a noun; e. g.: კარგი მეგობარი k'argi megobari, good friend.
In Modern Georgian the adjective precedes the noun; e. g.:
 

 ქართული ღვინო წითელი ვაშლი მაღალი მწვერვალი ძველი წიგნი
 kartuli gvino  c'iteli vashli magali mc'vervali dzveli c'igni
Georgian wine  red apple  high top old book 

Declension

When an adjective and a noun are inflected together, the noun is declined, whereas adjectives (attribute) with the consonantal stems are declined partly (Table 1).
Adjectives (attribute) with the vocalic stems are not declined and do not change their form at all (Table 2).
All adjectives remain in the singular when noun is in the plural.

 
More detailed about adjectives (attribute) with the consonantal stems (stems ending in a consonant, e.g. didi 'big)
When a consonantal adjective and a noun are inflected together, both adjective and noun take case markers in the nominative, ergative and vocative cases:

did-i saxl-i (big-nominative house-nominative)
did-ma saxl-ma (big-ergative house-ergative)
did-o saxl-o (big-vocative house-vocative)

In all other cases the rule is that

If the consonantal adjective (e.g. did-i 'big') is followed by a noun taking an i-vowel initial suffix (e.g. saxl-is, saxl-idan), the adjective also takes the suffix -i:
დიდი სახლის did-i saxl-is a big house-genitive
დიდი სახლიდან did-i saxl-idan a big house-from
დიდი სახლისკენ did-i saxl-isk'en to a big house...  
If the consonantal adjective is followed by a noun without an i-vowel initial suffix, the adjective does not take any suffix:
დიდ სახლ did saxl-s a big house-Dative
დიდ სახლში did saxl-shi a big house-in
დიდ სახლთან did saxl-tan by a big house
დიდ სახლამდე did saxl-amde to a big house
The initial vowel -i of the suffixes -is and -idan is dropped after the roots ending with the vowel -o or -u (comp. saxl-is, but: c'q'aro-s/i/). The adjective in the attributive position retains the suffix -i in this position:
ბნელ ორმო bnel-i ormo-s 'of the dark hollow', genitive case; e.g. bneli ormos psk'erze 'on the bottom of the dark hollow (the phrase bneli ormos is in the genitive; comp.: me vxedav bnel ormo-s 'I see a dark hollow' (the phrase bnel ormo-s is in the dative case)
ბნელ ორმოდან bnel-i ormo-dan 'from the dark hollow'

More information about declension of adjectives


Note the difference:
When an adjective is attached to a noun as a prepositional attribute, the adjective remains always in the singular:
ლამაზი ქალი lamaz-i kal-i a beautiful woman.
ლამაზი ქალები lamaz-i kal-eb-i beautiful women

When an adjective is attached to a verb (a predicative complement), the adjective also changes the number depending on the number of the noun:
ის არის ლამაზი is aris lamaz-i She is beautiful
ისინი არიან ლამაზები
isini arian lamaz-eb-i They are beautiful.
Comp.:
ის არის ლამაზი ქალი is aris lamaz-i kal-i She is a beautiful woman;
ისინი არიან ლამაზი ქალები isini arian lamaz-i kal-eb- i They are beautiful women.

Click here fore more examples.

Table 1
Adjective as an attribute: stem ending in a consonant (consonantal stem)

დიდი სახლი didi saxli a big house

 
Singular
Plural

 big house
big houses
Nominative დიდი სახლი
დიდი სახლები
Ergative დიდმა სახლმა
დიდმა სახლებმა
Dative დიდ სახლს
დიდ სახლებს
Genitive დიდი სახლის
დიდი სახლების
Instrumental დიდი სახლით
დიდი სახლებით
Adverbial დიდ სახლად
დიდ სახლებად
Vocative დიდო სახლო
დიდო სახლებო

Transliteration
 
Singular
Plural
Nominative did-i saxl-i did-i saxl-eb-i
Ergative did-ma saxl-ma did-ma saxl-eb-ma
Dative did  saxl-s did  saxl-eb-s
Genitive did-i saxl-is did-i saxl-eb-is
Instrumental did-i saxl-it did-i saxl-eb-it
Adverbial did saxl-ad did  saxl-eb-ad
Vocative did-o saxl-o did-o saxl-eb-o

Adjectives (e.g. დიდი did-i) in the dative (დიდ სახლს did saxl-s) and in the adverbial (დიდ სახლად did saxl-ad)  are usually considered to be a form of dative (and adverbial) where the case marker is omitted.

Table 2
Adjective as an attribute: stem ending in a vowel (vocalic stem)

მწვანე მინდორი  mc'vane mindori a green field

 
Singular
Plural

green field
green fields
Nominative მწვანე მინდორი
მწვანე მინდვრები
Ergative მწვანე მინდორმა მწვანე მინდვრებმა
Dative მწვანე მინდორს მწვანე მინდვრებს
Genitive მწვანე მინდვრის მწვანე მინდვრების
Instrumental მწვანე მინდვრით მწვანე მინდვრებით
Adverbial მწვანე მინდვრად მწვანე მინდვრებად
Vocative მწვანე მინდორი მწვანე მინდვრებო

Transliteration
 
Singular
Plural
Nominative mc'vane mindor-i mc'vane mindvr-eb-i
Ergative mc'vane mindor-ma mc'vane mindvr-eb-ma
Dative mc'vane mindor-s mc'vane mindvr-eb-s
Genitive mc'vane mindvr-is mc'vane mindvr-eb-is
Instrumental mc'vane mindvr-it mc'vane mindvr-eb-it
Adverbial mc'vane mindvr-ad mc'vane mindvr-eb-ad
Vocative mc'vane mindor-o mc'vane mindvr-eb-o

More information

Degrees of comparison
Adjectives have degrees of comparison. There are the following degrees of comparison in Georgian:

These three degrees are the most common in a lot of languages, but one more degree of comparison is evidenced in Georgian: Formation of degrees

The comparative degree is formed by adding the postposition -ze -ze -on to that noun which is represented as an object of comparison. e. g.:
 

ნიკო-ø ნინო-ზე მაღალი-ა
nik'o-ø nino-ze magali-a
nik'o-Nomimative nino-Postposition (on) tall-is
‘Nik'o is taller than Nino’

It is possible to express the same meaning with another construction as well:
უფრო - ვიდრე  upro - vidre  "more - than", e. g.:
 

ნიკო-ø უფრო მაღალი-ა ვიდრე ნინო-ø
nik'o-ø upro magali-a vidre nino-ø
nik'o-Nomimative more tall-is than nino-Nomimative
‘Niko is taller than Nino’

The superlative degree
This degree is usually expressed by means of adding the word ყველაზე q'velaze (more than any):
 

ნიკო-ø ყველა-ზე მაღალი-ა
nik'o-ø q'vela-ze magali-a
nik'o-Nomimative everybody-Postposition (on) tall-is
Nik'o is the tallest.

The superlative degree may also formed by adding the prefix უ- u- and the suffix -ეს -es to the stem of the positive degree, e. g.:

თეთრ-ი
tetr-i
უ-თეთრ-ეს-ი
u-tetr-es-i
white-Nominative The prefix u-white-The suffix -es-Nominative
white the whitest


დიდ-ი
didi
უ-დიდ-ეს-ი
u-did-es-i
big-Nominative The prefix u-big-The suffix -es-Nominative
big the biggest


ლამაზ-ი
lamaz-i
უ-ლამაზ-ეს-ი
u-lamaz-es-i
beautiful-Nominative The prefix u-beautiful-The suffix -es-Nominative
beautiful the most beautiful
Such formations are usually used in high style and also for the formation of terminology.

The "little bit" degree
This degree is formed by adding the prefix mo- mo- and the suffix -o -o to the stem of the positive degree, e. g.:
 

თეთრ-ი მო-თეთრ-ო
tetr-i mo-tetr-o
white a bit white


შავ-ი მო-შავ-ო
shav-i mo-shav-o
black a bit black


მწარე მო-მწარ-ო
mc'are mo-mc'ar-o
bitter a bit bitter


წითელ-ი მო-წითალ-ო
c'iteli mo-c'ital-o
red a bit red, redish

Back to Adjectives

Initial and derived adjectives
Initial (original) adjectives

The stem of an initial (original) adjective is an undividable morpheme. e. g.:
დიდი didi big
პატარა p'at'ara small, little
შავი shavi black etc.

Initial (original, non-derived) adjectives are able to form the degrees of comparison described above.
By adding affixes (prefixes and suffixes) new adjectives may be formed from the initial adjectives. Adjectives formed from other adjectives and nouns are called derived adjectives.

Derived adjectives

Derived adjectives express the property or feature of a thing in relation to another thing. They are derived from nouns or other parts of speech by adding affixes, e. g.:
 

Noun
Derived adjective
Derived adjective
Derived adjective
ქუდ-
kud-i
უ-ქუდ-ო
u-kud-o
ქუდ-იან-
kud-ian-i
სა-ქუდ-ე
sa-kud-e
hat-Nominative
prefix expressing a lack of smth-hat-stem producing suffix
hat-suffix expressing a having of smth.-Nom.
prefix of appointment-hat-stem producing suffix
hat
without hat
with the hat
for the hat

ქუდ- kud- is a root; The root + all other affixes presented in the word (except the case marker) make a stem; e.g.:

ქუდ-იან-ი:
ქუდ- is a root.
ქუდ-იან-  is a stem, and consists of the root kud- and the suffix -ian.
-is the nominative case marker.

უ-ქუდ-ო:
ქუდ is a root.
უ-ქუდ-ო is a stem, and consists of the root -ქუდ-, the prefix u- and the suffix -o.
The nominative case marker is not presented because the stem is ending in the vowel.
Nom. უქუდო-ø (no nominative marker, if it had been presented, it would have been  უქუდო-)
Erg.უქუდო-
etc.

comp:
Nom. ქუდიან-ი the stem is ending in the consonant -n -n (kudian-), the nominative marker is -i.
Erg. ქუდიან-მა
etc.

Derived adjectives usually are not able to form the degrees of comparison.

Among other derived adjectives, it would be interesting to touch upon adjectives expressing the origin of a person or a thing.
The suffixes -ელ -el and -ურ -ur(/-ულ -ul) produce the adjectives of origin as follows:
The suffix -el is used if an adjective refers to human beings (group who), and the suffix -ur is used for adjectives referring to everything else (except human beings), including both animate and inanimate objects (group what):

ბოლნისელი ექიმი Bolnis-el-i ekimi doctor from Bolnisi
ბოლნისური პური Bolnis-ur-i p'uri bread from Bolnisi
ბოლნისური ქათამი Bolnis-ur-i katami a hen from Bolnisi

 


Any word expressing a human being (like "he/she" that  is related only to human beings in English) Any word expressing everything else (like "it" that is related to anything except a human being in English) 

ქალი kali woman
კაცი k'aci man
ბავშვი bavshvi child
ექიმი ekimi doctor
მოწაფე moc'ape pupil
etc.
პური p'uri  bread
ცხვარი cxvari  sheep
ძროხა dzroxa cow
ენა ena language
წარმოთქმა c'armotkma pronunciation
etc.
ქალაქი
kalak-i
town-Nominative

ქალაქელ
kalak-el-i
(one who is from town)

ქალაქურ
kalak-ur-i
(something from town; characteristic of town)
სოფელი
sopel-i
village

სოფლელ
sopl-el-i
(one who is from village)

სოფლურ
sopl-ur-i
(something from village; characteristic of village)
თბილისი
Tbilisi

თბილისელ
Tbilis-el-i
(one who is from Tbilisi)

თბილისურ
Tbilis-ur-i
(something from Tbilisi; characteristic of Tbilisi)
ინგლისი
inglisi
England

ინგლისელი
inglis-el-i
English
(one who is from England)

ინგლისური
inglis-ur-i
English
(something from England; characteristic of England)
გერმანია
germania
Germany

გერმანელ
german-el-i
German
(one who is from Germany)

გერმანულ
german-ul-i
German
(something from Germany; characteristic of Germany)
ამერიკა
amerik'a
America

ამერიკელ
amerik'-el-i
American
(one who is from America)

ამერიკულ
amerik'-ul-i
American
(something from America; characteristic of America)
საქართველო
sakartvelo
Georgia

ქართველ
kartv-el-i
Georgian
(one who is from Georgia)

ქართულ
kart-ul-i
Georgian
(something from Georgia; characteristic of Georgia)

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