More information about adjectives

Agreement in case marking was complete in Old Georgian.
Modern Georgian dialects
In some modern Georgian dialects adjectives ending in a consonant are represented by a bare stem in all seven cases.  Different transitional stages between these two paradigms are evidenced in Georgian both diachronically (different stages in different periods) and synchronically (different stages in different dialects).

Adjectives presented in the archaic sequence in modern Georgian
The archaic (postpositional) sequence noun+adjective is very seldom in modern Georgian, but it is still attested.
In modern Georgian, when an adjective is presented within the archaic (postpositional) sequence of noun (head) + adjective(attribute), both the noun and the adjective (attribute) are inflected and adjectives ending in vowels also take the "full" case markers. When the noun is in the plural, the adjective is also in the plural in such a sequence.

Adjective as an attribute: postpositional (archaic) sequence

mindori mwvane
mindori mc'vane  field green

 
Singular
Plural
Nominative mindor-i mwvane-ø mindvr-eb-i mwvane-eb-i
Ergative mindor-ma mwvane-m  mindvr-eb-ma mwvane-eb-ma 
Dative mindor-s(a) mwvane-s(a)  mindvr-eb-s(a) mwvane-eb-s(a) 
Genitive mindvr-is(a) mwvan-is(a) mindvr-eb-is(a) mwvane-eb-is(a) 
Instrumental mindvr-iT(a) mwvan-iT(a)  mindvr-eb-iT(a) mwvane-eb-iT(a) 
Adverbial mindvr-ad mwvane-d  mindvr-eb-ad mwvane-eb-ad 
Vocative mindor-o mwvane-v  mindvr-eb-o mwvane-eb-o 

Adjectives follow the same inflectional pattern as the nouns when occurring non-attributively - that is, not within the noun phrase, but independently. Stems ending in consonants form two groups: non reducible (Table 1) and reducible (Table 2) stems. Stems ending in vowels also form two groups: clippable (Table 3) and non-clippable (Table 4).

Table 1

Adjectives used non-attributively: non-reducible adjectives

Savi
shavi black

 
Singular
Plural
Nominative Sav-i Sav-eb-i
Ergative Sav-ma Sav-eb-ma
Dative Sav-s Sav-eb-s
Genitive Sav-is(a) Sav-eb-is(a)
Instrumental Sav-iT(a) Sav-eb-iT(a)
Adverbial Sav-ad Sav-eb-ad
Vocative Sav-o Sav-eb-o

Transcription

 
Singular
Plural
Nominative shav-i shav-eb-i
Ergative shav-ma shav-eb-ma
Dative shav-s(a) shav-eb-s(a)
Genitive shav-is(a) shav-eb-is(a)
Instrumental shav-it(a) shav-eb-it(a)
Adverbial shav-ad shav-eb-ad
Vocative shav-o shav-eb-o

Back to the Inflection of adjectives

Table 2

Adjectives used non-attributively: reducible adjectives

wiTeli
c'iteli red

 
Singular
Plural
Nominative wiTel-i wiTl-eb-i
Ergative wiTel-ma wiTl-eb-ma
Dative wiTel-s(a) wiTl-eb-s(a)
Genitive wiTl-is(a) wiTl-eb-is(a)
Instrumental wiTl-iT(a) wiTl-eb-iT(a)
Adverbial wiTl-ad wiTl-eb-ad
Vocative wiTel-o wiTl-eb-o

Transcription

 
Singular
Plural
Nominative c'itel-i c'itl-eb-i
Ergative c'itel-ma c'itl-eb-ma
Dative c'itel-s(a) c'itl-eb-s(a)
Genitive c'itl-is(a) c'itl-eb-is(a)
Instrumental c'itl-it(a) c'itl-eb-it(a)
Adverbial c'itl-ad c'itl-eb-ad
Vocative c'itel-o c'itl-eb-o

Table 3

Adjectives used non-attributively: clippable adjectives

mwvane
mc'vane green


Singular
Plural
Nominative mwvane-ø mwvane-eb-i
Ergative mwvane-m mwvane-eb-ma
Dative mwvane-s(a) mwvane-eb-s(a)
Genitive mwvan-is(a) mwvane-eb-is(a)
Instrumental mwvane-iT(a) mwvane-eb-iT(a)
Adverbial mwvane-d mwvane-eb-ad
Vocative mwvane-v mwvane-eb-o

Transcription

 
Singular
Plural
Nominative mc'vane-ø mc'vane-eb-i
Ergative mc'vane-m mc'vane-eb-ma
Dative mc'vane-s(a) mc'vane-eb-s(a)
Genitive mc'van-is(a) mc'vane-eb-is(a)
Instrumental mc'van-it(a) mc'vane-eb-it(a)
Adverbial mc'vane-d mc'vane-eb-ad
Vocative mc'vane-v mc'vane-eb-o

Table 4

Adjectives used non-attributively: non-clippable adjectives

mowiTalo
moc'italo reddish, a bit red

 
Singular
Plural
Nominative mowiTalo-ø mowiTalo-eb-i
Ergative mowiTalo-m mowiTalo-eb-ma
Dative mowiTalo-s(a) mowiTalo-eb-s(a)
Genitive mowiTalo-s(i) mowiTalo-eb-is(a)
Instrumental mowiTalo-T(i) mowiTalo-eb-iT(a)
Adverbial mowiTalo-d mowiTalo-eb-ad
Vocative mowiTalo-v mowiTalo-eb-o

Transcription

 
Singular
Plural
Nominative moc'italo-ø moc'italo-eb-i
Ergative moc'italo-m moc'italo-eb-ma
Dative moc'italo-s(a) moc'italo-eb-s(a)
Genitive moc'italo-s(i) moc'italo-eb-is(a)
Instrumental moc'italo-t(i) moc'italo-eb-it(a)
Adverbial moc'italo-d moc'italo-eb-ad
Vocative moc'italo-v moc'italo-eb-o

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