Mingrelic grammar

This article describes the grammar of the Mingrelian ( Megrelian ) language (proper name: margaluri nina ). The few written sources on this language are incomplete and sometimes even contradicting, perhaps they also refer tacitly to different dialects; Doubtful statements are therefore indicated in the following by question marks.

Phonology

Mingrelian is not a written language. It can be written using the Georgian alphabet plus a few additional letters (for example for 'j', derived from 'l'). There are also various types of transcription with Latin letters, some of which are based on those for other Caucasian languages; especially the spellings for sibilants and half-vowels differ greatly from one another. Some variants are enclosed in brackets below.

The stress is usually on the first syllable of a word.

Consonants

The most common consonants are r, n, k, m, d, t, s, sh, l, g .
y can stand for [j] in some transcriptions, while j then stands for [d͡ʒ].

Aspirata and ejectives

Voiceless plosives and affricata are either aspirated or ejective . Ejectives are the only Mingrelian sounds that do not occur in German. They are spoken with additional vocal cord closure; before a vowel, the vocal fold closure can be clearly heard, as it were as a short break between consonant and vowel. The vocal fold closure is indicated by a trailing apostrophe ( ʼ ), sometimes by a point above or below the respective letter.

 Aspiriert Ejektiv 
 p    [p^h]     pʼ   [pʼ]
 t    [t^h]     tʼ   [tʼ]
 k    [k^h]     kʼ   [kʼ]
 ts   [ts^h]    tsʼ  [tsʼ] (andere Umschriften: c, 3)
 tsh  [tʃ^h]    tshʼ [tʃʼ] (andere Umschriften: č, ç)

 Der Laut qʼ [χʼ] ist das ejektive Gegenstück zu x.

Other consonants

In the transcription used here, some characters are spoken differently than in the IPA :
- The crackling sound [ˀ] is represented in the following by ʼ . It comes before vowels and often at the beginning of a word.
- gʼ [γ] (other transcriptions: ġ, ğ, γ ) stands for the voiced counterpart to x ; it sounds similar to a German Ribe-R, while r is pronounced as a rolled [r].
- x [χ] (other transcription: h ) corresponds to the German ach-Laut.
The following combinations are also used:
- sh [ʃ] (other transcriptions: š, ş ) stands for the German sch sound.
- zh [ʒ] (other transcriptions: ž j , ʒ ) as 'j' in ' J spoken ournal'.
- dz [dz] (other transcription: zʼ ) is the voiced counterpart to ts , something like 'ds' in 'Run ds aal'.

Consonant clusters

Long consonant clusters take some getting used to:

If there are more than 2 consonants, the order Liquida + Dental / Palatal + Velar / Uvular + Labiodental applies .
However , this rule does not apply to the addition of prefixes , so other connections also occur here.
The consonants m, n, l, r are never syllable-forming.

Vowels

Mingrelian knows the 5 basic vowels a, e, i, o, u , and additionally ə ( Schwa ), which only occurs in the north-west dialect (?); at the end of the word it is often not pronounced at all.

i, o, u are rather closed [i, o, u], e also occurs openly than [ε].

The long vowels [a :, e :, u:], (?) That occur in the Northwest dialect are denoted by double spelling (in other spellings by overwriting ¯ ), but have no phoneme status.

i and u are pronounced as half vowels ([j], [w]) before a vowel ; However, uu denotes a long [u:].

Audio examples for phonetics: see web links

Nominal parts of speech and declension

Declinable parts of speech in Mingrelian are: nouns , verbal nouns, adjectives , participles , pronouns .
Mingrelian has no articles . The numeral art-i "one" or a demonstrative pronoun (see below) can be used as a substitute .
In Mingrelian no genera are distinguished, not even in personal pronouns .

Case and number

Mingrelian has a system of 9 cases, some of which have different names.

Case designations	Use in Mingrelian	Mingrelian ending	Ending in Georgian
Nominative (- accusative ) [NOM] Absolutely group inflection	Subject direct object cause	- ( ⁱ )	- ⁱ
vocative	Direct form of address	- ( ⁱ )	- (w) after vowel -o after consonant
Ergative [ERG] narrative	Subject cause	- ^(ə) k	-m after vowel -ma after consonant
Dative (- accusative ) [DAT]	Object Experiencer place, time ...	-s	-s (a)

Genitive [GEN]	Attribute subject / object for infinitive or participle	- ⁱ sh (i)	- ⁱ s (a)
Instrumental (is) [INS]	medium	- ⁱ t (i)	-ti after vowel -it (a) after consonant
Adverbial [ADV] Transformative	How or what something becomes adverb formation	-t after vowel -o (t) after consonant	- ^a d (a)

Case derived from the genitive :

Allative [ALL] directive	Action goal, direction object	- ⁱ sha
Ablative [ABL]	place of origin	- ⁱ she ( ni ?)	- ⁱ sagan
Finalis [FIN] Designative Destinative		- ⁱ sho (t)

Superscripts are only used immediately after a consonant.
Sounds in round brackets are optional.
In the emphasis , endings ending with a consonant can be reinforced by -i or Schwa (e.g. kʼotshk ə “the man”).
The dative ending -s merges with a consonant stem depending on its final, for example: kʼotsh-i "man"> kʼots / kʼos "(the) man", dud-i "head"> dus "(the) head" .

The plural infix -ep- (which is not necessary after a numerical word) is inserted between the stem and the case ending, with assimilations in some cases:

Ergative: -e ( n ) k
Dative: -e ( n ) s, -e n ts

(?) Stem-final -l , which has fallen out of the singular in the respective nouns, is reinserted in the plural. Hence: skua / xe "son / hand"> skualepi / xelepi "sons / hands" etc.

congruence

Subject and object

Mingrelian is an extended split ergative language. Depending on the screeve in which a finite verb is used, agents, patients, etc. appear in different cases (for more details, see section 'Screeves').

Assignment according to Tuite:

 Zu einem finiten Verb gehören maximal drei Nominalphrasen:
  # NP1: etwa Subjekt (Agens, Quelle, Thema, Patiens)
  # NP2: etwa indirektes Objekt (Adressat, Rezipient, Experiencer, Benefaktor)
  # NP3: etwa direktes Objekt (Patiens, Ziel, Instrument)

              NP1         NP2     NP3
 TAM I, IV    Nominativ   Dativ   Dativ
 TAM II       Ergativ     Dativ   Nominativ
 TAM III      *           **      Nominativ

 *:  Nominativ bei Verben der 1. und 3. Klasse, sonst Dativ
 **: wird mit einer Postposition umschrieben

Assignment according to Rostovtsev-Popiel:

                                 TAM I,IV    TAM II      TAM III
 Konjugation A Subjekt     (v-)  Nominativ   Ergativ     Dativ
               Objekt      (m-)  Dativ       Nominativ   Dativ
 Konjugation B Subjekt     (v-)  Nominativ   Ergativ     Dativ
 Konjugation C Subjekt     (v-)  Nominativ   Ergativ     Nominativ
 Konjugation D Ursache     (v-)  Nominativ   Ergativ     Nominativ
               Experiencer (m-)  →         Dativ       ←

Subject and verb

The following applies to the subject-verb congruence after a number word:

If the plural infix is omitted, the verb is usually also in the singular.
If the plural infix is used, the verb is very rarely in the singular.

In the case of an inanimate subject in the plural, the verb is in the singular (e.g. dzhalepi kotshʼans (Baum-PL-NOM stand: 3.SG) “the trees stand”).

(?) If there are several verbs for a plural subject (also animate), the first of them can also be in the singular. Apparently the number congruence is related to the topicality.

Attributes to a noun

In Mingrelian there is group inflection: only the last word in a chain of nouns and nominal attributes is given case endings, while the preceding attributes are in the nominative.

Sometimes even the reference noun is unmarked in the nominative when an attribute is added (e.g. tshxom-i tshʼitshʼe-k (Fisch-NOM klein-ERG) "a little fish").

Trailing genitives often congruent with the reference noun (e.g. kʼeteba-s ʼude-shi-s (Bau-DAT Haus-GEN-DAT) "dem / den Bau des Haus")

Adjectives

Adjectives can be declined like nouns (but see the section 'Attributes of a noun'). Adjective derivatives do not contain any forms of intensification; the formation of adverbs is commonly derived from the adverbial or dative:

 Positiv:  mangar-i „stark“,            tshkar-i  „schnell“
 Adverb:   mangar-o „auf starke Weise“, tshkar-as „bald“

 utsha „schwarz“ > mo-utsh-e „schwärzlich“

numbers

Cardinal numbers

       1 art-i
       2 zhir-i
       3 sum-i
       4 otx-i
       5 xut-i
       6 amshv-i
       7 shkvit-i
       8 (b)ruo
       9 tshxoro
      10 viti
      11 vit-a-art-i

      20        etsh-i               30        etsh-do-vit(i)       (20 und 10)
      40 zhar-n-etsh-i (2-mal 20)     50 zhar-n-etsh-do-vit(i)  (2-mal 20 und 10)
      60 sume-n-etsh-i (3-mal 20)     70 sume-n-etsh-do-vit(i)  (3-mal 20 und 10)
      80 otxo-n-etsh-i (4-mal 20)     90 otxo-n-etsh-do-vit(i)  (4-mal 20 und 10)

     100        osh-i
     200   zhir-osh-i
     300    sum-osh-i
     400    otx-osh-i
     500    xut-osh-i
     600   ansh-osh-i
     700 shkvit-osh-i
     800    bru-osh-i
     900 tshxor-osh-i

   1.000     antas-i
   2.000zhir-antas-i
  10.000 vit-antas-i
 100.000 osh-antas-i

Ordinal numbers

      1. pʼirveli  „der erste“
      2. ma-zhir-a „der zweite, ein anderer“
      3. ma-sma
      4. ma-otx-ani
      5. ma-xut-a
      6. ma-mshv-a
      7. ma-shkvit-a
      8. ma-(b)ruo
      9. ma-tshxor-a
     10. ma-vit-a
     20. ma-etsh-a

pronoun

Personal pronouns

case	'I'	'you'	'he she'	'we'	'Ye'	'she'
Nominative	ma	si	must	tshki	tkva	(?) munepi
Ergative
Dative accusative			(?) mus
Genitive (possessive)	tshkimi	skani	(?) mushi	tshkini	tkvani	(?) mushi
Instrumental

Allative	(?) tshkimda			tshkinda	tkvanda

The demonstrative pronouns are more common than mu ; (?) Mu can also mean "what?".
The 2nd personal plural tkva is also used as a polite salutation “you”.

Demonstrative pronouns

In demonstrative pronouns, a distinction is made between near deixis (what is shown is close to the speaker, “this here”) and far deixis (what is shown is further away, “that there”).
The pronoun of the Nahdeixis is ena , that of the Ferndeixis ina (plural: inepi ).
Both can be expanded in the emphasis: ena> tena> atena , ina> tina> etina .
Further variants are e (ergative ek ) and te / ti "es, those".
- Declension of tena: tenak, tenas, tenash ...

conjugation

Mingrelian is a split-ergative language with the particular peculiarity that no distinction is made between transitive and intransitive verbs. The ergative as a subject therefore only serves as an aorist marker.

Verb classes

Assignment according to Tuite:

Class A:
- 1. Conjugation (mostly transitive)
- 3. Conjugation (medial verbs; verbs of atelic activity, mostly intransitive verbs)

Class P:
- 2. Conjugation
  - Verbs with a prefix (pre-root vowel i / e- )
  - Verbs with suffix (suffix -n / d )
  - mostly inchoative roots (unmarked)
- 4. Conjugation (tripod passives)

Assignment according to Rostovtsev-Popiel:

Class A: Transitiva
z. B. bxantʼunk "I paint", vashenenk "I build"
Class B: mostly active intransitives
e.g. B. vmushenk "I work", vibirk "I sing"
Class C: mostly inactive intransitives
e.g. B. vorek "I am", bgʼuruk "I am dying", voxek "I am sitting"
Class D: Affective verbs
e.g. B. mokʼo "I want", mioʼrs "I love", matsiens "I'm cold"

Affixes

In Mingrelian, numerous affixes can be grouped around a verb root in a fixed order; there is, in principle, no meaningless element for vacant positions. In the following list, the root of the verb is denoted with '0', the prefixes with negative, the suffixes with positive numbers:

 -5        Affirmativ / Negation
 -4        Präverb
 -3        Imperfektivierendes Präverb
 -2        Subjekt / Objekt
 -1        Versionalisierer
  0        Wurzel
  1        Kausativ
  2        Inchoatives Passiv
  3        Serien-Markierung
  4        Imperfekt
  5        Subjunktiv
  6,7      Subjekt
  8        Konditional

Affirmative and negation

Affirmative and negation prefixes are derived from the Mingrelian words ko “yes” and var “no” and are in position -5.

The affirmative prefix ko- k (u / i / ə / a / e) - before and has the following tasks:

Aspect / time (e.g. sxap'uns "jumps"> ko-sxap'uns "will jump")

Contact or separation (e.g. ga-mkʼosxapʼu "jumped down from Y"> ki-mkʼasxapʼu "jumped on Y")

Number congruence (e.g. utsʼu "X told Y (plural) Z"> k-uts'u "X told Y (singular) Z")

Deictic meaning of a subsequent prefix and evident meaning in static verbs (e.g. muto-re "is here", mito-re "is there"> ki-mto-re "is proven ...")

Communicative status (e.g. mortu "came"> ku-mortu "really came")

Discourse coherence (e.g. ... do mortu "... and came"> ... do ku-mortu ... "... and came ..." - a continuation is required ")

Negation prefix occurs in the forms va-, ve-, vu- . One often finds va / ve written as an independent word (e.g. vamortu = va mortu “he didn't come”).

Both occur together in one case, e.g. B. va-ku-mortuo? "How is it that X did not (arrive)?"

Subject and object

Personal prefixes are in position −2, personal suffixes in position 6 or 7 (plural markers). The subject is identified by the following suffixes and prefixes:

person	Subject (prefix)	Subject present / future	Subject past tense
I	v-	-k -	- [i] -e
you	-	-k -	- [i] -e
he she	-	-s / ts -	-u / ə / -
we	v-	--t	- [i] -t -et
her	-	--t	- [i] -t -et
she	-	-on)	-it

v- appears assimilated as b / p / pʼ-

The property also gets personal affixes:

   OBJEKT    1. Person                  2. Person
 Singular    m-                         g/r-

m- appears assimilated as b / p / pʼ-
g- appears assimilated as kʼ- (?)
For an object in the plural, the plural marker -t is added (?? and / or -an / es ).

Please note:

There are never more than 2 personal characters at the same root.

Subject and object are different (e.g. gxantʼunk has the subject ending -k , which applies to the 1st and 2nd person singular, the form can only mean “I paint you”).
The forms are not always unambiguous and may have to be supported by personal pronouns, especially since the plural marker -t can refer to the subject and / or object.

Versionalizer and serial marking

The versionizer (-a / i / o / u-) is directly in front of the verb root, the series marking (-an / en / in / un-) at position 3. Both perform different tasks:

 Neutral:       -tshʼar-un-s   „X schreibt [etwas]“
 Lokal:        o-tshʼar-un-s   „X schreibt [seine Signatur] auf [etwas]“ (+Dativ)
 Subjektiv:    i-tshʼar-un-s   „X schreibt etwas an/für sich selbst“
 Objektiv:     u-tshʼar-un-s   „X schreibt etwas an/für Y“

 Passiv:           i-tshʼar-u(n)   „es wird geschrieben“
 Potentialis:      i-tshʼar-e(n)   „es kann geschrieben werden“
 Rel. Passiv:      a-tshʼar-u(n)   „es wird von (für ?) X geschrieben“
 Rel. Potentialis: a-tshʼar-e(n)   „es kann von (für ?) X geschrieben werden“

The series marking is only in TAM I. Therefore:

 Aorist:              tshʼar-  u      „er/sie schrieb“
 Optativ:             tshʼar-a-s      „er/sie möge schreiben“
 Konditional II:      tshʼar-  u-kʼon „(?)“
                      usw.

Causative

The causative suffix is directly after the verb root, the causative object is in the dative.

The causative active expresses a cause:

  o-tshʼar-apu-an-s   „er/sie lässt schreiben, hilft zu schreiben“
  o-tshʼar-apu-  -u   „er/sie ließ schreiben, half zu schreiben“
  u-tshʼar-apu-an-s   „er/sie lässt für Z schreiben, hilft für Z zu schreiben“
  i-tshʼar-apu-an-s   „er/sie lässt für sich schreiben, hilft für sich zu schreiben“

  Vano     Ninos    gantsxadebas otshʼarapuans
 (Vano:NOM Nino:DAT Petition:DAT schreiben:lässt)
 „Vano lässt Nino eine Petition schreiben“

The causative passive is also used for unintentional actions:

  a-tkual-apu-apu      „er/sie kann nicht anders als es zu sagen/erzählen“
  a-tkual-apu-apu-d-u  „er/sie konnte nicht anders als es zu erzählen“

Past tense

The past tense suffix is -d- (position 4):

 -tshʼar- „schreiben“:
   tshʼar-un-d-u „er/sie schreibt“

Subjunctive

The subjunctive has the suffix -a- (position 5):

 -tshʼar- „schreiben“:
   tshʼar-a-s   „er/sie möge schreiben, auf dass er/sie schreibt“
   p-tshʼar-a-t „lasst uns schreiben,   auf dass wir schreiben“

Conditional

The common suffix of the conditional forms is -kʼon (position 8; originated from the debitiv particle okʼo ):

 -tshʼar- „schreiben“:
   tshʼar-un-d-u-kʼon „er/sie würde schreiben“

Substituted passive voice

A suffused passive -d- is only available to a limited extent, e.g. B. -tan- “illuminate”> go-tan-du “it became light”, tshʼita “red”> tshʼito-nd- “become red”> go-tshʼiton-du “he / she / it became red”.

Times, Aspects and Modes

A division into times, aspects and modes does not make sense in Mingrelian (and other Caucasus languages). Instead, a system of 21 'Screeves' is used. The screeves are divided into 4 tense aspect mode groups (TAMs) (depending on which TAM a screeve is contained in, the subject and direct object have different cases).

Structure in TAMs

 TAM I:   Präsens     [PRÄS]
          Imperfekt   [IMPF]
          Habitualis  [HAB]
          Subjunktiv  [SUBJ]   I Präsens/(?) Futur
          Konditional [KOND]   I Präsens/(?)Imperfekt/(?)Futur
          Futur       [FUT]      (?)Imperfekt/Perfekt
 TAM II:  Aorist      [AOR]
          Subjunktiv          II            (Optativ [OPT])
          Konditional         II
 TAM III: Resultativ  [RES]    1            (= Perfekt)
          Resultativ           2            (= Plusquamperfekt ?)
          Subjunktiv         III
          Konditional        III
 TAM IV:  Resultativ           3
          Resultativ           4
          Subjunktiv          IV
          Konditional         IV

(See the examples for a complete conjugation table.)

Use of individual screeves

There is no imperative , the aorist is used instead:

  dzhgiro ordat!
 (gut:ADV wart)
 „Leben Sie wohl!; Auf Wiedersehen!“

With the resultative or evidentialis, the speaker expresses that he did not experience an event himself, but only knows something about it through narration or obvious results:

  osurs    buneba         uxantʼu(n)
 (Frau:DAT Landschaft:NOM gemalt:hat)
 „Die Frau hat offensichtlich die Landschaft gemalt“

The habitualis stands for recurring actions, and it is always in the consequential clause after an unreal conditional:

  (mudrosət) tina tshkinda kimishu-n,    art suratis  doxantʼundu
 ((wenn)     jene uns:ALL  kommt:HAB-KJ, ein Bild:DAT malt:HAB)
 „Jedes Mal, wenn sie kam, um uns zu sehen, malte sie ein Bild“

  gogʼa   tik   tsʼerili  dotshʼarukʼon,             amdgʼa mibgʼendit
 (gestern jener Brief:NOM geschrieben:hätte:COND.II, heute  wir:erhalten:HAB)
 „Hätte er gestern den/einen Brief geschrieben, hätten wir ihn heute erhalten“

Infinite forms

Participles

Present participle Active :
Affixes: ma- -al / ar / u / endzhi / e, mo- -u
For example: ma-tsh'ar-al-i "writing", ma-xant'-al-i "painting".
Participle past tense passive :
affixes: -il / ir / el / he / ul, e / endzhi / dzha na- -a / i /
For example: na-tsh'ar-a (kag'ardi) "written (he letter)," na- xantʼ-a "painted".
Participle Futur ( gerundive ):
affixes: o- -al / ar / ur / e / endzsi
For example: o-xant-al-i to "painting".

The object for a participle is in the genitive.
With a present or past participle relative clauses can be circumscribed:

  te    surati-sh ma-xant’-ali  k’otshi     kobzhiri
 (dies [Bild-GEN  malend        Mann:NOM]   sah:AOR)
 „Ich sah den Mann, der das Bild gemalt hatte“

  momets’onu  ti-sh   na-xant’-a   suratik
 (mochte:AOR [er:GEN  gemalt       Bild:ERG])
 „Ich mochte das Bild, das er gemalt hat“

The past participle in the allative or adverbial can be used to paraphrase final clauses:

  midartu   tsʼqʼarish    magʼalusha
 (ging:AOR [Wassers:GEN    zu:holend:ALL])
 „Er ging, um Wasser zu holen“

  boshik     getshʼopu kʼalami    kagʼardish   otshʼaralo
 (Junge:ERG  nahm:AOR  Stift:NOM [Briefes:GEN  zu:schreibend:ADV])
 „Der Junge nahm den Stift, um einen Brief zu schreiben“

The past participle can also (in addition to the verbal noun o / u) be an attribute of a noun:

  tena zhneli    ogurapal      sagani re  = tena zhneli    ogurapu   sagani re
 (dies schwierig zu:studierend Thema  ist = dies schwierig Studieren Thema  ist)
 „Dies ist ein schwieriges Studienthema“

Verbal nouns

To form the two verbal nouns ( masdar s) or infinitives, the verb stem is extended by one of the suffixes - (u) al-, -ap-, -op-, -eb- , to which either the suffix - (u) a is added , which is probably of Georgian origin, to which the affixes o- -u are placed around the extended stem , which are taken for the original verbal nouns of the Zan language:

 kʼeteba   ~ okʼetebu  „tun    / das Tun“
 tsʼamalua ~ otsʼamalu „heilen / das Heilen“

When used, the two verbal nouns are often interchangeable. Exceptions are pointed out below. Both verbal nouns are declined like a normal noun.

The subject or object of a verbal noun is in the genitive.
A verbal noun can be an adjective or an adverb:
- If the verb in the main clause and the verb in the subordinate clause have the same subject (are they core-referent ), the adverb is preferred:

  mopʼtsʼons skʼvamas  tshʼarua
 (mag       schön:ADV Schreiben:NOM)
 „Ich mag es, schön zu schreiben“

  apʼirens     ʼudesh     tshkaras    shenebas
 (beabsichtigt Hauses:GEN schnell:ADV Bauen:DAT)
 „Er beabsichtigt, das Haus schnell zu bauen“

- Otherwise the adjective is used:

  mopʼtsʼons Ninosh    skʼvami tshʼarua
 (mag        Ninos:GEN schönes Schreiben:NOM)
 „Ich mag es, wie Nino schön schreibt“

Depending on the tense of the finite verb, the verbal noun functioning as an object is in the dative or nominative. The o / u forms seem to be less common here:

  itshʼqʼans    fizikash   gurapas / ogurapus
 (beginnt:PRÄS  Physik:GEN Studieren:DAT)
 „Er/sie beginnt Physik zu studieren“

  ditshʼqʼu  fizikash   gurapa / ogurapu
 (begann:AOR Physik:GEN Studieren:NOM)
 „Er/sie begann zu studieren“

  tsdilens  gurapas
 (versucht  Studieren:DAT)
 „Er versucht zu studieren“

mokʼo "I want", mopʼtsʼons "I like" etc. require an experiencer in the dative and a complement verb in the nominative or ergative:

  osurs    okʼo betshʼedi
 (Frau:DAT will Ring:NOM)
 „Die Frau will einen Ring“

 Daher:

 osurs    okʼo bunebash       xantʼua
 (Frau:DAT will Landschaft:GEN Malen:NOM)
 „Die Frau will eine Landschaft malen“

  mopʼtsʼons Ninosh    skʼvami   tshʼarua
 (mag        Ninos:GEN schön:NOM Schreiben:NOM)
 „Ich mag es, wie Nino schön schreibt“

  mopʼtsʼons skʼvamo   tshʼarua
 (mag        schön:ADV Schreiben:NOM)
 „Ich mag es, schön zu schreiben“

In complementary sentences, the o / u form is only possible for verbs that begin with:

 itshʼqans gurapas = ogurapus  „er fängt an zu studieren“
 atens kʼeteba     = okʼetebus „er hört auf zu tun“

The o / u-forms can be used as attributes (in addition to the future participle):

  tena zhneli    ogurapu   sagani re  = tena zhneli    ogurapal      sagani re
 (dies schwierig Studieren Thema  ist = dies schwierig zu:studierend Thema  ist)
 „Dies ist ein schwieriges Studienthema“

Unflexible words

Mingrelian knows the following parts of speech without inflection:

Adverbs , e.g. B. on (ə) dgʼa "today", ase "now" ...
Conjunctions , e.g. B. namda "that", tumtsa "although" ...
Post positions , e.g. B. [ALL] + -xə "to" ...
Particles
Interjections

Sentence structure

Mingrelian is a free SOV / SVO language (S = subject, O = object, V = predicate). The sentence order seems to convey grammatical relationships, if at all, at the phrase level.
The sentence order seems to be SVO in long sentences or in a long object rather than in short ones.
The sentence order VO is also preferred in the imperative (e.g. komutshi ^AORpara ^NOM / para ^NOMkomutshi ^AOR “give me the money!”).
Introductory verbs tend to be in the first position when the reference subject appears on the scene or disappears (e.g. koʼope arti gʼalieri kʼotshi “once there was a rich man”).

Questions

Decision-making questions are formed with the suffix - [v] o :

 … reko?                 „Bist du...?“
 … gokʼonano?            „Wollen Sie...?“
 … gitshkuno?            „Weißt du...?“
 … gitshkunano?          „Wissen Sie...?“
 tshkimda kuggagebeno? (?) „Verstehen Sie mich?“
 martalovo?                „Stimmt das?“
 Margaluro ragadanto? (?)  „Sprechen Sie Mingrelisch?“
 Vanok mortuo?             „Ist Vano gekommen?“

Supplementary questions can be formed with interrogatives:

 mi?      „wer?“        mu/so?           „was?“
 mudros?  „wann?“       mutshʼo?         „wie?“
 mot?     „warum?“      sowreshe?, son?  „woher?“
 hangi?   „welcher?“

 tena mu re?             „Was ist das?“
 te kʼotshi mi re?       „Wer ist dieser Mann?“
 tina mudros komurs?     „Wann wird er/sie kommen?“
 mutshʼo rek?                   „Wie geht es dir?“
 nam saat re?                   „Wieviel Uhr ist es?“
 si sowreshe gitshku margaluri? „Woher kannst du Mingrelisch?“

Adjuncts

Demonstratives, possessives and quantifiers are placed in front (e.g. ina kʼotshi “that man”, tito kʼotshi “every man”). In the north-west dialects, however, possessives in particular are also added (and then receive a case ending!).

Numerals can also be added afterwards (e.g. zhiri kʼotshi = kʼotshi zhiri "two men").

Discontinuity:

  marans     didi      lagvanepi rdə     gʼvinishi   epsha
 (Keller:DAT groß:NOM  Krüge:NOM waren Weines:GEN voll)
 „Es gab große Weinkrüge im Keller“

Subordinate clauses

Mingrelian knows only a few conjunctions. The most common is the subordinator ni , which also occurs as the suffix -ni / -n / -i and has various tasks:

  mitshku    megobark     kalaksha  kəmortuni
 (wusste:AOR Freund:ERG   Stadt:ALL kam:AOR-KJ)
 „Ich wusste, dass (mein) Freund in die Stadt [ALL] kam [AOR]“

  gitshkun-o tina    mudros kəmorsən(i)?
 (weißt-?    jener   wann   kommen:wird:FUT-KJ)
 „Weißt du, wann er kommt?“

Concession rates

Concession clauses are formed with tumtsa at the beginning of the subordinate clause:

  Alek    tena gakʼetu, tumtsa mitin  ve-eludu             tes
 (Ale:ERG dies tat:AOR, obwohl jemand nicht-erwartete:IMPF dies)
 „Ale tat es, obwohl niemand es erwartete“

Causal sentences

Causal adverbial clauses are formed with tisheni "because" at the end of the subordinate clause:

  Vanok vedu diarasha, dus glaxat grzhnendu tisheni
 „Vano ging nicht zur Hochzeit, weil er sich nicht wohl fühlte“

Resultative sentences are paraphrased with do tish “and therefore”; or by converting them into a causal relation:

  Ale dakʼinebuli rdu do tishen va-mortu       >> Alek va-mortu dakʼinebuli rdu tisheni
 „Ale war beschäftigt und deshalb kam er nicht >> Ale kam nicht, weil er beschäftigt war“

Substitute sentences

Substitutive sentences are formed by tish mangiero , which requires a finite verb in the conditional II or III in the subordinate clause:

  tish  mangiero     gakʼvetili   gukʼetebudukʼon,       ezosha     idu      olaʼapusha
 (sein  anstatt-dass Hausaufgaben machen:würde:COND.III, Garten:ALL ging:AOR spielen:ALL)
 „Anstatt seine Hausaufgaben zu machen, ging er in den Garten spielen“

conditional sentences

Conditional clauses are formed with -ni (ambiguous!) Or -da "if":

  ase   tina      tsʼerils  tshʼarunsəda,    utsbas kəgebgent (Präsens – Präsens)
 (jetzt jener:NOM Brief:DAT schreibt-falls,  sofort herausfinden:werden:wir:FUT)
 „Falls er gerade einen Brief schreibt, werden wir es herausfinden“

  Vano     kəmursəda,             domizhaxi (Futur – Imperativ)
 (Vano:NOM kommen:wird:FUT-falls, mich:riefst:AOR)
 „Falls Vano kommt, ruf mich!“

  lexi    doskʼidu,              tsʼamals kumugʼankin(i) (Futur – Futur)
 (Kranker sich:erholen:wird:FUT, Medizin  bringen:wirst:FUT-KJ)
 „Der Kranke wird sich erholen, wenn du ihm Medizin bringst“

  amser      tina      tsʼerils  dotshʼarunsəda,           tshʼume mibgʼent (Futur – Futur)
 (heuteNacht jener:NOM Brief:DAT schreiben:wird:FUT-falls, morgen  empfangen:werden:wir:FUT)
 „Falls er den Brief heute Nacht schreibt, werden wir ihn morgen empfangen“

  gʼoronti kʼos     kaakʼetendasu ni, sashverk          musheni ve-eʼuu? (Optativ – Aorist)
 (Gott:NOM Mann:DAT macht:OPT     KJ, Erleichterung:ERG warum   nicht-war:AOR?)
 „Falls Gott den Menschen schuf, warum gab es keine Erleichterung?“

Concessive conditional sentences also have shuro and possibly ishen :

  shuro tshʼitshʼes geshunsida, biras kiditshʼqans
 „Auch wenn er nur wenig trinken wird, wird er zu singen anfangen“

  ma tes gebgendi, si shuro mutun va-gitkualudukʼon(i)
 „Ich hätte es herausgefunden, auch wenn du mir nichts erzählt hättest“

  shuro va-gokʼodasin(i),        ishen      okʼo  midarte
 (sogar nicht-wollest:SUBJ.I-KJ, gleichwohl will  du:gehest:OPT)
 „Sogar wenn du nicht willst, musst du (gleichwohl) gehen“

Potential conditioners have -da and ti shemtxvevas ^DAT "in that case":

  Ale kəmurs, ti shemtxvevas omushebel kishuda
 „Für den Fall, dass er Arbeit findet, wird Ale kommen“

In conditional clauses, the subordinate verb is always in the habitualis:

  ase   tina   tsʼerils  tshʼarundukʼon,         tes      utsbas gebgendit (COND.I Präsens)
 (jetzt er:NOM Brief:DAT schreiben:würde, dies:DAT sofort herausfinden:wir:HAB)
 „Würde er jetzt einen Brief schreiben, würden wir es sofort herausfinden“

  gogʼa   tik       tsʼerili  dotshʼarunkʼon,    amdgʼa mibgʼendit (COND. II)
 (gestern jener:ERG Brief:NOM geschrieben:hätte, heute  empfangen:wir:HAB)
 „Hätte er gestern den/einen Brief geschrieben, hätten wir ihn heute empfangen“

  amser      tik       tsʼerili  dotshʼarukʼon,   tshʼume mibgʼendit (COND.I Futur)
 (heuteNacht jener:ERG Brief:NOM schreiben:würde, morgen  empfangen:wir:HAB)
 „Wenn er heute Nacht einen Brief schreiben würde, würden wir ihn morgen empfangen“

Finals

There are several ways to form final sentences:

A finite formation uses the subjunctive II (optative):

  tik       mdinaresha idu,  tshxomi otsh’opasin(i)
 (jener:ERG Fluss:ALL  ging, Fisch   fange:OPT-KJ)
 „er ging zum Fluss, um zu fischen“

The past participle in the adverbial requires a gerundive formation:

  boshik    getshʼopu kʼalami   tsʼerilish  otshʼaralo
    (Junge:ERG nahm:AOR  Stift:NOM Briefes:GEN zu:schreibend:ADV)

The present participle in the allative can also be used:

  midartu  tsʼqʼarish  magʼalusha
 (ging:hin Wassers:GEN holend:ALL)
 „Er ging Wasser holen“

Another formation uses verbal nouns in the o / u form in the allative or dative (this type of final clauses is similar to the Latin type ad faciendum ):

  boshik    midartu  xantuʼuash ogurapusha
 (Junge:ERG ging:hin Malens:GEN zum:Studieren:ALL)
 „Der Junge ging weg, um das Malen zu studieren“

  tik       mdinaresha idu,  tshxomish   otshʼopusha
 (jener:ERG Fluss:ALL  ging, Fisches:GEN zum:Fangen:ALL)
 „er ging zum Fluss, um zu fischen“

  kʼotshk  kədoxodə        otshʼkʼomalish otshʼkʼomus
 (Mann:ERG setzte_sich:AOR Speise:GEN    Essen:DAT)
 „Der Mann setzte sich hin um zu essen“

Temporal clauses

Simultaneity is expressed by:

The mere suffix -ni

  giidzhinu        ni,   ʼude kozhiru
 (herumschaute:AOR KJ   [Haus sah:AOR])
 „Als er sich umschaute, gewahrte er ein Haus“

  mutshʼoti kigegones  tena     skualenkə  ni, sumixolok     mindomes    ogurapusha    ula
 (wie:INS   hörten:AOR dies:NOM Söhne:ERG KJ, alle:drei:ERG wollten:AOR Studieren:ALL gehen:NOM)
 „Als die Söhne das hörten, wollten sie studieren gehen“

The adverb mudrosətə (< dro "time"), where -ni can be omitted:

  Vanok kəmortu, mudrosətə      dzhimalenk mdinare ginilesə(n)
 (Vano  kam:AOR  zu jener Zeit [Brüder-ERG Fluss   überquerten:AOR-(KJ)])
 „Vano kam, als seine Brüder den Fluss überquerten“

Post time is expressed by:

The suffix -ni and uk'ul at the end of the subordinate clause:

  gebgi          te   ambe,         tik  ʼutsha kəmortuni  ukʼul
 (herausfand:AOR jene Nachrichten  [er    heim  kam:AOR-KJ nachdem])
 „Ich fand etwas über die Nachrichten heraus, nachdem er nach Hause gekommen war“

Prematurity is expressed by:

The suffix -ni and soishax (< so "where") at the beginning of the subordinate clause:

  gebgi           te   ambe,  soishax tik ʼutsha kəmortuni  / tina   ʼutsha kimishuni
 (herausfand:AOR jene  N.    [bevor   er   heim  kam:AOR-KJ / er:NOM heim   kam:HAB-KJ])
 „Ich fand etwas über die Nachrichten heraus, bevor er nach Hause gekommen war“

The infinitive in the allative, which can be interpreted as a movement towards a future event. The post position -xə "to" (which is used for a completed 'movement' that has reached its destination) is optional here:

  gebgi          te   ambe,      tish   ʼutsha mula-sha(-xə)
 (herausfand:AOR jene Nachricht, er:GEN heim   kommen-ALL-bis)
 „Ich fand etwas über die Nachrichten heraus, bevor er nach Hause gekommen war“

Adverbial clauses

Adverbial clauses are formed with a subordinator at the beginning of the subordinate clause and additionally with ni :

Adverbial clauses of the manner are formed by mutshʼotə (< mutshʼo "like"):

  kimigʼi ate gʼvini, mutshʼotə ma gitsʼini!
 „Bring den Wein, wie ich dir sagte!“

Adverbial clauses of the reason are formed with radgan "da":

  ma okʼo tena kobzhire, radgan si tash ragadankini
 „Ich muss es sehen, da du es so gesagt hast“

Additive adverbial clauses are formed with tish garda "this except":

  tish garda tina qʼurzhens, miʼonansini laitʼis tasundas iʼi
 „Abgesehen davon, dass er Weintrauben wachsen lässt, wird er Mais säen“

Locative adverbial clauses are formed with sodetə (< so "where"):

  si tek dorxvaduk, sodetə gogʼa vorditini
 „Ich werde dich da treffen, wo wir gestern waren“

Complementary sentences and indirect speech

Complement clauses are generally formed with -ni :

  vnanenk       Ninok    va-mortuni (kommentativ)
 (bedaure:ich, [Nino:ERG nicht-kam:AOR-KJ])
 „Ich bedaure, dass Nino nicht gekommen ist“

  Vanos    utshʼku  Nino     gʼvins   va-shunsin(i) (wissen/erfahren)
 (Vano:DAT weiß    [Nino:NOM Wein:NOM nicht-trinkt-KJ])
 „Vano weiß, dass Nino keinen Wein trinkt“

An intentional, desiderative, manipulative or modal matrix verb requires the optative in the subordinate clause if it is in the present / future, or the conditional II / III if it is in the aorist / imperfect:

 Desideratives Matrixverb im Präsens:
    mokʼo  Ninok    kəmortasin(i)
   (will  [Nino:ERG komme:OPT-KJ])
   „Ich will, dass Nino kommt“

 Desideratives Matrixverb im Imperfekt:
    mokʼodu Ninos    kəmurtumudukʼon(i)
   (wollte [Nino:DAT kommen:würde:KOND.III-KJ])
   „Ich wollte, dass Nino kommt“

 Manipulatives Matrixverb im Präsens:
    Vano aizhulens Ninos      metʼi gʼvin(i) geshvasin(i)
   (Vano zwingt    Nino:DAT, [mehr  Wein:NOM trinke:OPT-KJ])
   „Vano zwingt Nino, mehr Wein zu trinken“

 Manipulatives Matrixverb im Aorist:
    Vanok aizhulu  Ninos      metʼi gʼvin(i) geushumudukʼoni
   (Vano  zwang    Nino:DAT, [mehr  Wein:NOM trinken:würde:KOND.III-KJ])
   „Vano zwang Nino, mehr Wein zu trinken“

The conjunction nam (u) da "that" at the beginning of the subordinate clause is almost only used for indirect speech, in which the verb in the subordinate clause is followed by both -ni and a quotation or quotative suffix [QUOT] ( -maki or -a ) is appended:

 Ein Sprecher in der 1. Person wird zitiert:
    ma  gitsʼi,           namda Nino     va-murs-i-maki
   (ich dir:erzählte:AOR, dass  Nino:NOM nicht-kommen:wird:FUT-KJ-QUOT)
   „Ich erzählte dir, dass Nino nicht kommen würde“

 Ein Sprecher in der 3. Person wird zitiert:
    mumak     mitsʼu,           namda Nino     va-murs-i-a
   (Vater:ERG mir:erzählte:AOR, dass  Nino:NOM nicht-kommen:wird:FUT-KJ-QUOT)
    „Der Vater erzählte mir, dass Nino nicht kommen würde“

Relative clauses

Relative clauses are formed 1. with -ni or 2. with the relative pronoun namu- ^KASUS- [i] t . In the first case, relative clauses can be placed before or after:

 1. Mit -ni:
    vezirepi      laʼapis   udzhinedesni
   (Wesir:Pl:NOM  Spiel:DAT sahen:IMPF-KJ)
   „die Wesire, die das Spiel sahen“

    gʼorontisha  idənini        ti      kʼotshi
   (Gott:ALL     gehen:AOR-KJ   dieser  Mann:NOM)
   „dieser Mann, der zu Gott ging“

 2. Mit namu-ti:
    almasi,      namu--ti    gʼir sumi sopeilishave
   (Diamant:NOM, welcher:NOM wert drei Dorf:ALL)
   „der Diamant, der drei Dörfer wert ist“

    kʼotshi,  namu-shen-it  ma  pikrendi,    dogʼuru = dogʼuru kʼotshi, namu-shen-it ma pikrendi
   (Mann:NOM, welchen-ABL   ich dachte:IMPF, starb:AOR)
   „der Mann, an den ich gedacht habe, ist gestorben“

    Ndiik   mitxuu     kʼotshi,  namu-k-it   tina      gakʼurtsxinuni
   (Div:ERG fragte:AOR Mann:NOM, welcher:ERG jenen:NOM wecken:KAUS:PLUSQ)
   „der Div fragte den Mann, wer ihn geweckt hat“

Sample tables

declination

Examples for the individual cases:

 oxvame-s       (Dativ)        „in der Kirche“
 bolo-s         (Dativ)        „zum Schluss“
 tsʼqʼar-isha   (Allativ)      „ins Wasser“
 kalak-sha      (Allativ)      „in die Stadt“
 otshʼopu-sha   (Allativ)      „um zu fangen“
 xviratʼe-she   (Ablativ)      „aus dem Loch“

Paradigms with the nouns tqʼa- “forest” and kʼotsh- “man” as well as with the adjectives tshʼita “rot” and did- “large” (numerals are declined like adjectives); the order corresponds to the table in the section 'Case and Number'.

 Deklinationstyp I (vokalisch):
 << tqʼa, tqʼak, tqʼas, tqʼashi, tqʼat, tqʼasha, tqʼashe, tqʼashot, tqʼat.
 << kʼotshi, kʼotshik, kʼotshis,
    kʼotshish(i), kʼotshit(i), kʼotshisha, kʼotshishe, kʼotshishot, kʼotsho.
 << tshʼita, tshʼitak, tshʼitas,
    tshʼitash, tshʼitat, tshʼitasha, tshʼitashe, tshʼitashot, tshʼitat

 Deklinationstyp II (konsonantisch); Unregelmäßigkeiten sind unterstrichen:
 << kʼotsh(i), kʼotsh(ə)k, (kʼotshs)/kʼos/kʼoc,
    kʼotshish, kʼotshit, kʼotshisha, kʼotshishe, kʼotshishot, kʼotsho
 << did(i), didik/ditk, didis/dis,
    didish, didit, didisha, didishe, didishot, dido

Example of group flexion ( art- "one", skvam- "beautiful", shkiru- "gray"):

 Nominativ:  art(i) skvam(i) shkiru geri   „ein schöner grauer Wolf“
 Genitiv:    art(i) skvam(i) shkiru gerish „eines schönen grauen Wolfes“
 Dativ-Akk.: art(i) skvam(i) shkiru gers   „einem/n schönen grauen Wolf“
             usw.

conjugation

TAM I

 Indikativ:
   -tshʼar[un]- „schreiben“:
     btshʼarunk, tshʼarunk, tshʼaruns/tshʼarunts, btshʼarunt, tshʼarunt, tshʼaruna(n)
     „ich schreibe, du schreibst, er/sie schreibt...“

   „sein“:
     vorek, (o)rek, (o)reⁿ,    voret,    ret,      renaⁿ;    rdu
     „ich bin, du bist, er/sie ist, wir sind, ihr seid, sie sind;   er/sie war“

 Experiencer im Dativ:

 „wissen“:
   mitshʼku „ich weiß“, gitshʼku „du weißt“, utshʼku „er/sie weiß“

 „wollen“:
   mokʼo „ich will“, gokʼo „du willst“, okʼo „er/sie will“, gokʼonaⁿ „ihr wollt“

 „lieben“:
   miʼors „ich liebe (ihn/sie)“, ma si miʼork „ich liebe dich“

 Sonstiges:
   matsiens  „mir ist kalt“
   pshkirens „ich habe Hunger“
   voxek     „ich sitze“

 Subjunktiv:
   „schreiben“:
     btshʼara, tshʼara, tshʼaras, btshʼarat, tshʼarat, tshʼaran
     „sodass ich schreibe, sodass du schreibst, sodass er/sie schreibt...“

   „gehen“:
     ibda, ida, idas, ibdat, idat, idan
     „sodass ich gehe, sodass du gehst, sodass er/sie geht...“

TAM II

 -tshʼar- „schreiben“:
   btshʼari, tshʼari, tshʼaru/tshʼarə, btshʼarit, tshʼarit, tshʼares
   „ich schrieb, du schriebst, er/sie schrieb...“

 -kʼat- „sammeln“:
   bkʼate, kʼate, kʼatu, bkʼatet, kʼatet, kʼates
   „ich sammelte, du sammeltest, er/sie sammelte...“

 „sehen“:
   bzhiri „ich sah“

 mitsʼi „du sagtest mir“, mitsʼu „er/sie sagte mir“, gitsʼi „ich sagte dir“

Case for subject and object

Example for subject and object in TAM I to IV ( osur- "woman", buneba- "landscape", xantʼ- "painting"):

 TAM I:   osuri^NOM bunebas^DAT xantʼuns^PRÄSENS     „Die Frau malt eine Landschaft“
 TAM II:  osurk^ERG buneba^NOM  doxantʼu^AORIST      „Die Frau malte eine Landschaft“
 TAM III: osurs^DAT buneba^NOM  uxantʼu(n)^{RES. 1}    „Die Frau hat (offensichtlich) eine L. gemalt“
 TAM IV:  osuri^NOM bunebas^DAT noxantʼuedu^{RES. 4}   „Die Frau hatte (offensichtlich) eine L. gemalt“

Screevetable

The Mingrelian Screeves using the example of xantʼ- "paint" and tshʼar- "write":

Screeve	Verb form of "paint" with affix separation	Verb form of "write" without affix separation
Infinitive verbal noun	xant'-ua "paint"	tsh'ar-ua "write"


TAM I


Present	-xantʼ un -s "he paints"	tsh'aruns
Future tense:	do-xantʼ un -s "he will paint"	(do) tshʼaruns
Past tense:	*-xantʼ and* -du**	tshʼarundu
Conditional I present tense:	-xantʼ un -du-k'on	tshʼarundukʼo (n)
Conditional I imperfect:	-xantʼ un -du-k'on iʼuapudu
Habitualis:	do-xantʼ un -du "he always paints / every time"
Conditional I future:	do-xantʼ un -du-k'on "[if] he (later) would paint"

Subjunctive I present tense:	-xant' un -the	tshʼarundas
Future past tense:	*-xantʼ and* -das iʼuapu**
Subjunctive I future:	do-xant' un -the


TAM II


Aorist:	do-xant'-u "he painted"	tsh'aru
Optative (Subjunctive II):	do-xant'-as "may he paint that he paint"	tsh'aras
Conditional II:	do-xantʼ-u-k'on "he would have painted"	tshʼarukʼo (n)


TAM III


Resultant 1 (perfect):	(you) -u-xantʼ-un he (obviously) painted "	utsh'aru
Resultative 2 (plus squamp.):	(du) -u-xantʼ-udu "he had (obviously) painted"	utsh'Arudu
Subjunctive III:	(you) -u-xantʼ-udas	utshʼarudas
Conditional III:	(you) -u-xantʼ-udu-k'on	utshʼarudukʼon


TAM IV


Resultative 3:	(do) -no-xantʼ-uen	notsh'arue
Resultative 4:	(do) -no-xantʼ-uedu	notshʼaruedu
Subjunctive IV:	(do) -no-xantʼ-uedas	notshʼaruedas
Conditional IV:	(do) -no-xantʼ-uedu-k'on	notshʼaruedukʼon

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Kevin Tuite: Kartvelian Morphosyntax . Université de Montréal.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Rostovtsev-Popiel: Megrelian Verbal Inflection . St. Petersburg State University.
↑ Wolfgang Schulze: Unknown title. Chapter 'Mingrelian'.
^ Rostovtsev-Popiel: Exposé from Grammaticalized Affirmativity in Kartvelian .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Vamling & Tchantouria: On Subordinate Clauses in Megrelian . Lund University. In: K. Hengeveld (Ed.): Eurotype Working Papers . 1991, Antwerp.
^ ^A ^b Constituent word order in the languages of Europe , Anna Siewierska, De Gruyter.
^ Titus University of Frankfurt
↑ GAKlimov: Introduction to Caucasian Linguistics . German edition: Buske Verlag. Hamburg, 1994.

literature

Georgij A. Klimov: Introduction to Caucasian Linguistics . Hamburg: Buske, 1994. (Translation from the Russian ; Original title: Vvedenie v kavkazskoe jazykoznanie . Moskva: Nauka, 1986.)

Wolfgang Schulze: Mingrelian. In: Lexicon of the languages of the European East = Wieser Encyclopedia of the European East . Vol. 10. Klagenfurt: Wieser-Verlag, 2002. pp. 869-873. ( pdf version, 255 kB )

Yakov G. Testelec: Word order in Kartvelian languages. In: Anna Siewierska (ed.): Constituent order in the languages of Europe . Berlin [u. a.]: Mouton de Gruyter, 1997. (Empirical approaches to language typology; 20: EUROTYP; 1). Pp. 235-256.

Kevin Tuite: Kartvelian morphosyntax: number agreement and morphosyntactic orientation in the South Caucasian languages . Munich [u. a.]: LINCOM Europa, 1998. (Lincom studies in Caucasian linguistics; 12)

Karina Vamling, R. Tchantouria: On subordinate clauses in Megrelian. In: K. Hengeveld (ed.): The internal structure of adverbial clauses . Eurotype Working Papers V, 1991. Antwerp 1993. pp. 67-86.

Web links

Alexander Rostovtsev-Popiel: Exposé of the Doctoral Dissertation Grammaticalized Affirmativity in Kartvelian (PDF; 61 kB)
Alexander Rostovtsev-Popiel: Template Morphology: Megrelian Verbal Inflection (PDF; 108 kB)
Mingrelian fairy tale with German translation and vocabulary, also to listen to.

[Quelle7-1] Kevin Tuite: Kartvelian Morphosyntax . Université de Montréal.

[Quelle4-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Rostovtsev-Popiel: Megrelian Verbal Inflection . St. Petersburg State University.

[Quelle8-3] Wolfgang Schulze: Unknown title. Chapter 'Mingrelian'.

[Quelle6-4] Rostovtsev-Popiel: Exposé from Grammaticalized Affirmativity in Kartvelian .

[Quelle1-5] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Vamling & Tchantouria: On Subordinate Clauses in Megrelian . Lund University. In: K. Hengeveld (Ed.): Eurotype Working Papers . 1991, Antwerp.

[Quelle5-6] A ^b Constituent word order in the languages of Europe , Anna Siewierska, De Gruyter.

[Quelle3-7] Titus University of Frankfurt

[Quelle2-8] GAKlimov: Introduction to Caucasian Linguistics . German edition: Buske Verlag. Hamburg, 1994.