Georgian language

Examples

Word formations

Georgian has a word derivation system, which allows to derive nouns from verb roots both with prefixes and suffixes.

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• From the root -ts'er- ("write"), the words ts'erili ("letter"), mts'erali ("writer") are derived.
• From the root -ts- ("give"), the word gadatsema ("broadcast") is derived.
• From the root -tsd- ("try"), the word gamotsda ("exam") is derived.
• From the root -gav- ("resemble"), the words msgavsi ("similar") and msgavseba ("similarity") are derived.
• From the root -?en- ("build"), the word ?enoba ("building") is derived.
• From the root -tskh- ("bake"), the word namtskhvari ("cake") is derived.
• From the root -tsiv- ("cold"), the word matsivari ("refrigerator") is derived.
• From the root -pr- ("fly"), the words tvitmprinavi ("plane") and gamoprena ("take-off") are derived.

It is also possible to derive verbs from nouns:

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• From the noun -omi- ("war"), the verb omob ("wage war") is derived.
• From the noun -sadili- ("lunch"), the verb sadilob ("eat lunch") is derived.
• From the noun -sauzme- ("breakfast"), the verb ts'asauzmob ("eat a little breakfast") is derived (The preverb ts'a- in Georgian could add the meaning "VERBing a little."
• From the noun -ts'iteli- ("red"), the verb gats'itleba (the infinite form of both "to blush" and "to make one blush") is derived. This kind of derivation can be done with many adjectives in Georgian. Other examples can be:
• From the noun -brma- ("blind"), the verbs dabrmaveba (the infinite form of both "to become blind" and "to blind someone") are derived.
• From the noun -lamazi- ("beautiful"), the verb galamazeba (the infinite form of the verb "to become beautiful") is derived.
• From the noun -sakhli- ("home"), the verb gadasakhleba (the infinite form of the verb "to relocate, to move") is derived.

Words that begin with multiple consonants

In Georgian many nouns and adjectives begin with two or more contiguous consonants. Because every letter in Georgian is to be pronounced, a non-native speaker may find it especially hard to say the words that begin with more than one consonant. However, since it is physically impossible to pronounce two contiguous consonants which do not have a preceding vowel, a phantom vowel -?- emerges between the two sounds. In English, the closest sound to this is in the word rhythm, which can be heard in the pronunciation of the letters -th- and -m, in the pronunciation of e in the word butter, and in the pronuncation of train between the letters t and r.

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When a consonant follows one of the double-sound consonants (?, ?, ?), the phantom -?- is heard between the first and the second consonant, not in between the two sounds of the first consonant. For example, in the pronunciation of ?? (ts'k), the -?- is between the s and the k; not in between the t and the s. Therefore, it is pronounced like, "ts?k."

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When another consonant precedes one of these, again the phantom vowel is heard not in between the two sounds of the consonant, but right after the first consonant. In the example of ???? (vts'er), "I write," the phantom vowel emerges between the letters ? and ?.

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• Some linguists assert that almost half of the words in Georgian begin with double consonants. This is because most syllables in the language begin with certain two consonants. Some examples of words that begin with double consonants are:
• ?????, (ts'q'ali), "water"
• ?????, (sts'ori), "correct"
• ??? , (rdze), "milk"
• ???, (tma), "hair"
• ???, (mta), "mountain"
• ?????, (tkheni), "horse"
• There are also many words that begin with three contiguous consonants (the phantom vowel is pronounced between the first two):
• ?????, (tkven), "you (plural)"
• ??????, (mts'vane), "green"
• ??????, (tskhviri), "nose"
• ??????, (t'k'bili), "sweet"
• ??????????, (mt'k' ivneuli), "painful"
• ?????????, (?rdiloeti), "north"
• There also a few words in Georgian that begin with four contiguous consonants. Examples are:
• ???????, (mk'vleli), "murderer"
• ???????, (mk'vdari), "dead"
• ???????, (mtvrali), "drunk"
• ???????; (mts'k'rivi), "row"
• There can also be some extreme cases in Georgian. For example, the following word begins with six contiguous consonants:
• ?????????, (mts'vrtneli), "trainer"