Shared Linguistic Phenomena in Khevsurian and Megrelian

(A Comparative Analysis)

Abstract

In Khevsurian and Megrelian, despite their territorial separation, similar/shared linguistic phenomena (phonetic, morphological, lexical) are attested. These shared features are, for the most part, archaic, characteristic of Common Georgian. At the
same time, certain phenomena may have developed later and independently; even in such cases, the similar changes rest on a common foundation. The existence of similar phenomena in related speech codes is explained by their shared origin together
with the manifestation of the language’s inherent (immanent) potential. Owing to these regularities, Khevsurian and Megrelian – which are not connected by direct territorial neighborhood and between which, accordingly, direct inflfluence is excluded – nonetheless exhibit identical/similar linguistic features:
1. In both speech codes, the vowel i develops within consonant clusters containing a sonorant: Khevs. pirchkhili – Meg. birtskha „fifingernail“; Khevs., Meg. tirtoli „trembling“; Khevs. kirkili, Meg. kikili (< krkili) „moth/clothes-moth“; Khevs. kilde, Meg. kirde „cliffff, rock“.
2. In Khevsurian (as in Old Georgian), the possessive function is expressed by the genitive-adverbial form (with the ending -is+-ad), which corresponds in Megrelian to -ish+-o(t): Khevs. gul-is-ad – Meg. gur-ish-o(t) „for the heart“; Khevs. dgh-is-ad – Meg. dgha-sh-o(t) „for the day“.
3. Following the archaic pattern, the suffiffix -es attaches, in both Khevsurian and Megrelian, to verb forms expressing past tense. Khevs.: tser-d-es „they were writing“ (imperfect), tser-es „they wrote“ (aorist). Compare Meg.: charund-es „they were writing“ (imperfect), char-es „they wrote“ (aorist).
4. In Khevsurian and in Megrelian-Laz, the formation of the subjunctive series is unifified, with the suffiffix -a attaching: Khevs. tserd-a-s (Subjunctive I) „may they be writing“, tser-a-s (Subjunctive II) „may they write,“ daetser-a-s (Subjunctive III) „may
it be written“. Compare Meg.: charund-a-s (Subjunctive I) „may they be writing“, char-a-s (Subjunctive II) „may they write“, ucharud-a-s (Subjunctive III) “may it be written“.
5. Khevsurian and Megrelian attest shared word-forms: Khevs. naghveri / nakhori – napts›kveni, napshveni; compare Meg. nakhveri – napkhveni, nagavi; Khevs. kichila – Meg. kitsa „headscarf, veil“; Khevs. kriste – Meg. kirse / kise „Christmas, the feast of the Nativity“; Khevs., Meg. pirtvi „lung“; Khevs., Meg. tsvertsvi „pea“.
The speech codes under analysis are parts of a single linguistic system, in which the existence of shared features is the result of the operation of internal laws – a process that is entirely natural and regular in the speech both of neighboring and of geographically distant regions alike.