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Glite Dictionary
🌍 Related to Georgia 🗣️ A Georgian language 👤 A Georgian person 🌐 Language family
Kartvelian

Kartvelian

9.9
The group of related languages people speak mainly in Georgia, like Georgian and Svan
  • noun
  • /kɑrtˈvɛliən/
: familia de lenguas kartvelianas
  • Georgian is the most widely spoken Kartvelian language, with millions of speakers.

Examples

  • The Kartvelian languages are unique to the Caucasus region and have no known relatives outside it.

  • Linguists compare Kartvelian with other language families to study its origins and development.

  • The Kartvelian languages are unique in their structure.

  • The Kartvelian family includes several languages.

  • The Kartvelian languages, which include Georgian and Mingrelian, are predominantly spoken in Georgia.

  • Laz, a Kartvelian language, has many unique features that distinguish it from Georgian.

  • Many scholars study Kartvelian languages to understand the historical connections of languages in the Caucasus region.

Surface Forms

Kartvelian singular
Kartvelians plural

Morphology

Kartvelian = Kartvel (semi-transparent) = kartvel + ian

While '-ian' signals a family or group relation (languages/peoples), the rare ethnonym 'Kartvel' is not widely known by learners.

Etymology

Kartvelian comes from the Georgian root Kart- found in Kartli and Sakartvelo (the Georgian name for 'Georgia'), and it names the family of related languages like Georgian, Mingrelian, Laz, and Svan. So the Kartvelian languages are the group of languages mainly spoken in Georgia.