ON THE ISSUE OF COMMON ROOTS AND STEMS IN SVAN AND MEGRELIAN-LAZ. IV.

Abstract

Etymological works offer analysis of a considerable number of interesting lexical materials. At the same time, some of the correspondences are either inaccurate or, quite frequently, incomplete. Those who consider Svan, Megrelian, and Laz idioms as independent language systems, indicate the possibility of borrowings of lexical units between them. However, the above-mentioned idioms do not transcend beyond the scope of one system, they are rather different idioms of one language system. Therefore, the theory of borrowing lexemes (roots and stems) within the same system is unacceptable. It is possible to discuss the common material, but when certain roots do not occur in any of the idioms, it does not mean that the very root did not exist in a given idiom. That being said, a common root in any of the idioms may undergo semantic changes and move away from the original meaning. For instance, the Megrelian birguli („მუხლი” a knee) is employed to indicate wrestling in Svan: ḥebergyel ([he] is wrestling [with someone]: ebirguleba). There are also other lexical units that incorporate common roots and stems in Megrelian, Laz and Svan. From this perspective, the idioms that have preserved many interesting word forms are of particular interest.