Complex-Stem Verbs in the Speech of Georgians in Turkey

Abstract

The verb is one of the most important parts of speech in the Georgian language, distinguished by its polypersonal nature and the diversity of its morphological formation. It represents a stable linguistic category that has been largely preserved from external influences throughout time and across different regions.
These features of the Georgian verb have led us to explore the nature of verbal word formation in the speech of Georgians living in Turkey. The purpose of this study is therefore to examine verbs with complex stems preserved in the speech of Turkey-based Georgian communities, to conduct a structural and semantic analysis of these forms, and to compare them with data from Georgian dialects and spoken language. At the same time, the research seeks to clarify certain debated issues concerning verbal word formation and structure, particularly the terminology employed in the scholarly literature, including “complex verbs,” “verbal composites,” and “fused verbs.” These considerations determine the relevance of the present study. It examines various patterns of verbal formation, including:
1.
verbal antonymy within composite constructions (e.g., ats’evden–dadebden ‘they raised – they set down’);
2.
formations linked by the conjunction da ‘and’ (e.g., gaats’ura da gamaats’ura ‘pushed out and pulled out’; gasts’ia da gamosts’ia ‘pulled and pulled out’);
3.
verbs containing a negative particle, for example arducha / aducha (< ar + duurča ‘did not remain’, functioning as a place name);
4.
verbs characterized by complex structure and dual semantic value (e.g., tkhrashdamitsa ‘to strike, to beat’; latsdamitsa ‘to slap, to strike with the palm’);
5.
verbal forms with two-component roots (e.g., muukhelpekhos ‘to lend a hand, to help’; daatvalqure ‘to look over, to inspect’), among others.
The study further identifies verbal lexical units of Turkish origin as well as mixed Turkish–Georgian and Persian–Arabic formations.
The analysis of the dialectal material makes it possible to conclude that the complex-stem verbs attested in the speech of Georgians living in Turkey, despite the influence of the Turkish language, are predominantly Common Kartvelian forms and remain systematic within the structure of the Georgian language.