"evropuli qartia saqarTvelo "European Charter for Regional or ...

1.2. Systemic Analysis of Phonetic, Morphological and Syntactic
Structures of the Kartvelian Idioms
The most urgent question raised today is formulated as follows:
are the Kartvelian idioms linguistically rather independent linguistic
systems or the sub-systems (variants) of the same linguistic system?
1.2.1. Phonematic Structure of the Kartvelian Idioms
Modern Kartvelian idioms do not substantially differ from common
Kartvelian and literary Georgian in terms of number of phonemes
and their paradigmatic interrelationship. All phonemes (vowels, consonants)
that historically characterized the literary Georgian language are
represented.
vowels: a, e, i, o, u (i and u could be considered as sonants).
consonants: occlusives: b, p, p’; d, t, ţ; g, k, ķ; ĥ, q.
affricates: ĵ, c, ċ; j, č, ĉ.
spirants: z, s; ž, š; ğ, ħ; h.
sonorants: v, m, n, r, l.
Aside from the key phonemes in the Kartvelian dialects there are
sounds that differ from those extant in modern literary language; vowels:
long vowels, neutral vowel ŭ, palatalized ("umlaut") vowels, short
vowels, vowels of excursion-recursion (tense, aspirate, ioticized), etc.
consonants: ĥ (which were in use in literary language until the 20 th
century),
¥, F.
Long vowels are produced in Kartvelian dialects: a) by merging
the identical vowels; b) as compensation of the lost sound, c) as a resul
of a tonal stress, etc. in Svan dialects (Balszemoan, Lashkh, Cholurian),
Tushian, Mtiulian, Acharan, Samtskhean, Fereydanian, partly in Megre-
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lian.
Neutral sound ŭ occurs more or less in all Kartvelian dialects,
and is typical to the Svan and Megrelian idioms. In the Svan dialects the
vowel ŭ is discussed among the main vowels. In general, sound ŭ is a) a
288 Arn. Chikobava, 1924; K. Lomtatidze, 1946; S. Zhghenti, 1953; A. Oniani, 1962; G.
Machavariani, 1963; T. Uturgaidze, 1969; B. Jorbenadze, 1989; V. Topuria, 2002, etc.
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