Appendix:Laz noun declension

The stems of nouns are divided into two groups according to their last phoneme. Rules are not the same for two groups concerning the morphology of suffixes and the accent.

• მცხულ- (mʒxul-, “pear”)
• ოხორ- (oxor-, “house”)
• ონჯღორ- (oncğor-, “shame”)

In all dialects, accented and not accented vowels have the same quality. The accent in Laz is much less marked than in English, German, Italian or Russian. The naked consonant-final stem of noun has accent on the ultimate syllable of the stem. But some suffixes may change the place of accent.

• ნდღა- (ndğa-, “day”)
• ჯუმა- (cuma-, “brother”)
• ხე- (xe-, “hand”)
• თი- (ti-, “head”)
• ჲოხო- ჯოხო- (yoxo- coxo-, “name”)
• მჭაფუ- მკჲაფუ- (mç̌apu- mǩyapu-, “jackal”)

All vowel-final stems that end by -ი (-i) are monosyllabic. Following accentuation rules are observed concerning the naked vowel-final stem of noun. Some suffixes may change the place of accent. If the stem is monosyllabic, accent is on the unique syllable of the stem. If the stem is polysyllabic, accent is on the penultimate syllable of the stem.

The stem is observed easily before plural markers and most of derivational suffixes. Naked stem is also used as first constituent of compound words.

• მცხულ-ეფე (mʒxul-epe, “pears”)
• ბერ-ობა (ber-oba, “childhood”)

If the suffix is polysyllabic as in these examples, the place of accent moves to the penultimate syllable of the suffix.

• მცხულ-ოწილაშე (mʒxul-oǯilaşe, “instrument used for plucking off pears from high branches”)
• ოხორ-მანჯე (oxor-mance, “landlord”)

If the second constituent is a polysyllabic word as in these examples, the first constituent appears in form of naked stem. The accent is on the second constituent. If the second constituent is a monosyllabic word with vowel-final stem as shown below, the first constituent with consonant-final stem does not appear in form of naked stem but of absolutive case. Accent is on the ultimate syllable of the stem (penultimate syllable of the compound word).

• მცხული-მჯა მცხული-ნჯა (mʒxuli-mca mʒxuli-nca, “pear tree”)
• ნთხირი-მჯა ნთხირი-ნჯა (ntxiri-mca ntxiri-nca, “hazelnut tree”)

There is no accusative case in Laz as it is generally observed in ergative languages.

The Laz dialects are divided into two groups according to the morphology of the absolutive case of nouns.

• A group : the absolutive case may end with a consonant.
• B group : the absolutive case ends always with a vowel.

A group dialects are distributed in various places forming large language islands (for example villages of Mek’alesk’irit, Ğvant, Xincip’ici, M3’anu etc in Vizha, villages of Napşit, Sidere, Pilarget etc. in Arkabi)

If the stem is consonant-final, the formation of absolutive case varies according to the dialects.

• A group: naked stem = absolutive or stem + -ი (-i) ~ -ე (-e) = absolutive
• B group: stem + -ი (-i) ~ -ე (-e) = absolutive}

The absolutive suffixes -ი, -ე (-i, -e) do not change the place of accent. If the stem is vowel-final, stem = absolutive in all dialects.

The subject of the verb of existence, the subject of the verb of presence, the subject of some intransitive verbs, the direct object of actional transitive verbs etc are in absolutive case. All Laz take spontaneously the absolutive case of noun without plural marker as its representative form.

• In the dialects of Atina: absolutive + -ქ ~ -ქო ~ -ქუ (-k ~ -ko ~ -ku) = ergative
  • მჭაფუქ ~ მჭაფუქო ~ მჭაფუქუ (mç̌apuk ~ mç̌apuko ~ mç̌apuku, “jackal”)
  • მცხულიქ ~ მცხულიქო ~ მცხულიქუ (mʒxulik ~ mʒxuliko ~ mʒxuliku, “pear”)
• In Vizha and Artasheni dialects: there is no suffix marking the ergative case.
• In Vitse-Arkabi, Khopa-Batumi and Chkhala dialects: absolutive + -ქ (-k) = ergative
  • მკჲაფუქ (mǩyapuk, “jackal”)
  • მცხულიქ (mʒxulik, “pear”)

The ergative suffix does not change the place of accent.

The subject of some intransitive verbs, the subject of actional transitive verbs and the cause of action of causative verbs are in ergative case.

• In the dialects of Atina: absolutive + -ს ~ -სო ~ -სუ (-s ~ -so ~ -su) = dative
  • მჭაფუს ~ მჭაფუსო ~ მჭაფუსუ (mç̌apus ~ mç̌apuso ~ mç̌apusu, “jackal”)
  • მცხულის ~ მცხულისო ~ მცხულისუ (mʒxulis ~ mʒxuliso ~ mʒxulisu, “pear”)
  • The variants -ს ~ -სო ~ -სუ (-s ~ -so ~ -su) are often replaced with -ჲ (-y) especially after vowel stem ending by -ა (-a). Example : ჩონას → ჩონაჲ (çonas → çonay, “light, beloved”)
• In Vizha and Artasheni dialects: there is no suffix marking the dative case.
• In Vitse-Arkabi, Khopa-Batumi and Chkhala dialects: absolutive + -ს ~ -ზ (-s ~ -z) = dative
  • მკჲაფუს ~ მკჲაფუზ (mǩyapus ~ mǩyapuz, “jackal”)
  • მცხულის ~ მხულიზ (mʒxulis ~ mxuliz, “pear”)
  • The form -სო (-so) is sometimes observed in poetry.

The dative suffix does not change the place of accent.

The indirect object of transitive or bitransitive verbs, the subject of verbs in potential mood, the subject of verbs in experiential mood, the subject of evolutive state verbs etc are in dative case.

• In the dialects of Vitse and west of Arkabi, the verb ულუნ (ulun) and all verbs deriving from it have the subject in the absolutive case in potential and experiential moods.
• Dative and locative cases are homophonous in Laz. They are defined as the element of sentence (subject or complement) having the case suffix -ს/-ზ (-s/-z) is in the dative case if the verb agrees with it in person ; it is in the locative case if the verb does not agree with it.

In all dialects absolutive + -შ(ი) (-ş(i)) = genitive

• მცხულიშ(ი) (mʒxuliş(i), “of pear”)　
• ოხორიშ(ი) (oxoriş(i), “of house”)
• ბადიშ(ი) (badiş(i), “of old man”)
• ნანაშ(ი) (nanaş(i), “mother's”)
• ნოღაშ(ი) (noğaş(i), “of shopping street”)

In the dialects of Chkhala, the genitive marker has also the variant -(ჲ)ი (-(y)i) after vowel other than /i/.

• ნანა(ჲ)ი (nana(y)i, “mother's”)
• ნოღა(ჲ)ი (noğa(y)i, “of shopping street”)

In genitive, accent moves to the syllable preceeding the case suffix (მცხულიშ, მცხულიში; ნანაშ, ნანაში; ნოღაშ, ნოღაში (mʒxuliş, mʒxulişi; nanaş, nanaşi; noğaş, noğaşi).

For the dialects of Atina, Vizha and Artasheni see Ambidirective. In the rest of the dialects: absolutive + -შა (-şa) = directive

• მცხულიშა (mʒxulişa, “to the pear”)
• ოხორიშა (oxorişa, “to the house”)
• ნოღაშა (noğaşa, “to the shopping street”)

The place of accent in directive noun is the same as in genitive მხცულიშა, ოხორიშა, ნოღაშა, ნანაშა (mxʒulişa, oxorişa, noğaşa, nanaşa).

For the dialects of Atina, Vizha and Artasheni see Ambidirective. In the rest of the dialects: absolutive + -შე(ნ) (-şe(n)) = ablative

• მცხულიშე(ნ) (mʒxulişe(n), “from the pear”)
• ოხორიშე(ნ) (oxorişe(n), “from the house”)
• ნოღაშე(ნ) (noğaşe(n), “from the shopping street”)

The place of accent in ablative noun is the same as in genitive and directive; მხცულიშე(ნ), ოხორიშე(ნ), ნოღაშე(ნ), ნანაშე(ნ) (mxʒulişe(n), oxorişe(n), noğaşe(n), nanaşe(n)).

In all dialects: absolutive + -თე(ნ) (-te(n)) = instrumental

• ხამითე(ნ) (xamite(n), “with knife”)
• კუჩხეთე(ნ) (ǩuçxete(n), “on foot”)
• დერდითე(ნ) (derdite(n), “with worry”)
• მსქალათე(ნ) (mskalate(n), “with ladder”)
• წიწილათე(ნ) (ǯiǯilate(n), “with a snake”)

The place of accent in instrumental noun is the same as in genitive, directive and ablative; ხამითე(ნ), ბერგითე(ნ), კუჩხეთე(ნ), დერდითე(ნ), მსქალათე(ნ), წიწილათე(ნ) (xamite(n), bergite(n), ǩuçxete(n), derdite(n), mskalate(n), ǯiǯilate(n)).

In the dialects of Vizha and Artasheni, -ქ (-k), -ს (-s) and -ზ (-z) are lost at the final. In consequence there is no morphological difference among absolutive, ergative, dative and locative cases. They form altogether a fused oblique case.

• consonant-final stem + -ი ~ -ე (-i ~ -e) = fused oblique case
• vowel-final stem naked stem = fused oblique case

In A group dialects (which have absolutive case ending with a consonant), the dintinction between absolutive case and fused oblique case is regularly observed in nouns with consonant-final stem. In B group dialects (which have only absolutive case ending with a vowel), this distinction is lost in all nouns. But in all dialects of this region, the two cases of pronouns with consonant-final stem are clearly different. The loss of ergative and dative suffixes in these dialects does not mean that they lost ergative and dative constructions. The verbs indicate the case (absolutive, ergative or dative) of subject and complement by their personal affixes, even if there are some exceptions. The accent of nouns in fused oblique case is always on the penultimate syllable: the last syllable of consonant-final stem, and the penultimate of vowel-final stem.

In the dialects of Atina, Vizha and Artasheni, there is no morphological difference between directive and ablative cases. However the ambidirective case is not a cause of ambiguity because, in Laz language, a great number of preverbs indicate the direction of action.

• In Atina-west: absolutive + -შე (-şe) = ambidirective
  • მცხულიშე (mʒxulişe, “to the pear; from the pear”)
• In Atina-east, Vizha and Artasheni: absolutive + -შა (-şa) = ambidirective
  • მცხულიშა (mʒxulişa, “to the pear; from the pear”)

The accent of nouns in ambidirective case is the same as in genitive and instrumental cases.

Nouns without number marker can be singular or plural in Laz. If the plural is marked, it indicates generally a group of humans, animals or things that do not require to be counted. In consequence, marked plural is rarely used after numeral adjectives.

Plural suffix after consonant-final stem is -ეფე (-epe) in all dialects.

• მცხულეფე (mʒxulepe, “pears”)
• ოხორეფე (oxorepe, “houses”)
• ბადეფე (badepe, “old men”)
• ბერეფე (berepe, “children”)

Accent is on the penultimate syllable of the word, i.e. on the first syllable of the plural suffix

There are two kinds of plural suffixes after vowel-final stem: -ფე (-pe) and -ლეფე (-lepe).

• ბუტკაფე (buťǩape, “leaves”)
• ხეფე (xepe, “hands”)
• თიფე (tipe, “heads”)
• ბოზოფე (bozope, “girls”)
• მჭაფუფე (mç̌apupe, “jackals”)
• მკჲაფუფე (mǩyapupe, “jackals”)

Accent is on the penultimate syllable of the word, i.e. on the last syllable of the stem.

A part of vowel-final stems ending with -ა (-a) take the other suffix.

• ჯუმალეფე (cumalepe, “brothers”)
• ქვალეფე (kvalepe, “stones”)
• ნჯალეფე (ncalepe, “trees”)
• ნდღალეფე (ndğalepe, “days”)

Accent is on the penultimate syllable of the word, i.e. on the first syllable of the plural suffix.

Case markers are suffixed after plural marker. Marked plural nouns have only one kind of declension in a dialect.

In genitive, directive, ablative and instrumental cases, accent is on the syllable preceeding the case suffix.