QUANTITATIVE-TYPOLOGICAL INDICES OF THE KARTVELIAN LANGUAGES

Abstract

Typological linguistics classifies languages based on specific structural features. Joseph Greenberg’s quantitative-typological classification (Greenberg, 1994) introduced a methodology for the quantitative analysis of these structural features. The purpose of this study is to use Greenberg's morphological indices (agglutination, flexion, synthesis, derivation-flexion, composition, prefixing, and suffixing indices) to determine the typological characteristics of the Kartvelian languages (New Georgian, Old Georgian, Svan, Mingrelian, and Laz) and to assess the similarities and differences among them.

The methodology involves the synchronic glossing of 300-word text samples and subsequent mathematical calculations. The results indicate that all five Kartvelian languages (including Old Georgian) are classified as synthetic.

Based on the agglutination index, the languages generally lean towards a flexional type, with the exception of Mingrelian and Laz, which show higher agglutination index values. The data also revealed that flexional affixes significantly outnumber derivational affixes, and suffixing indices are higher than prefixing indices, supporting the general suffixing tendency of Kartvelian languages.

The composition index is low across all languages studied. These quantitative findings provide an objective means for precisely defining the typological affiliation of the Kartvelian languages and clarifying their position within the broader linguistic classification system.

Keywords: Language Typology; Kartvelian Languages; Morphological Indices; Agglutination Index; Synthesis Index; Flexion.