The Remnant of the Grammatical Class-Category in the Morphological System of the Old Georgian Language

Abstract

In the old Georgian language, the suffix -ენ(>ნ) appears in the nominative direct object forms. Since the appearance of this suffix is related to the plurality of the object in the nominative case, it is considered as a marker of the plurality of the direct object; But in this case, one serious obstacle arises: -ენ (ნ) is not related to any specific person; In the same verb form, the plurality of the specific object is expressed by another (appropriate) affix. The same suffix also appears in the passive voice as well, where it is related to the subject in the plural and is considered to be derived from the conversive active voice. It turns out that the use of the suffix -ენ(ნ) in the case of both active and passive voices exactly matches the rules of marking persons in the languages having the class conjugation (for example, Avar). It is assumed that the suffix -ენ(ნ) in old Georgian is a remnant of the old class conjugations; It has no grammatical function.