Georgian Verb Paradigm - Direct and Indirect Objects

Direct and Indirect Objects

• The verb -ts'er-, "to write," (transitive verb)
  • Simplest, we have: v-ts'er, ("I am writing") and ts'er-s, ("he/she is writing).
  • Adding the -u- versioner, we have v-u-ts'er, ("I am writing to him/her"). Another way to think of this is as follows. In the sentence "I am writing to him/her," him/her is the indirect object. Since, for the verb "write," indirect objects are indicated with the m- set, one has to use the prefix u- to indicate the third person indirect object.
  • In order to say "I am writing to you (singular)", we have to remember that you is the indirect object in this sentence. As stated in the verbal system, verbs which employ the v- set marker to indicate the subject, use the m- set marker to indicate the direct or the indirect object. Looking at the table of the m- set marker, we see that the prefixal nominal marker for the second person singular is g-. Therefore, "I am writing to you (singular) in Georgian is g-ts'er. If we want to say, "I am writing to you (plural)", then we have g-ts'er-t.
  • Note, however, that some ambiguities arise, as the verb encapsulates the indirect object. While g-ts'er-t means "I am writing to you (plural)," it could also mean "he/she is writing to you (plural). This is because the plural indirect object "you (plural)" requires both the prefixal nominal marker g- and the plural marker -t. The rule in Georgian is that, if a consonant plural marker (-t) is to be attached to the verb complex, another suffixal consonant nominal marker has to be dropped. For example, one cannot say g-ts'er-s-t ("he/she is writing to you (plural)") in Georgian. Therefore, the verb, in cases like this, fails to indicate whether the performer of the action is the first person or the third person. One, then, has to consider the role of the verb in the entire sentence to understand the exact meaning of the verb.
• The verb -nd-, "to want," belongs to indirect verb class (class 4).
  • Simplest, we have m-i-nd-a, "I want," and u-nd-a, "he/she wants."
  • When we want to construct, "he wants me," me is the direct object. Since the verb "want" requires the m- set marker for the subject, it requires the v- set for the object (this is exactly the opposite in verb "write"). To do this, we need to put both the letter v- at the beginning of the verb and we need to add the auxiliary verb -var to the end (as auxiliary verbs are needed in the present and perfective screeves of indirect verbs when the direct object is the first or the second person). Therefore, we have v-u-nd-i-var. The letter -u- right after the letter v- establishes the meaning that it is the third person who wants. To say, "you want me," we, then, have g-i-nd-i-var. Here, the -i- means that it is the second person who wants.
  • Note that "he/she wants me" and "they want me" are both the same in Georgian: v-u-nd-i-var. If one says, v-u-nd-i-var-t, this rather means "he/she wants us." This is because the plurality of the subject is not reflected in the verbs that use the m- set marker when the direct object is either the first or the second person.
  • The Georgian language has perhaps one of the most complicated plural subject-verb and object-verb agreement systems. Even native speakers do not seem to have a consensus on the reflection of plurality to the verb. One general rule is that in the verbs that employ the v- set nominal marker, the priority of the indicating the plurality of the subject is higher than that of the object. In the verbs that use the m- set nominal marker, this is reversed (just like everything else is reversed). That is why in the example of v-u-nd-i-var-t the plural marker -t at the end refers to the plurality of the object rather than the plurality of the subject.