Lezgian is unusual for a Northeast Caucasian language in not having
noun classes (also called "grammatical gender"). Standard Lezgian grammar features 18
grammatical cases, produced by agglutinating suffixes, of which 12 are still used in spoken conversation.
Vowel Harmony Lezgian has a limited form of palatal and labial
vowel harmony. In native Lezgian words, only syllables up to and including the stressed syllable are subject to vowel harmony. Since native Lezgian words are never stressed after the second syllable, only two vowels in a word can be subject to vowel harmony. Palatal harmony contrasts the front vowels // with the back vowels //, and labial vowel harmony contrasts the labialized vowels // with non-labialized //. The vowels (// are considered neutral).
Cases The four grammatical cases are: •
Absolutive case (basic form of the word, no ending): marks the subject of an intransitive verb and the direct object of a transitive sentence. It is also used to mark a nominal predicate (who or what something turns into/becomes) and as a
vocative. •
Ergative case (various endings; the most common are: -ди, -a or -е; [-di, -a or e], which are added to the Absolutive): marks the subject of transitive verbs, and the subject of some compound intransitive verbs. •
Genitive case (ending -н [-n]; added to the Ergative): marks possession. It is also used with the meaning 'of', as well as describing the qualities, attributes, and materials. The genitive case precedes the noun that it modifies. •
Dative case (ending -з [-z]; added to the Ergative): usually marks the indirect object of sentences, that is the recipient of an action. It is also used to mark the subject of some verbs (mainly about emotions) and to express a point of time and direction. • There are fourteen
Locative cases: •
Adessive case (ending -в [-v]; added to the Ergative): marks the object of some verbs to mean 'by', 'to', 'with'. •
Adelative case (ending -вай [-vaj]; added to the Ergative): expresses movement from somewhere. It is also used with the verb 'to be able' and to express an accidental action. •
Addirective case (ending -вди [-vdi]; added to the Ergative): used as an
instrumental case, but also sometimes used with its original meaning, 'in the direction of', and more rarely 'near by'. • The
Postessive case (ending -хъ [-qh]; added to the Ergative): means 'behind', 'at', 'toward', 'in exchange for', and 'with'. In a construction with the verb ава (ava), it expresses possession. •
Postelative case (ending -хъай [-qhaj]; added to the Ergative): can either mean 'from' or the cause of fear or shame. •
Postdirective case (ending -хъди [-qhdi]; added to the Ergative): rarely used case, meaning 'toward(s)'. •
Subessive case (ending -к [-k]; added to the Ergative): means either 'below' or 'participates'. •
Subelative case (ending -кай [-kaj]; added to the Ergative): means either 'from below', 'from', '(from) against', 'with' or 'out of' (partitive). It is also used to mark Y in the construction 'X becomes out-of-Y' and can express the topic of a sentence ('about') or the cause of emotions. •
Subdirective case (ending -кди [-kdi]; added to the Ergative): expresses cause (never motion under), and can mean 'because' or 'of' (when in sentences such as 'the man died
of a disease'. •
Inessive case (endings -а or -е [-a or -e]; added to Absolutive): means 'at', 'in' or 'during/whilst'. •
Inelative case (endings -ай or -ей [-aj or -ej]; added to Inessive): means 'out of' or 'in return for'. •
Superessive case (ending -л [-l]; added to the Inessive): means 'on', and also to express the cause of some emotions. •
Superelative case (ending -лай [-laj]; added to the Inessive): means 'off', 'after' or 'than' (comparison). •
Superdirective case (ending -лди [-ldi]; added to the Inessive): means 'onto', 'until', 'in' (when followed by an adjective), as an instrumental case (e.g. language) or instructive with abstract nouns.
Declension The plural form of nouns is most often formed with the suffix
-ar (or
-jar if the word ends in a vowel).
-er is also used to conform with palatal vowel harmony. The suffixes
-lar/-ler are borrowed from the
Turkic languages and are used for Turkic
loanwords. There are two types of declensions.
First declension Derivation Lezgian has three native suffixes for nominal derivation:
-wal,
-wi, and
-qʰan. -wal derives nouns from adjectives, e.g., 'proud > pride'.
-wi forms nouns of origin from place names, e.g., 'person from
Makhachkala'.
-qʰan creates agent nouns from other nouns, e.g., 'hunt > hunter'.
-wal and
-wi are highly productive, while -
qʰan is not.
Verbal Inflection Verbs are divided into two classes: strong and weak. Strong verbs are stressed on the
thematic vowel (e.g.,
u-n), whereas weak verbs lack a thematic vowel and are stressed on the base (e.g.,
kis-un).. The inflectional endings are divided into three groups based on the type of stem: the masdar,
imperfective, and
aorist stems. However, the different stem forms are only distinguished in strong verbs. A partial paradigm is given below: The masdar is a
verbal noun and can be inflected for case and number. It is formed by suffixing
-n to strong verbs and
-un to weak verbs. Two additional grammatical forms based on the masdar stem are the
optative and
imperative moods. The optative is typically formed with the suffix
-raj in both weak and strong verbs. For the imperative, most strong verbs
reduplicate the last consonant of the stem, and most weak verbs keep the masdar stem to form the imperative or add
-a to the stem. From the imperfective stem, the
infinitive, imperfective, continuative imperfective,
future,
hortative, and
prohibitive form can be formed, as well as the posterior, graduative, and immediate-anterior
converbs. From the aorist stem, the aorist, aorist
participle,
perfect, continuative perfect, aorist converb, and immediate-anterior converb can be formed. ==Vocabulary==