Cover not available

In:Language Contact in the Territory of the Former Soviet Union
Edited by Diana Forker and Lenore A. Grenoble
[IMPACT: Studies in Language, Culture and Society 50] 2021
► pp. 15–34

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Nominal borrowings in Tsova-Tush (Nakh-Daghestanian, Georgia) and their gender assignment

 | Goethe University Frankfurt
Published online: 18 June 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/impact.50.01wic
Abstract
In this article, the adaptation of borrowed nouns into Tsova-Tush, an endangered Nakh language spoken in Georgia, is described in terms of phonology, morphology and in particular gender assignment. It is shown that Tsova-Tush features a large number of borrowed nouns (44% of a representative wordlist, similar to percentages for other Caucasian languages in Haspelmath & Tadmor (2009)), the vast majority being from Georgian origin. Furthermore, it is shown that borrowed nouns follow the same complex set of semantic and phonological tendencies when it comes to assigning their gender as native nouns do, which in line with Corbett (1991). Finally, it is observed that one of the genders had stopped being productive.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Lexical borrowing
    • 2.1Basics
    • 2.2Integration
    • 2.3Semantic domains and parts of speech
    • 2.4Russian
  • 3.Gender system
    • 3.1Basics
    • 3.2Gender assignment in Tsova-Tush
    • 3.3Inquorate genders
  • 4.Gender of borrowed nouns
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
References (34)
References
Charachidzé, G. (1968). Le système religieux de la Géorgie païenne: Analyse structurale d’une civilisation. Paris: F. Maspero.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chrelashvili, K. (2002). C̣ova-tušuri ena [The Tsova-Tush language]. Tbilisi: TSU Gamomcemloba.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chumakina, M. (2009). Loanwords in Archi, a Nakh-Daghestanian language of the North Caucasus. In M. Haspelmath & U. Tadmor (Eds.), Loanwords in the world’s languages: A comparative handbook (pp. 430–446). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Comrie, B., & Khalilov, M. Š. (2009). Loanwords in Bezhta, a Nakh-Daghestanian language of the North Caucasus. In M. Haspelmath & U. Tadmor (Eds.), Loanwords in the world’s languages: A comparative handbook (pp. 416–429). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Comrie, B., & Polinsky, M. (1999). Some observations on class categorization in Tsez. In H. van den Berg (Ed.), Studies in Caucasian linguistics: Selected papers of the eighth Caucasian colloquium (pp. 125–139). Leiden: CNWS.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Corbett, G. G. (1991). Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1999). Resolution rules for gender agreement in Tsakhur. In E. V. Rakhilina & Y. G. Testelets (Eds.), Typology and linguistic theory from description to explanation. For the 60th birthday of Aleksander E. Kibrik (pp. 400–411). Moscow: Languages of Russian Culture.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dešeriev, J. D. (1953). Bacbijskij jazyk [The Tsova-Tush language]. Moscow, Leningrad: Akademija Nauk SSSR, Institut Jazykoznanija.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Forker, D. (2016). Gender in Hinuq and other Nakh-Daghestanian languages. International Journal of Language and Culture, 3(1), 90–114. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2019). The impact of language contact on Hinuq: Phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon. Language Typology and Universals, 72, 221–253. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gippert, J. (2008). Endangered Caucasian languages in Georgia. In D. K. Harrison, D. S. Rood, & A. Dwyer (Eds.), Lessons from documented endangered languages (pp. 159–194). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gullberg, M., Indefrey, P., & Muysken, P. (2009). Research techniques for the study of code-switching. In B. E. Bullock & A. J. Toribio (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of linguistic code-switching (pp. 21–39). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haspelmath, M. (2009). Lexical borrowing: Concepts and issues. In M. Haspelmath & U. Tadmor (Eds.), Loanwords in the world’s languages: A comparative handbook (pp. 35–54). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haspelmath, M., & Tadmor, U. (Eds.). (2009). Loanwords in the world’s languages: A comparative handbook. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holisky, D. A., & Gagua, R. (1994). Tsova-Tush (Tsova-Tush). In R. Smeets (Ed.), The indigenous languages of the Caucasus, Vol. 4: The North East Caucasian languages, Part 2 (pp. 148–212). Delmar, NY: Caravan Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johanson, L. (2002). Structural factors in Turkic language contacts. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kadagidze, E. (2009). C̣ova-tušuri ṭeksṭebi [Tsova-Tush texts]. Tbilisi: TSU Gamomcemloba.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kadagidze, D., & Kadagidze, N. (1984). C̣ova-tušur-kartul-rusul leksiḳoni [Tsova-Tush-Georgian-Russian dictionary]. Tbilisi: Mecniereba.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maciev, A. G. (1961). Čečensko-russkij slovarʹ [Chechen-Russian dictionary]. Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe Izdatelʹstvo Inostrannyx i Nacionalʹnyx Slovarej.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mikeladze, M., Bertlani, A., Gigashvili, K., & Tsiskarishvili, M. (2011). C̣ovatušuri teksṭebi. Ṭomi 1 [Tsova-Tush texts. Part 1]. Tbilisi: TSU Gamomcemloba.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2014). C̣ovatušuri teksṭebi. Ṭomi 2 [Tsova-Tush texts. Part 2]. Tbilisi: TSU Gamomcemloba.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). C̣ovatušuri teksṭebi. Ṭomi 3 [Tsova-Tush texts. Part 3]. Tbilisi: TSU Gamomcemloba.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017). C̣ovatušuri teksṭeb, Ṭomi 4. [Tsova-Tush texts. Part 4]. Tbilisi: TSU Gamomcemloba.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nichols, J. (2003). The Nakh-Daghestanian consonant correspondences. In D. A. Holisky & K. Tuite (Eds.), Current trends in Caucasian, East European and Inner Asian linguistics: Papers in honor of Howard I. Aronson (pp. 207–251). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2004). Ingush-English and English-Ingush dictionary. New York, NY: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2007). Chechen morphology (with notes on Ingush). In A. S. Kaye (Ed.), Morphologies of Asia and Africa (including the Caucasus) (pp. 1161–1180). Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2011). Ingush grammar. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nichols, J., & Vagapov, A. (2004). Chechen-English and English-Chechen dictionary. New York, NY: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sanikidze, L. (2010). Bacburi (C̣ova-tušuri) ena [The Tsova-Tush language]. Tbilisi: TSU Gamomcembloba.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schiefner, A. (1856). Versuch über die Thusch-Sprache. St. Petersburg: Eggers et Comp.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
The Caucasus Research Resource Centers. (2017). Caucasus barometer. Retrieved through ODA on 17 June, 2018 from [URL]
Uturgaidze, T. (1960). Zogierti nasesxebi da saerto c̣armošobis siṭq̇va bacbur-čačnursa da kartvelur enebši [Some borrowed and inherited words in Nakh and Kartvelian languages]. Goris Ṗedagogiuri Insṭiṭuṭis Šromebi, 5, 87–92.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van den Berg, H. (2005). The East Caucasian language family. Lingua, 115, 147–190. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wichers Schreur, J., & Bellamy, K. (2019). Multiple methods for investigating code-switching in Tsova-Tush nominal constructions. Paper presented at Linguistic Forum 2019: Indigenous Languages of Russia and Beyond , Moscow, 4–6 April.
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Anker, Felix
2024. Clause chaining in Tsova-Tush and East Caucasian. In Clause Chaining in the Languages of the World, ► pp. 603 ff. DOI logo
Bellamy, Kate & Jesse Wichers Schreur
2022. When semantics and phonology collide: Gender assignment in mixed Tsova-Tush–Georgian nominal constructions. International Journal of Bilingualism 26:3 ► pp. 257 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue