The Theoretical Grounds and the Practical Value of Distinguishing the Markers of Evidentiality in the Verb Paradigms of the Kartvelian Languages

Evidential verb forms of the Perfect are a common Kartvelian phenomenon. Expression of evidentiality in this case is a secondary function on the synchronic plane. Perfect evidential verb forms do not have a special morphological marker. They use lexical means to express that something has not been seen. In this way, they contrast with aorist verb forms expressing an action that was seen. Evidential verb forms of the Imperfect appear only in the non-literary Kartvelian languages (Megrelian, Laz and Svan). Out of these, in Laz, evidentiality is expressed lexically (in a descriptive way), whereas in Megrelian and Svan, evidentiality has a special morphological marker. In Megrelian, the Present and Imperfect verb forms express a seen action. They are opposed to evidential verbs in the Imperfect, which denote an unseen action. In Svan, the neutral Imperfect contrasts two forms: the Evidential Imperfect I in the superessive version and the Evidential Imperfect II. Originally, the Megrelian Evidential Imperfect I and Evidential Imperfect II, and the Svan Evidential Imperfect II were descriptive. As a result of transformation, these forms turned into organic formations and developed special markers of evidentiality. The Svan Evidential Imperfect I in the superessive version seems to have been organic from the very start. In Svan and Megrelian, evidentiality has developed as a morphological category. The seg­men­tation and glossing of evidential verb-forms in the non-literary Kartvelian languages and the distinction of the mar­kers of evidentiality serve important practical aims that are thematised in the present article.