Typology of Verbal Borrowings in Tsezic and Beyond

A bstract Khwarshi, which is distant and geographically separated from the other Tsezic languages and surrounded by Avar‐ and Andic‐speaking villages, combines all three strategies identified by Wohlgemuth (2009) for the integration of borrowed verbs: a light verb strategy is used for Russian borrowings, while both direct and indirect insertion are used for borrowings from Avar and Andic. Combining several strategies in a single language is a rare phenomenon in many languages; the other Tsezic languages make use of only one integration strategy. The paper explains the factors underlying the distribution of verbal borrowing strategies within the Tsezic languages. The crucial factor accounting for this distribution is the variation found across the family in the degree of bilingualism and language contact with donor languages.