# Proto-Kartvelian language

The Proto-Kartvelian language, or Common Kartvelian (Georgian: წინარექართველური ენა, romanized: ts'inarekartveluri ena, Georgian: პროტოქართველური ენა, romanized: p'rot'okartveluri ena), is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Kartvelian languages, which was spoken by the ancestors of the modern Kartvelian peoples. The existence of such a language is widely accepted by specialists in linguistics, who have reconstructed a broad outline of the language by comparing the existing Kartvelian languages against each other. Several linguists, namely Gerhard Deeters and Georgy Klimov have also reconstructed a lower-level proto-language called Proto-Karto-Zan or Proto-Georgian-Zan, which is the ancestor of Karto-Zan languages (includes Georgian and Zan).
The Bashplemi lake tablet is thought to possibly be Proto-Kartvelian.

## Influences

The ablaut patterns of Proto-Kartvelian are highly similar to those of the Indo-European languages, and so it is thought that Proto-Kartvelian interacted with Indo-European at a relatively early date. This is reinforced by cognates with Indo-European, such as the Proto-Kartvelian *mḳerd- ('breast'), and its possible relation to the Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd- ('heart'). Proto-Kartvelian *ṭep- (warm) may also be related to Proto-Indo-European *tep- 'warm'.

## Relation to descendants

The modern descendants of Proto-Kartvelian are Georgian, Svan, Mingrelian and Laz. The ablaut patterns of Proto-Kartvelian were better preserved in Georgian and (particularly) Svan than in either Mingrelian or Laz, in which new forms have been set up so that there is a single, stable vowel in each word element.
The system of pronouns of Proto-Kartvelian is distinct on account of its category of inclusive–exclusive (so, for instance, there were two forms of the pronoun "we": one that includes the listener and one that does not). This has survived in Svan but not in the other languages. Svan also includes a number of archaisms from the Proto-Kartvelian era, and therefore it is thought that Svan broke off from Proto-Kartvelian at a relatively early stage: the later Proto-Kartvelian stage (called Karto-Zan) split into Georgian and Zan (Mingrelo-Laz).

## Phonology
### Vowels

Proto-Kartvelian vowels :
| | Front | Front | Back | Back | Back | Back |
| | Front | Front | unrounded | unrounded | rounded | rounded |
| | short | long | short | long | short | long |
| Close | (*i [i]) | | | | (*u [u]) | |
| Open-mid | *e [ɛ] | *ē [ɛː] | | | *o [ɔ] | *ō [ɔː] |
| Open | | | *a [ɑ] | *ā [ɑː] | | |

### Consonants

Proto-Kartvelian consonants :
| | | Labial | Alveolar | Alveolar | Retroflex | Postalveolar | Postalveolar | Velar | Uvular | Glottal |
| | | Labial | plain | sibilant | Retroflex | central | lateral | Velar | Uvular | Glottal |
| Nasal | Nasal | *m [m] | *n [n] | | | | | | | |
| Plosive | voiced | *b [b] | *d [d] | *ʒ [d͡z] | *ʒ₁ [d͡ʐ] | *ǯ [d͡ʒ] | | *g [ɡ] | | |
| Plosive | voiceless | *p [p] | *t [t] | *c [t͡s] | *c₁ [t͡ʂ] | *č [t͡ʃ] | | *k [k] | *q [q] | |
| Plosive | ejective | *ṗ [pʼ] | *ṭ [tʼ] | *c̣ [t͡sʼ] | *c̣₁ [t͡ʂʼ] | *č̣ [t͡ʃʼ] | *ɬʼ [t͡ɬʼ] | *ḳ [kʼ] | *q̇ [qʼ] | |
| Fricative | voiceless | | | *s [s] | *s₁ [ʂ] | *š [ʃ] | *lʿ [ɬ] | *x [x] | *x [x] | *h [h] |
| Fricative | voiced | | | *z [z] | *z₁ [ʐ] | *ž [ʒ] | | *ɣ [ɣ] | *ɣ [ɣ] | |
| Trill | Trill | | | | | *r [r] | | | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | *w [w] | *l [l] | | | *y [j] | | | | |
Distinction between plain [q] and ejective [qʼ] remains only in Svan language. This distinction also existed in Old Georgian.