კოდების გადართვა და ზმნის ლექსიკალიზაციის ნიმუშები მეგრული ენის კორპუსში

Abstract

This publication examines how the effects of language contact are manifested in the speech of contemporary Megrelian speakers. In particular, it discusses patterns of code-switching associated with lexicalization. This process involves the sharing of morphosyntactic features between languages and results in hybrid compounds or morphologically integrated forms that become natural in Megrelian speech. The study focuses on the mixing of grammatical linking morphemes, using the Megrelian verb as a case study.

The analysis is based on L2 verbs attested in the Megrelian Language Corpus (MLC), which were identified in texts collected during fieldwork conducted between 2021 and 2024 in towns and villages of Samegrelo.

Two distinct patterns of sharing root and affixal morphemes can be observed in Megrelian verbal forms:

1. insertion, where L2 morphemes (root, stem or affix) are inserted unchanged into the Megrelian verbal matrix; and
2. morphological integration, where L2 morphemes are incorporated into the Megrelian verbal matrix with modifications motivated by the language’s characteristic phonotactic and morphotactic features.

The analysis shows that borrowed lexical items and mixed codes, even at the morphosyntactic level, ultimately take on forms determined by the matrix language. It also demonstrates that code-mixing in Megrelian is not limited to the use of loanwords or calques; rather, it is a highly dynamic process governed by its own lexical and grammatical rules. This process involves the integration of linguistic elements originating in the source language like roots, stems and sometimes affixes into the morphostructure of the recipient language.

Such patterns reveal a tendency that ranges from integrated forms to the replacement of entire forms by L2 material. More generally, these tendencies and their outcomes may be regarded as markers of language endangerment.