Die Entwicklungstendenzen des Passivs in der georgischen Schriftsprache

This monograph analyses the grammatical, pragmatic, communicative and lexical-stylistic functions of different subgroups of synthetic dynamic passives in Georgian. They differ from the standard average European type, and the complexity of Georgian verbal diathesis is of a more general linguistic interest. In an introductory section, the book offers a detailed and critical review of the rich and relevant literature of the Georgian and other traditions. - On the basis of a vast corpus taken from a 1500 years old tradition of literary texts, several specific tendencies are established in the evolution of so-called affixed dynamic passives, and possible factors favouring these tendencies are considered. In this context, the evolution of the voice opposition from Old Georgian up to Modern Georgian is analysed, in particular the relation between prefixed and suffixed types of the Georgian passive, and possible cases of influence of the dominant Greek source language on the use of morphological passives are verified in Old Georgian translated texts.