Language/Georgian/Grammar/Preverbs-and-their-functions

Preverbs and their functions in Georgian

a) Preverbs show the direction of a verbal act.

მი-	away (from the I person)	მიდის	“he/she/it goes”
მო-	towards (to the I person)	მოდის	“he/she/it comes”
ა-	up	ადის	“he/she/it rises/goes up”
და-	down; sometimes an intensive act	დადის	“he/she/it walks”; “it goes down” (e.g. temperature)
ჩა-	down inside	ჩადის	“he/she/it descends/goes down(hill)”
შე-	from outside to inside	შედის	“he/she/it enters/goes in”
გა-	from inside to outside	გადის	“he/she/it goes out” (e.g. from the house)
გადა-	over a barrier	გადადის	“he/she/it crosses/goes over (something)”
წა-	away	წავიდა	“he/she/it left/went away”

All these preverbs show the direction away from the I person except “მო-”. They are simple preverbs, but they can have “მო-” added to become complex preverbs. By adding “მო-” the direction becomes orientated towards the I person. So, all complex preverbs show the direction to the I person.

ამო-	up	ამოდის	“he/she/it rises/comes up”
ჩამო-	down inside	ჩამოდის	“he/she/it arrives/comes down”
შემო-	from outside to inside	შემოდის	“he/she/it enters/comes in”
გამო-	from inside to outside	გამოდის	“he/she/it emerges/comes out”
გადმო-	over a barrier	გადმოდის	“he/she/it comes across/over”
წამო-	towards the I person	წამოვიდა	“he/she/it came over/out”

b) When preverbs produce new rows of conjugation in the I series, then they don’t show any direction.

ხატავს	“he/she/it paints”	დახატავს	“he/she/it will paint”
წერს	“he/she/it writes”	დაწერს	“he/she/it will write” No verbal direction is exposed here.

c) Preverbs don’t show direction while producing the perfective aspect.

Compare:

Imperfective		Perfective
ვხატე	“I was painting”	დავხატე	“I painted”
ვწერე	“I was writing”	დავწერე	“I wrote”

d) Sometimes preverbs change the meaning of a word

მოიგო	“he/she won [it]” (e.g. the game or money)
გაიგო	“he/she understood [it]”
წააგო	“he/she lost [it]”
მიხვდა	“he/she realized/understood [it]”
მოხვდა	“he/she got [it]”
შეხვდა	“he/she met [him/her/them]”
დახვდა	“he/she met (ran into) [it/him/her/them]”

Sources

http://eprints.iliauni.edu.ge/3071/1/Basic-Georgian%202%20bolo%20versia.pdf