Speech of the Descendants of Kobuletian Muhajirs (Materials Recorded in the Patsa District of Ordu Province)

Abstract

Abstract. Within the framework of Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University targeted grant project ("Digital Corpus of Kobulian-Adjarian Handwritten Manuscripts"), studying the speech samples recorded from descendants of Kobuletian Muhajirs in Fatsa, Turkey has proved relevant for "island" research and for examining the current state of the Kobuletian dialect.

The Fatsa residents' speech maintains key features of the Kobuletian dialect across multiple linguistic levels: phonetic (diphthongs, sound narrowing and loss), morphological (agreement inconsistencies, double plural forms), syntactic (ergative constructions), and lexical (dialectisms and rare idioms reflecting vestiges of Christian culture).

Turkish language influence is apparent through extensive use of Eastern-origin vocabulary, calques, and code-switching.

Despite isolation from standard Georgian and immersion in a foreign-language environment, the speech of Kobuletian Muhajir descendants has preserved both essential Georgian language characteristics and fundamental Kobuletian dialect features. This material offers valuable insights for interdisciplinary research.