Compound Names in Lazian

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to compile and conduct a comparative study of the composites known in the scientific literature and the composites discovered by us among the Laz population over the years, based on the field-specific collection and study of vocabulary. The Laz dialect of the Zan language presents interesting and characteristic empirical material in terms of producing compound words. Producing composites, Lazian follows Georgian, although it exhibits some peculiarities. The research revealed that we do not find any base-doubled composites with “and” connection in Lazian. There are also few compound words with vowel, consonant, or syllable alternations. Lexical items of Lazian, hybrid-Lazian-foreign language, or borrowed lexical units are confirmed as components of the composites recorded in Lazian. The presented research is interesting from both linguistic and ethnographic perspective.