Nominal morphology includes  declinable  words: nouns, adjectives, numerals, pronouns.
This lecture is a short description of nouns.
Postpositions will also be touched upon here, because postpositions are always connected to case forms.

Nouns and postpositions
Nouns denote things and answer the questions: who and  what, e. g.: man, woman, table, etc.
Postpositions in Georgian have the same functions as prepositions in English, but although both are morphemes, pospositions are affixed to the end of their grammatical objects rather than to their beginning; comp. the postposition -ze-ze in Georgian and the preposition on in English:

wigni magida-ze devs.
c'igni magida-ze devs.
book table-on is.
The book is on the table.

The following topics are discussed in this part:

• Group "who" and group "what"
• Grammatical number of nouns
• General information about declension
• General information about case function
• Postpositions
•  Noun phrase
• Different variants of declension
• Declension of proper names

The question vin (vin "who") applies only to human beings in Georgian. Everything else, despite whether it is animate or inanimate, answers the question  ra (ra "what"), e. g.:

To divide reality into human and non-human entities and to unify animate and inanimate things into one class is not a special feature of Georgian. Such unification is found also in Indo-European languages, for instance in English (pronoun it).

Grammatical number of nouns
Nouns have two numbers in Georgian: singular and plural. A noun in the singular is a sequence of a  stem morpheme and acase marker, and in the plural, a sequence of a stem morpheme, a plural marker -eb -eb and acase marker:
 
 

Note: Plural forms (like in Old Georgian) formed by the suffixes -n -n and T/-Ta -t /-ta are also found. They have a stylistic function connected to poetic and higher style, and also to the terminology and name giving in modern standard Georgian, e. g.:
sabWo-Ta kavSiri sabch'o-ta k'avshiri (The Soviet Union)

General information about declension
Seven cases of nouns are found in Georgian. These seven cases are:
 

In this example, qal-  kal- is a stem, and the changing suffixes (-i -i, -ma -ma, etc.) are case markers.

Slightly variant case markers follow stems ending in the vowels -o and -u:
 
 

A stem can also undergo changes:
 

Examples of different variants of the case markers depending on the ending of the stem are represented at the end of this section.

General information about case functions
The seven cases of Georgian have different semantic and syntactic functions. Only functions of cases without postpositions are represented here. The functions of cases with postpositions are described in the part "Postpositions".

Nominative, ergative and dative - case forms of subject and objects
Nominative, ergative and dative cases can express the grammatical relations:

• Subject
• Direct object
• Indirect object

Genitive
Instrumental
Adverbial
Vocative

The subject is that part of the sentence (or of the clause) that denotes the acting person or thing, or that part of the sentence (or of the clause), about which something is said. The subject answers the questions:  who? what?  e. g.:
Mother has come. The woman is writing a letter. A book is on the table; etc.

In Indo-European languages the subject is usually either in the nominative case, e. g.: in English:

The man is reading.
The man has read.
The man will read, etc.

In Russian:

Chelovek chitaet.  The man is reading.
Chelovek prochjol.  The man read, the man has read
Chelovek prochtjot.  The man will read, etc.

In Georgian, the subject can occur not only in the nominative but also in either nominative, ergative or dative cases, depending on the transitivity and tense/mood form of the verb (these rules will be discussed in the corresponding part of the course), e. g.:

The direct object is that part of the sentence (or of the clause) that is affected by the action performed by the subject. Direct object answers the questions: whom? what? e. g.: A man is writing a letter. She saw them. He knows everything, etc.

In Indo-European languages a direct object appears in either the so-called common case or in the accusative case (//objective case):

In English (common case):

The man is reading a book.
The man  has read a book.
The man will  read a book. etc.

In Russian (accusative case)

Chelovek chitaet knigu. The man is reading a book.
    (comp. nominative: kniga)
Chelovek prochjol knigu.  The man  has read a book.
Chelovek prochtjot knigu.  The man will have read a book, etc.

N o t e:
In languages where grammatical relations (subject and object) are marked by case endings, word order is less important in this function.

Subjects and objects can be in either the nominative case or the dative depending on the verb form (subject in nominative and object in dative, or: subject in dative and object in nominative). In Georgian, only the ergative case is reserved solely for subjects.
 

Subject in nominative signals the direct object in dative, and subject in ergative or in dative signals the direct object in nominative. Case form of a subject itself is signalled by a verb form. (When a transitive verb is in the present tense, the subject is in the nominative case, the direct object is in the dative case. When a transitive verb is in the past tense, the subject is in the ergative case, the direct object is in the nominative case):

 

Transitive verb is in the present tense Subject is in the nominative case Direct object is in the dative case:

Exception: the verb is in the present tense, the subject is in the ergative case and the object is in the nominative:
kac-ma icis ambav-i
k'ac-ma icis ambav-i
man-Ergative knows (present tense) news-Nominative

Transitive verb is in the past tense Subject is in the ergative case Direct object is in the nominative case:

Postpositions
Postpositions always follow and are connected to case markers, e. g.: the postposition -Si -shi "in"follows the dative, -Tvis -tvis "for" follows the genitive etc.

A postposition is a morpheme which is added to the case marker of a declinable word and shows the situation, direction, purpose or other function of the word. Some postpositions are affixed to the noun, while some of them stand separately.

Distribution of postpositions

Case form	Postposition used with the case form	Example	Translation
Nominative	-viT  -vit  like	saxl-i-viT  saxl-i-vit  house-like	Like a house
Ergative	--	No postposition is found in Ergative
Dative	-Tan -tan at	saxl-Tan(< saxl-s-Tan) saxl-tan(< saxl-s-tan) house-at	At the house, by the house
	-Si -shi in	saxl-Si (< saxl-s-Si) saxl-shi(< saxl-s-shi) house-in	in the house
	-ze -ze on	saxl-ze (< saxl-s-ze) saxl-ze(< saxl-s-ze) house-on	on the house
Genitive	-gan -gan from	saxl-is-gan  saxl-is-gan house-Genitive marker-from	from the house
	-Tvis -tvis for	saxl-is-Tvis saxl-is-tvis house-Genitive marker-for	for the house
	-ken -k'en to	saxl-is-ken saxl-is-k'en house-Genitive marker-to	to the house (I went to the house)  (direction of motion)
Instrumental	-idan -idan from	saxl-idan(< saxl-iT-gan) saxl-idan (< saxl-it-gan) house-from (house-Instr.-from)	from the house
Adverbial	-amde -amde to, until	saxl-amde (< saxl-ad-mde) saxl-amde (< saxl-ad-mde) house-to	to the house  (I reached//did not reach the house)  (direction to the last point of motion)
Vocative	--	No postposition is found in Vocative

Postpositions consisting of one syllable stand with and are written with their complements. The case marker may undergo reduction (or be omitted), e. g.:
 
 

manqana saxlTan gaCerda.
mankana saxltan gacherda.
The car stopped near the house.

gogona magidasTan dgas.
gogona magidastan dgas.
The girl is standing at the table.

Postpositions consisting of more than one syllable are usually pronounced and written separately from the word which they follow, and the case marker usually does not undergo reduction; e. g.:
 

saxlebs Soris didi baRia.
saxlebs shoris didi bagia.
There is a big garden between the houses.

Cemi saxli am saxlebs Soris yvelaze maRalia.
chemi saxli am saxlebs shoris q'valaze magalia.
My house is the highest among these houses.

Compare:
 

More about the distribution of postpositions

Some changes of case markers and postpositions in Modern Georgian

Postpositions in dialects

Postpositions in Old Georgian

A noun phrase often consists of a noun (head noun) and an adjective or another noun (attribute). In the noun phrase white houses the noun houses is the head noun, modified by the attribute white.
The Noun Phrase consisting of noun and adjective will be discussed in the part about adjectives.

A noun may modify another noun, e. g.:

• Nana's bag (1)
• Teacher's duty (2)
• Mother's smile (3)

The word order in noun phrases in modern Georgian is: Attribute + Head noun, e. g.:
 

When used as attributes, nouns in the genitive case do not decline in modern Georgian. Only the so-called head noun declines. Note that the attribute megobr-is megobr-is 'of friend' is placed before the head noun wign-i c'ign-i 'book'.

Examples of the head noun or the attribute in the plural, e. g.:
 

The reversive word order is also possible, click here for more information.

More information:
 About noun phrase in Old Georgian

Different variants of declension
Nouns conform to one declension, with variant forms for consonantal and vocalic stems. Differences in declension connected to the consonantal (stems ending in a consonant) and vocalic stems (stems ending in a vowel) are considered in the chapter Declension of nouns. Only the general information is represented here.
Georgian has seven cases:

Differences among some groups of nouns in declension are mainly due to the phonetic factor. On the basis of this factor nouns are divided into five main groups:

1. Non-reducible stems ending in a consonant (non-reducible consonantal stems)
2. Reducible stems ending in a consonant (reducible consonantal stems)
3. Stems ending in the vowel -a (clippable) vocalic stems
4. Stems ending in the vowel -e (clippable only in singular) vocalic stems
5. Stems ending in the vowels -i, -o, -u (non-clippable) vocalic stems
There are some other nuances but they will not be touched upon here.

Distribution of case markers after the consonantal and vocalic stems

	Consonantal stems (both reducible and non-reducible)	Clippable vocalic stems	Non-clippable vocalic stems
Nominative	-i	-ø	-ø
Ergative	-ma	-m	-m
Dative	-s	-s	-s
Genitive	-is	-is	-s(i)
Instrumental	-iT	-iT	-T(i)
Adverbial	-ad	-d	-d
Vocative	-o	-v //-o	-v // -o

Distribution of case markers after the consonantal and vocalic stems (Transliteration)

	Consonantal stems (both reducible and non-reducible)	Clippable vocalic stems	Non-clippable vocalic stems
Nominative	-i	ø	ø
Ergative	-ma	-m	-m
Dative	-s	-s	-s
Genitive	-is	-is	-s(i)
Instrumental	-it	-it	t(i)
Adverbial	-ad	-d	-d
Vocative	-o	-v //-o	-v // -o

Examples of declension:

1. Stems ending in a consonant with a non-reducible (unchanging) stem:
Non-reducible stem:
(The -a presented after the case markers in the brackets here and below is a so-called emphatic vowel. Positions where it is obligatorily presented are very rare in modern standard Georgian).
 

	woman. Singular	woman. Singular
Nominative	qal-i	kal-i
Ergative	qal-ma	kal-ma
Dative	qal-s(a)	kal-s(a)
Genitive	qal-is(a)	kal-is(a)
Instrumental	qal-iT(a)	kal-it(a)
Adverbial	qal-ad	kal-ad
Vocative	qal-o	kal-o

 

	women. Plural	women. Plural
Nominative	qal-eb-i	kal-eb-i
Ergative	qal-eb-ma	kal-eb-ma
Dative	qal-eb-s(a)	kal-eb-s(a)
Genitive	qal-eb-is(a)	kal-eb-is(a)
Instrumental	qal-eb-iT(a)	kal-eb-it(a)
Adverbial	qal-eb-ad	kal-eb-ad
Vocative	qal-eb-o	kal-eb-o

2. Reducible stem (stems ending in a consonant are said to be reducible if a vowel, preceding this last consonant is omitted in the genitive, instrumental and adverbial cases):
 

	pear. Singular	pear. Singular
Nominative	msxal-i	msxal-i
Ergative	msxal-ma	msxal-ma
Dative	msxal-s(a)	msxal-s(a)
Genitive	msxl-is(a)	msxl-is(a)
Instrumental	msxl-iT(a)	msxl-it(a)
Adverbial	msxl-ad	msxl-ad
Vocative	msxal-o	msxal-o

 

	pears. Plural	pears. Plural
Nominative	msxl-eb-i	msxl-eb-i
Ergative	msxl-eb-ma	msxl-eb-ma
Dative	msxl-eb-s(a)	msxl-eb-s(a)
Genitive	msxl-eb-is(a)	msxl-eb-is(a)
Instrumental	msxl-eb-iT(a)	msxl-eb-it(a)
Adverbial	msxl-eb-ad	msxl-eb-ad
Vocative	msxl-eb-o	msxl-eb-o

3. Stems ending in the vowel -a -a are said to be clippable in that the -a is omitted in the genitive and adverbial cases and in all seven cases when the -a precedes the plural marker -eb:
 

	mountain. Singular	mountain. Singular
Nominative	mTa-ø	mta-ø
Ergative	mTa-m	mta-m
Dative	mTa-s(a)	mta-s(a)
Genitive	mT-is(a)	mt-is(a)
Instrumental	mT-iT(a)	mt-it(a)
Adverbial	mTa-d	mta-d
Vocative	mTa-o, mTa-v	mta-o, mta-v

 
 

	mountains. Plural	mountains. Plural
Nominative	mT-eb-i	mt-eb-i
Ergative	mT-eb-ma	mt-eb-ma
Dative	mT-eb-s(a)	mt-eb-s(a)
Genitive	mT-eb-is(a)	mt-eb-is(a)
Instrumental	mT-eb-iT(a)	mt-eb-it(a)
Adverbial	mT-eb-ad	mt-eb-ad
Vocative	mT-eb-o	mt-eb-o

4. Stems ending in the vowel -e -e are said to be clippable in that the -e is omitted in the genitive and adverbial cases but is retained in all plurals:

	face. Singular	face. Singular
Nominative	saxe-ø	saxe-ø
Ergative	saxe-m	saxe-m
Dative	saxe-s(a)	saxe-s(a)
Genitive	sax-is(a)	sax-is(a)
Instrumental	sax-iT(a)	sax-it(a)
Adverbial	saxe-d	saxe-d
Vocative	saxe-o, saxe-v	saxe-o, saxe-v

 
 

	faces. Plural	faces. Plural
Nominative	saxe-eb-i	saxe-eb-i
Ergative	saxe-eb-ma	saxe-eb-ma
Dative	saxe-eb-s(a)	saxe-eb-s(a)
Genitive	saxe-eb-is(a)	saxe-eb-is(a)
Instrumental	saxe-eb-iT(a)	saxe-eb-it(a)
Adverbial	saxe-eb-ad	saxe-eb-ad
Vocative	saxe-eb-o	saxe-eb-o

5. Stems ending in the vowels -i, -o, -u (-i, -o, -u) are non-clippable in that their stems remain unchanged even though their case markers are reduced in the genitive, instrumental and adverbial cases in the singular:
 

	shelf. Singular	shelf. Singular
Nominative	Taro-ø	taro-ø
Ergative	Taro-m	taro-m
Dative	Taro-s(a)	taro-s(a)
Genitive	Taro-s(i)	taro-s(i)
Instrumental	Taro-T(i)	taro-t(i)
Adverbial	Taro-d	taro-d
Vocative	Taro-v	taro-v

 

	shelves. Plural	shelves. Plural
Nominative	Taro-eb-i	taro-eb-i
Ergative	Taro-eb-ma	taro-eb-ma
Dative	Taro-eb-s(a)	taro-eb-s(a)
Genitive	Taro-eb-is(a)	taro-eb-is(a)
Instrumental	Taro-eb-iT(a)	taro-eb-it(a)
Adverbial	Taro-eb-ad	taro-eb-ad
Vocative	Taro-eb-o	taro-eb-o

First names ending in a consonant (including foreign names) take the nominative case marker -i -i:
 

Surnames ending in -shvili and -dze are declined as common names.
Surnames ending in -a are declined as first names ending in a vowel (stem does not undergo any change).

When the first name and surname are declined together, only the surname is declined and the first name remains unchanged:
 

Nominative	nodar gagoSiZe-ø	nodar gagoshidze-ø
Ergative	nodar gagoSiZe-m	nodar gagoshidze-m
Dative	nodar gagoSiZe-s	nodar gagoshidze-s
Genitive	nodar gagoSiZ-is	nodar gagoshidz-is
Instrumental	nodar gagoSiZ-iT	nodar gagoshidz-it
Adverbial	nodar gagoSiZe-d	nodar gagoshidze-d
Vocative	nodar gagoSiZe-v	nodar gagoshidze-v

The title or name of profession followed by proper names is partially declined:
 

eqimi nodar gagoSiZe
ekimi nodar gagoshidze
doctor Nodar Gagoshidze

Nominative	eqim-i nodar gagoSiZe-ø	ekim-i nodar gagoshidze-ø
Ergative	eqim-ma nodar gagoSiZe-m	ekim-ma nodar gagoshidze-m
Dative	eqim nodar gagoSiZe-s	ekim nodar gagoshidze-s
Genitive	eqim nodar gagoSiZ-is	ekim nodar gagoshidz-is
Instrumental	eqim nodar gagoSiZ-iT	ekim nodar gagoshidz-it
Adverbial	eqim nodar gagoSiZe-d	ekim nodar gagoshidze-d
Vocative	eqim-o nodar gagoSiZe-v	ekim-o nodar gagoshidze-v