Dogri to Georgian: a postposition may join a stem rather than a separate case word
Shared after-the-noun ordering does not imply identical forms
Sawhney describes Dogri postpositions following words in an oblique form. Her examples include expressions corresponding to below, above, between and with. Georgian also uses postpositions, but the Kock Kobaidze and Vamling grammar distinguishes those following bare stems from those following particular case forms. The shared label does not make their attachment rules interchangeable.
The Georgian course contrasts -shi for in with -tvis for for: the former follows a bare stem in its analysis, while the latter follows the genitive. A Dogri oblique expression should therefore not be translated by selecting one universal Georgian case form and attaching every relation marker to it.
For an original Dogri delivery message, distinguish an item kept in a house from an item intended for the house. The same location noun can occur in both, but its relation to the item changes. Preserve that relation before comparing the target noun’s internal form with the source.
Attached and separate target expressions can both preserve a location
The Georgian grammar writes monosyllabic postpositions together with their complements and presents longer ones separately. Its examples include saxltan near the house and saxlebs shoris between the houses. These transcriptions illustrate different constructions, not competing spellings of the same relation.
Imagine an original Dogri instruction to wait near one building, followed by a correction to wait between two buildings. The correction changes the meeting position. A Georgian result with a different word boundary can be appropriate because the relation has changed, rather than because the translator arbitrarily joined or separated words.
Do not join every target expression simply to make all postpositions look consistent, and do not split every attached form to reproduce Dogri spacing. Check the complete location first. Near a building and between buildings can refer to different places even when the same buildings appear in the surrounding conversation.
A form related to my can still mean me in a postpositional phrase
The Georgian course shows chem- as a first-person stem before several postpositions, contrasting it with standalone me. Its examples include chem-tan for with or at me and chem-tvis for for me. It notes that the same stem also forms the possessive chemi.
A Dogri reader should not interpret every chem-looking target form as ownership. In an original arrangement, doing a task for the writer and doing a task for the writer’s colleague are different relationships. The first-person stem in a postpositional construction does not by itself add an unspoken possessed colleague.
Similarly, “wait with me” does not mean “wait with my belongings.” Identify the complement actually required by the relation. An unfamiliar target stem can continue the same person without turning that person into the owner of an omitted noun.
For Dogri to Georgian, read the relation marker and its complement together: is the phrase a location, direction, purpose or personal association? Then assess the target stem and attachment pattern within that construction. This preserves the intended relationship while allowing Georgian to select its own case forms, stems and word boundaries.
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