-ი

From Old Georgian -ი, -ჲ (-i, -y), from Proto-Kartvelian *-i.

-ი • (-i)

1. forms nominative case from a stem

• -ე (-e)

From Proto-Kartvelian *-i.

-ი • (-i) (Latin spelling -i)

1. absolutive case marker
2. (dialectal, Artasheni) Fused oblique case marker

• Added only to the consonant final stems, vowel final stems doesn't get any suffix in absolutive case.
• There are forms derived with a Nominative case marker -ე (-e) both in Megrelian and Laz, for example, Zan ნოთ-ე (not-e, “candle, pinewood spill, beam”), which proves that historically a Nominative case marker -ე (-e) was common for both Zan dialects. However, a synchronic analysis has not singled out -ე (-e) as a case marker either in Megrelian or Laz, today it is merged with a stem, and all nominals ending with -ე (-e), are vowel-stem nominals like the ones having ა, ე, ო, უ (a, e, o, u) vowel-endings in Zan.
• In the dialects of Artasheni, -ქ (-k), -ს (-s) and -ზ (-z) are lost at the final. In consequence there is no morphological difference among ergative, dative and locative cases. They form altogether a fused oblique case.
• The loss of ergative and dative suffixes in these dialects does not mean that they lost ergative and dative constructions. The verbs indicate the case (absolutive, ergative or dative) of subject and complement by their personal affixes, even if there are some exceptions.
• The accent of nouns in fused oblique case is always on the penultimate syllable: the last syllable of consonant-final stem, and the penultimate of vowel-final stem.

• Kiria, Č̣abuḳi, Ezugbaia, Lali, Memišiši, Omar, Čuxua, Merab (2015) Lazur-megruli gramaṭiḳa [Laz–Mingrelian Grammar] (in Georgian), Tbilisi: Gamomcemloba Meridiani, page 923